From the Sublime to the Ridiculous?
Adrian Bradbury - Zinedine Zidane? Hmmm ... Bradbury, Zidane? I think I'd go with Bradbury anytime. (see below) At least he's contributing something positive to the world, trying to make it a little better place.
If you don't know about the infamous head-butt, you might just want to skip this, but if you do, maybe you're finding it all just as unbelievably trite and immature as I am. I was reading about Zidane's supposed apology this morning and found myself looking at the kind of thing that I spent years in the classroom trying to teach my students about. He has now issued one of those non-apologies that I always told them was nothing more than a waste of breath. You know the kind. They're the ones that end with a "but..." clause. They always mean "I'm not really sorry at all, and I'd do it again." Zidane's sorry routine was a supposed apology to all the little kiddies watching, who saw his act of violence, and a quick follow-up with the declaration that he feels no regret for it. Originally, a teammate was trying to excuse his behaviour by saying it had been prompted by a racial slur made by the Italian player Materazzi. The Italian denied it. Now comes Zidane's statement that the provocation was a "harsh insult" against his mother and sister.
You would not believe the number of times when I have intervened, especially between boys in grade eight, in exactly this kind of scenario. Grade eight. You know, 13 years old, not yet adults. Zidane, on the other hand, is old enough to be suffering from a drastically receding hairline. Hasn't he been around long enough to learn anything yet? He says he feels no regret because if he hadn't reacted violently that "would mean (Materazzi) was right to say all that."
God, the endless hours I spent trying to explain to the boys that the listener is not responsible for what the speaker says. To react with violence neither verifies or nullifies the statement, but it can say a lot about the intelligence level of the listener. Think about it. If someone came up to you tomorrow and vehemently declared the world to be flat, would you feel obliged to haul out an Uzi and teach him the error of his ways? Wouldn't you be more likely just to look him at with a "whatever" smile of derision and walk away?
I tried and tried to get the message to the kids that while violence can create a Pandora's box of problems, it actually solves precious few. If Zidane knows the world is round, he doesn't have to head-butt anyone to prove it. If he knows his mother and sister are not what Materazzi supposedly said, then he does not have to head-butt anyone to prove that, either. Does it never occur to these macho-idiot defenders of female virtue that their violent denials might actually suggest the opposite of what they intend? After all, one could say - with all due apologies to Shakespeare - "Methinks the soccer player doth protest too much."
If you don't know about the infamous head-butt, you might just want to skip this, but if you do, maybe you're finding it all just as unbelievably trite and immature as I am. I was reading about Zidane's supposed apology this morning and found myself looking at the kind of thing that I spent years in the classroom trying to teach my students about. He has now issued one of those non-apologies that I always told them was nothing more than a waste of breath. You know the kind. They're the ones that end with a "but..." clause. They always mean "I'm not really sorry at all, and I'd do it again." Zidane's sorry routine was a supposed apology to all the little kiddies watching, who saw his act of violence, and a quick follow-up with the declaration that he feels no regret for it. Originally, a teammate was trying to excuse his behaviour by saying it had been prompted by a racial slur made by the Italian player Materazzi. The Italian denied it. Now comes Zidane's statement that the provocation was a "harsh insult" against his mother and sister.
You would not believe the number of times when I have intervened, especially between boys in grade eight, in exactly this kind of scenario. Grade eight. You know, 13 years old, not yet adults. Zidane, on the other hand, is old enough to be suffering from a drastically receding hairline. Hasn't he been around long enough to learn anything yet? He says he feels no regret because if he hadn't reacted violently that "would mean (Materazzi) was right to say all that."
God, the endless hours I spent trying to explain to the boys that the listener is not responsible for what the speaker says. To react with violence neither verifies or nullifies the statement, but it can say a lot about the intelligence level of the listener. Think about it. If someone came up to you tomorrow and vehemently declared the world to be flat, would you feel obliged to haul out an Uzi and teach him the error of his ways? Wouldn't you be more likely just to look him at with a "whatever" smile of derision and walk away?
I tried and tried to get the message to the kids that while violence can create a Pandora's box of problems, it actually solves precious few. If Zidane knows the world is round, he doesn't have to head-butt anyone to prove it. If he knows his mother and sister are not what Materazzi supposedly said, then he does not have to head-butt anyone to prove that, either. Does it never occur to these macho-idiot defenders of female virtue that their violent denials might actually suggest the opposite of what they intend? After all, one could say - with all due apologies to Shakespeare - "Methinks the soccer player doth protest too much."
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