When you think of the 1936 Olympics, it's probably toward Jesse Owens, a black man winning gold in front of Hitler and the Master Race. Hitler must have been just spitting sauerkraut out his nose after that and we all enjoy that vision every so often. Major hat tip to Jesse Owens and of course.
Earlier this evening I walked past the television which magically started sort of working again and I said, "You aren't seriously watching a movie about rowing, are you?"
It turned out she was and it was about a kid named Joe, I think his last name was Rantz. His family did him so wrong when he was a kid, it made modern bad families look like Howard and June Cleaver from "Leave It to Beaver."
He came home from school one day when he was about sixteen and the car was packed with everyone in it. Dad of the Century told him they're leaving and he's not. Off they went and he lived by hunting for food, all by himself. Unknown if the actual story was that evil but any approximation to it is a horror in parenting.
That kid got tangled-up with rowing and became exceptionally good at it, eventually going on to win gold in the 1936 Olympics. We don't hear about him too much and probably because we hardly ever hear about rowers but it's a great story. Here's the reference in WIKI: Joe Rantz
I didn't watch the movie as Summer Olympics don't interest me much anyway and maybe they even still have ballroom dancing. What kind of Olympics needs that except the one for wedding receptions.
The Winter Olympics grab me partly because they're dangerous. My favorite for years has been the downhill run by Franz Klammer which was some of the most brilliant and maniacal skiing I ever saw in my life. I don't want to see crashes but I love watching the brilliance which prevents them.
Earlier this evening I walked past the television which magically started sort of working again and I said, "You aren't seriously watching a movie about rowing, are you?"
It turned out she was and it was about a kid named Joe, I think his last name was Rantz. His family did him so wrong when he was a kid, it made modern bad families look like Howard and June Cleaver from "Leave It to Beaver."
He came home from school one day when he was about sixteen and the car was packed with everyone in it. Dad of the Century told him they're leaving and he's not. Off they went and he lived by hunting for food, all by himself. Unknown if the actual story was that evil but any approximation to it is a horror in parenting.
That kid got tangled-up with rowing and became exceptionally good at it, eventually going on to win gold in the 1936 Olympics. We don't hear about him too much and probably because we hardly ever hear about rowers but it's a great story. Here's the reference in WIKI: Joe Rantz
I didn't watch the movie as Summer Olympics don't interest me much anyway and maybe they even still have ballroom dancing. What kind of Olympics needs that except the one for wedding receptions.
The Winter Olympics grab me partly because they're dangerous. My favorite for years has been the downhill run by Franz Klammer which was some of the most brilliant and maniacal skiing I ever saw in my life. I don't want to see crashes but I love watching the brilliance which prevents them.
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