Take a look at any sports fan’s movie collection, and you’ll most likely see “Field of Dreams,” “61,” “Slap Shot” and “Hoosiers,” among others.
What you probably won’t find is a copy of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” game between the United States and the Soviet Union.
I guess that’s where you could call me odd.
Save for “Hoosiers,” I own and watch all of those movies on a regular basis. I even own “Eight Men Out.” Yeah, I’m a sports freak. But the piece of sports media that I revere the most is my copy of the game many call the greatest sporting moment of the 20th century.
So, when I find myself trying to relax, I pop in the tape, and for the 30th time, watch as Mike Eruzione and Jim Craig take on the vaunted Soviets and shock the world. And to this day, I still get chills from watching Craig wrap himself in the American flag and hearing Al Michaels call out his famous, “Do you believe in miracles?”
You’d better believe I do.
Now flash forward to the present, and look toward February in Salt Lake City. Exactly 30 days from today, the U.S. hockey squad will take on Finland in its opening game. Six months ago, most people in America wouldn’t have paid much attention to the ice at Salt Lake. Yeah, fanatics like myself would have been glued to their television sets anyway, but the actions of September have magnified what the men of the United States do in February.
Simply put, the country needs them to do what American hockey did at Lake Placid, N.Y., 22 years ago.
Back then, the economy was in shambles, American hostages were still in captivity in Iran and national pride was at an all-time low. Some have credited the upset with making everything right again in America. This probably isn’t the case, but it sure made Americans believe they could pull through the tough times.
In a sense, 2002 parallels 1980 closer than any year in United States’ history. American pride is up, but national security is still an issue in many people’s minds. The country is stronger than ever, but at the same time, it’s still as frail as it ever could be.
Enter Mike Modano, Mike Richter, Jeremy Roenick and others on this year’s squad. Every American player who will take the ice in Salt Lake City was alive in 1980. Some were barely old enough to walk, but all know the significance of Eruzione, Craig and coach Herb Brooks — and what they did for the sport with their win.
“It was a great accomplishment for them, and we know how important it was to us,” U.S. forward Doug Weight said in an article published by USAhockey.com. “We still have that little kid in us. We’re professionals now, and they were amateurs … but we’re still the same kids, and we want to win as much for them as they wanted to win for us.”
These men know what an Olympic gold could do for America. Win, and it will help erase the memories of Sept. 11. Lose, and the world will still be the same. However, if they make themselves a laughing stock, as they did in 1998, it could spell the end for American hockey.
For those of you who forgot, in Nagano, Japan, the American team decided to trash their hotel rooms after they accumulated their third loss in four games, leaving the sport and its players with a black eye. The men who starred for the team that year, which is a large chunk of this year’s squad, can save face by playing well at Salt Lake.
But, more important, they can help pull America through its tough time.
So, if you can’t make time to sit down and watch the Americans take on Finland on Feb. 15 or the Russians the next night, make sure you tape it. Who knows, there could be another miracle on ice.