Crummy: World Cup Finale

Hopefully most of you were able to catch the finale of the World Cup (otherwise known to the rest of the world as the "World's Greatest Sporting Event"), an uninspired 1-1 tie ending in a penalty kick shoot out crowning Italy champion. I have just a few comments to make about the entirety of the Cup and show a little clip of the most energy displayed by an individual in any of the games.

First, this Cup, among others in recent history, featured an extensive amount diving (see Vlade Divac) or acting. I have been extremely disappointed by the characteristic show of unsportsmanlike behavior by the world's greatest footballers (soccer players for us). One particular rising star, 21-year-old Christiano Ronaldo of Portugal, essentially gave up the award given to the Cup's Best Young Player because he couldn't help himself and dove so many times in the game against France that he was booed every time he touched the ball. FIFA needs to do something to stop this embarrassing spectacle occurring on soccer's biggest stage, not to mention everywhere else. Note: The MLS has little to no problem with diving.

Second, WHERE WERE THE GOALS? It may just be my American perspective, but I think that soccer needs more goals. This Cup gave the Golden Boot (award for highest goal scorer) to Miroslav Klose of Germany who scored only 5 goals in 8 games (which lets him join the ranks of the lowest winners with only 5 goals from 1950 and before, c'mon, they didn't play nearly 8 games back then). While this was apparently a great feat considering the low goal totals overall, I hardly think that is a good enough show. At least they didn't give the Golden Ball (award for MVP of the Cup) to a defender like the ABC commentators wanted.

Third, Marcelo Balboa sucks! Apparently a hired hand to do some bonus work for the World Cup and a US National Team hall-of-famer, can hardly tell when a good play has been made on the field from a good acting job. He made one comment that I despised when talking about Wayne Rooney of England. Rooney was in the box attacking goal when a defender slid in on him and he made a move to play the ball that he thought he could get instead of falling. Balboa says, "When he matures a bit more as a player, he will fall down in that situation [aka take a dive]." I'm disappointed.

Fourth, the greatest show of energy from a player in the Cup came when Zinedine Zidane of France (affectionately nicknamed "Zizou") decided to head-butt another player who had made some kind of grave comment to him. Personally, I'm guessing that he must have said something about his mom. Sometime this week we will be told what exactly electrified Zizou. Oh yeah, not only does Zizou have one of the coolest names of all time but he is also the captain of the French team and a three time World Footballer of the Year. One last thing, Zizou got the Golden Ball award in this Cup. Check out the video of Zizou's Head-Butt. It's in French because I thought it was funnier.

Lastly, there are rumors that sometime in the near future that MLS teams will be the home for players like Beckham and Ronaldo. We'll have to see what happens.