Invictus

Went to see the movie Invictus last night. It certainly did not meet my expectations. I actually found it a bit trite. There was so much more that could have been done with the storyline and the subsequent message. It was not a sports movies, I assume it was not meant to be, but it was not a historical movie either, in short it missed it's mark on both counts. It did inspire me to read the history of modern South Africa and Nelson Mandela.  It reminded of the group of South African athletes and coaches who were visiting the US and attending our 1980 "Olympic Trials" as observers. There was an 18 foot pole vaulter, a 290 foot javelin throwers a female hurdler who had run under thirteen seconds. Interesting to note they were all white, none had been allowed to compete outside of South Africa. They also told me there was no mixed race competitions in South Africa. Essentially South Africa had not been allowed to compete is any sport outside of the country from the early Seventies until the early Nineties due to sanctions for the apartheid policies of the government.