We still haven't seen all of HBO's documentary about the '72 Olympic team,
but we saw enough to remember
how they were screwed. The Russians got three cracks at the final
play, including one where an Olympic official who wasn't involved in officiating
the game came out of the stands and insisted they get the clock reset after they
didn't get a shot off. It was outrageous then, and it still is. The
worst part of the documentary was the Russian players saying the Americans
should just accept it, maybe have a big party and everyone would get over
it. Perhaps the single greatest moment of Dean Smith's career was when he
invented a different approach to team selection in 1976 and took over four UNC
players and several ACC players and reclaimed the gold. It was a cathartic
win. Nothing makes up for what happened in '72, but that was a huge win.
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