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Zidane says insults to mother, sister caused head buttAssociated Press PARIS -- French soccer star Zinedine Zidane apologized for head-butting an Italian opponent during the World Cup final, saying Wednesday that he was provoked by insults about his mother and sister. www.espn.com Zinedine Zidane apologized for his head butt, but said he was provoked by Marco Materazzi's insults to his family. "I apologize, to all the children" who watched the match Sunday, Zidane said in his first, highly awaited comments about the act of violence that marked the end of his career. The 34-year-old midfielder, soft-spoken and relaxed in the interview with the Canal-Plus television network, did not specify exactly what Italian defender Marco Materazzi said that enraged him, but said it was about his family. "I would rather have taken a punch in the jaw than have heard that," Zidane said, stressing that Materazzi's language was "very harsh." Zidane and Materazzi exchanged words after Italy broke up a French attack in extra-time. Seconds later, Zidane lowered his head and rammed Materazzi in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Zidane was sent off, reducing France to 10 men. Italy went on to win in a penalty shootout. The abrupt act of aggression marred the end of the World Cup, with many warning it would tarnish Zidane's formidable legacy. The France captain said he felt no regret for his act, "because that would mean [Materazzi] was right to say all that." "There was a serious provocation," said Zidane, who said he had never had tensions with Materazzi before. "My act is not forgivable," Zidane said. "But they must also punish the true guilty party, and the guilty party is the one who provokes." "I tell myself that if things happened this way, it's because somewhere up there it was decided that way," he said in a later interview on TF1 television. "And I don't regret anything that happened, I accept it." For days, sports fans around the world have been riveted by the question: What could Materazzi have said to set Zidane off? Media from Brazil to Britain hired lip readers to try to figure it out, then came up with different answers. Materazzi has acknowledged he insulted Zidane, without giving specifics. At nearly the same moment Zidane was on TV, excerpts from an interview that Materazzi gave were posted on an Italian paper's Web site. He denied insulting Zidane's mother. "I didn't say anything to him about racism, religion or politics," Materazzi told the Gazzetta. "I didn't talk about his mother either. I lost my mother when I was 15 and even now I still get emotional talking about her. Naturally, I didn't know his [mother] was in the hospital, I give her my best wishes." "He's always been my hero, I admire him a lot." Despite the head butt, Zidane was awarded the Golden Ball award for best player at the World Cup -- though FIFA president Sepp Blatter has suggested Zidane could be stripped of the honor. "The winner of the award is not decided by FIFA, but by an international commission of journalists," Blatter said in Italian newspaper La Repubblica. "That said, FIFA's executive committee has the right, and the duty, to intervene when faced with behavior contrary to the ethics of the sport." In France, many have already pardoned Zidane, even without his explanation. A poll published Tuesday in Le Parisien newspaper showed that 61 percent of the 802 people questioned forgave Zidane. Zidane said many people have asked him not to retire, but he said he would not change his mind. "I won't go back on it, at least I hope so ... [the decision] it's definitive," he said. In a later interview with TF1 television, Zidane said he was "going to rest, and then move on to something else."

i played for ronnie thompson back in 1978. you talk about discipline. that man knows what he is doing. if he still has that watch out for memorial....

I dont know about ever, but in the modern era I sure did enjoy watching Sean Weatherspoon play football for Jasper, talk about somebody who taught us what an all around player and student should look like and act. He was a class act on and off the field.

Gosh PN-G and Nederland go waaayyy back. I'll those those guys talk about that one.

Jody, thats why I like you! You find any topic and turn it into trash talk. Its going to be a fun season!!!

Hey Jody make sure you Itemize that invoice: bold talk...$45.00 trash talk...$35.00 eating ones own word....priceless this is going to be a great season no matter what...I just love HS football

Wes57, when your team does something in the positive for once, then you can talk. As for you Jody, let the smack begin!!!! :twisted: PS there is no way BH could hang with WOS.

Amen on the pre-season "bold talk"..... You know there are people in Vegas that charge for game predictions.......I might have something going here... I'll work you up an invoice today...

and your guarantee is worth what? a I told you so at the end of the day? a one week hiatus to make sure nobody remembers you saying it? wait its just bold talk before the season even starts. but we do enjoy being put in our place. we humble ourselfs before you

I am all for that. Hopefully that is excatly what will happen in the next realignment. Makes the ost sense for both Dayto and BH from a travel standpoint. Besides, I would like to see a bunch of crazed loonies chant and wear Indian war paint..... Not to mention the smack I could talk to those die hards from Nederland with their dog barking fetish.....

