You know… I may have done the same thing. (And I’ve been a pretty serious athlete all my life – soccer, tennis, track, swimming, cycling and triathlon.) I’ve had jerks try to get under my skin before, and a few have. Luckily, there was always a ref nearby or a teammate to put an end to things before they went anywhere… but out on the soccer field, you just can’t let someone punk you out. You have to respond when provoked. Otherwise, sooner or later, it gets around that you’re either afraid to get into something or easy to push around. Materazzi’s provocation was much more reprehensible in my book, than Zidane’s response. (But hey, I’m French, I’m old school, and I’m a bit of a scrapper.)

Cool post.