Miracle On Ice

[bradygirl_12]

Yay, "Miracle" is on tonight! It's the movie that tells the tale of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team who beat the Russians on their way to a gold medal.

That team has special significance around here, as most of us are hockey nuts. Unfortunately, our pro team, the Boston Bruins, haven't been successful since hockey's greatest star, Bobby Orr, and the Big, Bad Bruins graced the ice at the old Boston Garden.

Many guys who grew up around here and were local names from the colleges were on that history-making team. Mike Eruzione and Jim Craig are still recognizable names in this land of ice and snow and 20-degree temperatures (today's temp). :)

Still, college hockey is big here, and kids play hockey as peewees or out on the frozen New England ponds.

Back in 1980, the majority of the U.S. amateur hockey players (no pros allowed back then) came from Massachusetts and Minnesota, and I believe that's pretty much the way it is today. Except, unfortunately, amateurs are out and pros are in now. Pity poor Jim Thorpe didn't become an Olympic star generations later. He could have kept his gold medals.

The movie does a good job of telling the tale and capturing the feel of the times. No Internet, no cellphones, no nothin'! So the team wasn't aware of the impact they'd made, at least not right away. This game's significance was pretty big in the Cold War times, with the Russians' reputation of being unbeatable and the Iran hostage crisis still in full swing.

I wonder if a world of instant communication is always a good thing.

Anyway, if you're interested, the movie is on ABC tonight at 8:00. :)

Comments

[ilyena_sylph]

Miracle is SO GOOD.

I love it so much.

And I'm not even from up there.

[bradygirl_12]

*grins*

It is a very well-done movie. Kurt Russell is excellent as Herb Brooks. The hockey scenes were quite well-done, too. :)

[ilyena_sylph]

Yes it is. *grins*

I utterly adore it.

[ranger-girl0301.livejournal.com]

*LOVES MOVIE*

[bradygirl_12]

*grins*

[wabbitseason.livejournal.com]

Ah. Lake Placid. Dating myself badly, but that was the first Winter Olympics I clearly remember and the Miracle is a large part of those memories. I remember wandering into the den where my father was watching Olympic hockey. "Who's playing?" "USA and the Russians". Then I became more interested. And then we scored that fateful goal. I distinctly remember the chant of "USA, USA, USA!" starting up in crowds. With the final buzzer sounding, Al Michaels asked, "Do you believe in miracles?" We had *won*. We had beaten the Russians. The gold medal was icing on the cake.

HBO ran a wonderful documentary on the 1980 hockey team which explained how Brooks put the team together. They even showed the Russian reactions and perspective. The Russians were so used to winning. They hadn't lost the hockey title since 1960 in Squaw Valley. And here were these jubilant young Americans caught up in the game and the victory.

(Sorry, I tend to turn into silly fangirl over the Olympics. It's a thing.)

[bradygirl_12]

Fangirl away! :)

That was an incredible moment, and one we will never see again with the inclusion of professionals in the Olympics now. They're spoiled egoists who don't give a good showing.

The guys on the 1980 team had heart! And Herb Brooks was a master psychologist.

I think the movie gave a good backdrop to just why this victory captured the imagination of the country. After a decade of all kinds of disasters and weariness, it was welcome.