Spring Break
Editorial -1972 Olympics
David Cordill
Issue date: 8/18/08 Section: Sports
After more than a week of watching the Games of the XXIX Olympiad on television, online and ad nauseam, I paused this afternoon to reflect on my first exposure to the global event: the 1972 Olympics in Munich, West Germany.
Granted, I was a pre-teenager at the time, but the impact those particular games left on me, and certainly many others who witnessed the event, remains idelible. This was because the Games of the XX Olympiad were not only thrilling, tragic - and through the superb televised coverage from ABC sports - well presented. These Olympic Games were truly bizarre.
From Aug. 26 through Sept. 11, during the summer of 1972, much of the world watched this athletic/political spectacle with wonder, horror, and ridicule. The politics often overshadowed the competitions.
On Sept. 5, members of the Palestinian terrorist group Black September entered the Olympic village and broke into an apartment where 11 Israeli athletes were staying. The Israelis were taken hostage in what developed into an 18-hour standoff between the terrorists and negotiators. Two hostages were subsequently killed in the village and the rest perished during a failed rescue attempt at a military airport. ABC Host commentator Jim McKay covered what came to be known as "The Munich Massacre" till the bitter end, breaking the horrible news to a shocked television audience.
"They're all gone," McKay told millions of viewers.
Politics continued to take center stage as the Cold War hostilities came to the forefront during the 50-49 non-victory of the United States basketball team over the rival squad from the Soviet Union. Olympic officials and scorekeepers managed to snatch the gold medal away from the Americans not once, twice, but three times at the end of the contest.
After a hard foul, an aching Doug Collins got to the line and connected on two free throws to put the U.S.A. up by a point. With very little time left, the Soviets inbounded the ball but the game was halted with one second remaining. Officials decided to add three seconds to the game clock because of dubious claims of a previously called time-out out by the Soviet team. They proceeded to inbound once more, the buzzer sounded, and the Americans began to celebrate, albeit prematurely.
Granted, I was a pre-teenager at the time, but the impact those particular games left on me, and certainly many others who witnessed the event, remains idelible. This was because the Games of the XX Olympiad were not only thrilling, tragic - and through the superb televised coverage from ABC sports - well presented. These Olympic Games were truly bizarre.
From Aug. 26 through Sept. 11, during the summer of 1972, much of the world watched this athletic/political spectacle with wonder, horror, and ridicule. The politics often overshadowed the competitions.
On Sept. 5, members of the Palestinian terrorist group Black September entered the Olympic village and broke into an apartment where 11 Israeli athletes were staying. The Israelis were taken hostage in what developed into an 18-hour standoff between the terrorists and negotiators. Two hostages were subsequently killed in the village and the rest perished during a failed rescue attempt at a military airport. ABC Host commentator Jim McKay covered what came to be known as "The Munich Massacre" till the bitter end, breaking the horrible news to a shocked television audience.
"They're all gone," McKay told millions of viewers.
Politics continued to take center stage as the Cold War hostilities came to the forefront during the 50-49 non-victory of the United States basketball team over the rival squad from the Soviet Union. Olympic officials and scorekeepers managed to snatch the gold medal away from the Americans not once, twice, but three times at the end of the contest.
After a hard foul, an aching Doug Collins got to the line and connected on two free throws to put the U.S.A. up by a point. With very little time left, the Soviets inbounded the ball but the game was halted with one second remaining. Officials decided to add three seconds to the game clock because of dubious claims of a previously called time-out out by the Soviet team. They proceeded to inbound once more, the buzzer sounded, and the Americans began to celebrate, albeit prematurely.
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