Zidane explained

I'm trending a little occam's razor on this one, and it goes a little something about this: Forget all the talk about Zinedine Zidane retaliating for being called something highly inappropriate. Forget all the talk about Zidane freakishly temporarily loosing his mind. Or for being an exceptional serial hot head.

People who make playing a competitive sport the A#1 focus of their life (not including things like curling or softball)—make it their raison d'etre, as the French would say-- cannot be assumed to be rational, intellectual, level headed people. On some level, they are to be assumed, to borrow language from our collective high school experience, to possess "jock" qualities. And jocks do boneheaded things like losing their cool and violently lashing out at competitors and getting tossed from games, regardless of whether the game is their first and most insignificant or their last and the most significant game in world sports. There are exceptions, for sure. What I’m saying is that Zidane cemented this as a rule.

Maybe the Italian guy called Zidane a dirty terrorist. Maybe he called him baldy. (turns out it was a ‘your mama’ taunt) Doesn’t matter. Here's the rub: whatever it was, Zidane's reaction to the trash-talk was so stupefyingly irrational the ends could never possibly justify the means, and an act of deep analysis of or pigeon holing the event is folly.

Zidane lulled me into believing he was something else. The French thing. The stately good-looks thing. The captain thing. The 'I've done this before and didn't f--k up so astonishingly' thing. But no, Zidane, in your heart of hearts you're a temperamental athlete. And the only reason you head butted the guy instead of socking him on the jaw is sporticultural.

I don't agree with the Mike Tyson comparisons. Mike Tyson is clearly bat shit crazy. Zidane is not crazy. Just a temperamental athlete.

Regardless of the events simplicity, I still do place it in my 10-ten strangest things I've ever seen in sports. And the ejection was costly... he was France's best player on the field having almost scored a few minutes before hand, and their go-to penalty kicker. Would you wager on the Heat in a free throw shooting or penalty kicking or beanbag tossing contest to decide a big game after Dwyane Wade got ejected in OT for body slamming Keith Van Horn?

http://davidweinberg.blogspot.com