Angel Valodia Matos: My 2008 Beijing Olympic Hero

The hero for me this Olympics wasn't Michael Phelps, Kerri Walsh, Misty May-Treanor, or Usain Bolt, but instead Cuban taekwondo competitor Angel Matos.

Now, before you skip to the end of the article and write a comment claiming that I'm an idiot, read me out.

Matos is a hero because he did something so vicious a teenager living in a New Orleans project wouldn't even do it. He went Jean-Claude Van Damme'n from Bloodsport on Swedish judge Chakir Chelbat's face after he was disqualified for taking too long to re-enter the fight.

Matos was winning 3-2 with 1:02 in the second round when he fell to the mat after being hit by his opponent, Kazakhstan's Arman Chilmanov. He was sitting there, awaiting medical attention, then was disqualified for taking too much injury time.

Fighters get one minute, and Matos was disqualified when his time ran out. That's when he decided to go Pat Tillman and be a real hero by kicking the judge in the face.

No other athlete in the entire Olympics has the guts to pull off a MacGyver act like that.

The judge's face looked like officer Jake Hoyt's in Training Day after Denzel left him with the eses in the hood. Not to mention he probably had more whiplash than linebacker Gerry Bertier in Remember the Titans after getting "truck sticked" by the car.

I'm just very disappointed that more athletes haven't displayed this kind of heroics. More athletes should follow Matos' example:

•When Chris Webber got called for a technical foul in the 1993 NCAA championship game for calling a timeout Michigan didn't have, he should have stomped the referee with the Nike Air Forces like a historic black college step team.

•When the referee in the BCS championship game with Miami and Ohio State called pass interference on Miami to keep the game going in overtime, Sean Taylor should have pulled out the machete he kept at his house and stabbed the ref like Nino Brown stabbed his employer in New Jack City. (R.I.P S.T. 11/26/07)

•When the umpire called George Brett out for having too much pine tar after he hit a home run at Yankee Stadium, George should have broken the bat and slapped the umpire in the face, making sure he got pine tar all over his face.

So Matos, even though you will never be allowed to fight again, I will remember you and thank you for being my hero in the 2008 Olympics.