29: Gottfried von Cramm
Sports' Forgotten Heroes
English - May 01, 2018 15:00 - 55 minutes - 50.5 MB - ★★★★★ - 27 ratingsSports afl billycannon budadams charlesdegravelles collegefootball heismantrophy houstonoilers jimweathersby losangelesrams louisianastateuniversity Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
The story of Gottfried von Cramm is truly remarkable. While most have probably never heard of him, von Cramm was once the No. 1 ranked tennis player in the world. A German, von Cramm played during the time Adolf Hitler was rising to power; and while most Germans knew what Hitler was about and was about to do, the rest of the world had no idea. On this episode of SFH we take a look back at the career and life of Gottfried von Cramm and concentrate on one match in particular, a 1938 Davis Cup Final match between he and Don Budge that was played on center-court at Wimbledon just two weeks after the Wimbledon Championships. The pressure on von Cramm was enormous. Not only was he German, but he was Jewish and homosexual. If he won, all would be ok. A loss, however, and he would have to face the gestapo and possibly Hitler himself – and who knows what would happen after that encounter. Marshall Jon Fisher returns to SFH for this podcast. Author of the book, “A Terrible Splendor,” Fisher talks about the match, those in attendance, and how von Cramm’s life changed afterwards.
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