Today is the 30th Anniversary of ‘The Miracle On Ice’

“Do you believe in miracles?  Yeeeeeessss!!!” ~ Al Michaels

• On this day back in 1980, a bunch of American kids beat back the evil Soviet empire at the height of the Cold War, culminating on one of the biggest upsets in sports history…
• The Miracle On Ice is one of those seminole moments in life if you are old enough, to remember exactly where you were when you saw it…
• The story still gives me chills and can bring a tear to my eye, no matter how many times you hear it or see it.

by Mike Zimmer, USA! USA! USA!

When the ‘Miracle On Ice’ occurred, I was 4-years old.  We were at my Grand Mother’s house out in the country, in the tiny burg of Poast Town, Ohio.  I remember it specifically because on that day, a bunch of family members that normally otherwise wouldn’t care to shakes about hockey, watched in celebratory fashion one of sports greatest moments ever.

Watching on a TV set that was older than I was with rabbit ears, we watched the USA Olympic hockey team take on the big, bad, Russian giant.  I didn’t fully understand the game, nor the circumstances all that much, but I know we were supposed to hate and fear the team in red like some menacing force of evil.  They were communists and they were to be feared and loathed.  I remember asking, what does CCCP mean?

I don’t remember many specifics about the actual game, being that I was just 4-years old.  But it was a family gathering at my Grand Mother’s that day and I witnessed history.  I do remember running around the house trying to “skate” and cheering when the USA scored a goal.  And, I remember the whole room errupting when the clock counted down and Al Michaels’ delivered those famous words in that most amazing line he uttered, “Do you believe in Miracles?  YES!!!”

Congratulations and Happy Anniversary to those American boys on today, the 30th anniversary of that great upset, that great moment and an event that gave the country something to cheer about when times were tough, gave hope and promise in an uncertain time and have over the years still touched the hearts of millions who saw it, remember it and look at it as perhaps the greatest moment in sports history.  It surely is one of mine.

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