February 9, 2010
Today in history, February 9, 1980
Feb. 9, 1980
3 days before the opening of the Olympic games in Lake Placid.
Madison Square Garden. A fundraising exhibition game between the US and the USSR hockey teams.
The US team had been training like gangbusters, learning the more fluid interchangeable-position Soviet style. Herb Brooks was determined to at least put up a good fight, and the only way that could happen would be if the US was willing to change, change their style, and try to "throw [the Soviets'] game right back in their faces". It was a long-shot that the US and USSR would even get to play one another at Lake Placid. A lot of games had to take place, with the US winning all of them, in order to even reach the Soviets. But make no mistake: the Soviets were the ones to beat.
So this game at Madison Square Garden, on February 9, 1980 - 30 years ago today - was very important. It wasn't important as a game in and of itself, it was just an exhibition match ... but psychologically, it was going to be very important. How would the young US kids fare against the towering amateur-in-name-only Soviet players? Could they send a message? Could they broadcast their intentions? Could they let the world know they would be worthy competitors?
Recently, the Soviet team had beaten the NHL on American ice, winning the challenge cup, a huge humiliation for the United States.
The Russians were a hockey dynasty, who had dominated the sport for almost 30 years at that point. The last time the Americans had won the gold at the Olympics for hockey was in 1960.
So although it was a long shot that the Americans would "go the distance", they certainly had had enough of being humiliated, and on February 9, 1980 were eager to stand toe-to-toe with the Soviet giants, and show the world what they had been training for, that they could be "contendahs".
To those of you who don't know the story:
The USSR beat the US at Madison Square Garden, on February 9, 1980 - 10 to 3.
It was a crushing defeat, psychologically and physically. The US had been playing their upcoming Olympic competitors through Europe in the previous months, in exhibition matches - and had been faring pretty respectably. But meeting up with the USSR was the real test. They were the ones to beat.
All illusions of even moderate success were wiped away on February 9, 1980.
Of course we all know what happened on February 22, 1980 ... less than 2 weeks later. Unbelievable. But it is important to remember that that victory was not at all a done deal. Not even close. It was unthinkable - especially after the 10-3 game at Madison Square Garden.
COMPILATION OF QUOTES ABOUT THE FEB. 9 GAME AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN:
Vladislav Tretiak, brilliant goalie of the Soviet team, writes about this game in his autobiography
Our National Team arrived in the States a week before the lighting of the Olympic Flame. There was a sparring match between the USA and USSR teams. The score, 10-3, speaks for itself. The Americans showed us only a symbolic resistance; the forces were completely unequal. Our opponents looked up to us, not hiding their respect. For them, we were the team that had beaten the best North American professionals, and not just once! Every one of them dreamed of becoming a professional player.I remember their goalkeeper, [Jim] Craig, trying to catch my eye all the time. Whenever he succeeded, he would smile and nod politely. The Americans didn’t even think about winning then. The only question was how many of our pucks they would let in. They were very upset at letting in ten; nevertheless, they had a higher opinion of themselves.
Who could have known that this victory would play such a bad joke on us? It would have been better for us had we not won that exhibition game at all.
"They were the Red Menace. They wore the CCCP across their chests. They were very very intimidating." - Dave Silk, US forward
"You had heard about them. You had known about how good they were. You had known about their successes. And now you were going to play them. And that night it was 'Welcome to the real world, boys.'" - Mike Eruzione, US team captain
“We got crushed. And we thought – these guys are in another world.” – Dave Silk, US forward
“They just kicked us around that rink. The goals they scored –you could have filmed them they were so beautiful.” – Jack O’Callahan, US defenseman
"We were playing the Soviets right in Madison Square Garden - I knew I had to tweak Jimmy [Craig] again. And he was playing well, but it was a mind thing with him. I said, 'Jimmy, I fucked up.' I said, 'I played you too long. Not your fault. My fault. I see these elements in your game. You're playing tired. My fault, Jimmy.' He says, 'What?' I said, 'I gotta play Janaszak here half the game. I want to give him some work because - I just see some flaws now. And I'm kicking myself, Jimmy. I played you too long.' And he said, 'It's my job, I'll show you, you dirty blah blah blah ...' So halfway through that game, I yanked him. I yanked him right there in front of 18,000 people. And he was livid. This was my last tweak with this guy. I knew what I had. Solid goalkeeper ... Right after we won [in Lake Placid], he came right to me, with his finger in my face, saying, 'I showed you, didn't I. I showed you, didn't I.' I said, 'Yep. You sure did, Jimmy. You did a helluva job, kid.' " -- Herb Brooks, coach for the US team
“We were about ready to stand up and applaud them. We had never seen anything like that before. Guys were saying, ‘Did you see that goal? Did you see his move?’ We were spectators.” – Mark Johnson, US forward
“I looked up at the scoreboard. It said 10 to 3. It might as well have said 20 to nothing. 10-3 made it sound closer than it was. It was no contest.” – Al Michaels, sportscaster
“There couldn’t have been a greater low point, given the preparation and the work we had put in. It was very demoralizing.” – Jack O’Callahan, US defenseman
FEBRUARY 9, 1980:
A MERE 13 DAYS LATER, FEBRUARY 22, 1980:
“Anybody who left Madison Square Garden that day thought to themselves: ‘The Soviets will win every game in the Olympics, take home the gold medal, and never be challenged.' And the US? All you knew is that when it came time to face the big bear, they had no chance.” – Al Michaels
October 3, 2009
"If we play 'em ten times, they might win nine. But not this game. Not tonight."
