walking out with telegrams and crowd usa Miracle on Ice

[@tigerguy1013]

Eruzone is the definition of a captain: first out of the locker room, last out onto the ice after giving everyone a stick tap

[@elosogonzalez8739]

41 years later, STILL THE BEST SPORTING MEMORY OF MY LIFE! Americans were ashamed, we were down as a nation. Gas shortages, the Iranian hostage crisis, a President that was totally lost. We need these kids to play at a level that hasn't been seen since to first beat the Russians, then to beat a very good Finish team to win the gold medal. In my opinion, THE GREATEST SPORTS MOVIE OF ALL TIME! These "Boys" made memories, but more importantly, they made EVERY AMERICAN PROUD ONCE AGAIN!

[@borkzig1]

Gary and Rosemary Bork, my parents, until the day they passed could recite names and where they were when this happened, makes a fella like me cry like they’re still here and seeing it for the first time. Fucking USA and FUCKING miracles 🇺🇸

[@57clc]

I need say nothing more.

[@TL2354]

Sounds like now with Biden

[@stevelyons6186]

@@TL2354 well when you have to cleanup after the piece of shit trump...

[@cdflip78]

@@stevelyons6186 Yeah Buddy - this Visiting Angels patient in the White House is really "cleaning up". The way he is letting Russia run roughshod over him, bungling Afghanistan, the way he let inflation get to 8%and gas to $6/gallon.... more Covid deaths than the year before he took office when we didn't have a vaccine.....he's doing a marvelous job cleaning up. Trump Derangement Syndrome is lethal.

[@Sirknight1000]

I saw this Miracle team play in the fall of 79. They came to my home town to play an exhibition game against our Flint Generals. No one had any idea of what was to come.

[@jeffm3163]

Sirknight1000 I just started college in 1979. I watched every minute on tv. My only regret is I live 2 hours from placid and didn’t attend in person. No money lol.

[@burntthetoast]

@@jeffm3163 67 bucks or basically 200 out front from scalpers a ticket in 1979.... (Inflation, worth about 750$) i dont blame you! I wouldn't have had the money either lol.

[@JBTriple8]

that is awesome to hear you lived it

[@KMK7355]

I was out of college in '77 and a huge college hockey fan. I honestly thought that they had a legit shot at a Silver. Players like Johnson, Broten, Christoff, Christian, Ramsey, Silk, Morrow, Pavelich were very good players. The questions were how good was Craig going to play and if the offense would produce enough against USSR, CSSR and Sweden. Well, Craig was really good and they scored 13 goals against those 3 teams.

[@scottpollack1007]

I must be an “old softy”..................I tear up every time I watch this movie!

[@kirkholmes9539]

I still watch it on the edge of my seat like who is gonna win

[@dandeflumeri5075]

You're not alone brother

[@thedoughouse8402]

I think we are not alone, as I wipe my tears

[@TSK24692]

Same here brother.

[@davekowalewski4493]

Your not alone Pal😭😭 I was 7 years old when I watched this game

[@timdowney6721]

I watched this game at home on my little, B&W Macy’s TV. At the time, not much would keep me out of the bars on a Friday night. That game did. Then the tension of the Sunday Gold Medal game where they fell behind early. If you’re an American and a hockey fan, it never got better than this. Not even when the Cubs finally won the WS or the Blackhawks three recent Cups.

[@dougbodenhamer9391]

This was the most important victory in USA team sports history, as well as the biggest upset. Still gives me chills all these years later. Watching as a 13 year old, I had no idea how important this game was at the time, and for decades to come. USA!

[@kyleschwartz2501]

Damn that USA chant gives me goosebumps!

[@nickv3740]

Same here 🇺🇸 ❤️

[@Kalentros]

Not bad for a bunch of Canadians. Lol.

[@anvilhead59]

That was about the first time I ever heard "U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!" at any Olympic venue.

[@bigpaddy7959]

This is my one of my favorite sports films of all time

[@jeffm3163]

Herb was a genius. I played hockey in the north east and the rivalries were so strong. He broke it down to win!

[@jlh4jc]

I was 5 at the time so I was too young to really appreciate it. But watching those players head to the ice like they are off to war with the USA chant in the background gives me chills. I can't imagine what it was like in 80 and I doubt anyone could communicate it to me. When Al Michaels said it was just a hockey game, I don't think he would be able to imagine the ramifications of what the win would do. In fairness to him, he probably like everyone else outside the team didn't think there was a chance against the Soviets.

[@dchang11]

The telegrams always hits me.

[@hostiletoxictomdowneyburne6469]

When I was in country, we had letter walls from men, women, children, even pets form ppl never met....always reminded me what I was fighting for.

[@russellwilliams4064]

I feel sorry for anyone that did not get to live this live. The movie is great but you simply cannot truly replicate the feelings

[@peterc.marketos]

I know what u mean, but ironically we didnt watch or live it live either, it was broadcasted on tape delay due to some contractual agreement and USSR's unwillingness to shift the start time of the game. I believe the delay was 2 or so hours but i know what u mean, absolute game changing moment for a country that desperately needed a reason to believe.

