The Real CAPTAIN.

The REAL Captain Jack.

Get off on this you toothy bastards. I got to see him in October of 2012. Go out again Jack and we will see you more than once!!

Just random pics out of a random mind.....

I don't know what the hell this is nor will not take a guess.....

(kinda looks like Meg White though, doesn't it? But her sign would have read "want to get back with Jack.")

Speaking of being totally screwed up.....

(Of course I always heard that nothing settles down a cranky toddler like a case of Old Milwaukee. Always worked in my house......)

And lastly, from the WTF X-Files...

That's right, sandwiches in a can. Bring out the cooler, the cola and beer, load up Grandma and the kids, bring the Frisbees, it's PICNIC TIME!!! (Who thinks up this stuff?)

"...and so now you know the REST of the story.
Paul Harvey............... Good DAY."







                

So until next time my peeps....
"Tarzan go now. Swing away on vines!"

"It's seems the good die young"

Since I didn't have my blog in September of 2012 I want to say a few words about the departed Steve Sabol of NFL Films. 

Steve's father Ed Sabol was the man who started NFL Films in 1962. Back then Ed Sabol founded Blair Motion Pictures (named after his daughter) and won the bid to film the 1962 NFL Championshiip Game between the Green Bay Packers vs. the New York Giants at Yankee Stadium. The film of that game impressed NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, who asked the owners of the NFL to agree to buy out Sabol's company. Although the owners rejected Rozelle's proposal in 1964, they agreed a year later and renamed Sabol's company NFL Films. He received $20,000 in seed money from each of the league's 14 owners, and in return would shoot all NFL games and produce a highlight film for each team. 

I belong to a fraternity, so to speak as do millions of others, who know the NFL Films style. Going back to the late 60's and early 70's (especially the Super 70's) NFL Films began to craft a style that they eventually called their own. Whether it be the music (mostly Sam Spence), the narrators (mostly the great John Facenda), the tight spiral of the fooball in slow motion down the field that the cameramen perfected; it all added up to television critic Matt Zoller Seitz calling NFL Films "the greatest in-house P.R. machine in pro sports history . . . an outfit that could make even a tedious stalemate seem as momentous as the battle for the Alamo.

From highlight films, special programming, weekly highlights (who could forget "This Week in the NFL), the halftime highlights in the 1970's for Howard Cosell, the Super Bowl Highlights stand above the rest. The Super Bowl III is probably the most famous because of the magnitude of the game, but I think my personal favorite is Super Bowl V played on a sunny Miami afternoon, the Colts versus the Cowboys. One of the things Steve said was that since the game was now played about 6:30pm every year, you don't get those clean lighted afternoon shots of Miami or when they played it in the Rose Bowl in 1976. Also 1983 at the height of their popularity, NFL Films recorded a documentary, following the band Journey for about 6 months. Not only was it a film about the band but the story of the crew that puts on the show. Again Steve's ideas.

NFL Films will go on and in the digital and technology age will prosper beyond it's wildest dreams. The NFL Network owes its success to the Sabols.

One of most famous programs that NFL Films ever produced was "The Championship Chase" which was broadcasted before Super Bowl IX, the Steelers and Vikings. Steve Sabol and John Facenda was at the pinnacle of their style in 1974's "The Championship Chase" with John's recitation of “The Autumn Wind,” a football poem written by Steve, personifying fall weather and the Raiders 1974 season:


"The Autumn wind is a pirate
Blustering in from sea
With a rollicking song he sweeps along
Swaggering boisterously.
His face is weather beaten
He wears a hooded sash
With a silver hat about his head
And a bristling black mustache
He growls as he storms the country
A villain big and bold
And the trees all shake and quiver and quake
As he robs them of their gold.
The Autumn wind is a Raider
Pillaging just for fun
He'll knock you 'round and upside down
And laugh when he's conquered and won."

According to the NFL, Steve Sabol won more than 40 Emmy Awards and oversaw 107 Emmys for NFL Films.

I had the good fortune to speak to Steve Sabol in 1992 when a video tape order I made with them got messed up. First of all, it was shocking to me that it was actually Steve on the phone and the order matter was cleared up quickly but he took about 20 minutes with me to talk NFL Films and the NFL. He was a gracious man that I know the people who worked for NFL Films will miss him every day.

Again, we lose another talented man. 

Rest in peace.

NFL Films now located at ONE SABOL WAY

So until next time my peeps....

