Photo of the day From the Stripes archives
August
19, 2004
Red Grandy ©Stars and Stripes
Munich, Germany,
September 9, 1972: U.S. basketball coach Hank Iba argues
his case at the scorer's table after confusion among the game officials turned
an apparent U.S. victory into a loss to the Soviet Union in the gold medal
contest at the Olympics. The U.S. had taken a 50-49 lead on two free throws by
Doug Collins near the end of regulation time, but in a chaotic finish the
officials put three seconds back on the clock and the Russians scored the
winning basket off a full-court pass to hand the Americans their first loss
ever in Olympic play. All appeals failed, and the U.S. team declined to accept
the silver medals, which are still in a vault in Switzerland.