Posted on 02/18/2014 4:42:41 PM PST by NKP_Vet
Try as they might, some commentators during the U.S.-Russian hockey game could not muster much credible moral argument for making a comparison between Sochi of 2014 and Lake Placid of 1980.
Of course, we all wanted the US team to win this time, just like in 1980. But as part of a larger world morality play, it pales to near nothingness in comparison. President Obama immediately moved to seize a political advantage, sending out a tweet claiming to “never stop believing in miracles.” The president’s grasp of history is self-evidently weak and self-serving.
Back then, the joy of the American win was palpable. Strangers hugged in the streets, high-fived in the bars, screamed on the sidewalks. Toasts were made all over the 50 states. Everybody in America felt it and felt a part of it.
The galaxy-stunning win by the young American upstarts back in 1980 over the older, more experienced, and more intimidating Russian hockey team was the most compelling upset in the history of the wide world of sports--an American “Miracle on Ice” viewed as a crack in the ice of the Cold War, and in our favor for the first time in years.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Wiping tears from my eyes, Sam... wiping tears from eyes.
I was born in 1990 and have only seen bits and pieces of this game on TV.
Dont feel bad...only those in the arena that night (about 8,000) saw the game live....it was shown on ABC (who had rights to those games) a few hours later on tape. No one saw it televised live. We all saw a tape of game
Some of those players were so good in college that Brooks deliberately set up their training and exhibition schedule so they'd be playing in Europe in the fall of 1979. This was done to ensure that they'd be out of the spotlight when NHL teams were in training camp, since many of these players had previously been drafted by NHL teams and Brooks didn't want them lured away from the Olympics by NHL scouts.
Joey Mullen was the one player Brooks wanted who didn't play on the team. I believe his father was sick at the time and the family needed money to pay medical bills, so he signed with the St. Louis Blues in 1979.
Don’t forget the peanut farmer was in the White House, saying that America would never be great again. The miracle on ice proved him wrong, and I think helped Ronald Reagan in highlighting the potential of Americans. I was 14 at the time and we were at the Illinois state swimming championship. When the score was announced the entire crowd stood up and sang the Star Spangled Banner. I will never forget that feeling, and we rushed home to watch the game on tape delay. On Sunday we watched the gold medal game live. It really drove home what it meant to be an American, and to show that we didn’t have to put up with a putz like Carter in office.
Great link there! New York State is a Marxist rat-hole, but it’s hard not to fall in love with a place like that.
One of the books I read on this subject described how American goalie Jim Craig and Soviet star Sergei Makarov spent a lot of their free time in Lake Placid at the athlete's village playing an arcade game (Centipede, I believe) against each other. They both saw it as a way to sharpen hand-eye coordination, and they were thrilled to find that they could play it free for hours on end without dropping quarters into it. LOL.
One player who makes millions playing for the Washington Capitals of the NHL, Alexander Ovechkin, chose to play for Mother Russia, not the country that vastly enriched him.
Alex Ovechkin didn't have a choice in the matter. His only option was to play for Russia, or not play at all. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has very strict rules about a player's eligibility for a national team, and the first condition of eligibility is that a player must be a citizen of the country he represents in an international tournament. And even if Ovechkin became a U.S. citizen, he would not be eligible to compete in international play for the U.S. without first going through a formal transfer process that could take as long as four years (the IIHF does this to discourage players from competing for more than one country during their careers).
I watched the 1980 game in the lobby of my college dorm. The place was packed and erupted into mayhem when America won the game.
I don’t remember much of the night after that.
Oh you mean there is an Olympics taking place???
Thank you for your service. I am glad you got to be in Lake Placid. That was a wonderful time
“New York State is a Marxist rat-hole, but it’s hard not to fall in love with a place like that”
Not upstate. Pretty conservative and usually vote for whatever republican is running.
One of the Russian players plays for the Stars. How can you muster up a lot of animosity for a team that way?
Back then the Olympics were the only time you got to see the Russians play.
As I recall, the game wasn’t even broadcast live.......but I clearly remember Jim McKay teeing it up, he couldn’t contain his excitement, even though the game hadn’t been shown yet....But I remember there were rumblings even before that indeed the US had won, even though we couldn’t be completely sure until the game was broadcast.
Of course these days, it would be impossible to keep the result under wraps, like that.
Al Michaels quote for the ages “Do you believe in miracles”!
I agree about men’s hockey it is just pro teams playing
But women’s hockey is still amateur and is very fun to watch. This Thur night USA plays Canada for the gold. This will be a game for the ages.
I’d rather watch pros. These men are the best in the world and the level of play is very high. The fact that they make their living at this sport does nothing to lessen the commitment and effort that they give. It’s the best in the world versus the best in the world. And there are several countries which have a shot at winning.
I find women’s hockey hard to watch (but I do watch sometimes). They may give max effort but there is a general low level of play. The fact that the only competitive teams (USA-Canada) have such bad behavior on and off the ice doesn’t help. I expect Canada will win like usual.
Bump what you said.
Don’t know how long since you watched, but the level of play between women’s teams has improved dramatically, particularly in the Baltic and Nordic countries.
USA/Canada will be a humdinger of a match and my money is on the USA; much faster and better play makers. The Canadians are heavier and more physical, but that won’t make the difference IMO.
It was the most amazing win ever.
bttt
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.