Do You Believe In Miracles

US 1980 Olympic WinOn Friday, February 22nd during the 1980 Winter Olympic Games being held in Lake Placid, New York; the United States hockey team did the impossible. A very young team of American hockey players, Led by coach Herb Brooks took on the most dominate team ever in international Hockey - the Soviet Union. They did so and WON! No one thought it was possible, except maybe coach Brooks. I remember the day well, considering it was decades ago. While the game was played in the afternoon ABC delayed it for prime-time, there was no CNN or internet to spoil the surprise. It also meant I could watch the game after school with my dad.

I wasn't a hockey fan, but by Friday night it would have been un-American not to watch. I sat in our living room with my dad mesmerized by this game I didn't understand. While the sport was a mystery, at 9 years of age I did understand that the Soviets were the bad guys; and we were the good guys. I also knew we were the underdog, but had a team that was in a medal round. That alone was amazing and unexpected.

The periods passed with the US team playing well, but losing. With 10 minutes on the clock the US scored, making it a 4 to 3 lead. While details like that are foggy for me, what came to pass in the final 10 seconds of the game are not. As the clocked ticked away I remember Al Michaels wildly excited as he screamed:


At that moment my dad and I went nuts, just as the stadium had in Lake Placid. It was an incredible moment that probably can't be understood by anyone born after 1980. It was just a moment in history where our nation came together in glorious happy unity to celebrate a good moment instead of a bad one. Alas those moments are rare and seldom last.

Enjoy that last minute of the game. Relive the moment. A moment where we all could ask "Do you believe in miracles," and answer "YES!"