Berlin Olympics Cancelled in 1916-- Part 2: Deutsches Stadium 1913-1933

The German Empire even constructed a dazzling new facility to serve as the center piece for the games.  Known as the Deutsches Stadium, it opened well ahead of the games in 1913.
After the First World War broke out in July 1914, preparations carried on for awhile since no one expected the hostilities to last another two years.

But, the horrific war lasted until 1918, eventually forcing the Olympics to be cancelled.

The arena was temporarily used as a military hospital.  After the war, it was used as the home of the German National Football Team (Soccer) and  German Championship games.  Also for races and the celebration of Paul von Hindenberg's 80th birthday.  Hitler even spoke here.

In 1931, the Olympic Committee made Berlin the host city of the 11th Olympics in 1936 and originally plans were to just restore the stadium, but the Nazis were in power by then and they wanted something even more grander and so the original Deutsches Stadium was torn down  in 1933, twenty years after it was built.

--DaCootOlym

This Would Not Be the First Time the Olympics Were Cancelled or Delayed-- Part 1: Berlin (1916)

I am hearing that Japan will be delaying the 2020 Olympics until next year.  However, this will not be the first time that this has happened.  It has happened three times in history, all because of war.

One time it was because of World War I in 1916 and twice during World War II in 1940 and 1944.

I will be writing about the World War I cancellation here and the two times in World War II in my Tattooed On Your Soul: World War II blog.

From the March 22, 2020, Chicago Tribune  "Olympics: Groundswell build" by Eddie Pells, AP.

Berlin was set to host the 1916 Summer Olympics (the Winter Games weren't founded until 1924), beating bids by Alexandria, Amsterdam, Brussels, Budapest and Cleveland.

--CootPics

Team of Dreams at Iowa's Field of Dreams Sunday

While in Galena, Illinois, and Dubuque, Iowa, this past week for Liz and my 45th wedding anniversary, I saw plenty of advertising for this event in Dyersville, Iowa.

They are having quite an array of hall of fame retired baseball and even football players there to play a softball game and sign autographs.  And the best thing to me, I recognize all their names, something I can't say with today's players where I do well just to know the White Sox and Cub players.

Here is the list of attendees:

Cal Ripken, Jr
Wade Boggs
Jose Canseco
Tom Glavine
Mark Grace
Steve Carlton

Ozzie Smith
Rickey Henderson
Jack Morris
Alan Trammel
Fred Lynn

And football players:

Thurman Thomas
Dick Butkus
Jerry Kramer

And, Olympic skater Bonnie Blair.

That Would be Really Neat To See All These People.  --Cooter

UGA Tweets Get Flagged

From the August 3, 2016, Chicago Tribune "Top Of The Second."

Some college football fans are going to have to get more creative with their hashtags for the next several weeks.  Thanks to the Olympics, #UGA no longer means University of Georgia (or its bulldog mascot , Uga X) and #PUR no longer means Purdue.

Yep, #UGA is what you'll use to talk about Uganda and #PUR stands for Puerto Rico during the Olympics.

Also #ECU (East Carolina University) means Ecuador.  Husker fans will have to type out "Go Big Red" because of Great Britain.

Twitter used flag emoji during the 2014 World Cup, but only East Carolina fans felt hash-jacked then.

The Olympics end August 21st and college football kicks off August 26th.

--CootHash

1960s: A Decade of Upsets in Sports-- Part 1

From May 2014 AARP Bulletin "Power of 50: A Decade of Upsets" by Carol Kaufmann.

"The 1960s would prove to be a decade in which colorful and larger-than-life characters beat the odds.  Here's a look at several of those who seized a moment some 50 years ago and became enduring legends."

MUHAMMAD ALI:  Olympic gold medalist boxer Cassius Clay stunned the boxing world by beating Sonny Liston in Miami Beach to win the heavyweight crown in 1964.

Two days later, "the Greatest" announced that he had joined the Nation of Islam and he soon changed his name to Muhammad Ali.  Now, how did Howard Cosell say it?

BILLY MILLS:  A Marine lieutenant and member of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) tribe, Billy Mills pulled off one of the greatest upsets in history at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo when he won the 10,000-meter run, becoming the only American ever to win the event.

More to Come.  --Cooter

A Short Winter Olympics Timeline-- Part 2

1980: Now known as "The Miracle On Ice" the U.S. men's hockey team upsets the supposedly invincible Soviet team. //// 1984: Ice dancers JAYNE TORVILL and CHRISTOPHER DEAN receive 12 perfect 6.0s for their interpretation of Bolero in Sarajevo. //// 1988: The JAMAICAN BOBSLED TEAM is disqualified after crashing, but become the subject of the 1993 comedy Cool Runnings (with Coach John Candy). //// 1994: Figure skating teammates NANCY KERRIGAN and TONYA HARDING face off seven weeks after the infamous clubbing incident. //// So, Now You Know. --DaCoot

A Short Winter Olympics Timeline-- Part 1

From the Jan.-Feb. AARP Bulletin. //// 1960: WALT DISNEY produces the opening and closing ceremonies in Squaw Valley, California. //// 1968: In his native France, JEAN-CLAUDE KILLY wins the triple crown of alpine skiing. //// 1972: COLORADO voters reject public funding of the 1976 games, forcing them to be moved from Denver to Innsbrook, Austria. //// 1976: Figure skater DOROTHY HAMILL sports a perky bobbed hairstyle on her way to gold-- and a lucrative contract with Clairol.

