30th Anniversary of the "Miracle on Ice"

30 years ago today, 23 unknown college kids defeated what was arguably the greatest hockey team that ever lived in one of the greatest sports moments in United States history. Everyone who was alive that day remembers where they were and how they heard the news. It was one of those "where were you?" moments we compare to national tragedies like 9/11 and the JFK assassination. But unlike those moments, this moment was one to celebrate.

I was not alive that day, but the feeling I get when seeing highlights makes me feel like I was there. The story has been told over and over in books and in movies, but it can not duplicate the raw emotion someone feels when it takes place. It was a storybook moment that will never be forgotten.

Yesterday on NBC, Al Micheals went back to Lake Place along with team Team USA captain Mike Eruzione, goaltender Jim Craig, and leading scorer and current Team USA Women's hockey head coach Mark Johnson, to relive the spectacle and describe it in their own words. They went through game by game recapping all that took place and told some inside stories that most people knew and some stories that we haven't heard before.

Everyone knows the story of how the team had one enemy, their coach, and how he put them through a vigorous 6 months program before the 1980 Olympics. Herb Brooks put the team together by himself and was determined to put together a group that would beat the Soviets in Lake Placid. Three days before the Olympics started, Team USA faced the Soviets in an exhibition at Madison Square Garden and were annihilated 10-3. Eruzione and Mark Johnson said yesterday they were mesmerized by the Soviets and how they skated and scored goals. The team then faced Sweden in the first game of the preliminary round and forced a 2-2 tie with under a minute to go in the third period. They would then beat the Czechs 7-3 followed by wins over Norway, Romania, and Germany to set up the semi-final showdown with the Soviets.

Herb Brooks was known to give his fair share of speeches. In fact, the team had a name for them and called them "Brooksisms." They included some wacky sayings, but none will top this one he gave to his team in the locker room prior to the semi-final game against the Soviets:



The rest as they say, is history. Team USA defeated the Soviets 4-3 and then defeated Finland to win Gold. In the games since, the IOC has used professional athletes in the games. That doesn't make the games any less meaningful or less exciting. As we have seen in Vancouver this year, the enthusiasm and the following is still there, even if the games are not even on network television.

For anyone who does not know the story of that memorable February 30 years ago, I highly recommend the movie "Miracle" starring Kurt Russel as coach Brooks as you saw above. It is a clearly accurate portrayal of the entire story surrounding that team. Even if you know nothing about hockey, I guarantee you will enjoy it.



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