When I played sports as a kid, I was taught that whether I won or lost, I was to conduct myself with the utmost class.

It's funny how, on the grandest stages in sports, the sportsmanship kids are taught at the lower levels suddenly get thrown out the window.

The incident I'm specifically referring to is French soccer star Zinedine Zidane's head-butt on defender Marco Materazzi in France's 6-4 loss to Italy on penalty kicks in Sunday's World Cup final in Berlin.

The match was in overtime, and the situation was understandably emotional — to the rest of the world, the World Cup is the Super Bowl times a million in terms of magnitude. It's understandable that, in the heat of the moment, some nasty words were exchanged, as Zidane and Materazzi appeared to be doing at the time.

But there is no excuse — none — for what Zidane did to Materazzi. I don't care if Materazzi made insinuations about Zidane's mother, insulted his nationality or questioned his manhood. None of that warranted Zidane walking up to Materazzi and slamming his head into Materazzi's chest.

Zidane — France's captain, which means he of all people should have been setting an example by being level-headed — was red-carded. For those who aren't soccer-savvy, that means he was ejected and France was forced to play a man down for the rest of the match— at a crucial juncture when his team needed his leadership most, I might add.

To make matters worse, it was Zidane's last match before retirement. Could there have possibly been a more disgraceful way for Zidane to go out? Whether he wants to or not, he'll be remembered more for that head-butt than for leading an underdog French team farther into the tournament than it was ever expected to go.

What do you think, Bakersfield? Is losing your cool on the field of play and physically attacking an opponent ever justified? Is it OK for athletes to have a little anger burning under the surface if it gives them an edge?

 — Ray Hacke