It is Sunday night and I have just finished watching the United States vs. Canada Olympic Men’s Hockey game. What an game - what an event! The USA won 5-3. Now, I am an on-again, off-again NHL fan, but the Olympics are a must for me. As I watched the game with my son, I realized it was 30 years ago that the United States defeated the Mighty Russian Team at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. I was 10 years old at the time and playing hockey myself in Champaign. I understood the athletic accomplishment of that great game and some of the the political shockwaves that accompanied it. I can still see Jim Craig draped in the US Flag skating around the ice. The team went on to win the Gold Medal in their next game. Tonight, on the edge of my seat (literally:) - my wife thinks I am crazy), I watched the game with my 10 year old son and tried to explain the significance of defeating Canada at “their’ game in “their” house. I explained that 8 years ago the Canadians defeated the US in “our” house – Salt Lake City. As the commentators talked about the 1980 Miracle on Ice, I tried to explain the impact of that victory. I found myself talking and thinking about terms we do not often use anymore: “Iron Curtain,” CCCP, The Soviet Union, Cold War, and communism. If you are under 30, you may have not used those words ever. I also tossed out names of athletes that my son had never heard of: Mike Eruzione, Mark Christian, Ken Morrow, Jim Craig, Herb Brooks, Vladislav Tretiak, Fetisov, Markarov, and Viktor Tikhonov. Oh! How we get older each day:( If you watched the 1980 game you know that Al Michaels had a great call at the end of that game: He and Ken Dryden started a countdown and then Al screamed out......“Do you believe in miracles?” Tonight’s victory may not have a been a miracle, but it was an exciting and unpredicted upset of the team from the country that “invented the sport of hockey.” I guess the reason I am rambling about tonight’s game is that even as things change (and they have since 1980) some things stay the same – like the pride and excitement of watching “our” team pull an incredible upset of another country’s team in front of the whole world. I hope that this 2010 US team can make run at the Gold Medal, and I hope that 28 years from now I can watch another great US victory over Canada or Russia with my grandchildren! Of course, they will have no idea what I am talking about either:) If you have not watched any of the 2010 Winter Olympics – you are missing a great event! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!
HERE IS A GREAT LINK TO PHOTOS FROM SUNDAY'S UPSET WIN:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/photos/galleryid=435776.html#day+united+states+canada
AND IF YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT - GO TO:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_on_Ice
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