“DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES???? YES!!!”

25 years ago today, the US Olympic hockey team beat the “unbeatable” Russian hockey team at Lake Placid. heh heh LOOK at this photo. Jack O’Callahan, straddling his team-mate (I forget which one – No wait. I remember. It was Mike Ramsey) … the absolute MAYHEM behind them … It’s a gorgeous thing, ain’t it?

Here’s the Sports Illustrated article about the “miracle on ice” (thanks to Ken for linking to it.)

Like most of us who were alive at that time, and at all aware of ANYTHING, I have vivid memories of the 1980 Winter Olympics, and of these college kids who came along and slayed the Russian dragon. I was particularly into the whole thing because of the whole Boston factor on the team. My family’s from Boston. There was a regional component to our triumph, as well as a national component.

However, it is only in retrospect that I realize just how HUGE the whole thing actually was. I didn’t really get the context of it while it was happening – the Cold War context, and also the hockey context – just how huge a dynasty the Russians had, in terms of how they played the game, how they dominated international hockey, etc.

I must say to EVERYONE out there who has televisions (speaking as a chick who has no TV) … if HBO is playing their documentary “Do You Believe in Miracles” in commemoration of this anniversary – PLEASE see it.

I can’t explain why the documentary rocks my world to such a degree, but it does. It GETS the big-ness of the event. It GETS the magnitude. I’ve seen it 50 times (since I taped it, when I DID have a television).

I remember having a discussion here on this blog about the greatest moment in sports history. The general consensus was that the miracle on ice HAD to be # 1. There were no other contenders, really.

I’ve posted a bunch of stuff on the miracle on ice, if you’re interested.

Do you believe in miracles?

The greatest moments in sports history

Anyway, to those of you out there who have vivid memories of that Olympics … and what it meant … please please share them in the comments.

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21 Responses to “DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES???? YES!!!”

  1. Silver Anniversary for The Miracle

    Well, damned if I’m just not going to point back to my favorite redhead blogger once more, as Sheila O’Malley reminds me that today is the 25th Anniversary of the Miracle on Ice victory over the Soviet Union. I’ve also…

  2. A thought occurs to me… Al Michaels will always be known for his “Do you believe in miracles” line. How would we reference the Mircacle on Ice if Howard Cosell had been at the Mic?

  3. Another Sheila says:

    I have no memories of the acutal Miracle on Ice, but a funny snippet related to the HBO program: My sister told be about a night, a couple of years ago, when she and our brother saw it together. It was late-late on a Saturday night, they had both rolled in together from a bar or party or somewhere, and they were sitting on the couch, flipping through channels while finishing up their burritos (this being Chicago.) They happened upon “Do You Believe in Miracles” and sort of absently left it on. She said that at a certain point in the viewing, they (in their early 20’s at the time and neither given to outbursts of tender emotion, particularly in each other’s company) turned to one another and simply burst into tears, which continued for the duration of the show. She maintains that it is the best television she has ever watched.

  4. red says:

    Dude – that is SO my experience of that documentary. It taps into some powerful reserve of emotion … it’s unBELIEVABLE. You are right – it’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen on television.

    I felt so strongly about it that I kept waiting for it to be re-run, and finally it was – only at 6 in the morning or something like that – so I got up, popped in a tape, and captured it forever.

  5. Today in LLamabutcher history: 1980

    Sheila has some memories….

  6. Lisa says:

    I remember the night it happened like it was yesterday. I was 14 and a freshman in high school. We were at a HS basketball game, playing our rivals. Our towns HATE each other, and you usually couldn’t cut the tension in the gym with a knife. It is FIERCE, this hatred.

    Well, during a timeout, the announcer came on the PA and said, “We just got word that the US Olympic hockey team has just BEAT. THE. RUSSIANS.”

    Pause. Then total bedlam.

    The ENTIRE gym erupted in “USA! USA! USA!” It was amazing. For those five or so minutes, we weren’t rivals. We weren’t enemies. We were all Americans.

    For those who weren’t old enough to remember the US/USSR thing, I don’t think they can grasp how HUGE this was. It wasn’t just young turks beating old men. It wasn’t just a rivalry. It was about VANQUISHING our FOES. GOOD over EVIL. I don’t think there is anything to compare it to today.

