Louganis Alert Lifted

Well, I’m happy to say that France defeated Portugal in yesterday’s World Cup action. The victory by Les Bleus sets up the Sunday final of France versus Italy. 

I’m told that ESPN, which has been criticized for its World Cup coverage, had put Olympic great Greg Louganis on-alert. Had Portugal faced Italy in the finals, Louganis would have provided color commentary on all the diving. But with France in the finals, the sportscasters only have to watch Henry and assorted members of the Azzurri so Louganis has been told to stand-down. Also receiving the all-clear was a crack team of statisticians who planned to employ the latest, most powerful supercomputer technology to track all of Cristiano Ronaldo’s pointless step-overs.

If you’re a sports fan (even though you may not be normally watch soccer) you owe it to yourself to tune in on Sunday afternoon to watch the championship. It will be the final curtain call for the fantastic Zinedine Zidane, one of the greatest the game has ever seen.

My dear old grandmother, who knew absolutely nothing about basketball, walked through the den one day as I watched an NBA game. “Who in the world is that number 23?” she asked. Without understanding the game or knowing any of the players, she could see that Michael Jordan was doing things that normal human beings don’t do. He caught her attention with his determination and unworldly moves.

Zidane has the same type of captivating talent. And if he’s on his game, as he has been the last few days, you’ll be mesmerized. Over the course of his career, Zidane was named FIFA World Player of the Year three times and the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll selected him the best European player of the past 50 years. He has already retired from professional club play and will hang up his national team cleats after this World Cup.

So cue up your VCRs and your Tivo. This should be a historical moment.