A little boy imitates Herb Brooks' pre-game speech to the 1980 Olympics hockey team. I can't stop watching it.
February 22, 2008
Today in history: February 22, 1980
I post this for all those hockey fans out there, of course, but I also post it for David and Maria's wee daughter, who is playing Al Michaels in a school-play version of Miracle on Ice. I so want to hear her little voice making that famous call!
"DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?? YES!
That famous photograph of the team FREAKING OUT features, in the foreground, defenseman Jack O'Callahan, straddling defenseman Mike Ramsey (in the HBO documentary Do You Believe In Miracles? - Ramsey says, with a look on his face which brings a lump to my throat just mentioning it: "I'll take that picture ....... to my grave with me.") ... with absolute MAYHEM behind them. Their joy is still infectious, so many years later.
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 Boston presence on the team. My family's from Boston. There was a regional component to our triumph, as well as a national component.
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.
Keep an eye open for the documentary : "Do You Believe in Miracles" I own it, naturally, but I'm sure it is available otherwise. Even without the topic, which I love - it is one of my favorite documentaries ever made. I watch it so often that it's embarrassing. But it NEVER. gets old.
Narrated beautifully and simply by Liev Schrieber - with interviews with Jim Craig, Herb Brooks, Jack O'Callahan, Craig Patrick, Eric Strobel, Dave Silk (who was my personal favorite, I admit it) - and many others - the documentary just GETS the big-ness of the event. It GETS the magnitude. I get goose-bumps watching it.
Herb Brooks said later, in a filmed interview with Kurt Russell, "The greatest sporting event of the 20th century, voted by Sports Illustrated, was not given to an individual - it was given to a team."
That, to him, meant the most. And it is why he absented himself from the celebration on the ice. In the footage of that day, you can see him hurrying off into the darkness beneath the stadium, while his players go apeshit on the ice. It is THEIR moment, not his.
Al Michaels, the dude who made the famous "Do you believe in miracles?" call (which - when you listen to it - in the moment - AS the game is going on - you just can FEEL the emotion, the amazement - the guy is absolutely flipping out - it's awesome). But anyway, he is also interviewed quite a bit in the documentary - and he said at one point, in terms of how the game happened at 5 pm on a Friday night - and the network made the unprecedented decision to tape it and then re-play it that night at 8 pm - because by that point, everybody wanted to see this match-up - He said, "And so on Friday, you had this bizarre circumstance of people filing into the arena for what was, essentially, a matinee. Little did any of those people know that they were about to witness one of the greatest sporting events of their lives."
More posts on the Miracle on Ice here:
January 19, 2008
Meeting of the minds
A still (below the fold) from the filmed interview of Kurt Russell and Herb Brooks, in preparation for the film Miracle - the story of the 1980 Olympic hockey team, which of course - as all my regulars (I sound like an old whore) all know - is a story of which I never tire. I mean, good Lord, obviously!! Russell (along with Gavin O'Connor, the director, and others) were in a hotel conference room in Los Angeles, asking Herb Brooks a bazillion questions. The interview can be seen in the DVD extras, and is a must-see, as far as I'm concerned. Not just the film - but all of the extras as well.
But I'm also of the mindset that Kurt Russell's portrayal of Herb Brooks was one of the most under-sung under-praised over-looked unfairly ignored all-time GREAT performances of the last 20, 30 years. I don't use the term "great" lightly. What Russell did in that film qualifies, 100 times over.
BraVO.
February 22, 1980
Re-creation of February 22, 1980
Unbelievable performance. Impeccably meticulous, and yet emotional in a primal way. A combination like that (meticulous and primal) is as rare as they come (think Brando, think Streep, think Wayne) ... that's the level Kurt Russell was at in his portrayal of Herb Brooks. (More of my thoughts on his performance here.)
June 12, 2007
The last 2 minutes
I never get sick of it. Ever. Every time I watch this, I think .... they're not gonna pull it off. I KNOW the end ... but I forget it. Every time.
