It seems as if enough people are interested in my ramblings that now I'm getting recommendations on what I should write about - and I must say, I'm actually surprised. So many of you are reacting positively to what I write, that I hope I don't end up letting you down. So as I sit watching the snow come down like it did when I was little...I will write about a topic that my brother asked me to write about, that is near and dear to me....hockey. Specifically, Olympic Hockey.
I don't know how many of you remember the Miracle on Ice - the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team, a bunch of rag-tag college kids that had no business competing on any level with the PROFESSIONALS from the former Soviet Union. For those that don't understand how seriously hockey was taken in the Soviet Union back then, if you were a hockey player at the elite level, playing for the National Team counted as MILITARY SERVICE. That's why they called themselves the "Soviet Red Army Team". These players had played together for the better part of 10 years, and knew each other so well that they could very well play with their eyes closed. We also were in the middle of the Cold War with them at the time, and as such, President Carter boycotted the 1980 Summer games in Moscow.
The US team in 1980 was a bunch of college kids - straight amateurs (yes people, the US used to send AMATEURS to the Olympics instead of professionals - back then, the onus wasn't on how many medals we could win, like it is now. The more medals the better - it's like the international "My **** is bigger than your ****" mentality, and we don't care who we have to send in order to be the top dog.) These kids were thrown together by a visionary coach named Herb Brooks who realized that there was only one way to beat this Soviet team - and put those kids through hell to get them to win. On a Friday afternoon, in February of 1980, the USA beat the heavily favored Soviets in what is known as the Miracle on Ice. What most people forget is that WASN'T the gold medal game. The US won the Gold Medal two days later by beating Finland.
In 1984 and 1988, the USA did not come close to medaling, and eventually this became a cause for embarrassment among the US Olympic Commitee. In 1998, an agreement was reached to shatter the dreams of college and amateur players by allowing professionals to represent their respective nations in the Olympics. It has been that way since.
I watched with some semblance of pride the USA defeat Canada this past Sunday in a preliminary round game that just happened to occur on the 30th anniversary of the 1980 team beating the Soviets. Some people were actually calling this a second "Miracle on Ice". That is so much bologna, Boar's Head should sue. The Olympic hockey tournament now is nothing more than a tweaked, international NHL All-Star game, although there is a little more checking than in a regular All-Star game, where nobody hits anyone, and games are decided by scores like 14-11. Sure, the players all say the right things..."It's an honor to represent your country. We want to bring the Gold Medal home to (country of origin)", but in reality, if they don't win the Gold, these guys will go back to earning a pretty nice paycheck playing the game professionally.
Part of what made 1980 so unbelievable and memorable was that those kids, save for a couple of them, had nothing to go home to after. Some of them had been drafted out of college, but those games, and their performance in those games, propelled them to their pro careers. If they hadn't won, most of those boys would have been done with hockey after that point. That is what made the story so great.
I am not anti-American - in fact I enjoyed beating the Canadians the other day. Canadians are generally great people, but their presumed "ownership" of the game of hockey makes them a little smug towards Americans regarding it. I also liked watching Candian crybaby Sidney Crosby lose, but that's a personal thing. If the USA wins the Gold, I will be happy, but it will never feel like 1980. Nothing ever will.
Anything else you want an opinion on, drop me a comment here or on Facebook. I will try to accommodate you - if I have a strong enough opinion.
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