This article could have been much more interesting -- and had a happy ending and been more instructive to Salon readers -- if Heather had taken the time to find a good certified financial planner. I'm not one, so this is not a plug for the industry. Suggestion: Heather, take the money that you earned from Salon and hire a CFP and report back to us.

OK, King, you really got me going. I read a few commentaries on the game and even found a great series of photographs of the "crazy goal" at:

http://www.rp-online.de/public/bildershowinline/aktuelles/euro_2008/europa/34409?skip=0&refback=/public/article/sport/fussball/nationalelf/euro_2008/576920/Ibrahimovic-knackt-Griechen-Beton.html|article

A few final thoughts and then I have to get to work:

1. Look closely at how Kyrgiakos is lying after he hits the ground. Look at how close the Swede's foot is to his head. There is absolutely nothing that Kyrgiakos could have done to stop that goal other than foul (risking a red card) or get his head kicked in. (Remember, King, only the goalie can use his hands in soccer.) Kyrgiakos' feet were too far away from the ball for him to do anything, and there was a Greek defender standing right in front of him after he went down. Kyrgiakos would have had to swing his entire body around to get a foot on the ball and almost certainly would have fouled the Swede in the penalty box if he had tried to do so.

2. Kyrgiakos by all accounts played a superb defensive game. Trainer Rehagel screwed up by forcing his team to play an old-fashioned defensive game, and Kyrgiakos bore the brunt of pulling his team through an impossible mission. This is perhaps the only time that Kyrgiakos' defensive wall was broken by the player he was guarding.

King, I expect better Soccer commentary from Salon. If you are too prejudiced to provide it, maybe someone else should be assigned to do the job. Your soccer writing reeks of chauvinism and has prompted chauvinistic posts, too.

By the way, that game was one of the worst games I can recall seeing in years. It had nothing to do with acting and everything to do with the Greek team's German trainer and his old-fashioned defensive game plan. Did you see the game between Switzerland and Turkey? That was a modern soccer match -- high-paced and offensive. At least two players had to leave the pitch with blood running down their faces.

Well King, you went out on a limb ... and fell off. Sotirios Kyrgiakos is one of the scrappiest defenders in the German Bundesliga. He played for Frankfurt until this season, and he held the team's defense together, also scoring numerous goals by head shots in standard situations to help the team win. I've seen him in the stadium and on TV numerous times these past few seasons and cannot recall him ever feigning anything. Did you know that he broke his nose this season? Before his nose had healed entirely, he insisted on playing with a mask (in a game that requires repeated use of the forehead). He broke his nose a second time. We're talking complicated fracture. The guy barely has recovered from the second break and is playing for his country. Give him a break.

I saw the game you wrote about live on TV and have seen the replay numerous times. The angle from behind the goal is revealing. Here are some thoughts. First off, he got slammed to the ground pretty hard, and the other player's elbow was in his back. Maybe the wind got knocked out of him. Maybe he was afraid he was going to get kicked in the face for a third nose break and decided not to risk it. Certainly he realized that the goal went in. He wasn't feigning death, he was suffering from his team's pending defeat. He got back up and went on playing. He did not roll around and squirm in pain, real or imagined. He did not run to the ref and complain. He just got up and went on playing.

There is plenty of bad acting to go around in soccer, but I think you picked the wrong example with Kyrgiakos. He's a tough son of a bitch and he is for real. I'm sorry to see him leave Frankfurt. We'll miss him.