The life of Herb Brooks
I think this is one of the best movies I've ever seen. Done by a kid for a class project. I can't stop watching it. And I get all choked up at the end every time when you see the photos.
Thank you, Emily!!!
Speaking of an O'Malley filmmaker (Kung Food Guy: Part 1, Part 2, trailer for Part 3) Cashel is going to a summer camp where he will learn how to create video games.
This is the coolest thing ever.
He left me a rambling message where I only understood two words: "500,000 dollars" ... It sounded like, "blah blah garble blah and BLAH GARBLE BLAH!!! blahblahblahblah 500,000 dollars!!"
Is he asking me for 500,000 dollars? Not sure.
I also had a brief conversation with him, where I could tell his attention was elsewhere. I had interrupted his Simpsons marathon.
I said, "Okay, Cash, I'll let you go. I know you need to get back to the Simpsons."
He pondered this, and then said, "Well. I don't think I need to get back to the Simpsons."
I howled with laughter. His linguistic sophistication rearing its head. "Hahahaha VERY good point, Cash - but you WANT to ... You don't NEED to, but you WANT to. I completely know what you are talking about."
I don't NEED to watch Holiday and Only Angels Have Wings back to back on a weekly basis. No, I don't NEED to. But I WANT to.
And that's good enough for me. Life is so full of have-tos. It's good to make time for what you WANT-to.
Anyway, I can't wait to see what video game he creates.
Oh, and watch that Herb Brooks movie. Genius! I've watched it 3 times.
April 18, 2007
Where Sheila takes her navel-gazing to even greater heights
... or depths.... depending on your opinion of such things.
I enjoy gazing at my own bellybutton. You know, I've kept a nearly-daily journal for almost 30 years. Obviously, I am pretty much obsessed with myself.
And my camera.
Corner of my bulletin board.
Corner of my bulletin board.
Bathing beauties overlooking the tub.
Please don't judge me. I lost power on Monday - with a full load of laundry in medias res. So I hung crap up EVERYWHERE. This particular view made me laugh when I saw it, because I suddenly was like: "uhm ... maybe you want to branch out into some other colors there, Sheil-babe."
Close-up from my Wall O' Quotes
Another close-up from my Mosaic o' Quotes
Quote. A reminder for those white nights that come over me, on occasion.
Let us ignore the mis-spelling of my name and just revel in the FACT of this MIRACULOUS object. Seriously. My blog brought Jim Craig to me. Kinda can't even deal with the cool-ness of that.
Greenery. And my piece of stained glass that Mitchell gave to me in the Jurassic Era. The fact that it has not broken - not even with all my moving - is nothing short of a miracle. (Speaking of Jim Craig).
It is my goal in life to find an outfit I can wear these with. I have a couple ideas ... but nothing has come to fruition yet. Suggestions are welcome. I want to EAT these shoes I love them so much.
My awesome barrister bookcase. Given to me by my dear parents, and driven down to me by my dear friend Beth. Who am I that I should be so lucky???
Let the Controlled Chaos begin.
Controlled Chaos towering above me.
Controlled Poetic Chaos. Yo, Sheila, you like Sylvia Plath, ya think?
February 22, 2007
"I remember daring, yes daring, to think we were going to win...."
A beautiful personal remembrance of that game. Like I said - I never get enough of the personal stories about this one particular event. Thanks, Dave E!!
"Do YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?? YES!!!!!!!"
27 years ago today, the US Olympic hockey team beat the "unbeatable" Russian hockey team at Lake Placid. The Miracle on Ice.
That famous photograph of the team FREAKING OUT features, in the foreground, defenseman Jack O'Callahan, straddling defenseman Mike Ramsey (in the HBO documentary Do You Believe In Miracles? - Ramsey says, with this look on his face which brings a lump to my throat just mentioning it: "I'll take that picture ....... to my grave with me.") ... with absolute MAYHEM behind them. I've looked at that photo so many times and yet - it still seems fresh to me. Their joy is still infectious, so many years later.
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 Boston presence 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 had no TV for 2 years, I totally understand - and as someone who no longer has a TV, I get it) ...Keep an eye open for the documentary I mentioned: "Do You Believe in Miracles" - or perhaps it's on Netflix. I own it, naturally, but I'm sure it is available otherwise. Even without the topic, which I love - it is one of my favorite documentaries ever made. I watch it so often that it's embarrassing. But it NEVER. gets old.
Narrated beautifully and simply by Liev Schrieber - with interviews with Jim Craig, Herb Brooks, Jack O'Callahan, Craig Whitney, Eric Strobel, Dave Silk (who was my personal favorite, I admit it) - and many others - the documentary just GETS the big-ness of the event. It GETS the magnitude. I get goose-bumps watching it.
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.
