So after all that, Luis Suarez apologised.
Except it was an apology so contrived and full of cynicism that it wasn't worth the paper his lawyers wrote it on.
And without wishing to labour the point, it should serve as a cautionary tale to impressionable youngsters: If you go around biting people and generally being a bit despicable, you will get your comeuppance in the form of a £50m transfer to Barcelona FC and £250k a week in wages.
Oh.
So, the World Cup. I'll be honest, we're on the second of two 'rest' days and I've kind of lost interest.
I've no particular allegiance to the teams that are left, based on the fact that I can easily find reasons to dislike most of each nation's star players.
Mrs East Herts Dad is grateful for the respite though, given her intense hatred for both football and footballers. I'm starting to think she's got a point, so I've been wondering what other sports we could get the nipper involved with in a couple of year's time.
Let's start with the obvious options. Rugby could end up being his thing (if, indeed, he's into sports at all). One half of the family is Irish and likes its rugby - his mum likes Brian O'Driscoll really rather a lot. Maybe a little too much.
And then you've got cricket. I quite like cricket. Nice pace, requires a bit of brainpower. Like rugby, there's lots of good local clubs around.
Golf. I like golf too. I've even got clubs. Can't actually play for toffee though. Still, the idea of afternoons over the range or on the fairway with the boy are quite appealing.
Then you're into your track & field, tennis, swimming, martial arts, motorsport, squash, boxing, a car/kart etc.
Each has it's own pros & cons - and I supposed the biggest consideration for parents of sporting age kids is the cost. Club memberships aren't cheap and then for some of the above you need a lot of specialist equipment - clubs, pads, bats, helmets.
The thing with football that makes it so universal is that it's a simple game - all you need is a ball. Maybe a couple of jumpers for goalposts.
Which is why the Ruggerbugs demo caught my eye at the recent Teddy Bears' Picnic in Hertford.
It's for pre-school kids and isn't so much about playing rugby as using it as an excuse for a bit of social interaction and development of hand-eye coordination. What was particularly noticeable was how much both boys and girls enjoyed it.
It's something that comes up time and time again in relation to the development of football skills in this country, specifically that we put too much emphasis on competition/winning at a young age, when what we should be doing is focussing on technical ability. And having some fun.
We're sure Ruggerbugs isn't alone in it's more developmental approach to sports coaching. So if you run a kids club for football, rugby or any other sport in East Herts please get in touch as we'd love to hear from you - over the next weeks and months we'll be compiling a list of the best clubs and publishing it on our website.
Until then, let's see how the World Cup Quarter Finals pan out over the weekend.
Our money's on France to win the whole thing. Well, it would have been if we'd been bothered to go down the bookies three weeks ago when the odds of such a thing were A LOT longer.
Stuart
