Zidane's head butt and Sachin Tendulkar

Just a thought occured to me -

What Zidane did in the final against Italy was a very serious offence. There are no two ways about it. Even the French media and public admitted it and felt the punishment he received (Red Card) was well deserved. But at the same time, they still respect him for what he has achieved although this incident would go down as a blot on record of their national hero.

Few years back we had a similar incident (although some might argue not quite that serious) with our national hero - Sahin Tendulkar.

Sachin was shown on television to be doing something with the seam of a cricket ball - a punishable offence in the game. And although the player claimed he was just cleaning the seam, the offence nevertheless deserved to be punished (no player is going to go out and admit that he did wrong). The Indian media and public however were not ready to accept that what Sachin did was anything wrong and then there were cries of differential treatment and harsh puinishment being meeted out etc etc etc. There was a huge public outcry when punishment was handed out to him.

Now here's the difference - both Zidane and Sachin are national infact global incons in their own rights. But one is respected the other is idolized. One makes a mistake, pays for it and the fans accept the punishment as deserved and move on. Their respect for him is not diminished. However the fans of the other do not accept the fact (playing with the seam of a cricket ball is a crime in the game period) and make cries of partiality etc.

Its time we became more mature and stopped godifying people. If a person makes a mistake, he pays for it and life moves on. Everyone makes a mistake. Life goes on.

Let life go on..

Thats it for now...