Random sports stuff
Miracle on Ice facts and tidbits
One of my favorite movies is “Miracle” the story of the 1984 US Men’s Olympic Hockey Team. There are a few tidbits from the movie that I love to share and discuss.
“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 clock reads 0.00 with the score 4-3 in favor of the United States. The “Miracle” has happened, the unthinkable, really, beating the unstoppable Soviet Union team. The Soviet Team had won the Gold medal in 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, and yet this upstart group of college kids ultimately knocked them out of the tournament.
The jubilation of the US team was evident; they had done the impossible and defeated the Soviets. The rushed the ice in celebration, jumping over the ice and on top of each other, so happy to have pulled off this astonishing feat.
Some of the picture from the movie were exact reflections of pictures from the real-life event, like this one (on the right) of Jack O’Callahan with his arms in the air spread eagle and screaming to the sky.
One of the most interesting scenes in this part of the movie is when they show the Soviet Team, with the players standing there watching the celebration, and they seem to be fascinated by the excitement of the US team, and then seem to actually enjoy watching this group of college kids celebrating their victory.
Later in his life, Boris Mikhailov, captain of the Soviet team (portrayed by the actor in the bottom left in these pictures) revealed that the Soviets did enjoy just standing there and for one moment watching the pure joy coming from the US players celebrating their win. The Soviets had completely forgotten what it felt like to win a game like the Americans, they had become numb to winning, the happiness that the US players exuded was practically foreign to them at this point. Plus, they had forgotten that hockey was supposed to be fun, and seeing these kids play for the fun of it was inspiring.
This is a real life photo from their medal ceremony. Eruzione called all the players up to the podium, just like in the movie. Never before had that been done in the Olympics, it was always the captains of the teams alone standing in the Gold-Silver-Bronze formation, with the teams lined up on the side. But Eruzione changed things up and wanted the whole team up there. So cool.
