The Billiken's Bluff

Real men playing real football do not get strapped to a gurney and carried off the field when they get kicked in the shin.



Unless it is a neck or head injury and doctors are concerned about paralysis no stretcher is required. Teammates help the player off the field. Fans applaud this display of strength, courage and comradery



US football players (or soccer players for that matter) don't get some topical numbing agent sprayed onto their ass after falling to the turf. The medical staff treated Gianluca Zambrotta like this:



The US is tougher than that and declines all aerosol spritzes.



Seriously.

It was brutal watching the Italian team flop around, writhing in pain after getting kicked in the leg.

Someone wanted the US to lose to Italy in Saturday's World Cup match. Lots of questionable calls.

The US managed a tie despite the officiating. I'm not one that usually exudes nationalism but this game got me going. Let's go Team America. Beat Ghana this week and get to the Round of 16.



Speaking of Ghana I saw highlights from Ghana's 2-0 win over the Czech Republic. After scoring one of the goals Ghana defender, John Paintsil, pulled an Israeli flag seemingly out of his uniform and waved it in celebration. Paintsil plays for a club team in Tel Aviv.



This is bizarre and warrants a comment from the commentators. If a Oguchi Onyewu, US Player who plays professionally in Europe pulled a Belgian Flag out after scoring a goal this would be weird. It would seem like he wasn't supporting his own team, it would be just out of place. But the Israeli flag is the most politically charged in the world. The game took place in Germany, which has had a special relationship with Zion over the years. And the player was from Ghana. The Ghana in western Africa.



Maybe the commentators did talk about this during the game, I'm not sure. But during the highlights it wasn't mentioned. They talked about how this was a big win for Ghana, an upset over the heavily-favored Czechs, but come on state the obvious. Tell the King he has no clothes if he is in fact not wearing any clothes. Show a pulse.

Don’t be so careful, so PC, that you let a scene where an Israeli flag is waved by an African soccer team in Germany go without so much as a comment.