No Excuses

So it came out today that Italian defender Marco Materazzi verbally insulted Zinedane Zidane, which led to the infamous headbutting incident. Why this guy would come out and admit this I have no idea, but in my opinion, this doesn't excuse Zidane from what he did. Rule #1 as an athlete: Keep your composure, no matter what happens, especially when you're the captain. When you have that title, you not only represent your team, but also the people you represent. I learned this the hard way. There were a few instances, especially during tennis matches where I was prone to losing it and embarassing myself. As I matured, I got over it. In fact, I made my opponents lose their composure many times because no matter what, bad shots, good shots, I'd keep the same facial expression (Pete Sampras was the best at this, which is why he's one of the greatest athletes of all time). Losing your composure is the ultimate sign of weakness and insecurity. When you lose your composure, it tells me you don't have the confidence in yourself to win. Zidane should've known better, not only for himself, but for the people he represented.

But I'm not done with Marco. "I did insult him, it's true," Materazzi said in Tuesday's Gazzetta dello Sport. "But I categorically did not call him a terrorist. I'm not cultured and I don't even know what an Islamic terrorist is." Maybe he didn't call him a terrorist, but the last part is ridiculous. I like watching soccer, especially the World Cup, the Beautiful Game. But I'm afraid this edition will be remembered, ironically, for the ugliness that seemed to dominate the event. From the poor officiating to the flopping to the fighting to the headbutting, the beautiful game was not always that.

In more World Cup news, German coach Jurgen Klinsman will not remain as coach of the German team. US Soccer Federation: Go get him!!! This guy is charismatic, his team scored a lot of goals and were fun to watch, and he's got that foreign pedigree which I think the US needs in their game. He took a team that wasn't supposed to do much to a 3rd place finish.

And the English are now blaming their poor performance on the shopping and drinking sprees by the players' wives and girlfriends?!?!?! I've heard some in my relatively short lifetime, but COME ON!!!!

First mountain stage of the Tour tomorrow, but not a mountaintop finish. But, that doesn't mean there'll be some excitement. The body can react strangely on the 1st day in the high mountains, which is why Lance Armstrong always liked to attack on those days. There may not be major time gaps tomorrow, but we'll see who's got the best climbing legs.