When we say "blood in the water", what do you picture? That scene from "Psycho"? A crocodile accident in the Australian outback? A rousing game of water polo?

We're talking about water polo here (sorry, "Crocodile Dundee" fans), and not just some match: a clash in the 1956 Olympics between Hungary and the Soviet Union.

If that year rings a bell for Cold War aficionados, it's because it coincides with an attempted Hungarian uprising, which the Soviets put down with military force. All this as the Hungarian team was gearing to defend its Olympic gold medal in Melbourne (too far from the outback for crocodiles).

Of course, they had to play the Soviets (almost as dangerous as crocodiles?) with medals on the line. The game quickly turned violent, with punches thrown from both sides. (Are we correctly assuming that no punches get thrown in a regular water polo game? Who know what happens under the surface?) It ended with... well, blood in the water. A Hungarian player was bleeding, fans got furious, the police intervened. Hungary was declared the winner, as they were leading 4:0 at the time. They eventually got the gold.

A number of players on the Hungarian team defected to the West after the Olympics. Gyorgy Karpati did not; he went back home, eventually retiring with four medals. If one wonders why we're not giving a high K Score for a Jew with three Olympic golds... back in Hungary, he became a communist informer.

It's not all back and white with the Cold War... The same can be said about blood in the water.