  7. red says:

    Lisa –

    Wow. That’s incredible. The whole thing gives me chills.

  8. skinnydan says:

    Sadly, I have no memory of the actual event. In my heathen days, I thought hockey was stupid, and at 10 years old that “bigness” went right over my short little head. I’ve learned a lot since then, and it is truly the greatest sports moment in history.

    And, compared to today, hockey as it was always meant to be.

  9. JFH says:

    Don’t forget it was on tape delay… in D.C. I was at a keg party, Senior year of H.S. with around 5 minutes left in the game the local anchor in a live promo for the late night news said “We’ll give you all the highlights of the amazing US victory over the Soviet Union tonight at 11:00″….

    ARGGGHHH! Therefore, “Do you believe in miracles” was meet with paper cups thrown at the TV (we thought for sure it was dubbed in after the fact)

  10. Dave J says:

    OK, well, I was four years old, so I have to admit I can’t I remember it well. But I know I remember something positive and people being excited and happy, and it’s the kind of memory that others’ manage to bolster over time.

  11. red says:

    It is ironic that the 25th anniversary would occur in a year when … well … you know … there’s no hockey!

  12. jackie says:

    She,
    I remember that Olympics vividly. We were in lake placid for a week and it was thrilling. I collected pins from all the foreign athletes walking the streets. People were just trading pins and talking to one another. I got to watch Eric Heiden (remember that hottie??) practice speed skating. That was also the year of the Tai and Randy tragedy; they were the darlings of the pair skating competition and then Randy pulled his groin muscle and they had to drop out. My brother Donny was working in the rink and he got my parents tickets to THE game, so they saw it all in person. (I think I’ve told you all this before, you know I have no short term memory). the following summer I met all of the hockey team and got their autographs; no idea where they are now. anyway, I am an olympophile!! (and i probably posted an identical comment last year at this time; oh well. lots of love to you girl)
    “sporty J”

  13. red says:

    Jackum – I could hear you tell that story 10 times. I just love the fact that you were THERE.

    And I also remember the nail-biter of Tai and Randy … when he kept trying to do the jumps in their warm-up, and falling … and she was crying … and oh my goodness, the DRAMA.

  14. Rob says:

    Cable was in its infancy. I used to go to the Reuters news ticker on one of the cable stations to see what had happened during the day because I used to go out on Friday nights. They spilled the beans before the ABC nightly broadcast. I still didn’t believe it. ABC was trying to get in other Olympic sports that night but you could tell that Jim McKay could hardly contain himself. They showed the Gold medal game live.

  15. Lisa says:

    Ooooo, Eric Heiden. I cut his pictures out of my dad’s Sports Illustrateds and pinned them to my bulletin board. Even at 14, I was mesmerized by those massive thighs. Yummy.

  16. Off the Kuff says:

    Do you believe it’s been 25 years? Yes!

    Twenty-five years ago today, the US Olympic hockey team beat the Soviet Union 4-3. A more exhilarating moment would be…

  17. It Was 25 Years Ago Today . . .

    Remember. And try to forget that you’re not so young anymore. UPDATE: Sheila O’Malley has her own memories. Thanks to…

  18. Laura says:

    I haven’t seen the HBO documentary, I really ought to. I have absolutely no memory of the actual game, I was 4 then. I am still amazed how well the movie last year was done, and ticked that the movie, at the very least Kurt Russell got completely snubbed for Oscar consideration.

  19. melissa says:

    Couple short comments – I was 10, and I watched this game. (I’ve been an Olympics fiend for a long time). It was great!

    I think one of the more poignant parts of the movie Miracle is that Coach Brooks died just weeks before it premiered.

    And, the local St. Paul paper (home of Coach Brooks) has a set of articles on the Miracle as well – http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/hockey/ (sorry if you have to register to read them…)

  20. Do You Believe in Miracles?

    Today marks the 25th anniversary of the greatest moment in all of sports history. More on this later. [By “later” I mean this evening] Ok, I never got around to it, but Sheila did….

  21. Laura says:

    We caught a sneek preview of Miracle before it officially opened, the theater was packed. It was awesome, people cheered and clapped with every goal. You could feel the excitement build. At the end, when they show the picture of Herb Brooks, and mention his passing, the whole audience erupted in applause.

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