OH HOW WE DANCED, Part 2

"We beat the Russians, WE beat the Russians!"
Not the United States kids, it was "WE beat the Russians!"

And oh, how WE danced!!!!

So part 2 begins with the madness that began about 7:30PM on February 22, 1980 with the U.S. beating the Soviets 4-3 in Olympic Hockey.

The game was aired live on the CBC but ABC (what the hell were they thinking?) decided to tape delay it and show it at 8:00PM. When their broadcast started they showed a live feed from behind host Jim McKay, which everyone was going crazy and McKay had the look on his face where he knew this secret and wanted to share it with everyone but couldn't.

But such was TV in 1980.(Remember that ESPN was just born and they would start broadcasting every evening at 6:00PM. Yes kids, we roughed it back then!)

Most assume that the game was broadcast live (indeed, CTV, which held Canadian rights to the game aired it live); but in reality, the game started at 5:05 pm Eastern Standard Time and ABC decided against pre-empting local and network news (on the East Coast) to carry the game live. Instead, most of it—including the entire third period—was broadcast within the regularly scheduled, prime-time telecast from 8:00 to 11 pm Eastern time (and on a six and a half hour delay on the West Coast from 8:30 to 11 pm Pacific Standard Time). Despite being on tape, the game was one of the highest-rated programs of the 1979–80 television season and remains the most-watched ice hockey game in the history of American television

ABC Radio broadcasted the game live and that is where I listened to the game. I used to work at a supermarket and on Friday's my best friend at the time and I would start what was called "processing orders", which the delivery trucks would bring in the orders and we could start cutting the boxes open and pricing cans and packages, etc. (We still done that in 1980.) So at the bowels of the basement we had the radio on and listened to the game very intensely. That was a night I will never forget as we told the co-manager what had happened and he got up in the office, turned on the microphone and told the final score. I swear everyone in a packed store was screaming. I had never seen this before and have not seen it since.

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Jim McKay and Al Michaels names will always be associated with that game.

During the broadcast wrap-up after the game, ABC Olympic sports anchor Jim McKay compared the American victory over the Soviets to a group of Canadian college football players defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers (the recent Super Bowl champions). ABC was the official home of the Olympics every year and of course, Jim McKay was there as the anchor. McKay's performance during the 1972 Munich Olympic tragedy. When the hockey game was over and they threw it back to him, live, Jim McKay looked into the camera and stated "I don't know what to say!" Who could blame him?

Al Michaels was the Cincinnati Reds radio man from 1971 through 1973. In 1974, Michaels left the Reds for a similar position with the San Francisco Giants and announced regional NFL games for CBS Sports in 1975. He signed with ABC Sports in January 1977. Michaels initially joined ABC as the back-up announcer on Monday Night Baseball in 1977. The following year, he was promoted to be lead announcer and was at the network on a full-time basis. In 1980 he was assigned to hockey play by play.

"The Soviets were putting so much pressure on the American team at the end of the game, and it was a one-goal game, the crowd is going absolutely insane, we were on a platform that was shaking, the production truck was going crazy," Michaels recalled.

Michaels says he never gets tired of people coming up to him to talk about that call or that game. He never tires of hearing people say where they were when they heard the call. Of course, it was the first hockey game that many Americans had seen. "That was the beauty of that game," Michaels says. "You didn't have to understand to understand."

He later recalled, "When I look back, obviously Lake Placid would be the highlight of my career. I can't think of anything that would ever top it. I can't dream up a scenario."
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The Americans defeated Finland two days later to clinch the gold medal, coming from behind in the 3rd period as usual and securing, the Gold Medal and also securing the hearts of a grateful America. Had the US lost this game, the gold would have gone to the Soviets.

