"Eleven seconds, you've got 10 seconds, the countdown going on right now," as Al Michaels' near-breathless iconic call goes. "Morrow up to Silk. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles? Yes," (Al Michaels). In the spirit of our impending trip to Lake Placid this weekend evaluating the 1980 men’s olympic hockey teams legacy seems appropriate.
Last week marked the 35th anniversary of the “miracle on ice,” a popular culture reference to the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympic Games men’s hockey semi final. On February 22, 1980, in front of a crowd of 8,500 people, the United States hockey team, made up of amateur and collegiate players, defeated the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union had won six out of the previous seven olympics.
In 1999, Sports Illustrated named “Miracle on Ice” the top sports moment of the 20th century. No other sports moment in history has touched American hearts the way the 1980 American hockey victory did. On Saturday, 19 of the members from the gold medal winning team came together in Lake Placid to commemorate 35 years since their victory.
The hockey victory was so popular and personal to Americans because of its timing. America was coming off a troubling decade which included the Watergate scandal, the Vietnam War, rampant inflation, unemployment and an energy crisis. The Soviets had also just invaded Iran, igniting the Cold War to new heights. The unexpected hockey victory gave America a reason to smile.
The effects of the miracle on ice gave domestic hockey the boost it needed. The success of the team inspired younger players who now play in the NHL. There was a perception of the American hockey program before 1980 that players were not strong enough to defeat the Soviet’s, but the win in Lake Placid shattered this. My track coach told me earlier today that she was able to attend the Lake Placid games, and that the hockey victory was a memory that she would treasure forever.
It seems that the legacy of the 1980 team only grows with time. The team would never play together again, but they forever serve as a memory that no one knows what will happen when you give something everything.
Sources
http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/12369606/nhl-miracle-ice-35th-anniversary-brings-back-memories-all-involved
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/hockeyozone/2015/02/03/miracle-on-ice-reunion-in-lake-placid/22806471/
Great moments, are born from great opportunities. It is cheesy to say this out loud, and frankly even worse that I say it to myself, but this line has stuck with me. Through moments of self doubt, that line is more effective then any Gatorade commercial. There is so much that can be said for this game. This one game, if they played them 10 times the Soviets would have likely beat them 9 times, but all it took was one game. That game united the country in a way that has only happened through loss in my life. I hope that in my life time I can experience a point of national pride of this magnitude.
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