[lit-ideas] Re: Conscious after the fact?/Una paloma blanca


On Jun 29, 2008, at 4:47 PM, Donal McEvoy wrote:
Re David's post:- I didn't find it ugly (that was SpainvItaly as ground down by Italy), am unsure about the Ballack thing (though think it is the kind of thing _he_ would do), and thought Senna was a powerhouse. The headbutt thing was Silva being stupid but the German leant in and they mutually locked horns first - the ref was right to let it go as six of one etc. and on the de minimis principle.
The best team of the tournament won and (your own team winning aside) that's always the best thing. (Possible counter-example:- England _if they were the best in '66_ for Alf's wingless wonders lead to copycat 4-4-2 defensiveness that spilled over until a glorious Brazil showed how it should be done four years later; and some Italian teams too, but then they can make defending an art form).
Well the goal was pretty much as I used to score goals...ho hum, how normal...and by "ugly" I didn't mean Spain vs Italy ugly...I was applying the standard that had developed through this rather wonderful tournament. Too high a standard, perhaps?
My eyes saw at least three moments when, instead of trying to head the ball, Spanish players tried to head his opponent's head. I don't know if you go far back enough on this list to know that I used to play and, in my final seasons, I averaged a goal a game. I joke about today's goal; I never scored anything like that. But I knew professional players and heard tales of how South Americans approached fouls with drills. Here's how to fall. Here's how to head butt someone and make it look like you were going for the ball. The reason Ballack was so out of control is that he plays the outer edge of what is allowed and he was incensed that players were getting away with things that are far from what is allowed; he was a cheat trying to "out" more serious cheats to an Italian ref! Talk about a lost cause.
[To keep within Lit-Ideas guidelines, insert some ref to ethical dilemmas here].
I agree that the Spaniards were good in earlier games and I'm pleased that Germany didn't squeak through; they weren't much of a team. I'm sorry the Dutch couldn't carry their form through the whole tournament. I didn't see enough of the Russians to know whether I liked them. The outcome is much better than the last World Cup, which was horrible. I just hope that head butting your opponent and disguising this, will not become next year's example of how to win. 

David Ritchie,
Portland, Oregon

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