[@joshuapratt9761]

I hope those that beat us in basketball have similar stories.

[@Duckboy93]

My pops was 24 when this game happened. It was the only hockey game he watched up until the time I got into hockey when I was a kid. Asked him about it said it was just like Al Michaels said. He had no idea the rules of hockey just that it was basically the good guys vs the bad guys, and that I would have loved seeing it live. Was able to find the entire original game on KZbin a few years back and it’s insane how different the game was back then.

[@markpalmieri7322]

This game is the reason I love Hockey today and I was 9 at the time

[@DonB.-Mulefivefive]

The night we won, I've never felt so proud of our team . This "Miracle" on ice, is what we need once again now, in this time era. We can do this but it's going to take everyone working together. There is no I, in the word , team.

[@JABoyle3875]

This movie and Apollo 13 are two of my favorite movies for the same reason - anyone going in to the movie should know how the story ends, but they both were MASTERFUL at keeping the tension up.

[@christian19701]

I was a hyperactive 10 year old kid living in Plano, Texas.. didn't know the rules or even how to skate. it was the first few days of the Olympics, and I had fallen asleep watching it on my little black and white TV in my room. I woke up 3 or 4 hours later to pee and noticed Team USA was playing and sat down to watch a few minutes of it.. 45 minutes later I notice my Dad standing in the door way watching too. We both ended up watching the entire thing just like that, lol. Neither of us knew much about hockey, but it was fun to watch and we won. We just happened to be in front of the TV the next time they played, and then we started waking up early or staying up late just to watch them play. Back in those days every communist country had pro level teams pretending to be amateur, we didn't think we'd even get close to playing the Russians. Hoping for a miracle, Bronze medal.. But they kept winning and we made sure we were watching every time they played. I had never watched an entire hockey game before that.. or is it a match? Lol, no clue but it just kinda happened by chance. My Dad and I watched them all, seeing it all unfold in real time, as it happened. So cool, extraordinary experience I got to share with my Dad. God bless Team USA!

[@davesmith750]

With the conditions of this country ,the hate,and total lack of leadership in Washington,the lack of trust ,we need a moment like this that could possibly bring us back to be proud of the flag & anthem!

[@markraposo8076]

Sounds like it’s 1980 all over again

[@alanconnelly3921]

So true history repeats itself

[@kevinfogarty6924]

Remember this like it was yesterday. If I could attend one sporting event in my life that I didn't, this is the one.

[@michaelwellman2079]

Just one thing about that game. All the "Experts" were saying the best hockey team in the world was playing that game and they were right. They just didn't know it would be 'Team USA' they were talking about.

[@jeffnettleton3858]

If you weren't alive in 1980, you can't fully understand what this team meant to the country, though the movie captures it well. With the hostage crisis in Iran and Russian invasion of Afghanistan, as well as the Recession, rising crime rates and the aftermath of Vietnam and Watergate, America just didn't feel like the country it had once been. Even the Bicentennial had been overshadowed by a lot of problems within the country. Many Americans felt impotent, as jobs left the country and factories closed down, our people were held hostage in foreign countries, the space race was an afterthought and Nixon had destroyed trust in our government. This band of underdogs reminded us that the little guy can fight his way to the top, if he works hard enough and won't quit. Other things followed that built on the idea of American Pride, but this was purer, not mired in politics. It wasn't about the US vs USSR for everyone; for some, it was the little guy taking on the system and winning. It resonated beyond geopolitics or sports rivalries. It was a real life Rocky.

[@KMK7355]

With slight variations the more things change..... Afghanistan is still occupying US time and Republicans are still destroying trust in government 40+ years later.

[@nephite467]

@@KMK7355 um demon rats r in charge what are u smoking

[@djm4457]

@@nephite467 The only demon rats I see are ignorant lunatic Trumpers who worship the former orange-haired idiot in chief, looking to turn America into another Russia. That clear enough for ya?

[@nephite467]

@@djm4457 um no trumpets are not the ones burning down their cities commuting treason or assaulting old people go u get it? Devil worshiper,

[@alanconnelly3921]

Feels like right now

[@MrsPaul]

This is giving me chills.

[@GG-lr3gv]

Every team needs a Rizzo

[@thedoughouse8402]

I'll never forget how big those Soviets looked compared to us I thought there was no way we could win

[@jmf5246]

The last time the media cheered for the USA!

[@r4v3n5m4n14c52]

Because 50 companies controlled it at the time!

[@danieldeplorable4960]

Exactly.

[@bthorn5035]

Kurt Russell was amazing.

