- The Lesser Marshall Brother

This week on the Bill Bradley Collective, your hosts dive into the Games of the XI Olympiad, better known as the 1936 Summer Olympics. Contested in Nazi-controlled Berlin, Germany, these games also exist at the precise intersection of sports and politics. The conversation focuses on American participation and the resistance of old friend Avery Brundage to a boycott. Contrary to Brundage’s stance that the Olympics stay out of politics, Hitler in turn uses the games as little more than a promotional tool for his antisemitic and racial supremacist ideology. The event is not without certain highlights, most notably Jesse Owens’ sublime performance on the track en route to four gold medals, Betty Robinson’s virtual return from the dead to the medal podium, and an opening ceremony conclusion befitting such a regime, where thousands of pigeons defecated upon the procession. But first we rant, as Zak recaps some of the inanity emanating from an Orlando Hyatt Regency this weekend; Ed asks the question of “why do we care what this guy says” with regard to a certain middling coach turned pundit and his MVP takes; and Andrew details a 13 year old feud rekindled Saturday concerning the impropriety of jean-wearing.