"Tarzan go now. Swing away on vines!"

PS - To all of you that has wrote to me about this blog I appreciate your kind words and feedback. I intend this blog to go in different directions. I have received email from some family members wanting to know if I was going to "pontificate" on a certain situation that happened in our family.

Let me say just for the record.... you goddamn right I am. And if they don't like it, they can get their attorney. I won't be very difficult to find. I will be hiding right behind my first amendment rights. Even a Jewish lawyer can figure that out.

Tuscaloosa Joe and the Bear

Joe Willie and "THE" Coach......

SCREW Interruption??

Jack, Jack, Jack (shaking my head). You are a man after my own heart.

One of the reasons I fell in love with Jack White is his obviously amazing talent and creativity  And he is certainly one that his creativity has risen beyond the rest. 

I know that I am a geek, a nerd, an oddball and was just recently described as eccentric (I took that as a compliment) but what I do know is the history of rock music and Jack White is the real deal. We haven't seen his likes since the Beatles and since it's just one person, probably since Buddy Holly. 

Jack is one the main reasons of the garage rock revival. Whenever you go out to a music store and you see vinyl records, you can thank Jack White for that revival. Now even the Beatles entire catalog has been issued on vinyl. Turntable and now retro "record players" are being sold.

Jack never stays the same. He is content to go out on his own, as his Grammy nominated album Blunderbuss proves, he made himself and Meg White household names during the White Stripes era, formed and melded with the Raconteurs with whom he earned three GRAMMY nominations including Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal for "Steady, As She Goes" and Best Rock Album for Broken Boy Soldiers in 2006. The group's last studio album was 2008's Consolers Of The Lonely, which reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200 and earned a GRAMMY nomination for Best Rock Album.

White's most recent band project, the Dead Weather, was formed in 2008 and featured the Kills lead singer Alison Mosshart and Queens Of The Stone Age guitarist Dean Fertita. The band released their debut album, Horehound, in 2009, followed by 2010's Sea Of Cowards. 

In 2012 White released his debut solo album, Blunderbuss, via Third Man Records, a label he founded in 2001. Produced by White, the album peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and earned three nominations for the 55th GRAMMY Awards, including Album Of The Year. Jack owns Third Man Records and he also owns the titles of producer, actor, wrote, produced and performed the theme song from the Daniel Craig James Bond "Quantum of Solace" with Alicia Keys. The list goes on and on. 

Even with 10 editors overlooking for expletives and a typical 10-second delay on the live Grammy Awards telecast, CBS is dealing with some disagreements over Jack White's appearance as it seems that Jack sang "fuck me" during his performance that went uncensored.

While singing his song "Love Interruption" with Ruby Amanfu, it sounded like Jack sang the word, leading to many viewers tweeting about Jack afterwards. CBS said that Jack sang the song like it was written, which was "fight me" so there was any problem with it. 

CBS also stated that the people who was in charge of that kind of thing were experienced with these shows and doing that type of delays. So CBS is standing behind the word fight.

I've listened to it over and over.

I think if you want to believe that he did say "fuck" you will believe you heard it. If  you believe he said "fight" you will hear that too. Voice inflection could have fooled the cameras as he turned his head slightly or something else.

Personally I think he probably did say it or at least I hope he did. Why? Because he is a fucking badass. It adds to the legend. Probably about 2008, the dude's place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was secure and you haven't seen THAT since the Beatles, I will guarantee you.

Jack White would look cool even if he couldn't play the guitar and there are a load of  people who agree with me. A most prominent fan of those would be Dan Lebatard of ESPN who commented on that very subject on his daily radio show on The Ticket in Miami.

Jack is the savior of rock and roll. He knows what it is about. I had the privilege of seeing him in concert back in October of 2012 and that was the best concert I ever attended.  It was cold, it was rainy but once the concert started Hannah and I didn't give a rats ass. You just completely forgot about it after he came on the stage.

I will travel to as many of his shows in the future as well as the Dead Weather.

Jack White is the now and future king of music. 

All hail the king.

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.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
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."
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

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.


★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
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.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

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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OH HOW WE DANCED. Part 1

Part 1 of 2 

(part 2 will be posted Sunday for obvious reasons)

Official Poster of the Games

It was 33 years today, February 22, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, as the proverbial saying always went, where on this night the only thing that was placid there was the lake.