Originally DX was only supposed to last thru SummerSlam but Raws ratings have done so well since they got back together that there is talk of prolonging their stay and possibly adding a 3rd member to the stable........on that note I really dont see anyone in WWE that would fit the bill. It will be interesting to see if they bring back X-Pac.

Talk about dedicated!!!

well the WWE has the championship back at least till saturday..DX had me laughing at the tv loved the McMahman duck talk segment....thought the Scottish team was a little over the top in believeability (sp) of course thats hard to believe comeing from the WWE :?

showing your age there, coop!!! That's when they wrestled more and talked less. Give me the old days of 2 out of 3 matches. I remember seeing Gino Hernadez and Dusty Rhodes in a bull rigging match in Houston. Talk about bloody!! Dusty's blonde hair was red from all the blood. :shock: :shock:

www.espn.com Holyfield returning from 21-month layoff The "Real Deal" is returning. Former four-time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, 43, is coming back from a 21-month layoff to face journeyman Jeremy Bates in a 10-round bout Aug. 19 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. "I'm very excited about it," Holyfield told ESPN.com on Wednesday. "Being able to finish what I've started means a lot. I was sidetracked lately, but I am getting back on the path." A news conference to announce the fight is scheduled for Thursday afternoon at the American Airlines Center, event organizer Lester Bedford said. Holyfield (38-8-2, 25 KOs) has lost three in a row and is 2-5-1 in his last eight fights. He hasn't fought since dropping a lopsided unanimous decision to Larry Donald on Nov. 13, 2004, in New York. After the Donald fight, Holyfield was indefinitely suspended by the New York commission for "poor performance," meaning he couldn't fight anywhere in the United States until the suspension was lifted. However, Holyfield protested and, after passing a series of medical tests more than a year ago, New York boxing officials changed his suspension from a medical one to an administrative one, which allowed him to seek licenses elsewhere. Last week, Holyfield was granted one in Texas. "I still want to be the undisputed heavyweight champ of the world," Holyfield said, repeating the mantra he has preached for the past several years. "There is no reason to fight if that was not my goal. Everything I have ever done was with that goal in mind. If my goal wasn't to be the undisputed heavyweight champ of the world then there would be no reason to get back in it." Holyfield will promote his own event under the banner of his newly created company, Real Deal Events, with Bedford serving as his point man. Holyfield said he worked out his problems with promoter Don King and that they parted on amicable terms. "We came to an agreement of what would be best," Holyfield said. "We worked it out and I am free from Don. There are no bad feelings." Bates (21-11-1, 18 KOs), 32, of Ashland, Ky., is a scrappy fighter who has faced several notable opponents, all of whom he has lost to. Among them: Kirk Johnson (KO2), Brian Minto (TKO8) and Ray Austin (TKO2), who beat him in his last bout on April 1. "He'll come in there and fight. The guy is not going to lay down," Bedford said of Bates. "Evander has to find out where he is at. We'll take it one fight at a time. If everything goes well in this one, we will take the next step." Holyfield has been working out on and off for about a year at trainer Ronnie Shield's Houston gym waiting for the opportunity to fight. Holyfield said the time off allowed his chronically injured shoulders to heal. He attributed his poor performance in recent fights to the shoulder problems. "It was a hindrance and now it is healed," Holyfield said. "The time off did me good. My whole thing was that when I was going through the problems I didn't think it was that bad. But I realized I was trying to make adjustments so I could be comfortable with my shoulders, and it was changing the way I did things. I was compromising myself because of my shoulder." Shields, who used to work as one of Holyfield's assistant trainers for several years and reunited with him as head trainer for the Donald fight, said Holyfield is as ready as he can be to fight. "He's ready to go. In the gym, every day, he's like, 'Man, we got to get a fight,'" Shields said. "And the good thing about this is that he is [promoting] it himself. He is not depending on anyone else to do it for him." Bedford has wanted to bring a major fight to Dallas for years. He said with tickets priced modestly from $35 to $200 and the arena set for 11,000, he thinks Holyfield can be a big draw. Holyfield agreed: "I have fans everywhere and the people of Dallas have a chance to see the only four-time heavyweight champ of the world." Bedford said he was working on TV coverage but that "it is not an important element to us right now." Bedford, who has worked on boxing events throughout Texas for years, admitted he was skeptical about working with Holyfield at first. "I have known Evander for many years and I am close to Ronnie, and they called me to come down to Houston to meet with them," Bedford said. "I wanted to see Evander for myself because you always have concerns. I wanted to talk to him and make sure everything is OK. The main thing was I wanted to find out if he really wanted to fight. I wanted to make sure he wasn't going to just go through the motions. "There is no way he will be as good as he used to be or that he expects to be as good, but he will tell you, and Ronnie swears up and down, that Evander shouldn't have taken the four or five fights because had a bad shoulder. He wasn't healthy, so the long layoff was the best thing for him. The shoulder is well now," he said. Shields said he will be looking for Holyfield to do certain things in the fight, otherwise he might not be able to support Holyfield continuing his career. "I need to see him throw combinations and I need to see him knock this guy out," Shields said. "This guy, Bates, isn't a world beater, but he's a good puncher and he will push Evander. He doesn't need a guy he can hit with one punch and knock out because that is a waste of everyone's time. We need someone with a credible record who will not get hit with one shot and go down." Shields admitted that Bates is the sort of opponent who probably wouldn't last more than a couple rounds with a prime Holyfield. "Without a doubt that is true," Shields said. "We're not talking about the old days. We have to live in reality. This is not the old days and he knows that. This is not the Evander of the early '90s. We are looking at the Evander of 2006, but he is not afraid of his age. He takes care of himself. "We have one goal, and that is to win the heavyweight championship of the world. We have to start somewhere. This is the start," he said. Holyfield said if he is satisfied with his performance, he wants to fight again in September. "I want to fight every month so I can get to where people are saying, 'Hey, you need to fight tougher guys.' Then I will say, 'OK,' and move up to another level," he said. "I've been training and preparing. I am ready. It's been a long journey."