[@jesuschavez3987]

Very underrated actor

[@jesuschavez3987]

How amazing this was young adults facing Military Grown Man Hockey players

[@PJShu]

I still can’t believe this happened 3 hrs up the highway from my house in lake placid

[@peterc.marketos]

For anyone too young to understand why this scene among a handful in this movie bring grown men to tears, i offer the suggestion to search the term David & Goliath with 2 gentle reminders that unlike David & Goliath, this really happened and coincidently, at a moment in time that our country was suffering economically and people had lost hope in themselves and our union.

[@graysonpitman8959]

David and Goliath did happen

[@sethkimmel7312]

And for one night; they were the finest team in the world...

[@jeffm3163]

I watched this game on tv. I lived 100 miles away and should have been there in person.

[@nathanharris5389]

Keep on chanting, guys. Keep on chanting.

[@chrisamon80]

And that must be the Head Coach of the Soviet Union Viktor Tikhonov.

[@kurtgreaser988]

I think Todd Vercotta plays the State Trooper

[@stevenbr4612]

AMERICA. USA. STRONGER THAN EVER.

[@starguy2718]

Boys, we're gonna go toe-to-toe, in nooklar combat, with the Rooskies! -- Major Kong

[@Zer0Skateboard]

Visorless CCM helmets... 🥰

[@WizzRacing]

I always laughed at the part. Wher ehe said some of the Soviet players had been with the team for 15 years...I'm guessing the Soviet education system required 15 years to graduate from college...

[@RoyalMela]

Well... Only USA has college sports system. Everywhere else teams have their own junior programs, and in Soviet Union this team was a military team. But the players were not soldiers. They were pro hockey players. 11 months of hockey, living in training centers.

[@AmericanBoy-si9zg]

One of the best hockey films ever. 🇺🇲

[@starguy2718]

Better than Slap Shot?

[@AmericanBoy-si9zg]

@@starguy2718 Probably not

[@starguy2718]

@@AmericanBoy-si9zg yeah, maybe you're right.

[@americangiant1003]

This might be a controversial statement but this feel "true story" more of a "David vs Goliath" and greatest story ever told in sport than a "hockey" film. In other words a real life "Rocky" but on skates. Other than in training camps, the actual hockey scenes only occurred in the last 30-40 minutes of this film. Miracle now about 20 years after its release is an underrated all time classic sports centric film. IMO "Slap Shot" is the best ever movie on hockey going on nuts and bolts of it.

[@cedricjohnson2396]

Ephesians 6:12 King James Version 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

[@kevintuohy6402]

My dad cryed when he saw the shamrock on Craig's helmet

[@rodroller6634]

Maybe they should play this movie for the sad excuse we have for an Olympic Basketball Team this year.

[@KMK7355]

This post aged well.

[@michaelmuldowney8]

Best sports movie ever.

[@maryhassler414]

They even had numbers on their helmets!

[@rocket8351]

I wish Hockey was a bigger deal around here.

[@TheWilliamLionheart]

How much you think a ticket would go for now?

[@Jakmeov]

the little engines that could respect.

[@jefffunnell6205]

If it was today the IOC would have wanted the hockey at the forum

[@tigerguy1013]

And I thought baseball movies were marvelous

[@daboys1215]

Now it's all emails and facebook posts but once upon a time decades ago....

[@bryancoats5328]

We need another genius to bring the gold back to the USA

[@bigpaddy7959]

USA! USA! USA! USA! 🇺🇸

[@JA-ru3il]

Fighting nerds!

[@ttaylor758]

Herb was a genius here, and I detest Minnesota

[@jwfmsu1990]

So what happened?

[@alanconnelly3921]

Best game

[@orokusaki8670]

are they about to play hockey or stop an asteroid from blowing up the planet???

[@anthonybatshon3715]

Me too

[@frankfossella6863]

USA

[@saleendriver]

I remember the commentary of this game especially. What a pathetic pair of empty suits. Especially Al Michaels. Could have at least found someone who knew the game of hockey.

[@bethcooper4200]

Seriously? What game were you watching? Michaels captured the moment and the drama beautifully. It sure was not all about xs and os.

[@jamesesselman283]

Michaels was a good choice but Dryden didn't have the enthusiasm networks want for the color man.

[@americangiant1003]

@@jamesesselman283 If Dryden was so bad then why did hire him and Micheals to also the Olympic hockey tournaments in 1984 and '88? Also keep in mind, at this 1980 games, the ABC TV feed was also being shown around the World. Mainly to the dozens of countries that did not send their own TV crews around the World as well. So Micheals/Dryden at least for these games, could *not* be "homers" for the US at all.

[@americangiant1003]

@@bethcooper4200 Not to mention, AL only got the lead announcer job because ABC did not have any other commentator with any hockey experience . I think from what I heard Micheals before he joined ABC did a couple handful of LA Kings NHL games when their long time announcer Bob Miller was sick. Not to mention doing hockey for NBC for the 1972 Winter games as well.

[@jamesesselman283]

@@americangiant1003 Dryden was a smart guy and a great goalie but he sounded like he was on Valium

[@frankcarolei9998]

Movie sucked

[@americangiant1003]

Ok Carolei. Then why you here Troll?