Bob Costas did live up to his pledge to honor the Munich 11 during Friday’s night’s Opening Ceremonies. And given NBC’s relationship with the IOC, he walked a fine line by not hammering the committee for their refusal to have moment of silence for the slain Israeli athletes.
Here is what Costas said as the Israeli delegation walked in:
The Israeli athletes now enter behind their flag-bearer Shahar Zubari. These games mark the 40th anniversary of the 1972 tragedy in Munich, when 11 Israeli coaches and athletes were murdered by Palestinian terrorists. There have been calls from a number of quarters for the IOC to acknowledge that, with a moment of silence at some point in tonight’s ceremony.
The IOC denied that request, noting it had honored the victims on other occasions. And, in fact, this week (IOC President) Jacques Rogge led a moment of silence before about 100 people in the Athlete’s Village. Still, for many, tonight, with the world watching, is the true time and place to remember those who were lost, and how and why they died.
Then there was about 6 seconds of silence before Costas went to commercial.
It was exactly what I expected. Some people might have wanted a longer moment of silence, but Costas made his point.