On this date in 1976, the Summer Olympics in Montreal opened. I remember this very clearly - as a lad of 11, a two-week international stop-down for sports was a highlight.
However, I have no memory of an African boycott of the 1976 Summer Games. Apparently, 33 African nations did not complete in protest over the presence of the team from...New Zealand?
Yep, little New Zealand sparked major controversy. How, you ask?
The International Olympic Committee refused to ban New Zealand, whose rugby team was, at the same time, touring South Africa.
Apartheid South Africa had long since been thrown out of the Olympics (that happened in 1964), but even limited cultural contact with South Africa was so toxic it resulted in calls for expulsion of New Zealand, arguably the least-offensive country on Earth, just because their rugby team, which had NO affiliation with the national government or Olympic committee, was making a visit.
And, even more shocking, it blew so far under the radar that an average kid in Dallas TX wasn't even aware it was an issue.
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