Al Michaels, the dude who made the famous "Do you believe in miracles?" call (which - when you listen to it - in the moment - AS the game is going on - you just can FEEL the emotion, the amazement - the guy is absolutely flipping his lid - it's awesome). But anyway, he is also interviewed quite a bit in the documentary - and he said at one point, in terms of how the game happened at 5 pm on a Friday night - and the network made the unprecedented decision to tape it and then re-play it that night at 8 pm - because by that point, everybody wanted to see this match-up - He said, "And so on Friday, you had this bizarre circumstance of people filing into the arena for what was, essentially, a matinee. Little did any of those people know that they were about to witness one of the greatest sporting events of their lives."
I've posted a bunch of stuff on the miracle on ice - mainly as a lead-up to the film coming out - which I was excited and anxious over ... The story means so much to me, and I was terrified they would mess it up (I don't feel they did - by the way - loved the movie - but it can't hold a candle to that documentary, and seeing the real thing. MAN.)
The greatest moments in sports history
February 15, 2007
Happy place
Sigh. Happy happy.
(Oh, and the anniversary of the Miracle on Ice is coming up - it's next week.)
February 22, 2006
Today in history
Thanks to the Llama Butchers for the reminder - such an appropriate moment (in terms of the Olympics, and also hockey in general) to do a re-post:
26 years ago today, the US Olympic hockey team beat the "unbeatable" Russian hockey team at Lake Placid.
Jack O'Callahan, straddling Mike Ramsey in the foreground there ... the absolute MAYHEM behind them ... It's a gorgeous thing, ain't it? I've looked at that so many times and yet - it still seems fresh to me. Their joy is still infectious.
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 Boston presence 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 had no TV for 2 years, I totally understand) ...Keep an eye open for HBO's documentary "Do You Believe in Miracles" - It is just ... one of my favorite documentaries ever made. I own it. I watch it so often that it's embarrassing. But it NEVER. gets old.
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.
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 - mainly as a lead-up to the film coming out - which I was excited and anxious over ... The story means so much to me, and I was terrified they would fuck it up (I don't feel they did - by the way - loved the movie - but it can't hold a candle to that documentary, and seeing the real thing. MAN.) Anyway - here are some of my posts.
The greatest moments in sports history
Anyway, to those of you out there who have vivid memories of watching the "miracle on ice" ...please feel free to share them in the comments.
December 9, 2005
"Someone's gonna beat those guys"
Herb Brooks is being initiated into the Olympics Hall of Fame.
There's something about Herb Brooks that always gotten me right in the throat (uhm - reminiscent of his shouting at the Czech player, on national television, during the Olympics: "I'll bury that goddamn stick in your throat!")
If you ever get a chance, check out the HBO documentary about the 1980 Olympic hocky team called (of course) Do You Believe in Miracles? Incredible interviews with him, you just so get the feeling that he was a fearless (and fearsome) leader. It is truly inspirational what he did. I NEVER get over it. I remember the 1980 Olympics - I'm not a big hockey fan - but even I got swept up in the moment.
There's a moment in the HBO documentary, during an interview with the real Brooks, when you get a glimpse of the power of this man as a coach. It's very subtle, but the hairs rise up on my arms at the same moment, every time I see it.
It's the kind of influence any great teacher has. Not only is WHAT they are saying meaningful and inspirational - but it is HOW they say it. It somehow makes you feel like ... you can DO it. You can go out and slay Goliath.
Brooks was describing the US team's nervewracking arrival at Lake Placid. Brooks had felt for years that the Russian team was too cocky, they were OVER-confident. The US team was terrified and intimidated by the Soviet team, especially since they had just been crushed by them at Madison Square Garden 3 days before. Brooks started to chip away at the mystique with his team - making fun of the looks of the players (all of whom were hockey GODS), giving them all silly nicknames ... "Look at these guys - they just want to have a nice vacation - they want to buy new blue jeans - they aren't serious about hockey - and look at that guy's NOSE - he looks like a chicken!" etc.
Anyway, Brooks is describing this - and he says, "I kept saying to the team - whetting their appetite - 'Someone's gonna beat those guys. I don't like how they're playing. They think they're better than they are.' I made fun of the Russian players - to relax my team, to help them build up their confidence - but also - to remind them ... Someone's gonna beat those guys."
I suppose you have to hear how he says it, to get the power of it. But it is clear, in that moment, in how he keeps repeating, like a mantra, "Someone's gonna beat those guys" - that Herb Brooks is a motivational and inspirational man. Because what is beneath that "someone"? The call to action to HIS team: "Someone's gonna beat those guys" also means: "You all can beat these guys!"
One of the sportscasters interviewed for the documentary said, "For a few hours - a magical coach convinced a magical group of kids - that they could do something ... that they really, actually, couldn't do."
This was the power of Herb Brooks. I'm all verklempt.
