Free Republic

Flanked by members of the famed "Miracle on Ice" U.S. Olympic hockey team, President Trump celebrated the team's captivating 1980 performance at a campaign rally on Friday. Forty years removed from defeating the Russian hockey team in the semi-finals of the 1980 Olympic Games, Trump honored the U.S. team's historic victory by bringing captain Mike Eruzione and coach Herb Brooks's daughter onstage during a campaign stop in Las Vegas. The team stood behind Trump as the president ran through his stump speech and lashed out at the fake news media. The players wore red Make America Great Again hats and...

On February 22 1980, the US Olympic hockey team defeated the Soviet Union 4-3 at Lake Placid, NY. Until that time, the Russians had not lost an Olympic hockey game since 1968. The Soviets were highly favored to repeat as gold medalists and only weeks earlier, had convincingly defeated the US team 10-3 in a game at Madison Square Garden. Soviet coach Viktor Tikhonov pulled goalie Vladislav Tretiak, a move still debated by many. In the closing seconds of the game, Tikhonov did not pull their goalie to put an extra attacker on the ice. The US team went on...

The rink where (Herb) Brooks coached the U.S. Olympic hockey team to its stunning gold-medal victory 25 years ago now bears his name. It was renamed Wednesday night in his honor: 1980 Rink, Herb Brooks Arena. The announcement came 18 months after Brooks was killed in a car accident, which made the moment so very poignant.

Herb Brooks never really grasped the magnitude of what he and a collection of college boys accomplished 25 years ago, Patti Brooks said last week, and he most likely never would have wanted to have the arena where it took place named for him. When the 1980 Olympic hockey team's Miracle on Ice gold-medal performance was selected the sports event of the 20th century, Herb "was almost incredulous," she recalled. "He just kept repeating that he could not believe that. He was really humble about most things, but I remember he was just so shocked at that one. I don't...

Greatest "Miracle"February 4, 2004Do you believe in miracles?The 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey victory over the Soviet Union was a sports and political miracle.Two decades later, it has inspired an entertainment miracle.The miracle is that, in 2004, Hollywood actually released a great movie that is uplifting, pro-American, and devoid of sex and violence. That movie, "Miracle," debuts today [Friday, February 6, 2004] and is destined to be a hit. "Miracle" tells the story of coach Herb Brooks’ and his 1980 team’s incredible David-versus-Goliath victory.In January 1981, when U.S. hostages were released from Iran, they viewed a highlight tape of major events...

A slightly larger than life-size bronze statue of Herb Brooks will be unveiled Feb. 5 at Rice Park across from the Ordway Center to honor the late hockey coach from St. Paul. Immediately following the ceremony, which will include Brooks' family and dignitaries, there will be a screening of Disney's "Miracle" movie starring Kurt Russell as Brooks. The movie about the celebrated 1980 Olympic gold-medal team coached by Brooks will be shown at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. at a theater to be determined. Proceeds will go to the Herb Brooks Foundation. Last week, a block from where Brooks' statue...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- You can't watch television these days without seeing a story about Kobe Bryant and the allegations that he sexually assaulted a 19-year old woman in a Colorado hotel. Bryant is yet another in a long list of athletes who can't seem to keep themselves out of trouble and who have contributed to the demise of professional and amateur athletics. It is a sad commentary that the most admired athlete in America today is Seabiscuit -- a horse that has been dead for 56 years. Last week's untimely death of hockey coach Herb Brooks is a reminder of...

<p>'Do you believe in miracles?" Al Michaels shouted from Lake Placid one February afternoon in 1980. And millions of Americans had become believers.</p> <p>For the unimaginable had happened: The United States Olympic hockey team - 20 young amateurs - had stunningly upset the prohibitively favored Soviet national team, hardened pros to a man.</p>

As the time ticked off the clock, the tension in the building became unbearable. The flickering green lights on the scoreboard counted down the seconds ever-so slowly. 9:59 ... 9:58 ... 9:57. Mike Eruzione had just scored a goal for the Americans on a 30-foot shot, putting them ahead of the Soviet Union 4-3 in the semifinals of the Olympic hockey tournament in Lake Placid, N.Y., on Feb. 22, 1980. The young U.S. team skated with urgency in every stride, furiously protecting the unlikely lead against the world's best hockey team. Every second seemed like a minute. Every minute seemed...

Herb Brooks, 66, former University of Minnesota hockey coach, was killing this afternoon in car crash near Forest Lake, Minn., on Interstate 35.....