Finito - C'est Fini

Hey Peeps and anyone else checking in. A special "Hey" goes out to Hazel Mae.

The 2006 World Cup wound up today with Italy beating France on penalty kicks - after the game ended in a 1-1 tie - winning their fourth championship.

This year's tournament had many memorable moments - as well as many forgettable ones. But the memory that live on in football history is the brain cramp of France's Zinedine Zidane; who for no apparent reason provided a clinic on how to deliver a header - unfortunately, he planted his bald head into the chest of Italy's John Turturro (known to Italian football fans as Marco Materazzi).

Zidane, who has always been regarded as one of the game's classiest player, picked the 2nd period of extra time to pull this stunt - getting himself kicked out of the game and making himself unavailable for penalty kicks. The rest, as they say, is history.

The curious thing about the incident is the lack of outrage on the part of the British press. They have been uncharacteristically factual in their reporting of this incident - offering very little opinion on the gravity and severity of it.

If you follow football at all - you will know that the British press has an opinion on everything; whether you want it or not. They were reading to hang Portugal's Luis Figo for his butt on Holland's Marco Van Bommel (who put his hands on Figo - a no no in football). They were particulary vocal in calling for a red card and a suspension for Portugal's captain, ironically right before they squared off against England. They were also particularly critical of Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo for speaking to the referree after England's Wayne Rooney stomped on Ricardo Carvalho. They repeatedly referred to Ronaldo's actions as "unsportsmanlike and an embarrassment" - though no such commentary was offered about Italy's Gianluigi Buffon who walked up and down the sidelines screaming at the linesman and the fourth official on that side of the field.

This can only be chalked up to one thing - England doesn't have an axe to grind with France or Italy, since neither have been responsible for ousting England from a major tournament in quite some time. These guys are something special - after the game they politely heard out France's Manager Raymond Domenech, who downplayed the incident. They also didn't descend on Zidane (who offered no explanation for his actions) - in the case of Ronaldo, they hounded him at every turn - rendering his return to England to play for Manchester United all but impossible.

And you guys all thought Boston sports writers were nuts huh? They have nothing on the British press.

That's about all for tonight gang - one final World Cup entry tomorrow (promise) and Monday's Hazies. Have a great one peeps!

Hazel, I hope things are groovy in your world.

Song of the Night on Hazelspeeps - for my buddy Renee at Hazelspeeps (inside joke on the site)

I Believe - Kylie Minogue

Peesth Out...Buh Bye!