Let's imagine an American World Cup team member 'of pallor' had head-butted, oh, an Arab or African player. Would the MSM be quick to excuse, even to make the incident the object of humor? Or would we have been treated to mind-numbing disquisitions on racism in sport as a microcosm of society at large?

But when a French player of Arab ancestry head-butts an Italian? Well, CBS tells us, boys will be boys. CBS's Elizabeth Palmer, who narrated a segment on the incident on this morning's Early Show, informed us that "it's a male thing understood around the world." To prove her point, CBS ran a clip from an Adam Sandler flick showing the comedian, as a football player, taking a flying foot leap into another player who had insulted his mother. We were also treated to images of video spoofs and video games that the incident has generated.

All this with nary a cluck of the tongue by Palmer or the hosts back in the studio, who, rather than condemning Zidane, joked that "inquiring minds want to know" what the Italian had done to provoke the attack.

And just in case we missed the point, Palmer concluded on this note: "For a real man, family honor trumps sporting glory every time." Well I'll be darned - the MSM as defender of macho values!