Morning Tweet: France surrenders, Kaka robbed, gratuitous New Zealand sheep joke
Jun 21, 2010, 9:00 AM EDT
So tell me again; the U.S. is supposed to embrace professional soccer because … ?
1. It is a sport of grand tradition. And what could be more traditional than the French surrendering? In case you haven’t heard, the French World Cup team refused to practice on Sunday in protest of striker Nicolas Anelka’s expulsion from the squad. Anelka had launched a profanity-laced tirade against coach Raymond Domenech the day before. This has gone over so well back home that French President Nicolas Sarkozy has gotten involved, pleading for calm. Meanwhile, the French newspaper Midi Libre said today:
Shame on them. Shame on these players who have no idea about the realities of life’s difficulties and who can strike at a World Cup — a global event which they qualified for thanks to Thierry Henry’s cheating.
2. It is a sport of honor. Check out this replay of Ivory Coast’s Kader Keita, running into Brazil’s Kaka and faking a face injury. What a performance. It got Kaka a totally unjustified red card … unless you count all the previous times Brazil players have done pretty much the same thing.
3. Its commentators are not above easy New Zealand jokes. The Guardian’s James Richardson, on New Zealand’s 1-1 tie with Italy: “The last time a Kiwi had such a good grip on an opponent, it said “Baaaaaaa.”
And that’s your World Cup roundup for Monday morning. With no vuvuzela mentions! (do’h!)
Juror #7: You a Yankee fan?
Juror #5: No, Baltimore.
Juror #7: Baltimore? That’s like being hit in the head with a crow bar once a day.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT …
What you missed while feeling a little gassy …
* Florida Marlins give away 15,000 vuvuzelas. And so the invasion begins.
* Note to Hank Baskett: Do not attempt.
* More World Cup-related nursing home violence, I’m afraid.
***
TODAY IN MARK TRAIL …
The mystery of newspaper guy’s disappearing mustache! In June 19th’s strip, he has one … but on June 21, it’s gone!
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- jcturcan - Jun 21, 2010 at 3:15 PM
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What could be more traditional than the French surrendering?
Rick Chandler may be too young to have earned the righ to such a poor taste joke.
This kind of hate everything French was supposed to be over after the Bush years!
He should do some home work on WWII
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- Delores - Jun 21, 2010 at 4:33 PM
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I don’t like soccer, or watch it to any great degree. However, even I knew the Academy Award winning performance by the Ivory Coast player was an acting job. Does that mean I can be a World Cup Soccer ref? Evidentally they don’t have to have any qualifications of unbiased soccer rules training. The “real” official couldn’t tell the difference between a “performance” and a real foul.
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- Frank - Jun 21, 2010 at 5:12 PM
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I’ve tried, the past couple of World Cups, to watch soccer. However, it’s always the same old story. The game takes a backseat to the officiating, or to player . There seems to be a serious lack of integrity in soccer on all levels. The refs make erroneous calls, time and time again, that determine the outcomes of games and tournaments. Why should one call or one person have that much sway? The players are always actively seeking to manipulate the refs decisions. Where does it stop? I enjoy the pagentry of the World Cup and the enthusiasm of the fans, but the games themselves have been boring and scandal laden. Business as usual, from my limited persepective.
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- Ego - Jun 21, 2010 at 6:01 PM
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Rick,
US is and will continue embracing soccer regardless of your article, and is progressively doing better at each tournament. In US, across several sports we have witnessed fights and evil actions by professional players and referees right and left not to talk about recreational and/or banned performance-enhancing drugs use by athletes and even murders off courts. And we still watch and enjoy NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, Tour de France, etc.
You are just infuriated at the World Cup referees for the last very few bad calls which gave you something to talk about. I do feel that you like soccer and are passionate about it… you took the time to write about
