Okay, so let’s hit the ground running here and not pussy foot around. I’ve been thinking about that head butting incident in the World Cup final, over which everyone has absolutely pilloried the French star, Zidane.
I’m going to weigh in with a slightly different take. What Zidane did was undoubtedly stupid. It was silly. It may have cost France a most magically earned World Cup championship, and it cost Zidane himself a fair amount of the glow surrounding his name.
But I also think this: Zidane was driven to butt Italian Marco Materazzi out of a sense of personal honor (you certainly can’t say Zidane acted in the heat of the moment), because Materazzi crossed a line in the sand. And that notion of “honor” is almost entirely gone from our collective life these days.
Theoretically, we should be living in a time of civility and harmony, because we’ve managed to create powerful prohibitions against things like the good old-fashioned punch-in-the-nose. Actually, it appears that we’ve thrown open the floodgates on incivility, reckless accusation (and lying), the vilest kinds of name-calling, bigotry - the whole nine – because nobody is held accountable anymore. Therefore, a guy like Materazzi (I'm basing all this on admittedly unsatisfying press reports)feels he can say anything he wants - Zidane wouldn't dare hold him accountable. Not with millions watching! Not with all that money at stake! Not with the precious World Cup trophy on the line!
But every once in a while, somebody – today, it’s Zidane - violates the taboo. He or she in effect, says, I don’t care what is on the line, how much money or personal advantage or reward. I am not going to have the last laugh, or laugh all the way to the bank. My code of honor simply won’t allow me to let this go unanswered. It takes an individual of great (if not necessarily admirable) character to take that road, and wasn’t Mr. Materazzi surprised to learn, in the most direct manner, that he was being held accountable for his words?
I don't expect many of you to agree with me on this. But I can't deny the way I feel about this. Of course, a part of me feels badly for the French squad, which inadvertently suffered because of what Zidane felt he had to do. But a part of me condones what Zidane did and forgives him because, in addition to striking a blow for accountability, his action also demonstrated something that many people forget and that as a writer I feel strongly about: words are powerful weapons, they can cause more hurt and sorrow than fists or belts or willow switches.
The worst you can say about a physical response of the kind Zidane made (and, after all, it’s not like he gouged the guy’s eyes out) is that it was crude and of limited value. So what, the nature of the response is no measure of the offense. Besides,can’t you say the same of prayer?
The head butt was about the power of words, the notion of accountability, and about honor. It was not an admirable move, nor a clever or practical one; it was something that transcended those mundane considerations.
I was thinking about this partly because the ankle-biters were out in droves yesterday afternoon over at the blog of my Tennis cellmate, Pennsyltucky’s own Steve Tignor. We had a lively discussion of what constituted “manly” virtues, or behavior. It was a lot of fun mixing it up on a blog other than my own as just another comment poster.
I guess now I’ll really have to write that “Are Male Tennis Players Really Men” blog that I alluded to a week or so ago, in which I’ll take a helicopter flight over my experience on that subject.
In fact, I’m going to include a quiz to determine where you fit on the scale that runs from Metrosexual Icon to Hopeless Neanderthal. Should be fun (if you're prepared to let it be). Stay tuned. Last Wimbledon post coming shortly.