Winter Olympic: Miracle on Ice … 30 Years Later … The USA Beat the Soviet Union, Where were You!

MIRACLE ON ICE … WHERE WERE YOU!!!

“Eleven seconds, you’ve 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!”

Before the Internet, before cell phones and before  24 hour cable, there was the 1980 Winter Olympics and a story of the USA hockey team for the ages. Never again will such a story and game ever be played as it transcended sports.

It was February 22, 1980 the day the world stood still when the USA hockey team beat the Soviet Union 4-3 … where were you? It was the greatest game and greatest sports upset in USA history. The story of “Miracle on Ice” is one of the greatest uplifting, feel good stories of all time. A cast of college kids put a nation on their shoulder when we needed it most.

It is 30 years later but to watch highlights of the game from the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY still brings a smile, pride and a tear to my eye after all these years. It was more than just a hockey game, it was a piece of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Unions played out on a sheet of ice. It was a bunch of college kids against the Soviet hockey machine that was invincible. The Russian Red team had taken down the NHL’s best teams preceding the Olympics, how could a team of college kids even compete.

The rest is things that dreams and miracles are made of.

USA VS USSR: Mike Eruzione goal – The shot heard Around the World

Having grown up a Cold War kid, Miracle on Ice represents such a special moment in time. We deal with the threat of terrorism today, but that is a much different feeling than to wake up and wonder whether there would be nuclear annihilation. It was such a different time. I can remember being glued to the TV watching every second recovering from surgery. When the USA won, I jumped up and down, split my stitches and cried like a baby.

For those who are not old enough to appreciate the moment in time, you have to go back to 1980 and think of the following. The United States was gripped in a terrible economic plight, double digit unemployment, interest rates and inflation. So many people were out of work and gas was rationed. The USSR was occupying Afghanistan and American hostages were being held in Iran.

Do you believe in Miracles … YES!!!

It was a grim time in the US and everyone thought that the USSR was going to dominate the Winter Olympics and do a show of force on the World stage. We now know why that why they play the game.

These Olympic hockey kids made America remember that any thing is possible and miracles do come true. The feeling that this moment in time provided was beyond words.

Tell us what you were doing and your thoughts … 30 years later.