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?<\/p>\n
Here’s the Sports Illustrated article<\/a> about the “miracle on ice” (thanks to Ken <\/a>for linking to it.)<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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).<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n I’ve posted a bunch of stuff on the miracle on ice, if you’re interested.<\/p>\n Do you believe in miracles?<\/a><\/p>\n The greatest moments in sports history<\/a><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 … Continue reading