Shay It Ain't So

Great stories are made by the heroes and the villains. Then there is the France v. Ireland Word Cup playoff match. Damien Duff WAS the hero. Robbie Keane WAS the hero.

Then Thierry Henry flicked the ball to William Gallas to give France the win and he became the hero. Only Henry handled the ball illegally...twice.

Suddenly Henry's no longer the hero he's the villain. Martin Hansson did what every referee wants to avoid, he was noticed. Hansson too, became a villain. French Coach Raymond Domenech? Well he became one of the biggest villains/assholes, denying what millions had seen in person and TV land.Duff, Keane and the Rest of Ireland? No longer heroes, they had been forced to be the victims. The story now had no heroes at all.

Maybe the scorn isn't as great where the non-English-speaking media reins supreme (score one for freedom of the press), but that didn't stop the outcry from reaching France and Sweden. Both Henry and Hansson claimed to seriously reconsider their career choices in the aftermath. They both denied blame, to varying degrees of success, but ultimately realize that while they did their best they were to blame for the outcome, Henry for handling the ball, Hansson for missing the obvious call.

While Henry showed much humility, well at least much more than Diego Maradona after his famous "Hand of God", as we have yet been spared any gloating, self-inflicted nicknames for Henry's actions, his coach did not follow suit.

Domenech has been less than classy, going so far as the deny that the handball seen round the world even took place in his post-match press conference. Henry himself admitted to his action in his own conference, but Domenech was no going to have any of it. Henry told the referee it was indeed a handball and stuck consoled the dejected Irish team after the match ended.



Does his compassion and self-deprecation make Henry immune from blame for the incident? I'd argue it doesn't but at the same time he should not be made out the be the horrific villain and cheat he has been painted as.

Did he handle the ball? Undeniably, yes. Did he report his misdeed to the referee in time for it to rectified on the pitch? No, of course not. Does this make him into the Irish FA's version of Satan? I'd have to hope not.

While constant slow-mo and super-slow-mo iterations of the replay can be seen from multiple angles you can argue what ever you want about the handball. While from the camera behind the end line it is obvious that he touches it twice in succession before flicking it on to Gallas for the goal to clinch a trip to South Africa, you cannot assume it was something Henry thought about doing. Sure, the synapses of a top-tier professional athlete may fire a bit quicker under pressure than say, your average blogger, but the time it took for the ball to come up on him, it would be next to impossible for Henry to make the conscious decision that yes, yes I will cheat in an attempt to score a goal right here, right now.

Henry even called for the match to be replayed after the fact, something FIFA was having none of. It was widely known that a replay was the only fair way to award a Irish team that outplayed the French team on the own soil. It was an inspired effort from a team maligned for its result in the opening game of the two-match tie. Giovanni Trapattoni was under fire for defensive tactics that kept his team in games but left little room for comebacks.

Enter Duff and Keane and their link-up on the first goal. Suddenly the dream was possible. They could not only play with the French, heck, they could be better than them! If only they could have something every kid who's played whiffle ball knows about, a do-over. Brimming with confidence after a game they felt should have at the very least gone to penalties, Ireland assistant Liam Brady was ready to challenge his boys to go out do what before that day seemed impossible...again.

"This game should be replayed and we'll go to Paris to play it," Brady told reporters.

The call for the replay didn't stop with the coaches of the losing team or even Henry. Trapattoni may not have called for one but the Irish Justice minister did.

"Millions of people worldwide saw it was a blatant double handball, not to mention a double offside [bloggers note: I didn't even get into that, but yeah, that happened too]. We should put the powers that be in the cosy world of FIFA on the spot and demand a replay,” said Dermot Ahern.

The Taoiseach (That's Ireland's Government Leader, apparently. English titles are overrated on the Emerald Isle) Brian Cowen even wanted to discuss the matter with French President Nicolas Sarkozy before being thwarted by François Fillon's warning as reported by the London Times. Domenech likewise denied calls for a replay, something that if he had done would have push FIFA president Sepp Blatter's hand just a little bit more.