Photo by Russ Considine

The gold medal ceremony was a sight to behold. Emotional, passionate, bringing out all patriot emotion in a country who had lost its way. Always remember, the American public of 1980 was so disillusioned. Ayatolla Khomeini had kept Americans imprisoned for more than 100 days. The Soviets had invaded Afghanistan. At home, America faced domestic inflation, unemployment, and economic uncertainty. The United States didn't seem to be as mighty on the global scene as it once was. And then THEY came along.

That's why Americans loved the 1980 hockey team and their victory over the Soviets. They made America feel like it was back in control.


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Here is a section from ESPN separating myth from reality:

Myth: The USA beat the Soviets in the gold medal game.
Truth: The USA defeated the Soviets 4-3, then defeated Finland 4-2 to win the gold.

Myth: Mike Eruzione was the USA's top offensive player.
Truth: Eruzione had the game winner against the Soviets, but five other teammates outscored him.

Myth: The USA won all its games.
Truth: The USA tied Sweden 2-2 in the first game.

Myth: The Soviet game was on television live in prime time.
Truth: The game was played at 5 P.M. and was on tape delay.

Myth: The USA overachieved at the right time against a superior Soviet team.
Truth: Maybe it was a "Miracle on Ice," but the USA had a strong team, particularly at center with Neal Broten, Mark Pavelich, and Mark Johnson, and with defensemen such as Mike Ramsey, Dave Christian, Ken Morrow, and Jack O'Callahan, and a hot goaltender in Jim Craig.

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Also do NOT underestimate the great Eric Heiden, who was the best all-around speed skater in history. Any arguments to the contrary are foolish. Not sure? Check this out. At the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, Heiden won gold in all five men's races, from the sprints to the distance. He finished first in the 500-, 1000-, 1,500-, 5,000- and 10,000-meter races. He set four Olympic records, including one world record. Not only is he the only skater to ever win all five races in a single Olympics, he's the only skater to ever win all five events in any Olympics. He was close to a lot of those players on the hockey team and attended that game. He was (and still is) a soft spoken man who never let big companies make money off of his name. He will be forever linked to these games as well.

What happened over those two weeks and two days in Lake Placid, New York is something I will truly  take to my grave with me. It made a HUGE difference in the way I saw this country and shaped my political beliefs.

These were OUR kids. My GENERATION. They came out and kicked ass. Herb Brooks came out and DEMANDED they kick ass. No other way to say it.

This is in memory of Herb Brooks, Jim McKay, Chris Schenkel, Curt Gowdy, Bill Flemming, Art Devlin, Jack Shea and for the men and women who made these Winter Games possible to a grateful nation. Also for the Rev. J. Bernard Fell, president of the Lake Placid Olympic Organizing Committee who died of cancer in 1985 and who the Rev. J. Bernard Fell Olympic Torch Restoration Committee is dedicated for the restoration and preservation of "The Beacon of Lake Placid's Olympic History".

Lastly this is also in memory of the great Harry Chapin who sadly was killed on July 16, 1981. Harry performed a solo concert at the 1980 Olympic Winter Olympics in the Olympic Village, which Sports Illustrated writer E. M Swift noted that gold medal speed skater Eric Heiden's favorite experiences were the "Harry Chapin concert at the Village and raisin toast". Rest in peace. 

With heartfelt emotion I dedicate this link to all now, and all then


“Now if a man tried to take his time on Earth and prove before he died what one man’s life could be worth, I wonder what would happen to this world.”
- Harry Chapin



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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/joe_posnanski/02/22/miracle.on.ice/index.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/olympics1998/history/memories/80-hock.htm
http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2010/02/20/russians-play-miracle-ice-years-later/
http://voices.yahoo.com/a-tribute-jim-mckay-favorite-us-olympic-athlete-1669231.html?cat=9
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/22/sports/olympics/22sandomir.html?_r=0
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/22/feb-22-1980-u-s-a-beats-soviet-union-in-miracle-on-ice/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_on_Ice
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Winter_Olympics
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1124069/7/index.htm
http://espn.go.com/classic/s/miracle_ice_1980.html
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1089198/index.htm
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