Friday, November 20, 2009

jobless! but not feeling the pressure of finding a job yet. hopefully its not procrastination! i mean.. i do enjoy the feeling of have no responsibilities and nothing in particular to do, not having to wake up early etc. but i am doing some well deserved resting and setting my personal life in order! haha i hope :p

finished reading frank close's nothing book. this is the second time i borrowed it. im going to borrow it again when the library has it! i rmb first time reading it i was pretty much LOST. second time now... hm much better! now a little less clueless about the field of theoretical physics so i understood the book much better this time :) yay haha will see what a third read can bring me.

din manage to read a briefer history of time had to return it coz it was due >< but borrowed how to build a time machine by paul davies and finished. wahaha think its the fastest i ever finished a science book. its rather easy to read coz its completely written for anybody even he/she does not have any science background. and its pretty interesting i think (or at least as interesting as the topic allows it haha) but din learn much from it ba. just some wistful thinking and far-fetched imagination of physicists. still the principles were thought provoking to say the least :) might re read it before returning.

thierry henry is a CHEAT. there i said it. got it off my chest. feels good.
hmm facts first. he handled a ball close to goal. twice. ref plus assistant ref did not spot it so he pass to gallas who scored and in the process france progressed into the world cup at the expense of ireland.

there seem to be two major camps of arguments regarding this issue and i cant fathom out WHY. first group of ppl (mostly french probably. maybe a couple of self-smug ppl) say he didnt have a CHOICE. its world cup at stake and since ref din do anything he played on.

second camp called him a cheat. and a few other more offensive terms i think.

but i dont get it. i thought it was so obvious theres nothing to debate. yes he did something "wrong" and got away with it, he didnt have MUCH of a choice, oh and yes he definitely IS a cheat. C'mon la no two ways about it right. the only argument that can stand here is HOW MUCH of a blame should be pointed at him. look at the choice he had in that split second when the ball arrived. slow motion replays suggest he handled it twice - first might be arguably accidental, second i doubt it. but we're not in a position to judge him or his integrity (yes i am trying to be fair. my heart and instinct tells me first was accidental maybe but second was BLATANT)
so lets assume it was accidental.
CHOICES
1. do what his coach, team, and most of his countrymen would expect of him. play to the ref's whistle. and since ref din blow for foul, play on and get the goal
2. be honest. stop the play and own up.

CONSEQUENCES
1. his actions result in a goal for his country and saved them from potential epic embarrassment. his country qualify for the world cup at the expense of another country. his reputation as one of the finest strikers of the game would be tarnished forever. his name, when ppl rmb him after he retires, will forever be branded along with the word cheat.

2. look stupid during the game. get hated by everyone from his team and country. might cost his country world cup qualification. and gain the respect of a global sporting community.

sure i mean in the immediate aftermath there are two possible outcomes
1. france qualify anyway.
in this case henry will forever be remembered as one of the game's true gentleman. an honest professional who wouldnt compromise his integrity for results. this would be a perfect scenario

2. france fail to qualify
in this case henry would be branded as stupid, naive, a liability, childish, the main culprit behind france's failure to qualify (not fair. i know). his countrymen might hate him for several years after

so he DID have a choice. neither are very pleasant choices. in all fairness sitting down typing this, Im not sure which choice i would have picked so i cannot blame him for making his decision THEN.
what amuses me is how some ppl brand him a cheat and how others try to absolve him of all blame. so i thought i'll make this clear. yes he didnt have much of a choice and yes, in a way he did "cheat" to get a goal. HE CHOSE what he wanted to do. nobody forced him. yes, circumstances put him in a very difficult moment. reminds me of macbeth and how life/fate put him into difficult predicament with temptations. SAME SITUATION. they both chose so they both have to live with the consequences.

for henry it'll mean he helped his country in qualification. and it means he'll be a cheat forever. and i've not even started on the "lets spare a thought for the brave irish team who outfought the french in every department on the pitch"
i doubt henry took that into consideration at that point.

what truely PISSED me off was his behavior afterward. he admitted to the handball.... and cleanly pushed all the blame to the ref. claimed to have told the ref. and insisted that since he's not the ref he played on and helped to get the goal.
WTF.
least he could do was to apologise? take some blame? spare a thought for his opponents? yes true according to RULES he didnt break any since on the pitch the only rule applicable would be to play to the ref's whistle. but he didnt even have the guts to apologise to the irish fans. and to make things worse he put the blame squarely on the ref. -.- so when decisions go against he him complained about the ref. and when decisions go for him he decides that its the ref's fault anyway. bravo.

sport doesnt build character. it reveals character. these are moments which reveal everything about a player's character. because these are moments where there's high stress on them, where they have little time to think, and when their publicity team/agents are not there to advice them on what to say.
i bet give it some time henry will come out and say something "nicer" then what he said in the post match interview. coz thats when his publicity team or some official from somewhere would have advised him on how to handle the situation.

the sheer hypocrisy of the him. and he was one of those who advocated fair play, and slammed diving in the game just a few years back. look who's talking now cheat.

and yes i do feel for the irish. the implications of this is far, far more than just world cup qualification alone.

9:58 PM

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