Japan - USA (The Olympics 1992)

One of the most controversial matches in Olympic history. USA won on the court, but the victory was overturned by a committee in favor of Japan. Bob Samuelson received his first yellow card following a verbal disagreement over a referee’s call. Then, in the fourth set of the game, with Japan leading 14:13, Samuelson again committed an outburst (and possible other gesture) over a referee’s call (47:00 on the movie). Yet this time, no yellow card was issued. Why? With penalty cards, a second yellow card equals a red card, which means immediate disqualification and a penalty point, which would have given Japan the set and the match. The referee chose to not issue the second yellow card (and thus the automatic red card) because he did not wish for the outcome of an Olympic Game to be determined by a penalty point. Following the win, the Japanese team filed a formal complaint and upon immediate review, the international volleyball federation jury voted unanimously to reverse the game’s result, giving the game to Japan. Team USA was outraged, yet used the disappointment to their advantage. To show their support for their teammate Samuelson and avoid any further discouragement, Timmons gathered the team together and proposed a radical idea: Let’s shave our heads.

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