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Updated October 8, 2012, 2:28 pm
On Oct. 9, 1967, Latin American guerrilla leader Che Guevara was executed in Bolivia while attempting to incite revolution.
On Oct. 9, 1899, Bruce Catton, the American writer and historian known for his books about the Civil War, was born. Following his death on Aug. 28, 1978, his obituary appeared in The Times.
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On This Date
By The Associated Press
1635 Religious dissident Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. 1701 The Collegiate School of Connecticut – later Yale University – was chartered in New Haven. 1776 A group of Spanish missionaries settled in present-day San Francisco. 1888 The public was first admitted to the Washington Monument. 1930 Laura Ingalls became the first woman to fly across the United States as she completed a nine-stop journey from Roosevelt Field in New York to Glendale, Calif. 1936 The first generator at Boulder (later Hoover) Dam began transmitting electricity to Los Angeles. 1946 The Eugene O’Neill drama “The Iceman Cometh” opened on Broadway. 1958 Pope Pius XII died at age 82. 1967 Guerrilla leader Che Guevara was executed in Bolivia while attempting to incite revolution. 1975 Soviet scientist Andrei Sakharov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. 1985 The hijackers of the Achille Lauro cruise liner surrendered after the ship arrived in Port Said, Egypt. 1990 David Souter was sworn in as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. 2001 Letters postmarked in Trenton, N.J., that later tested positive for anthrax spores were mailed to Sens. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. 2006 North Korea announced that it had conducted its first nuclear weapons test. 2006 Google Inc. announced it was snapping up YouTube Inc. for $1.65 billion in a stock deal. 2007 The Dow Jones industrial average closed at an all-time high of 14,164.53. 2008 The Dow Jones industrials fell below 9,000 – to 8,579.19 – for the first time in five years. 2009 President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. 2010 Chile’s 33 trapped miners cheered and embraced each other as a drill punched into their underground chamber where they had been stuck for an agonizing 66 days. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Rock musician Sean Lennon turns 37 years old today.
AP Photo/Peter Kramer
Rock singer Jackson Browne turns 64 years old today.
AP Photo/Vince Bucci
1941 Trent Lott, Former U.S. senator, R-Miss., turns 71 1944 Nona Hendryx, R&B singer, turns 68 1952 Sharon Osbourne, TV personality, turns 60 1953 Tony Shalhoub, Actor (“Monk,” “Wings”), turns 59 1954 Scott Bakula, Actor (“Star Trek: Enterprise,” “Quantum Leap”), turns 58 1954 James Fearnley, Rock musician (The Pogues), turns 58 1954 John O’Hurley, Actor (“Seinfeld”), turns 58 1958 Mike Singletary, Football Hall of Famer, turns 54 1966 David Cameron, British prime minister, turns 46 1969 P.J. Harvey, Rock singer, turns 43 1970 Annika Sorenstam, Golfer, turns 42 1979 Brandon Routh, Actor (“Superman Returns”), turns 33
Historic Birthdays
Bruce Catton 10/9/1899 – 8/28/1978 American historian.Go to obituary »
72 Robert de Sorbon 10/9/1201 – 8/15/1274
French theologian79 King Charles X 10/9/1757 – 11/6/1836
French king (1824-30)86 Camille Saint-Saens 10/9/1835 – 12/16/1921
French composer66 Leonard Wood 10/9/1860 – 8/7/1927
American medical officer and governor general of the Philippines (1921-7)66 Charles R. Walgreen 10/9/1873 – 12/11/1939
American pharmacist53 Aimee Semple McPherson 10/9/1890 – 9/27/1944
Canadian-born American evangelist75 Walter O’Malley 10/9/1903 – 8/9/1979
American lawyer
So when is a physically violent act justified on the basis of a provocation of words? Zidane has offered an explanation and even an apology to the “children of the world” but without much of a shadow of regret.
Does it make it alright now to go about headbutting your opponent the next time there’s some trash-talking on the court? Not to make little of the ugliness of trash-talking (which has been around since time immemorial), but could anything offensive said about one’s immediate family in a sports arena really justify such unsportsmanlike behavior? And given the scale of this event that claimed to have a world-wide viewership of 1 billion, not to mention the fact that Zidane was the captain of the team, were even these two factors not compelling enough for Zidane to exercise restraint and keep walking??
If all’s fair in love and war (and a sporting event is a form of war where the object of the engagement is to crush your opponent), how can this disgraceful display of boorish behavior ever be justified, no matter what the provocation? I would expect a sportsman to be so focused in the pursuit of that goal/run/basket that no such petty trash talk would deter him from achieving that objective. And whatever happened to taking the high road in such circumstances?
