It seems I've finally realized what it takes to spark my interest in history -- a subject I never cared much for as a student. (Or maybe it was because the teachers I had in high school absolutely sucked. One, in particular, a gifted teacher, in fact, allowed a classmate to bring in his VIC-20 computer so we could play videogames.) OK, so here's the big epiphany:

Weave one or more "well-textured" sports figures into a larger political/historical context, create a documentary about it, and then put it on PBS for viewing -- do that and you've got my full attention. (You've also got an incredibly gripping piece called THE FIGHT.)

Steffi and I stumbled upon this documentary on PBS's American Experience last night after watching the first 20 minutes of Savage Steve Holland's Better Off Dead and then being interrupted by a telephone call. When I hit the VCR's stop button, there was Joe Louis, the Bomber, in the ring, knocking out the "bum of the month." In any event, the subject matter and commentators were so riveting that we pretty much forgot all about John Cusack.

I'm not going to get into it here, but THE FIGHT did a really good job of putting a lot of 1930's issues into perspective, including those of racism, sports (particularly boxing), and World War II. Neither Steffi nor I had heard of Max Schmelling, the only man (at least this was the way I understood it) to beat Joe Louis in his prime -- in a match for which Schmelling prepared by watching countless hours of film footage of Louis boxing. Schmelling discovered Louis' one weakness and exploited it. At the time, Schmelling was acting as a political mouthpiece for the Nazis (basically assuring the Americans that things - human rights - weren't really in as bad a shape in Germany as they seemed.) When S. pulled off the upset -- something the Nazis never expected -- he became a veritable UEbermensch in Germany and the Nazi party.

Louis' fate went in the opposite direction until his promoter pulled off a huge coup by landing a fight with Jimmy Braddock, whom he knocked out in eight rounds to win the heavyweight championship of the world. Schmelling, understandably, was upset over the "theft" and had to settle for a rematch with Joe about a year later (in 1938). In that bout, one that had HUGE political ramifications (both men were held aloft by their countries and heralded as the epitome of the American/German warrior), Louis cold-cocked Schmelling after 2 minutes and 4 seconds, sending his opponent to the hospital.

If I were a little more ambitious, I might write more here about Louis and Schmelling. (Schmelling, to his credit, was not a Nazi-sympathizer, but - not so much to his credit - wasn't strong enough to stand up to the rascist, political juggernaut.) But, I'm feeling lazy and want to wrap this up. The website has a lot of good information and a timeline that provides a quick rundown of the history and relationship between Louis and Schmelling.