I know Herb Brooks really means a lot to the people of Minnesota - for many reasons other than the 1980 Olympic win - but for me, he will always be that tense-eyed intense man in the plaid pants on the sidelines, WILLING that group of college kids to beat the Russians.
Truly incredible. After I first watched the HBO documentary I wrote a blubbery piece about it on the blog - Here it is:
I had such a catharsis last night, watching the HBO documentary Do You Believe In Miracles? It is the story of the U.S. Olympic hockey team, winning the gold in 1980.
I don't know exactly what doors it opens up in me ... All I know is I was a blubbery MESS, and I still am one today. Perhaps it is the story of bucking the odds so unexpectedly that gets me. Or the fact that those kids came from nowhere, nowhere, and beat the greatest hockey team in the world. No one expected that of them.
I think, though, it is merely the specific human moments represented in this well-done documentary that slay my heart. The moments are emblazoned in my brain.
--The Iranian hostage, being released from captivity, was shown a videotape by the State Department of everything that happened in America during his absence. The hostage said that the best part of the videotape, for him, was watching the hockey game, and watching all the people in the stands losing their minds. He said, "I was in deep captivity for over a year. Being held hostage shows you the ultimate depravity of humanity. But then ... watching that hockey game ... I saw the complete opposite. I saw all of these Americans going crazy over a hockey game. I just wish that I had been there."
--The one shot of Jim Craig, the goalie, draped in an American flag, right after they won the gold, skating along, looking up into the stands, searching with his eyes, saying, "Where's my father? Where's my father?"
--Pretty much every single shot of coach Herb Brooks' face. What a face! He rode those kids HARD, he made them a team. There was rivalry between the Minnesota kids and the New England kids - they hated each other. Herb Brooks said, "I wanted to blur the boundaries of this country. I wanted them to know that the USA on the front of their jerseys really meant something." He also knew that they HAD to win. And they did. After that "miracle game", they still had one more game to win before they could take home the gold. They had to beat Finland. Herb Brooks came into the locker room beforehand, and said, "If you lose this game, you will take it to your fucking grave." Then he turned and walked almost all the way out, before turning around and saying again, "To your fucking grave."
--One of the Russian players described watching the American team flipping out when they won, rolling around on the ice, crying, screaming, cavorting - complete mayhem. He said, "We were so used to winning. We watched how emotional they were and we had forgotten that. I was almost jealous of their emotions."
Emotions like this:
Jack O'Callahan straddling Mike Ramsey in the foreground - screaming to high-heaven - his big wide-open mouth - with one front tooth missing - Gorgeous. Just gorgeous. Mike Ramsey said, in an interview in the documentary, and he almost couldn't finish the sentence ... "I'll take that ... I'll take that picture ... to my grave with me."
A tribute to Herb Brooks. All of them.
August 11, 2005
Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks
I watched the DVD of Miracle last night. For ... the 4th time?
"Eleven seconds, you got ten seconds, the countdown going on right now...Morrow up to Silk...five seconds left in the game! Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" - Al Michaels, ABC Sportscaster
(Jack O'Callahan or "OC" attacking Mike Ramsey after the "miracle". Love that.)
Anyhoo: I've posted WAY too much about this movie, and the Miracle on Ice in general. It's a bit of a passion o' mine. Other posts: here, here, here, here, and here.)
Watching the film again last night affirmed, yet again, my high opinion of Kurt Russell's performance as Herb Brooks, coach of the 1980 Olympic team.
I think it was the most under-rated performance not only of last year but of recent memory. I watched his moments over and over and over again ... studying him ... marveling. I think partly my awe is because of my addiction to the HBO documentary about Miracle on Ice - I am very familiar with Herb Brooks' mannerisms, and Kurt Russell not only inhabits them - he seems to channel them.
This is a major-ly great performance by a movie star. It is a star turn. And yet ... it is also, ultimately, a very humble piece of acting. It's about Herb Brooks - not Kurt Russell being a big star and showing off his acting.
Superb acting job.
Watch the last moment when he hustles to get off the rink, away from the jubilation, so he can be alone. Watch him. Just watch Kurt Russell in that quiet moment by himself. We can't even see his FACE (which is great film-making, I think ... the director made an excellent choice - no big close-ups, nothing) ... we just see him pacing in that shadowy hallway, you can FEEL the adrenaline, the emotion, surging through him ... (that's great movie acting, man. Kurt Russell ... got all of that across ... in his body, in his spirit, his energy) ... how he suddenly clenches his fists and shakes them in front of him ... such a quiet moment of triumph - it's fierce, primal ...