And the circumstances really do matter in this context– when the eyes of half of the world are on you at that moment, is it right, reasonable and responsible to strike out with a violent act of the kind that sends your opponent crashing to the ground? Zidane had the option of ignoring the comment, or responding in kind rightaway, or even taking it up with Matarazzi after the match, but no, he chose to TURN BACK and deliver a blow of the meanest kind in the stomach of his opponent. Had Zidane been behind Matarazzi on the field when the provocative insult was hurled at him, it might have been somewhat understandable that Zidane couldn’t help but lunge forward to retaliate, but the fact remains that he physically turned back to conduct violence. This shows a complete and utter lack of control, restraint and unsportsmanlike behavior!
I say to Zidane, granted, turning the other cheek is easier said than done, but if that’s absolutely not possible, then you should have just kept walking away! And if this level of maturity did not exist, then you had no business to be a leader of your team and certainly not a leader on moral values such as upholding your mother’s honor in the face of insults.
Your mother, by the way, might have been prouder had you led your team to victory rather than headbutting your opponent to protect her honor. And if you believe that Matrazzi’s trash-talking would really affect your mother’s honor, then I would question the nature of your opinion of your mother’s honor. But that’s besides the point, really. The point is, you have abused your position and privilege to justify a disgraceful act in the name of your mother. No provocation justifies this.
Let the children of the world be told that this type of behavior will not be tolerated on the playing field, no matter what your opponent may say to provoke you. The game must go on, and you must do your part to play it well, no matter what the provocation.
The best retaliation or revenge if you are a victim of trash-talk is to win the game, not to be kicked out of it! And afterwards maybe, you can take it up with your offending opponent in private– after you’ve let the referees and FIFA and even the world know what you put up with on the field. And then you could’ve said with a smile, “GRBR!” — that’s “Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish!”
Updated October 7, 2012, 2:28 pm
On Oct. 8, 1982, all labor organizations in Poland, including Solidarity, were banned.
On Oct. 8, 1890, Edward V. Rickenbacker, the World War I flying ace who went on to lead Eastern Airlines for thirty years, was born. Following his death on July 23, 1973, his obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1869 Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States, died in Concord, N.H., at age 64. 1918 American Army Sgt. Alvin York almost single-handedly killed 25 German soldiers and captured 132 in the Argonne Forest in France. 1944 “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” debuted on CBS Radio. 1945 President Harry S. Truman announced that the secret of the atomic bomb would be shared only with Britain and Canada. 1956 Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in a World Series as the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 2-0 in Game 5. 1959 Margaret Thatcher was first elected to the British Parliament as a Conservative representing the north London suburb of Finchley. 1970 Soviet author Alexander Solzhenitsyn was named winner of the Nobel Prize for literature. 1982 Poland banned all labor organizations, including Solidarity. 1985 The hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro killed American passenger Leon Klinghoffer and dumped his body and wheelchair overboard. 2001 Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge was sworn in as director of the new Office of Homeland Security. 2004 Lifestyle guru Martha Stewart reported to prison to begin serving a sentence for lying about a stock sale. 2005 A major earthquake flattened villages on the Pakistan-India border, killing an estimated 86,000 people. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Actor Matt Damon turns 42 years old today.
AP Photo/Evan Agostini
Actor-TV host Nick Cannon (“America’s Got Talent”) turns 32 years old today.
AP Photo/Peter Kramer
1936 Rona Barrett, Entertainment reporter, turns 76 1938 Fred Stolle, Tennis Hall of Famer, turns 74 1939 Paul Hogan, Actor (“Crocodile Dundee” movies), turns 73 1941 Jesse Jackson, Civil rights leader, turns 71 1943 Chevy Chase, Actor, comedian, turns 69 1943 R.L. Stine, Author, turns 69 1949 Sigourney Weaver, Actress, turns 63 1955 Darrell Hammond, Comedian (“Saturday Night Live”), turns 57 1956 Stephanie Zimbalist, Actress, turns 56 1968 Emily Procter, Actress (“CSI: Miami”), turns 44 1979 Kristanna Loken, Actress, turns 33 1985 Bruno Mars, Singer, songwriter, turns 27 1993 Angus T. Jones, Actor (“Two and a Half Men”), turns 19
Historic Birthdays
Edward V. Rickenbacker 10/8/1890 – 7/23/1973 American World War I fighter pilot and aviation industrialist.Go to obituary »
87 Heinrich Schutz 10/8/1585 – 11/6/1672
German composer74 Edmund Steadman 10/8/1833 – 1/18/1908
American poet and banker66 John Milton Hay 10/8/1838 – 7/1/1905
American politician; U.S. secretary of state (1898-1905)78 Juan D. Peron 10/8/1895 – 7/1/1974
Argentinian president (1946-55, 1973-4)65 Frank Herbert 10/8/1920 – 2/11/1986
American writer