The XIII Winter Olympic Games were being held in the tiny village of Lake Placid. It was a spectacular Olympic Games, only matched by the village's audacity to hold those games there. Lake Placid had held the games in 1932 and the good folks there had wanted them back for a long time. 


On October 13, 1974 the IOC officially awarded the games back to Lake Placid for the XIII Winter Olympic Games.

But the games would be held for the American people who was disheartened and cynical and who could blame them? The Ayatolla Khomeini had kidnapped and held 52 Americans imprisoned for more than 100 days. The Soviets had attacked Afghanistan and here we faced increasing domestic inflation, unemployment, and economic uncertainty (kind of like right now with another Democratic politician and dictator wannabe, eh?). This period may have been the lowest time for American self confidence.

One hockey team would make this country turn the corner. One team, one game and one goal.

Herb Brooks

Herb Brooks was the hockey coach for the University of Minnesota. He was given the job of coaching the 1980 U.S. team. Brooks was no stranger to the U.S. Olympic hockey program. After being the last man cut from the gold medal team's roster in 1960, Brooks went on to play on the 1964 and 1968 Olympic teams, as well as on five other U.S. National Teams. Brooks, who had just finished leading the University of Minnesota's Golden Gophers to the national championship in 1979, now had the responsibility of selecting the 20 players to represent his United States Olympic team. Brooks didn't take any chances, he went with what he knew; local boys. So, while 12 of the 20 players on the final roster were native Minnesotans, nine of those 12 were players whom Brooks had coached as Gophers.

The Americans, who, since the inception of the Winter Games, had won one gold medal (1960), four silver medals (1924, 1952, 1956 & 1972), and one bronze (1936), were eager to bring home some hardware on their native soil. Having finished fourth during the previous Olympics, in 1976 at Innsbruck, Austria, under coach "Badger" Bob Johnson, the U.S. knew it would never have a better opportunity than the one they had in front of them in Lake Placid, N.Y.

The 1980 team as it began exhibition play in September of 1979

In early September, the team began as challenging an exhibition schedule as had ever been organized for an American Olympic squad. Beginning with an initial European tour in early September, the team played a 61-game pre-Olympic schedule against foreign, college and professional teams, ultimately finishing with a 42-16-3 record. It was during this time together that the players were introduced to Brooks' new offensive game plan called the 'weave.' 

Brooks felt that if his club was going to compete against Europeans, they had better learn how to play like Europeans.

The Americans last game on the exhibition schedule was the true "BIG RED MACHINE", the Soviet Union in New York City's Madison Square Garden. It was no contest. The Soviets blew out the Americans 10-3. After the game Brooks stated "Our guys were applauding the Soviets when they were introduced".

So it appeared that the destiny of the two teams were set; the American would finish out of medal contention and the Soviets would blow everyone out and win yet another gold medal. 
I think this is where my grandmother always said "Don't count your chickens before they hatch."

The 1980 Swedes

The first game in the XIII Winter Olympics for the U.S. was versus Sweden who was favored in the U.S. side of the bracket. The U.S. trailed 2-1 with 27 seconds left to play in the game when Billy Baker scored and the U.S. skated off with a tie AND most importantly, one point in that bracket. This would be THE catalyst for the young American team.

Game number 2 for the U.S. was versus the favored Czechoslovakia team and some said the Czechs were the second best team in the world. As Herb Brooks always told his players "use your youth" the Americans skated circles around the Czechs and dominated them 7-3. After beating Norway and Romania  now only West Germany (the team that knocked them out of the bronze medal in 1976) stood in the way of getting into the medal round. Down 2-0 in the first, the Minnesota boys came through big as McClanahan and Broten each tallied to tie it up. McClanahan then scored again on another breakaway in the third, and Phil Verchota lit the lamp late to give the U.S. a 4-2 win over the Germans. This gave the Americans a round robin record of 4-0-1, and a date with the greatest team in the world.

But Herb Brooks had planned this moment for 20 years, studying the Soviets, playing against the Soviets and coaching against the Soviets and he devised a strategy to throw the Soviet game right back at them and take it to a realm they had never seen before. So on February 22, 1980 at 5:00 pm, the puck was dropped and the game of a lifetime began. 

As expected, the Soviets' Olympic team began an immediate offensive assault against the Americans, but the Americans were staying with them. 

