M9: When A Sports Villain Did The Unthinkable
There is something about loving to hate a villain. However, it’s not as simple as disliking someone not like us, there’s something else going on, and it says more about those doing the hating than it does the villain. In this Monday’s episode we take a look at an historical sports villain, Paulo Di Cario, who challenged his haters at a critical time, and made everyone take a moment to pause.
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M9: WHEN A SPORTS VILLAIN DID THE UNTHINKABLE
WE ARE VERY COMPLICATED, US HUMANS. WITHIN ALL OF US LIES A WIDE RANGE OF EMOTIONS, THOUGHTS, AND IMPULSES…SOME GOOD AND SOME BAD. AND BECAUSE OUR SOCIETY REWARDS US FOR BEING GOOD, WE NATURALLY FOCUS ON OUR GOOD SIDE, WHILE OUR BAD TRAITS OFTEN REMAIN IGNORED. THIS CREATES SOME TENSION WITHIN US, WHETHER WE LIKE IT OR NOT, AND ONE OF THE WAYS WE OFTEN UNKNOWINGLY DEAL WITH THAT TENSION, IS BY FINDING, AND LOATHING, VILLAINS…BECAUSE, AS MANY OF YOU KNOW…. WHAT WE LATCH ONTO AND DISLIKE THE MOST, IS VERY COMMONLY THE THING WE FEAR MOST IN OURSELVES.
SOMETIMES WE FIND VILLAINS IN COWORKERS OR NEIGHBORS. SOMETIMES IT’S JUSTIFIED, AND SOMETIMES IT’S BECAUSE WE SECRETLY WISH WE COULD BE MORE LIKE THEM. WE CAN ALSO LAMENT AN ATHLETE OR A TEAM THAT ALWAYS FINDS A WAY TO WIN, SO WE LOOK FOR MORE REASONS TO DESPISE THEM IN ORDER TO FURTHER REINFORCE OUR OWN BELIEFS. BUT, WHEN WE DO THIS, WE OFTEN SET OURSELVEES UP TO BE WRONG. OUR DESIRE TO PLACE PEOPLE AND RELATIONSHIPS INTO SIMPLE BINARY CONSTRUCT SUCH AS GOOD VS. EVIL, RIGHT VS. WRONG, AND US. VS. THEM, HAS A TENDENCY TO BACKFIRE.
THIS IS A STORY ABOUT A SPORTS VILLAIN, ALMOST UNIVERSALLY DISLIKED, WHO HAD THE NERVE TO DO SOMETHING THAT LEFT HIS HATERS…SPEECHLESS.
EPISODE
PAOLO DI CANIO BEGAN HIS PROFESSIONAL SOCCER, OR EUROPEAN FOOTBALL, CAREER IN THE MID-1980S IN ITALY. HE WAS A SCRAPPY YOUNG FORWARD FROM ROME AND PLAYED HIS WAY UP THROUGH THE ITALIAN PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL CIRCUIT. IN 1996, WHEN HE JOINED THE CELTIC FOOTBALL CLUB IN SCOTLAND, HE BEGAN TO BE NOTICED ON A LARGER SCALE. THAT YEAR HE WON THE PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD. HE ALSO GOT NOTICED FOR BEING VERY TEMPERMENTAL ON THE FIELD….AND OFF THE FIELD, FOR HIS EXTREME POLITICAL VIEWS.
A FEW INCIDENTS WERE ENOUGH FOR CELTIC TO NOT HONOR HIS REQUEST FOR A PAY RAISE IN 1997, EVENTUALLY LEADING DI CANIO TO LEAVE CELTIC FOR THE PREMIERE LEAGUE AND PLAY FOR SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY, A CLUB IN SOUTH YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND.
HIS PLAY QUICKLY MADE HIM A CLUB FAVORITE. HE PLAYED WITH PASSION AND LED THE TEAM IN GOALS. BUT IN SEPTEMBER OF 1998, IN A MATCH AGAINST ARSENAL, DI CANIO ALLOWED HIS PASSION TO GET THE BEST OF HIM. AFTER BEING CALLED FOR A CONTROVERSIAL PENALTY, HE LOST HIS COMPOSURE AND SHOVED THE REFEREE TO THE GROUND.
IN THE PREMIERE LEAGUE, AND IN ANY SPORTS LEAGUE FOR THAT MATTER, THIS IS A MAJOR OFFENSE. NOT ONLY DID DI CANIO RECEIVE AN 11-GAME SUSPENSION AND A HEFTY FINE, BUT HE QUICKLY BECAME THE IRE OF THE OTHER CLUBS IN THE LEAGUE. IN THE PRESS, DI CANIO APOLOGIZED FOR THE MISTAKE AND ASKED FOR FORGIVENESS, BUT THERE WAS LITTLE RESPONSE.
