Personally, I think the word miracle is overused for sports. But it fits with the 1980 United States hockey team that turned 40 over the weekend on February 22. To play with uneven odds against what was the most dominant team in all of the world, that says a lot. A tall order, but that wasn't the Finals.
Forget the Lakers and Celtics line of championships. The Soviets were one of THE most dominant teams in hockey for a very, very long time. Nine straight World Championships. Right around when the Celtics had their streak. Winning gold in the Olympics almost every four years. Beating up on opponents. The record speaks for itself going back to the 50s. Very impressive feats that no one can even touch.
Then you have the United States. Their players were very young. Collegiate type ones. Some flaws in a few of them. The fact that they had a test game against the Soviets that wound up being a disaster. Maybe the optimism is there, but in theory, you would think their asses would get kicked on their home turf in Lake Placid, New York. That's why we see sports and watch them. Because wherever you are in the world, people want to see either complete their domination or have the underdog rise to the occasion.
This is the kind of game I wish we had in today's generation of hockey. And it was a tight one. It's where physicality and attention to stamina, teamwork, and awareness helped the United States in one of the biggest upsets for the time. Putting a lot of weight on these unproven players, some of which would go on to play in the NHL and other hockey leagues. It is revered as one of the biggest events in sports and one of the greatest games ever played.
"Do you believe in miracles?"
No comments:
Post a Comment