I am officially old.
I have direct TV. Don't have local channels. So my NBC coverage of the Olympics has been limited to what's been on MSNBC, USA and the other satellite networks of the NBC family. So while I've missed the ice dancing, downhill skiing, and most painful of all, curling, I got to see a fair bit of hockey.
Ethan is ten. He watched hockey, maybe two shifts worth, hoping I'd lose interest and he could sneak in some X-Box time in. Instead he got to listen to a story about another ten year old kid, playing in the winter time outside, pretending to be Erik Hyden (sp?) winning five gold medals in speed skating and wondering how the hockey game was going because his parents had kicked him and the rest of the kids out of the house.
On a tape delay game.
In the end (third period) we got to come in because it was cold out, and I got to see, live (via tape delay) the last seven or so minutes of Our Miracle. And in the thirty years since, I have yet to see its equal in terms of uniting a nation or freezing a moment in history.
Sure, I remember the plane going into the south tower at 8 in the morning Tuesday, Sept 11. Won't forget it. I remember the Wall coming down in Berlin. I remember when Reagan was shot. I remember when the Pope was shot. I was at the lake when Corrizon Aquino's (sp?) husband was assassinated on the tarmac in Manila. I remember when Kirby Puckett retired, and when he died. I watched both Twins World Series victories. I saw all of Wisconsin's modern Rose bowl victories. I watched the New Orleans Saints AND the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win Super Bowls before my Vikings.
But in 1980 we were LOSING the Cold War. No history book can accurately describe the sure and certain knowledge that all young men had that we would register for selective service and some time within our lifetime we'd fight the BIG ONE against the Russians. In 1980 there were American hostages in Iran. Walter Cronkite made a point of closing each news cast by tallying the days. There were gas lines, double digit interest rates, double digit unemployment, and a lack of 1) identity and 2) pride.
The game between USA and the USSR in Feb, 1980 at Lake Placid, NY didn't win the Cold War for the US. It didn't put people back to work. It didn't fix the economy, it didn't save Jimmy Carter's presidency, it didn't do ANYTHING except one thing.
It proved that miracles are real, and they happen. Sometimes on national tv.
I'll be 40 this year. Older than my parents were in 1980. And beating Canada for a gold medal is not a miracle. Can't even be mentioned in the same breath as 1980. But I am old now. I have to EXPLAIN to my kids who the Soviets were. I have to EXPLAIN why we were underdogs. I have to EXPLAIN that we weren't always what we are now. They'll see their own miracles. This one, 1980 Miracle on Ice, was the single greatest sports event I have ever seen and I feel safe in saying ever WILL see. And it was OUR miracle, our generation's moment. Not a world war, not a speech at the Brandenburg Gate, but a hockey game that didn't even decide a medal.
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3 comments:
Jambo doesn't kid when he speaks of the impact this game had on our childhood. The rest of the country knew we were underdogs, but we knew why we were underdogs.
Imagine...
Mikhailov (right winger) had outscored... by himself... entire NHL teams that the Soviets had faced in exhibition play 35-14. Tretiak was unanimously considered to be the greatest goaltender on the planet by 1980. The entire Soviet team was so amazingly GOOD that their record against NHL teams and All-Stars was pointedly avoided as a stat to be used during the Winter Games by American announcers like Al Michaels... 5-3-1 against NHL teams, and 6-0 (can you believe it?) against the NHL All-Star Team.
Team USA played the Soviets in an exhibition match in New York two weeks before play started at Lake Placid, and the Soviets owned the ice... winning by the score of 10-3.
Once Olympic play began, the USA Team did well... playing the Swedes to a tie and beating the Czechs... but the Soviets out-played their opponents 51 to 11 in five games. Do you understand what a HUGE thing it is to outscore your opponents 5 to 1 in hockey? The Soviets should have been unbeatable. In fact, Olympic announcer Ken Dryden (himself an NHL All-Star and goalie for the Canadiens) said as much numerous times to millions of watching fans.
But... those 20 boys did what no one had been able to do for twenty years of Olympic hockey and world hockey play: they OUTPLAYED the best players in the world. Tretiak actually had to leave the ice, and Mikhailov never scored once (not ONCE).
God, I loved those boys...
One of the great fortunes in my life is to have gotten to know some of the key people involved with that miracle.
I've drank beers with Bob Suter, I've had plenty of hockey talks at the rink with John "Bah" Harrington and have sat in Mark Johnson's office in the Kohl Center, watching Badger football with him before a women's hockey game.
More than anything, I remember sitting in the hockey office at Minnesota State when Herb Brooks stopped by. I'd met Herb before but he sat down to have a cup of coffee and, for about 10 minutes it was just the two of us. For me, it was almost a surreal experience because my life revolves around the hockey season and here was the man who was largely responsible for me wanting that.
In 1999, I stood in the 1980 Olympic Rink while my team, the women from the University of Minnesota, warmed up for a game. I stood in that building and looked out the window overlooking the speed skating rink where Eric Heiden won his five gold medals and was in awe of the moment.
Yes, for all of the reasons Jambo and Titus have explained, and more, that 1980 Miracle on Ice impacted our lives and I don't think the feelings of that time can adequately be explained to anyone who didn't live it.
Jambo, thanks for reminding me of how fortunate I've been in life.
Grande... Jambo and I were just talking about Herb and the impact he's had on the sport of hockey over-all.
So many people are talking about this year's Olympic Hockey Gold Medal Round (US-CAN) and how it compares to 1980. We both agree that it doesn't compare at all, and Herb Brooks is a huge part of that reasoning.
You having met that man is frigging awesome! What a privelage!
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