Sophomore accounting major
On the surface, sports games might seem meaningless after stadiums have emptied. But sports have power beyond the scoreboard; they bring together people of all backgrounds who otherwise might have no reason to interact. As Nelson Mandela once said: “Sport has the power to change the world. … It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does.”
This year’s Olympics provided a great example of this. Over the weekend, millions across the nation woke up early Saturday to watch Team USA take on Russia in men’s ice hockey. Those who did were treated to a spectacular show: a classic defensive matchup settled in a shootout victory for the Americans. Complete strangers and I excitedly talked about the game later that day. I saw a little kid re-enact T.J. Oshie’s decisive shootout goal. One simple game can provide a feeling of unity for millions.
But as remarkable as Oshie’s heroics were, no Olympic event can compare to the 1980 “Miracle on Ice.”
On a cold day more than three decades ago, 20 American Olympians united the nation in a way no one else could. Their incredible story deserves retelling for eternity.
In 1980, our nation faced some of its darkest days. The specters of Vietnam and Watergate and the Iranian hostage crisis combined with a weak economy and a strengthening Soviet Union cast a pall over the country. My family remembers this era as the bleakest in a lifetime.
On the sports front, U.S. Olympic hockey’s outlook was equally bleak. Since its 1960 upset of the Soviets, the team had won just one medal in Olympic play. The world’s best team and the U.S. national rival, the Soviet Union, had won the gold medal in each Olympics since 1960.
For the 1980 Winter Olympics, new coach Herb Brooks put together a team of amateur college hockey players whose average age was just 21, the youngest in American Olympic history. In contrast, the Soviets fielded “amateurs” who had years of experience and were widely considered some of the best players in the world at their positions. In the period leading up to the Olympics, the Soviets shut out the NHL All-Stars, 6-0, in the final game of the 1979 Challenge Cup series and humiliated the U.S. Olympic team, 10-3, in New York.
In Olympic pool play, the Soviet team averaged 10 goals per game, easily advancing to the medal round. The Americans had a more difficult time, coming from behind in all five games to win four and tie the other. The stage was set for a Soviet-American semifinal match.
Of course, the Americans’ improbable run did not go unnoticed. Fan attendance increased each game, and news media began analyzing the matchup with the Soviets. The coverage went beyond hockey, however; news sources focused primarily on the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. One analyst even declared the Soviet team used “human tanks and waves of troops in graceful assaults on ice to conquer any land and destroy any contemptuous opponent.” This coverage, humiliation from the past matchup and the state of the nation gave the semifinal much more meaning than an ordinary hockey game. Both inside and outside the stadium, Americans of all backgrounds united behind the 20 players skating for the United States.
In true underdog fashion, the U.S. overcame two deficits to win a nerve-racking 4-3 game. As the final seconds ran out, young broadcaster Al Michaels emotionally asked the audience, “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”
People across the nation came together to celebrate the astonishing victory, now known as the “Miracle on Ice.” The game, which would later be voted the best sports moment of the century, was the victory the U.S. needed. Our problems remained, but the victory went a long way toward restoring people’s pride in our nation.
The power of events like these should not be ignored. For these Olympic Games and any future international sports events, we should use our pride to become closer as a national community. Today’s Olympians compete for us as much as they do themselves. Thousands of miles away in Sochi, they continue to represent and unify us. Sport can be the uniting factor Mandela believed it was.
Even on our own campus, our support for our sports teams has many of the same effects. After Saturday’s crushing loss to Duke, for instance, Terps across the country were united, reflective and proud. Let’s continue to take advantage of the opportunity sport gives us to create a stronger community.
Matt Dragonette is a sophomore accounting major. He can be reached at mdragonettedbk@gmail.com.
