The Bigger Ass-Hole, Vol. 1

I'm blogging from the library again - there's something very relaxing about it (unless someone's yappin' on the cell phone right next to you). Today, I thought I'd give a little bit of consideration to two of the more famous celebrations in football. The debate: who is more of an ass-hole, Eric Cantona or Ruud Van Nistelrooy?

Here is the Cantona goal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt3eLY9JApg

Well, it is a fantastic goal, there's no doubting that. A wonderful turn to beat the first defender, some great pace to take it up the field, and a lovely one-two with his teammate followed by an unbelievable shot. The question is whether he simply couldn't believe he had scored, or whether he knew that he had scored a fantastic goal and wasn't celebrating deliberately to make a point about just how fantastic it was. Given Cantona's somewhat aggressive personality (reference him kicking a fan), I'm inclined to think the latter the more likely scenario.

Here is the Van Nistelrooy goal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTtBzu5lF8k (pay attention to the defender's reaction after he misses the penalty).

In one sense, the celebration is legitimate. The defender taunted him after the penalty miss, so he taunted him back after the goal. The fact that the Netherlands were already winning 3-0 when he scored the goal and the fact that Dick Cheney could have scored that from his wheelchair somehow detract from his legitimacy in celebrating the goal so much. I mean, honestly, I kind of feel bad for Andorra. How are they supposed to compete with the Netherlands in football? Come on. The marking was just so atrocious on the goal. I mean there are four attacking players in the box with one defender. For the record, even if the one clueless defender had played the offsides trap with everyone else, the attackers would still have been onsides (Yes, I spent five minutes pausing the video in just the right spot to figure that out).

Anyway, I'll let you be the judge. Let me know, Who's the bigger ass-hole, Van Nistelrooy or Cantona?

For further watching, here's when Cantona kicked the fan in the face: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovYWY4Pf9_M&feature=related

Sorry about the quality on the videos - it's the best I could find.

More to come on "Who's the bigger ass-hole"