A Short History of the Winter Olympics

From Wikipedia. //// There was a Winter Olympics in the Jan-Feb AARP Bulletin which I will later give you, but no mention of when it began. Plus, I have been seeing a lot of commercials for it on NBC, who evidently is carrying it. //// I was sure it wasn't part of the Olympics back during the time of The Greeks or even when it started up again in the late 1890s. //// The Winter Olympics started in 1924 and were first held in France. Original competitions were in Alpine and cross country skiing, figure and speed skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined and ski jumping. //// It was held until 1936 and after that was interrupted by World War II. It started again in 1948. There is a bit of interesting history of it in World War II and I'll write about that in my World War II blog today. Until 1992, it was held the same year as the summer Olympics. //// --Cooter

Canadian-Japanese Internment Camps

Most Americans do not even know about the thousands of Japanese-American who were forced into interment camps during World War II which were actually more prison than anything else. I knew about them, but I had never heard of Japanese-Canadian camps in that country, but I suppose it would have made sense that they had them as well.

Yesterday, I was reading an article about Brian McKeever, a partially-sighted Canadian who will be competing in the Vancouver Winter Olympics. he has been training for the 50 K Cross Country Ski Race (held the last day, Feb. 28th).

He has been training in Sandon, British Columbia in the Canadian Rockies, near where his grandparents were interned in 1942. They had emigrated from Japan to Vancouver and were running a berry farm. After Pearl harbor and Japan's entry in the war, Canada did like the US and forced nearly one thousand Japanese-Canadians living near the Pacific Coast to Sandon, which essentially by then was an abandoned silver mining town.

Said McKeever, "I guess it was a prison camp because it was in a remote valley in the middle of nowhere."

I'll have to do some more research on Japanese internment camps and this one in particular.

A Sad Occurrence, But, Under the Auspices of War.... --Cooter

A Guide to Canada for Chicagoans-- Part 3

EATIN' LIKE A CANUCK-- The greatest culinary treat is the poutine; french fries smothered in cheese and gravy and served in various styles. And, you could just add vinegar to your fries. Sounds a lot like a horseshoe to me.

Then,there are the PEIs (Prince Edward Island oysters or salmon, Canadian cheddar, peameal or back bacon, better known is these parts as Canadian bacon.


CANADIAN BACON-- and speaking of Canadian bacon, there is one of the funniest-ever movies called "Canadian bacon" about John Candy and his cohorts declaring war on Canada. This was one FUNNY movie.

And, we definitely can't forget the hosers in the movie "Strange Brew," eh? Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas as the affable, though somewhat clueless beer guzzling brothers Bob and Doug McKenzie.


TOQUE-- Then there's that really funny gear they wear sometimes called a toque. You've got to see one to believe it.


STUFFED, SORE AND SOUSED-- At the end of a day in Canada, you'll "be tired, stuffed, sore from getting checked into the boards and perhaps a little drunk (especially if you've been drinking the CR).

Thing I'll Pour Myself another Crown, Eh? --DaCanCooter

A Guide to Canada for Chicagoans-- Part 2

Continuing with the Chicago Tribune article.


SYRUP-- Canadians love their maple syrup, or is sirup Funks grove Route 66 style?


GET ON THE ICE-- Fraser says, "Everybody plays beer league hockey up there." (LaCrosse is the official summer sport, but what about the Toronto Bluejays?) The National Hockey League is on hiatus during the Winter Olympics because so many, including six Blackhawks are playing.


CHEERS, CANADA-- Great beers like Molson, LaBatt and Moosehead. And don't forget that whiskey called Canadian Club.


CROWN ROYAL-- Of course, any country that would bring forth something as good as this stuff can't be all bad.


KNOW THE WEATHER-- Canadians like to talk about the weather. It is sort of like a team sport that leads to bonding. Its reputation as a frozen wasteland is undeserved. Vancouver is actually warmer in the winter than Chicago.

However, i would like to point out that our friends to the North too often let those Alberta Clippers and Siberian Expresses down to the Lower 48. Sure don't appreciate that when it happens.

Come On Guys, keep Your Cold Stuff to Yourself!! --CanCooter

A Guide to Canada for Chicagoans-- Part 1

February 11th Chicago Tribune "A tip of the toque--that's 'took'--to all things Canadian' by Chris McNamara.

Because of the Winter Olympics opening in Vancouver, Canada. That would be British Columbia. They close February 28th.


BE POLITE, EH?-- They are famous for their courteous nature. "They're like us, only politer." Patricia A. O'Brien, founder of Manners, Please.


IT'S ALL ABOOT THE LANGUAGE-- The differences between Canadian and American dialects are minuscule. that is why minor variances, such as the word "about" are blown out of proportion. "Aboot" is actually pronounced more like a-boat." "Leisure is pronumnced more like "pleasure." Of course, you may have to ad the word "eh" at the end of a sentence.


MOOSE CALL-- Be careful with these as you might lure more Canadian hunters than moose. These produce the guttural moans of a cow in estrus and excites both male moose and male hunters. What is the plural of moose anyway?


NTN Buzztime-- I always feel sorry for our Canadian NTN players who get stuck with so many American questions. I know we really hate it when we get one of those no-one-but-a-Canadian-would-know questions. Plus, they have (or had) the infamous DaveTV, or FOCUSA as he sometimes signed on.

More Canadian Stuff on the Way. --DaCanadianCoot