There are events in history, the memories of which stay with us forever. And we can recall exactly where we were when we watched it take place, or first learned that it happened.
Some of those events may include: the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the end of World War II, the assassination of JFK, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon, the attempted assassination of President Reagan, the verdict announcement in the OJ trial, and 9/11.
Today marks one of those events for me. On this date in 1980, a modern David v. Goliath tale took place in Lake Placid, as a group of amateurs took on a legendary and invincible army of quasi-professionals on a playing surface as frigid as the relations of their two respective governments. And against all odds, the US men's hockey team defeated the USSR on a Friday evening, giving the world the Miracle on Ice.
I was in college at the time and watched the game with friends at the Wesley House on the campus of Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg. For me, this remains one of the top (if not the top) sports story in my half-century of living. I still get spine-tingling chills when I pause and remember what happened that night, especially when the memory is prompted by the television flashback to announcer Al Michaels as he asks the incredulous audience during the countdown of the final seconds: Do you believe in miracles?
Photo: the SI cover from the issue dated 3/3/80. Notice the absence of any caption or headline. The picture says it all.
Yes! I still have this SI issue at home. What a moment.
Posted by: Rick Garnett | February 25, 2011 at 04:30 PM