Lost in this suddenly political conflict full of hooligan government types and re-hashed recession talk was the craziest and most unique idea of the story, the importance of a game. Every sports writer picks a time to mention the transcendent nature of sports, and this is my stand. Well, it's probably the first of many, but while it's not exactly my Little Bighorn, the remarkable power of this story is awe inspiring.

How often can such a subtle movement as Henry's handball was send all corners of the world into pandemonium?

That is the power of the World Cup for you. One of the more incredible things about it is the fact that its not always anger. Yeah, the Irish have every right to be angry but look at them after the handball. Its not anger. Shock. Disbelief. Agony. All these are more applicable.

Take a look at Shay Given as he and his teammates appeal to Hansson with all they have to give them the rightful handball. Now, put me in Given's shoes and it might just be pure anger. If the Boston College refs were as qualified as Hansson or say Dick Bavetta I'd have a rap sheet in the intramural office of yellow cards and technical fouls as long as Paradise Lost. But, I feel like I just don't understand what its like being on that stage...no really, I don't. Desperation, not anger is what Given shows to one of the two least popular men in Ireland these days.

Ireland was eliminated unfairly, and everyday till they start the next qualification campaign will be tainted with the image of Henry's "Hand of Frog." But even as haunted as Henry is, facing scorn even in his own country, it can't be taken away from him now that he lead is country to the World Cup. The Irish and maybe even the French may not not believe the best team won, but the show of heart on both sides at the peak of competition is something both countries can take pride in.

Flexing Their Muscles

There comes a time when even the seemingly indefensible must be defended. Just ask Bill Belichick.

Him and the spin machine that allows the Patriots to sign the likes Randy Moss, Brandon Meriweather and Corey Dillon, run up the score in a 16-0 season, and have stories like this come out but STILL be know as a high character team have been working overtime making fourth and two from their own 29 look like the right decision. The Boston Globe even took the time to find some mathematician that would say good ol’ Bill made the right call.

Belichick can say whatever he wants. He was wrong. Deep down even he has to know. It’s a chink in the Pats armor I’ve long been waiting to see as a Jets fan.

Sometimes though, the argument isn’t quite so cut and dry. Take Boston College basketball. For over the past decade that’s meant Al Skinner. It’s meant stoic sideline demeanor. It’s meant season opening suspensions. It’s meant suits from Eastern Clothing. And most importantly, it has meant the flex offense.

When Jared Dudley and Craig Smith were working the tight cuts, down screens and baseline motion to perfection, it was a sight to behold.

The last two seasons have been a little more barren in terms of the production. Tyrese Rice could put the ball in the hoop with the best of them, but knuckling down and grinding down 34 seconds on the shot-clock so that a big man can come from block-to-block for a wide open lay-up? That wasn’t Ty.Well not really, it still looks the same but hey, it put the ball in the basket and that’s really what matters.

It’s not a knock on Rice. He was the best player on a young team, the unquestioned leader. Skinner had to change things up for his star. With that, the flex took its lumps. Honestly, who can blame the critics? Which is more fun to watch, a succession of crisp back cuts, or Rice draining two three-pointers from roughly a quarter-mile a way before jawing at the courtside cameraman? Yeah, I thought so.

With nothing changing for BC besides Rice not having the ball, this could be the team to bring back the heyday of the flex for Skinner.

Biko Paris is no Tyrese, but that might be a good thing. Paris’ role has been the media talking point of the late offseason, so I’ll spare you that, but he’s a distributor who can handle the ball and settle the offense down.

You have Paris at the point and Josh Southern, well do what he does to the tune of 7 and 6, but that’s not where the flex is made. It’s made with the ability to create mismatches.

With the two through four spots, that’s what the Eagles have. The number of 6-foot-5, 230-pound shooting guards, even in the ACC? Minimal. But that’s what BC has in Rakim Sanders. With the ball being worked down low so much in the flex, Sander’s ability to body people down low is so important to the offense. Since most guards will need help, Sanders can look to kick and that’s where having a big man like Joe Trapani stretching the floor comes in handy. While his man goes into the post to help with Sanders, Trapani can leak and suddenly, the flex offense can look just a little pretty.

Throw in the pure rebounding instinct of Corey Raji being kept close to the hoop by the tightness of Skinner’s flex and suddenly, hey, this jut might work.