I'm tellin' ya. Kurt Russell is pretty much better than most people give him credit for. That performance is a masterpiece of subtlety and specificity. Those blue blue eyes, the accent, and the moments he takes ... Everyone who was on that team talks about how intimidating Herb Brooks was, and how scary he could be. But also: how unbelievably smart he was, and how he could motivate people to be better than they thought they were. Herb Brooks always said that he did not "push" people to be great - he "pulled greatness out of them". Goose bumps ...
Kurt Russell captures this perfectly.
Hugely under-rated performance. It gets better with closer viewing, too. It's so layered, so powerful ... Russell is doing WAY more than what it seems like he's doing at first glance. He's marvelous.
(But the movie Miracle, no matter how exciting, cannot compare with the real thing. My copy of the HBO documentary "Do you believe in miracles" is one of the most watched tape in my collection. Even more so than Notorious. If you ever get a chance ... SEE it. It's unbeLIEVable. EVERY time I see Mark Johnson's goal - with 1 second left on the clock - I feel like cheering. EVERY. TIME. I've seen the damn footage 30 times now. Don't matter. The way he swoops through the Russian defensemen- who were not paying attention - they thought the period was over, and Johnson zoomed through, and gently scooped the puck into the goal - right by Tretiak ... it's just so exciting.)
Here are some great links about the "Miracle on Ice".
February 22, 2005
The Russian side of the story
"[Benching Tretiak was] the biggest mistake of my career," Tikhonov told Coffey through an interpreter. "Tretiak always played better after he gave up a goal. The decision was a result of getting caught up in emotions. After Tretiak gave up the rebound and let in the soft goal by Johnson, my blood was boiling. It was my worst mistake, my biggest regret."
Also:
"We were already celebrating," defenseman Valery Vasiliev said. "Nobody can skate with us in the third period."
I mean, a lot went into the why we won, and why they lost, but I would say that that quote ("we were already celebrating") did more to contribute to the United States winning than anything else. I don't want to take away from the Americans accomplishments. Yes, the Russians were over-confident and so they made some terrible mental errors. They didn't respect the American team, thought they could breeze through the night. The Americans were so much of a team, and so hungry for success, that they jumped on those crucial errors and turned the situation around - (Mark Johnson's goal with one second to go is the perfect example).
So yeah. The Russians messed up. But only a true team could cohere enough to fully take advantage of the situation, and the US team, led by Herb Brooks, did.
More interesting quotes from a new book out - telling the Russian side of the miracle on ice.
May 19, 2004
An open discussion
on the greatest sports moments in history.
My first thought is the Miracle on Ice ... but I know there are equally great and miraculous moments out there.
February 10, 2004
"Do you believe in Miracles?"
I finally went and saw "Miracle" - a movie I could hardly wait to see. (Evidence to that here and here) I am highly attached to the HBO documentary, telling the story of the 1980 Olympic hockey team - and I hoped they would not mess it up.
They did not.
For people who have never heard of the 1980 Olympic "miracle on ice" - the film might not work as well, because it is not clear, exactly, what the big deal is. I walked into it, knowing the implications of that hockey-game, understanding the hugeness of it - and judging from the majority of the audience (all men, many of them wearing hockey jerseys) they understood the theme, too. But if you don't know the actual story, it might feel like kind of a slow weird film.
The film-maker does weave in excerpts from the news at that time, the invasion of Afghanistan, the "crisis of confidence" speech - but it runs over the opening credits, and if you're not aware that the story they REALLY are telling is: "The Cold War was at its height. And in the middle of one of the tensest moments - 2 hockey teams faced off..." it might be a bit baffling.
But since I know the story, and since I know all of the players' names, as though they are my personal friends, I ate up every second of it.
They cast extremely well. The guys look very much like their real counterparts. Aruzione, O'Callahan, Craig - they all looked quite a bit like the real guys, but they also had some of the essence, the essence captured so well in the HBO doc.
Aruzione's open-faced enthusiasm, O'Callahan's attitude - the fighting Irish, the sensitivity of Jim Craig ... The casting did half the work for them, it was perfect.
The filming of the miracle on ice is stupendous. You are out on the ice, the entire time, in the middle of the game. It is confusing, loud, thrilling - You are rarely up in the stands, seeing all of the action. And yet - in the crucial moments - like Aruzione's goal that put them in the lead - (that basically won the game for them) the action slows down a bit, so you can see exactly what is happening, you can get a sense of the import of it.
And Kurt RUSSELL.
God, I just want to shake his hand. He transforms. His appearance transforms, yes, but - there's also an interior shift. He is not recognizable as the Kurt Russell persona (and I'm not just talking about that goofy hair and the plaid pants). He has become Herb Brooks. His voice is different, his manner is different - Russell has obviously studied footage of Brooks like a maniac, his performance is incredibly detailed, and spot-on.
There's a moment in the HBO documentary, during an interview with the real Brooks, when you get a glimpse of the power of this man as a coach. It's very subtle, the hairs rise up on my arms at the same moment, every time I see it.
