Repeated because I like them. First up, India’s 1936 hockey team demolish the Nazis:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyRkunEfa5Y&hl=en]
So does Jessie Owens. There he is, at the end, in colour, streaking away as if by doing so he could on his own prevent everything we know was to happen from happening…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KK8Hd1w16s&hl=en]
In far better days, England’s second greatest ever international squad play Brazil’s second greatest ever international squad. For me, this is all about the brilliant sunshine of that late sixties-early seventies period, that I remember so well coming through the hair of miniskirted blondes leaning into my pram to tickle my nose:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPIzi_KfOmI&hl=en]
The 1953 England team establish that passion and commitment win out over skill and intelligence every time except this one:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgOs_m5bXCs&hl=en]
Look at the hockey video from 1:47-1:49. One of the German players is wearing a Star of David on his shirt!!
If so, it doesn’t mean what I think you think it means. Only two German Jews, both women, were permitted (under pressure from the International Olympic Committee) to train for Berlin 1936 – and neither competed. No men. Under the Nuremberg Laws, Jews were not permitted to compete in sports unless between themselves.
One member of the German hockey team, a certain Detlef Okrent, was a Nazi Party member and a member of the SS; he spent part of his war with the SS Panzer Division “Das Reich”.
The Indian team won 8-1.