On the Miracle...

Jambo's post made me chuckle... "the Fellas"... man, THAT was a while ago, huh?

One small point... you mentioned no one ever talking about the defense/second stringers, but I wanted to make a point there: Some of those players, while key parts of the whole team, never saw ice at all... let alone that match. Janisec (sp?) was the back up goalie... and a stud player from UM with a NCAA championship under his belt... but never saw even a minute of ice time through the whole Olympics. Craig played it all. I don't want to take anything away from guys like Jannie, but what does that say about Craig? Seven matches... only 16 points on goal allowed? Against the best in the world? Wow... with starters like that, there isn't much room for backups, is there.

Some of the careers these kids had after are a bit amazing, too. Their win at Lake Placid was enough to gain them a spot at the Hockey Hall of Fame... but some earned them from professional play, too. Mark Johnson (UW) had a career with the Stars that saw more than 970 points made, with more than 1000 assists... not very many people even know his name today.

Ryan might be right... Reagan's "Morning in America" might have actually started that February day in 1980 (even though that phrase was from his second campaign). The US had faced so many political set backs since... well, forever, really. 1968: MLK/Kennedy Assasinated, Tet Offensive; 1972 Nixon's Cabinet is rocked with the resignation of Vice President Agnew; 1973 Watergate story breaks; 1974 Nixon resigns; 1977 OPEC embargo begins, US falls into another recession; 1979 Embassy in Tehran is taken, USSR invades Afghanistan, Carter gives his infamous "malaise" speech... we were SO ready for something good and wholesome to come along that the entire nation could get behind and cheers till we were horse.

Those boys gave us that something, and they did it with grace and style... and if their names live on because of it, well... they earned that, at least.