Smith Anthem Goggle

Worth their weight

21.05.12

They sang O Canada on the bus to the order of magnitude before each game and the way to the stadium in Lagos de Moreno, Mexico prior to the competition gold medal against the United States Pan American Games was not different.

Only when they have finished the anthem of my lungs at the top of their lungs this time, someone shouted that they should sing again later.

They did just after obtaining the Senior National Team's first ever major championship, riding the great mound work of starter Andrew Albers and reliever Scott Richmond, a key swing by Jimmy Van Ostrand, and another effort Canadian prototype in a 2-1 victory over the Americans.

Their wild on the field after the celebration ended with a touch of patriotism.

"We saved the O Canada for the medal ceremony and when they played the anthem of the gold that we were all there chanting," said Albers. "We have sung before each game for us frustrated and remind us that we play.

Source: Sportsnet.ca

This Week in Awesome History Vol. 13

21.05.12

On this day in 1968, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, gold and bronze medals in the 200m at the Olympics in Mexico City, raised their hands in unison during the ceremony of victory that the American national anthem played silently protested against racial discrimination of black people in the United States.

Smith and Carlos’ protest saw them being sent back to the US, after a spokesperson for the International Olympic Committee described their actions as "a deliberate and violent breach of the fundamental principles of the Olympic spirit."

Smith and Carlos’ personal lives would suffer dramatically as a result of the protest, with both struggling to find work after they returned home from Mexico. Smith and his wife divorced, Carlos’ wife committed suicide, and both were terrified of violent repercussions from white America; Carlos’ dog was killed and left on his porch.

Source: Crave Online