It's the kind of influence any great teacher has. Not only is what they are saying meaningful, and important - but it is HOW they say it.
Brooks was describing the US team;s nervewracking arrival at Lake Placid. Brooks had felt for years that the Russian team was too cocky, they were OVER-confident. The US team was terrified and intimidated by the Soviet team, especially since they had just been crushed by them at Madison Square Garden 3 days before. Brooks started to chip away at the mystique with his team - making fun of the looks of the players, giving them all silly nicknames ...
Anyway, Brooks is describing this - and he says, "I kept saying to the team - whetting their appetite - 'Someone's gonna beat those guys. I don't like how they're playing. They think they're better than they are.' I made fun of the Russian players - to relax my team, to help them build up their confidence - but also - to remind them ... Someone's gonna beat those guys."
I suppose you have to hear how he says it, to get the power of it.But it is clear, in that moment, in how he keeps repeating, like a mantra, "Someone's gonna beat those guys" - that Herb Brooks is a motivational and inspirational man.
One of the sportscasters interviewed for the documentary said, "For a few hours - a magical coach convinced a magical group of kids - that they could do something ... that they really, actually, couldn't do."
This is the power of Herb Brooks - and Kurt Russell GETS that. He's not a nice guy, he's tough on them, there are no warm and cuddly moments - nothing like that. But he makes them a team, dammit, and he recognizes what is great in all of them. Not as individuals, but as a unit.
His performance is marvelous.
The best part of the film is the ending. Not the US team winning - but what happens immediately following.
Everyone flips out, of course. The team is rolling around, crying, screaming, hugging - the entire rink is losing its mind - Al Michaels is screaming like a lunatic (they use most of his original voice over, which is so fun, because he completely LOSES it) -
Anyway, during the hullaballoo, Herb Brooks rushes away from the rink, back up towards the locker room.
(Geek alert: The same thing occurs in the documentary. Herb Brooks did not rush out onto the ice to hug his guys, to congratulate them - He completely backed away from the moment - and there is a shot of him hurrying up the ramp away from the ice)
I always wondered:
Was he overcome with emotion and he wanted to hide it? Where was he going?
I always just imagined that Herb Brooks, the tough hockey coach, who screamed "I'll bury your goddamn stick down your throat!" at a player from Czechoslovakia during the early rounds of the Olympics when the Czech knocked Mark Johnson to the ice in a cheap shot - Brooks screamed this on national television - love it - Anyway, I always imagined that this rough gruff man, who loved it when all the players were bonded together in their collective hatred of him - was completely overcome with emotion and had to get away to express it in private.
Anyway. The film sort of comes to that conclusion, too - but it's not an in-your-face moment, where we get a close-up of Russell's tear-streaked face, and we understand that all of his dreams have come true (cue: violins).
No. It's subtler than that. The camera still keeps its distance from the moment - which is a great choice - because then it lets the audience feel it, fully.
This is a lot of talk - but I saw the film - and it excited me tremendously.
I was not let down at all.
Go, Kurt Russell. Excellent job.
February 6, 2004
Finally...
Miracle has opened. It's playing in Times Square. This is definitely one of the movies I must go to see alone - because it already means too much to me - and if it's a disappointment, I need to skulk away, on my own, to heal.
But if it's a wonderful experience, then I need to be by myself to revel in it, and not ruin it all by talking with someone who may not feel the same way.
Now I just have to figure out when the hell I can go. I'm going to an Irish music festival tonight - tomorrow I'm going to spend the afternoon at the Turkish baths (a hilarious experience - you sit in steam-rooms in your bathing suit for 5 bucks a pop, surrounded by old Eastern Europeans - it's so much fun) with a couple of girlfriends, then going out for wine and cheese ... Perhaps a matinee on Sunday.
Roger Ebert liked Miracle - and has good things to say about Kurt Russell's performance ... I liked this bit especially from the review:
This is a Kurt Russell you might not recognize. He's beefed up into a jowly, steady middle-age man who still wears his square high-school haircut. Patricia Clarkson, who plays Brooks' wife, has the thankless role of playing yet another movie spouse whose only function in life is to complain that his job is taking too much time away from his family. This role, complete with the obligatory shots of the wife appearing in his study door as the husband burns the midnight oil, is so standard, so ritualistic, so boring, that I propose all future movies about workaholics just make them bachelors, to spare us the dead air. At the very least, she could occasionally ask her husband if he thinks he looks good in those plaid sport coats and slacks.