When you think about it like that, the flex doesn’t sound so bad does it? I guess all Belichick needed was two. And all Skinner needed was the right players.

Not Quite Azteca...But It Will Do

As seen in the October 22, 2009 edition of The Heights, the Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College

Imagine fans more "smashed" on a whole than any pre-game tailgate you'll find on Shea Field, drinking enough tequila to bring LenDale White back to his old playing weight. Now imagine 105,000 of them screaming and chanting for two hours without a break.

Welcome to Estadio Azteca.

The go-to home ground for the Mexican national soccer team blows Michigan-Ohio State out of the water. I'm not calling the prototypical college football rivalry tame, but I doubt Terrelle Pryor will be looking over his shoulder this year in case a flare or bag of urine is coming his way. And that's without Azteca's barbed-wire fence.

Azteca is one of the most feared venues in the world. The noise is nearly unbeatable when the "El Tri" steps onto the field.

Mexico has Azteca. England has Wembley. Even Costa Rica has its national stadium in San Jose, with a field that makes the Astro Dome turf look like the sprawling fairways of Bethpage Black. Then the United States has…?

Maybe Giants Stadium? I was there for the Gold Cup this year and can guarantee the Mexican fans outnumbered those in Red, White, and Blue at least six or seven to every one.

How about Soldier Field in Chicago? When the U.S. last played there, its opponent - less than impressive Honduras - drowned out the American support.

Then comes the last game of qualifying for the World Cup. The United States had already clinched its trip to South Africa 2010, and its opponent for the evening, Costa Rica, had to win to avoid a home-and-home with Uruguay to clinch its place in the Mecca of international team sports, the World Cup (sorry, Olympics).

It's the type of situation where both players and fans phone-in their effort, preferring not to leave the couch and risk an injury, to sit in the stands in an unnaturally cold October. Still, the U.S. had to suit up and walk onto the field in Washington, D.C.'s RFK Stadium last Wednesday.

Head coach Bob Bradley may want to ask the USSF to move there permanently. The crowd was loud and vibrant in support of the Americans. Signs honoring injured striker (and former BC player) Charlie Davies hung from the lining walls, and the ESPN cameras had no shortage of "super fans" to show during breaks in the action.

Chants of "When the Yanks come marching in," which had been virtually silenced by Mexican support in my trip to the Meadowlands, were clearly audible hundreds of miles away through the television. It was what the U.S. had lacked for so long, a downright home-field advantage.

The U.S. team celebrated in front of its fans after the game like it had just won its very own World Cup. They were leaping around applauding the support of their compatriots.

Tim Howard, the veteran stalwart in front of the goal, was jumping around, hanging on his teammates with a massive smile. It conjured up images of Thomas Claiborne's celebration in front of the BC student section after the Eagles beat Va. Tech last season.

The ensuing field-storming after that victory - probably uncalled for and the sole reason there are now a small army of staties awaiting a lone zealot following a win over the likes of Northeastern - did not happen at RFK, but the mutual admiration of the effort on the field and in the stands was the same.

The scene looked similar to the U.S. upset of Spain, by far the biggest victory the national team had since it defeated England, the home of soccer (a.k.a. Association Football) … in 1950.

The best part about the RFK experience? The U.S didn't even win.

Jonathan Bornstein netted a header in the 95th minute to tie the game 2-2. The crowd may have been looking for a victory, but at that moment, a draw was all it needed. The lone point taken from the game was enough to assure that the stars and stripes would finish tops in the group, just ahead of Mexico. Meanwhile, Costa Rico, arguably the second biggest rival the U.S. has, was forced to book a round trip ticket to Montevideo for the chance to join Howard and company in South Africa.

If Bradley's team is really going to take the next step and become a true force the world away, that is the kind of support it needs.

Sure, there are some crazy people - yours truly included - who would relish the chance to sit so far up in the nosebleed that there isn't even a word for it just to say they saw the U.S. play at Azteca. Personal police escort included.

The team can't expect a crowd like that to be waiting for them when the suit up in Johannesburg or Bloemfontein, but if the U.S. knows a it has a crowd like the one it had at RFK is behind it back home, it just might be enough.