You may be too young to remember, you may not even have been born yet, but, today marks the 30th anniversary of a significant event. An event so memorable, that 30 years later people, like myself, can remember every detail, every moment as the event unfolded. An event so improbable, that 30 years later, it is still labeled as one of the greatest upsets in the history of sports. Of course, I am referring to the 'Miracle on Ice'.
For those who may not know what I am talking about, the 'Miracle on Ice' occurred during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY. It was a hockey game between the United States and Russia. At the time, the Russian hockey team was the best in the world, most of the players had been together for over 10 years. The United States was basically a group of college kids who had not played together for more than 10 months.
Up to this point, the Russians had won the gold medal in hockey in every Olympics, except one, since 1956. That one exception, they lost to the USA in Squaw Valley in 1960. In the four Olympics after Squaw Valley the Russians went 27-1-1 and outscored their opponents 175-44. In 1979, the Russians beat the NHL All-Stars 6-0.
For me, this game had significance not only because I was, and continue to be, a huge fan of sports and the Olympics, but because we beat the big bad Russians. At the time, things were not going well in the US. This game gave us all a glimmer of hope for the future. I know it sounds silly, but that is what I remember at the time.
At the time, the names of the some of the payers, Jim Craig, Mike Eruzione, Ken Morrow, Mark Johnson, Neal Broten were more well known than some of their counterparts in the NHL.
Some images I have etched in my memory are Jim Craig skating around the ring with an American flag draped over his shoulders, Mike Eruzione, standing atop the medal stand, gesturing for the rest of the team to join him on the podium, and who can for get Al Michaels' brilliant commentary of the last 10 seconds of the game which still gives me chills and culminated in 'Do you believe in miracles? YES!'
There are certain events in our lifetime that we will never forget where we were when they occurred. For some it was Kennedy's assassination, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, 9/11, etc.. The 'Miracle on Ice' is one of those events for me, however, there is one glaring difference - it was a happy memory.
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