1995 4A Area Game: #3 Denison vs. #10 Sweetwater Sweetwater's RB had run for over 2K yards and there had been a lot of smack talk heading into the game. Reggie Hunt ended the smack talk by setting a school record for Denison while rushing for 347 yards. Hunt scored on TD runs of 57 yds, 53 yds, 42 yds, and 50 yds. Hunt was also the starting FS. Sweetwater's RB ran for around 160 yds. Hunt won the battle of the RB's and Denison won the game 34-18. I have been blessed to see many other amazing performances by outstanding athletes from both Jasper and Denison.

i saw him today at camp but didnt meet him but when i get a chance to talk to him i will

Oh, I see it. But it is just listed as general talk about soccer, not just area high school soccer.

It is amazing to me how big these All Southeast Texas Teams have become.. I have seen and heard about them being mentioned in several newspapers and websites...here is the latest website to talk about it [Hidden Content] scroll down

There has been no mention of the Auto Sports in the area. RE: Speedway 90 (circle track) & Ben Bruce Memorial Airpark Raceway (drag strip). These are sports too. There was an event in Evadale at the dragstrip last month called the Madness Series...there were over 2,300 people there. Why does no one talk about these sports. Thanks :cry:

WOW 9 of the 11 statements were about Deweyville for a team that does not have much respect in this district they sure are talked about alot. I wish we had to put our real names on here it would be very interesting to see. I hope this is not a case of another person with sour grapes. The players are working hard to improve and deserve some respect. If you fitandfiddle want to bash a coach have the guts to talk to him in person(but we all know that will never happen). To the young men from Deweyville "Keep working hard and we are proud of you" To fitandfiddle (DontKnow) you must be very worried about Deweyville and you should be friend. To all the teams in the district best of luck and to all the young men working hard keep it up. fitandfiddle is DontKnow on another site. You bashed Deweyville on there also. Same material on the other site. Come up with some new bashing material that is getting old. You know hate can kill a man. I will PRAY for you coach.

the talk around town is martel is gone,and the rumor who is to replace him has made me what to change my vote for us (anahuac) winning district. not 1st or 2nd how about 4th maybe even 5th

I agree wosgrad. The past records tell alot..The caliber of teams in this district is awesome.I am optimistic every friday night ..But by the end of the night I am a little dissapointed.But I am realistic.getting on here and really not everyone, but on some other threads they are ready to give the district championship to Lumberton .and all I am saying just dont get your hopes up too much.I root for teams like Lumberton,but you just have to be realistic..I know its not everyone from Lumberton but I am hearing alot of people get on here and just talk noise that they have nothing to back it up except some Junior high record..well congrats to your JV team and your Junior high teams ..But Yall better get ready to be let down at the Varsity level. because Ozen, Dayton, Png, and Nederland don't really care how your JV team did last year..

Quite simply, it comes down to this. For the area to look at LC-M, Vidor or Lumberton as a potential playoff team in this district, one of them are going to first have to make the playoffs. And yes it will probably have to do in a "shock the world" kind of season. There is nothing wrong with optimism, especially since all teams are 0-0. However, those teams who are not perennial playoffs teams should expect to have their talk of high hopes dismissed, especially given that such talk of high hopes has not translated into success on the field.

Wos has really good golf tourn. each summer. If they would have us why not each of us put together a team take some hacks and talk some football?