Miracle on Ice...30 years later

It's hard to believe it was 30 years ago today...or was it yesterday...or perhaps it's tomorrow, well nonetheless it was approximately three decades ago the US hockey team knocked off the then-feared Soviets in a thriller at Lake Placid endearing a group of young men, who were wearing hockey mullets before they were fashionable, into the hearts of people through this great country.

Because of that, the phrase "Do you believe in miracles?! Yes!!!" and chants of "U-S-A! U-S-A!" were thrust into our sporting/pop culture vernacular and the minute anyone says them with any sort of exhuberance most immediately conjure up a memorable time not just in this country's sporting history but history in general.

I remember exactly where I was the night the Americans beat the Russians...sitting in the bleachers in the old Blue Earth High School gymnasium, still recovering from my "big" brother Mikey's heart-breaking loss in the regional wrestling tournament semifinals costing him a trip to state and me a long weekend of hotel fun up in "the Cities." It was a devastating loss one of which my bro more than made up for by qualifying the next three years for the state meet.

I still remember the gym full of wrestlers, coaches, cheerleaders, wrestling enthusiasts and those who had nothing better to do in the Blue Earth area that late February evening. It was sensory overload to the n-th degree with all those people jammed into that old building, but when the announcer's voice crackled over the loudspeaker..."Final score in Olympic hockey...Russia 3...the United States...4!" the place shook as fans of all these different schools who were pitted against each other at some time during the grappling festivities found a common bond...a bond so strong the only way to recognize it was to let the emotions pour out.

I'm willing to be at least 50 percent of the people in that gym didn't know what icing was or what offsides was in the sport of hockey, but they didn't care. We had defeated the dreaded Russians and it was time to burst at the seams with a patriotic pride I had never witnessed up to that point of my first 13-and-a-half years of life and I haven't witnessed since then.

It truly turned out to be a "Miracle on Ice" and when the Americans stayed true to the Hollywood plot line by knocking off Finland to earn Olympic gold, the storybook tale had its perfect ending.

It really is hard to believe that was 30 years ago and to think how my life has transpired since then is equally amazing, but that's for another time and another blog.