Jim Craig

Goalie Jim Craig looked sharp, as sharp as he ever had. The U.S. team was gaining confidence as the first period progressed, even if they were getting out-shot badly. With his team trailing 2-1 near the end of the first period, Mark Johnson skated through two defenders to drive hard to the net after Dave Christian cranked a long shot. Vladislav Tretiak, acknowledged by all the  greatest goaltender in the world and maybe ever, inexplicably let a rebound bounce off his pads as if it had a spring attached. It went directly to Johnson, who drilled it past him with one second left. The goal gave the USA a major lift going into the second period. After Johnson's goal, Soviet coach Viktor Tikhonov stunned one and all by removing Tretiak and replacing him with backup goalie Vladimir Myshkin.

Years later, when Mark Johnson found himself playing on the same New Jersey Devils team with Slava Fetisov and Alexei Kasatonov, members of the 1980 Soviet team, he asked Fetisov why Coach Tikhonov had pulled Tretiak. Fetisov just shook his head and said two words with his thick Russian accent: "Coach crazy."

The Soviets went ahead quickly in the second period and they skated off the ice with the Soviets ahead 3-2 going into the third and final period.

The third period began and Vladimir Krutov was sent to the penalty box at the 6:47 mark of the third period for high-sticking. The Americans, who had managed only two shots on Myshkin in 27 minutes, had a power play and a rare offensive opportunity. Myshkin stopped a Mike Ramsey shot, then U.S. team captain Mike Eruzione fired a shot wide. Late in the power play, Dave Silk was advancing into the Soviet zone when Valeri Vasiliev knocked him to the ice. The puck slid to Mark Johnson. Johnson fired off a shot that went under Myshkin and into the net at the 8:39 mark, as the power play was ending, tying the game at 3-3.

At this point Brooks was short-shifting his players to keep them fresh. Two minutes after Johnson's goal, Team Captain and Boston's own Mike Eruzione jumped off the bench with a burst of energy. 

And now everything lines up for the shot heard around the world.

THE shot .... and the lead!

Eruzione ended up in the slot, where Pavelich found him with a pass. Eruzione fired a 25-foot wrist shot that skipped through a screen and past Myshkin. In that arena, as well as all over, ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE! The USA 4, THE USSR 3. Problem was.... there was still 10 minutes to play.

USA celebrating after the Eruzione Goal

Minute by minute, shift by shift and it seemed the minutes were hours. The Soviets, trailing for the first time in the game, attacked furiously. Moments after Eruzione's goal, Maltsev fired a shot which ricocheted off the right goal post. As the minutes wound down, Brooks kept repeating to his players, "Play your game. Play your game." Instead of going into a defensive crouch, the United States continued to play offense, even getting off a few more shots on goal. The Soviets began to shoot wildly, and Sergei Starikov admitted that "we were panicking." As the clock ticked down below a minute, the Soviets got the puck back into the American zone, and Mikhailov passed to Vladimir Petrov, who shot wide. The Soviets never pulled Myshkin for an extra attacker, much to the Americans' disbelief. Starikov later explained that "We never did six-on-five", not even in practice, because "Tikhonov just didn't believe in it." Craig kicked away a Petrov slap shot with 33 seconds left. Kharlamov fired the puck back in as the clock ticked below 20 seconds. A wild scramble for the puck ensued, ending when Johnson found it and passed it to Ken Morrow. As the U.S. team tried to clear the zone (move the puck over the blue line, which they did with seven seconds remaining), the crowd began to count down the seconds left. 

Sportscaster Al Michaels, who was calling the game on ABC along with former Montreal Canadiens goalie Ken Dryden, picked up on the countdown in his broadcast, and delivered his famous call:
“11 seconds, you've got 10 seconds, the countdown going on right now! Morrow, up to Silk. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles?! YES!”

The end of the game and pandemonium! 

Click here for last minute

"No words necessary, just pictures."
- Al Michaels 

The celebration that followed the game felt surreal to the players involved. Craig was buried by the crush of his teammates, and sticks and gloves were scattered everywhere. Euphoria reigned, and for the next few hours, players were besieged by well-wishers. Fans lined the short distance between the arena to the media center, forcing the team bus to inch it way toward the press conference. As fans banged on the bus, one player, most seem to think it was Neal Broten, started singing, "God Bless America." Other players quickly joined in.