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY GREW TIRED OF THE DISTRACTION SO THEY DECIDED A TRADE WITH ANOTHER CLUB WOULD THE BE RIGHT MOVE. IN THE OFFSEASON, WEST HAM UNITED, A CLUB IN EAST LONDON IN NEED OF AN OFFENSIVE SPARK, ROLLED THE DICE ON THE TALENTED PLAYER WITH A BAD REPUTATION.
WHEN THE NEW SEASON BEGAN, THE MOVED LOOKED BRILLIANT – DI CANIO PICKED UP HIS SCORING WAYS. FOR WEST HAM FANS, ALL WAS FORGIVEN, BUT OUTSIDE OF HIS HOME TEAM, DI CANIO’S POOR REPUTATION ONLY GREW. HIS UNPOPULAR POLITICAL BELIEFS ADDED FUEL TO THE FIRE AND THE HATRED TOOK ON A LIFE OF ITS OWN. HE WAS BOOED WHEREVER HE WENT. FAN BASES CHEERED WHEN HE MADE MISTAKES.
AS HE LED WEST HAM TO SUCCESS ON THE FIELD, DI CANIO WAS QUICKLY BECOMING ONE OF THE MOST UNIVERSALLY REVILED PLAYERS IN THE SPORT…IN ANY SPORT FOR THAT MATTER.
STILL, HE HADN’T MADE HIS BIGGEST HEADLINES OF HIS CAREER. IN DECEMBER OF 2000 IN A MATCH AT EVERTON. BOTH TEAMS WERE COMPETING FOR THEIR PLACE IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE STANDINGS AND THE EVERTON CROWD WAS ELECTRIC. NEAR THE END, THE GAME WAS TIED, 1-1, WHEN EVERTON’S GOALIE, PAUL GERRARD, CAME OUT TO CONTEST A BALL AND COLLIDED WITH A WEST HAM PLAYER. BOTH PLAYERS FELL AND THE BALL CAREENED TOWARD THE CORNER. GERRARD ATTEMPTED TO RETURN TO HIS FEET BUT WHEN HE PUT WEIGHT ON HIS LEG, HE COLLAPSED, CLEARLY INJURED. ANOTHER WEST HAM PLAYER TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THE SITUATION AND TOOK THE BALL FURTHER INTO THE CORNER AND MADE A BEAUTIFUL CROSS TO DI CANIO INSIDE THE BOX. WITH THE GOALIE INJURED, LAYING MOTIONLESS OUTSIDE THE BOX, THIS WAS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO WIN THE GAME. THE BALL CAME RIGHT TO DI CANIO AND THEN HE DID SOMETHING THAT SHOCKED THE EVERTON CROWD. INSTEAD OF PUTTING THE BALL ON NET, HE RAISED HIS HANDS AND CAUGHT THE BALL, PAUSING PLAY, AND GESTURING TOWARD THE INJURED GOALIE. THE REFERREES IMMEDIATELY STOPPED THE GAME SO GERRARD COULD BE ATTENDED TO, AND THE OPPORTUNITY FOR WEST HAM TO SCORE WAS LOST.
THE CROWD DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO REACT.
IMMEDIATELY, DI CANIO’S ACTIONS CAUSED SEVERAL EVERTON PLAYERS TO EMBRACE HIM. ONCE IT SET IN, THE EVERTON CROWD ROSE TO THEIR FEET AND GAVE DI CANIO A STANDING OVATION.
THE GAME ENDED IN A TIE. NOT LONG AFTER, WITH HIS BRIEF ACT OF SPORTSMANSHIP, DI CANIO HAD TAKEN HIMSELF FROM SPORTS EXILE, TO BEING HONORED WITH THE FIFA FAIR PLAY AWARD, THE HIGHEST SPORTSMANSHIP ACCOLADE IN THE GAME.
NOW, DID THIS MAKE DI CANIO BELOVED? NO. BEFORE LONG, HE WAS BACK TO BEING BERATED BY FANS ….AND, IT SEEMED HE ENJOYED HIS ROLE AS THE VILLAIN. BUT THERE WAS SOMETHING TO BE LEARNED. MUCH LIKE HOW WE CAN BUILD UP HEROES HIGHER THAN WE SHOULD, IT’S ALSO HUMAN NATURE TO CREATE LARGER VILLAINS THAN ARE ACTUALLY THERE. IN THE CASE OF THE POLARIZING PAOLO DI CANIO, HIS SPORTSMANSHIP AT A CRITICAL MOMENT - HIS RESPECT FOR HIS OPPONENT, AND FOR THE GAME OF FOOTBALL – MADE FANS AROUND THE WORLD RECONSIDER JUST HOW BIG OF A VILLAIN HE REALLY WAS.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paolo_Di_Canio