And this particular paragraph gives me a clue that this film attempted to get the story right, as opposed to Hollywood-izing it:
We know all the cliches of the modern sports movie, but "Miracle" sidesteps a lot of them. Eric Guggenheim's screenplay, directed by Gavin O'Connor, is not about how some of the players have little quirks that they cure, or about their girl, or about villains that have to be overcome. It's about practicing hard and winning games. It doesn't even bother to demonize the opponents. When the team finally faces the Soviets, they're depicted as -- well, simply as the other team. Their coach has a dark, forbidding manner and doesn't smile much, but he's not a Machiavellian schemer, and the Soviets don't play any dirtier than most teams do in hockey.
So the drama is big enough already. It does not need to be pumped up. We do not need to delve into Jim Craig's psychological issues and torment over losing his mother. We need to see how he stepped up to the plate (to mix a metaphor) and played like a genius. It's about the GAME, not the personalities.
This was my hope for this film.
And I'm thrilled to see Kurt Russell get a chance to do some character-acting. He has always been capable of it.
Ebert says:
Although playing a hockey coach might seem like a slap shot for an actor, Russell does real acting here. He has thought about Brooks and internalized him.
Beautiful. Can't wait to see it.
January 27, 2004
I will not apologize...
for being so excited for the movie Miracle to come out that I can think of little else.
My entire personality is yearning towards next week - which, I believe, is when it opens.
I am excited on mulitple levels.
1. Yay, for Kurt Russell. Getting a nice meaty role like Herb Brooks. He's always been good, always, but he hasn't always had good roles, roles where he can show what he can really do. It looks like he has gone through a nice transformation, too, at least from the previews - his hair, his voice, the look in his eyes. Can't wait.
2. All of the hot young unknown hockey players/actors. I loved, in the previews, that the kids from Boston actually HAVE the Boston accents, which I would recognize if I heard it in the wastes of the Kara Kum desert. My entire family has that accent, so I am very particular about it - and that was my main issue with Robin Williams' over-praised turn in "Good Will Hunting". No accent. He's supposed to be a Southie boy, a local guy - Matt Damon and Ben Affleck both did the accent - Williams did not. Williams is usually a chameleon, in terms of his speech, etc. But I think this was a lazy performance, for that reason.
3. I loved the HBO documentary about the 1980 Olympic team. I taped it, and I watch it on occasion, and get completely thrilled every single time. When the assistant coach, at the end, chokes up unexpectedly as he says the words, "Those guys ..." (Suddenly, the feeling comes up - surprising him - his throat closes - You can see this embarrassment go over his face - this manly man - It is so moving ... He clears his throat, trying to get it under control - and then finishes his sentence:) "Those guys deserved that medal." Oh, it kills me every time.
I wrote a thing a while back about my response to that documentary, the first time I saw it. Join me in my obsession. I am counting the days till the movie opens.
Do You Believe in Miracles? YES!!
I had such a catharsis last night, watching the HBO documentary Do You Believe In Miracles? It is the story of the U.S. Olympic hockey team, winning the gold in 1980.
I don't know exactly what doors it opens up in me ... All I know is I was a blubbery MESS, and I still am one today. Perhaps it is the story of bucking the odds so unexpectedly that gets me. Or the fact that those kids came from nowhere, nowhere, and beat the greatest hockey team in the world. No one expected that of them.
I think, though, it is merely the specific human moments represented in this well-done documentary that slay my heart. The moments are emblazoned in my brain.
--The Iranian hostage, being released from captivity, and shown a videotape of everything that happened in America during his absence. The hostage said that the best part of the videotape, for him, was watching the hockey game, and watching all the people in the stands losing their minds. He said, "I was in deep captivity for over a year. Being held hostage shows you the ultimate depravity of humanity. But then ... watching that hockey game ... I saw the complete opposite. I saw all of these Americans going crazy over a hockey game. I just wish that I had been there."
--The one shot of Jim Craig, the goalie, draped in an American flag, right after they won the gold, skating along, looking up into the stands, searching with his eyes, saying, "Where's my father? Where's my father?"
--Pretty much every single shot of coach Herb Brooks' face. What a face! He rode those kids HARD, he made them a team. There was rivalry between the Minnesota kids and the New England kids - they hated each other. Herb Brooks said, "I wanted to blur the boundaries of this country. I wanted them to know that the USA on the front of their jerseys really meant something." He also knew that they HAD to win. And they did. After that "miracle game", they still had one more game to win before they could take home the gold. They had to beat Finland. Herb Brooks came into the locker room beforehand, and said, "If you lose this game, you will take it to your fucking grave." Then he turned and walked almost all the way out, before turning around and saying again, "To your fucking grave."
--The Russian player described watching the American team flipping out when they won. He said, "We were so used to winning. We watched how emotional they were and we had forgotten that. I was almost jealous of their emotions."
Okay. Whatever. The entire documentary rips my heart out. The next time it is on is at, like, 6 a.m. a month from now, and I (of course) will be awake. And I will tape the whole damn thing. It is beautiful. A beautiful story.