In Defense of Zidane on Bastille Day

Ah, looks like i've got you a little worked up, defending Zidane's legacy even after his infamous finale. You stated that the French lost the game as a result of the play. I disagreed. I likened Zidane's situation now to that of Bill Buckner 20 years ago this October.

The comparisson is not perfect, but by citing Buckner, i wished to make a point about individual plays and the players who made them, to protest the great degree to which plays such as Buckner's boot and Zidane's headbutt, especially and perhaps exclusively occurring in the arena of Team Sports, take on historical lives of their own that often distort the event, while scapegoating the player. The widely accepted Sports Truth, number 78, sub-clause 10, paragraph 01, states that, and I quote, "Buckner lost the game for the Red Sox". But it's hardly accurate, or a fair assessment of the play. Buckner booted the ball, but the Red Sox had dug a hole for themselves by allowing runners to get on base. if there are no runners on base obviously the error becomes far less consequential, etc.

To me, Zidane's name is actually much more defendable than Buckner's. Arguing about causation and determination is an exercize in futility because you never know for sure, so in considering Zidane, shouldn't his actual and provable contributions to the team in the game count for far more than mere speculation about What Could Have Happened If yadda yadda? my point: You unfairly place far too much blame on ZZ for France's loss, when it seems to me, and this IS just an opinion, that Italy would have won anyway, and in the face of massive and provable contributions by the Z man. to close, history will not make a Buckner of Zidane.