In the aftermath of the game, Sports Illustrated reported in the Sportsmen of the Year issue of December 22, 1980 the immediate reaction that was going on around the country that was typical EVERYWHERE:

"In Babbitt, Minn., hometown of Forward Buzzie Schneider, guys went into their backyards and began firing shotguns toward the heavens. Kaboom! Kaboom! WE BEAT THE RUSSIANS! In Santa Monica a photographer heard the outcome of the game and went into his local grocery store, a mom-and-pop operation run by an elderly immigrant couple. "Guess what," he said. "Our boys beat the Russians." The old grocer looked at him. "No kidding?" 

Then he started to cry. "No kidding?"

In Winthrop, Mass., 70 people gathered outside the home of Mike Eruzione, who had scored the winning goal, and croaked out the national anthem. Not God Bless America, which is what the players were singing in Lake Placid. The Star-Spangled Banner.

One man was listening to the game in his car, driving through a thunderstorm, with the U.S. clinging to a 4-3 lead. He kept pounding his hands on the steering wheel in excitement. Finally he pulled off the highway and listened as the countdown started...5...4...3...2...1...WE BEAT THE RUSSIANS! He started to honk his horn. He yelled inside his car. It felt absolutely wonderful. He got out and started to scream in the rain. There were 10 other cars pulled off to the side of the road, 10 other drivers yelling their fool heads off in the rain. They made a huddle, and then they hollered together—WE BEAT THE RUSSIANS! Perfect strangers dancing beside the highway with 18-wheelers zooming by and spraying them with grime."

Years after the event, it's easier to see that the Soviets badly underestimated the Americans' talent. After soundly beating the United States in Madison Square Garden, the Soviets never entertained the possibility that the Americans would give them a better game in their next meeting.

In part two I will explore the final game versus Finland and aftermath.

(Obviously this blog couldn't be written without Wikipedia, USA Hockey, ESPN, Sports Illustrated and I take absolutely no credit for it. After 33 years I still can't put this into words and translate it and live up to the standard it so richly deserves. I celebrate this day every year and it does not go by without me thinking back and tearing up.

I will cite all my references then.)

1980 U.S. Olympic Roster

No. Name Ht. Wt. Born Hometown College 30 Jim Craig 6'1" 190 5/3/57 North Easton, Mass. Boston University 1 Steve Janaszak 5'8" 160 1/7/57 White Bear Lake, Minn. Univ. of Minnesota 6 Bill Baker 6'1" 195 11/29/56 Grand Rapids, Minn. Univ. of Minnesota 3 Ken Morrow 6'4" 210 10/17/56 Davison, Mich. Bowling Green State 17 Jack O'Callahan 6'1" 185 7/24/57 Charlestown, Mass. Boston University 5 Mike Ramsey 6'3" 190 12/18/60 Minneapolis, Minn. Univ. of Minnesota 20 Bob Suter 5'9" 178 5/16/57 Madison, Wis. Univ. of Wisconsin 9 Neal Broten 5'9" 155 11/29/59 Roseau, Minn. Univ. of Minnesota 23 Dave Christian 5'11" 170 5/12/59 Warroad, Minn. Univ. of North Dakota 11 Steve Christoff 6'1" 180 1/23/58 Richfield, Minn. Univ. of Minnesota 21 Mike Eruzione 5'10" 185 10/25/54 Winthrop, Mass. Boston University 28 John Harrington 5'10" 180 5/27/54 Virginia, Minn. Univ. of Minn-Duluth 10 Mark Johnson 5'9" 160 9/22/57 Madison, Wis. Univ. of Wisconsin 7 Rob McClanahan 5'10" 180 1/9/58 St. Paul, Minn. Univ. of Minnesota 16 Mark Pavelich 5'7" 160 2/28/58 Eveleth, Minn. Univ. of Minn-Duluth 25 Buzz Schneider 5'11" 180 9/14/54 Babbitt, Minn. Univ. of Minnesota 8 Dave Silk 5'11" 190 1/1/58 Scituate, Mass. Boston University 19 Eric Strobel 5'10" 175 6/5/58 Rochester, Minn. Univ. of Minnesota 27 Phil Verchota 6'2" 195 12/28/58 Duluth, Minn. Univ. of Minnesota 15 Mark Wells 5'9" 175 9/18/57 St. Claire Shores, Mich. Bowling Green State Head Coach: Herb Brooks, Univ. of Minnesota Assistant Coach: Craig Patrick, Oxon Hill, Maryland General Manager: Ralph Jasinski, St. Paul, Minn. Trainer: Gary Smith, Minneapolis, Minn.