February 22nd, 2023 at 6:57 PM ^
Fortunately we were on vacation in Florida so I wasn't around for Bill Bonds RIP to end the suspense. I couldn't imagine in this day and age to watch such a monument sports event on tape delay and not know the result.
May be the biggest upset in all of sports. Sorry Bo.
February 22nd, 2023 at 7:32 PM ^
ABC wanted to switch the game with the Finland v Sweden game so they could air it live at 8:30 PM ET. But the Soviets complained (and even reportedly refused $125,000 that the Olympic Committee was willing to pay them for the change!), so it didn't happen.
Then a couple days later:
- The Finland game --- that one did air live, but ABC was somehow in commercial break (?!?!) when America scored to tie it at 2.
- The US clinched the gold medal with the win and the arena was electric. But any fan who wanted to see the medal ceremony, which was memorable in its own right, had to stick around for hours, because the USSR/Sweden game (9-2 Soviet win) still needed to be played at the same rink.
February 22nd, 2023 at 9:36 PM ^
I think that would be the most enjoyable sitting around watching a meaningless-to-me hockey game that I could imagine.
February 23rd, 2023 at 10:23 AM ^
I got to see the semi-final and it was amazing. My grandmother insisted on taking me to see the Michael Jackson film, The Wiz at the time of the gold medal game. My only memory is of seeing sticks being thrown in the air as the horn sounded on the news the next day. I forgot how little control 10-year-olds have over their own schedules.
February 22nd, 2023 at 7:01 PM ^
Thought for a minute you were talking about my trip home tonight.
February 22nd, 2023 at 7:03 PM ^
Travel safe
February 22nd, 2023 at 7:04 PM ^
There will never be a sports moment where the entire country can get behind ever again. It will always be the pinnacle of American sport at its best.
While it will never surpass the miracle on ice, the only event that could at least scratch the surface would be the USMNT in the World Cup final.
February 23rd, 2023 at 9:57 AM ^
Nope. Soccer
February 23rd, 2023 at 11:44 AM ^
Sorry you're offended by a game you don't understand.
February 23rd, 2023 at 11:48 AM ^
That would be insane. And you're right -- since no other sport places as much importance on international competition, and since we're not the locked-on favorite, that would be an incredible event.
February 22nd, 2023 at 7:26 PM ^
And yet hockey still doesn't get the respect it deserves.
I'd like to know the % of people who think that game was for the gold.
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:23 PM ^
85% none hockey fans
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:58 PM ^
Personally to me, it was karma for that 1972 basketball debacle when we absolutely got shafted.
And if memory serves me correct for those that watched Al Micheals repeatedly stated is was the medal round and not for the gold but still a good point.
February 22nd, 2023 at 10:26 PM ^
That basketball gold medal game was the biggest travesty of its time.
Refs kept putting time back on the clock until the russians finally won.
I'm still pissed about it 🤬
February 22nd, 2023 at 11:25 PM ^
Not as much as the guys who got their gold medal stolen.
Doug Collins spoke to the US men’s bball team about it before the 08 Olympics in Beijing, the one time the US wasn’t the defending champs. He told them how it felt.
It was a loaded team, of course, and they were taking it seriously. Guys like Lebron and Melo and Wade in their primes, Dwight Howard and Chris Paul when they were the best there was at their positions.
After the gold medal game ended, each player crossed the floor to shake Doug Collins’ hand. Incredible respect. Might be the coolest thing I’ve seen in Olympic basketball.
February 22nd, 2023 at 11:37 PM ^
I think we are talking about the same game. Collins made two free throws to put USA up by one, then the refs took over. 1972 Munich games.
Edit, Collins and teammates are more pissed than I am. Misunderstood your opening. Heard their silver medals are in a safe deposit box somewhere.
February 22nd, 2023 at 7:41 PM ^
I have one lasting memory at this time. My brother and I watching the games and in between playing "air hockey"
(We didn't have an air hockey table, we used one of my dad's skoal cans on the kitchen table and they slid pretty well!)
February 22nd, 2023 at 7:58 PM ^
OP user name checks out. I’m also an old ad guy. That was an amazing time. The final game was an afterthought. We knew the team would win.
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:09 PM ^
Fifty college students crammed into a dorm TV lounge that evening going crazy!
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:31 PM ^
The Soviets threw the game.
February 22nd, 2023 at 9:19 PM ^
Nice Puti!
Viacheslav Fetisov and his two cup rings would like to have a word with you.
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:44 PM ^
Since I was not born yet, how many 5-minute majors and replays did this game have? Did they have to remove any chunks of ice? If Gary Bettman was there, did he get booed?
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:53 PM ^
watched it live in french, getting a CBC broadcast that came over the lake enough to be brought in on rabbit ears. watched with dad and one brother. will never forget that 'do you believe in miracles?' call. an all-time classic
February 22nd, 2023 at 11:28 PM ^
That call was such a classic that fans still use it regularly. A few weeks ago I was golfing with my brother-in-law. On the last hole, we both got on in 3 after a very disappointing round to say the least. My brother-in-law had an 8-footer; I had a 60 footer; no exaggeration. When we reached the green, I said to him that his put was makable, but I’d need a miracle. I putted and halfway to the hole, i said, “Do you believe in miracles?” As the put dropped into the hole, we both said “Yes” at the same time.
February 23rd, 2023 at 2:20 AM ^
VHF or UHF? I picked up a French broadcast on UHF midway thru the 2nd period. Picture was not very good.
February 23rd, 2023 at 7:06 AM ^
i want to say it was like channel 42? so that was....UHF?
February 23rd, 2023 at 9:36 AM ^
I think yes, in SE Michigan some people could pull it in on that CTV (?) station out of Sarnia.
My recollection is that I couldn't get it on my TV in Ann Arbor, but I was listening to WJR and some random guy from like St. Clair Shores called in and just did a play-by-play of the last 5 minutes of the game off of the Sarnia broadcast.
February 23rd, 2023 at 11:38 AM ^
HAHAHA that's an incredible story!
Different times, for sure.
February 23rd, 2023 at 12:30 PM ^
Yes, channel 42 out of Canada.
February 22nd, 2023 at 9:47 PM ^
I remember this barely as i was 9. Living in Toledo my family always went to the Goaldigger games. It was cool seeing Mike Eurizone (played for the Goaldiggers) captain the team for an epic win. Didn't quite understand and appreciate the history and importance of the event until later in life. USA! USA! USA!
February 22nd, 2023 at 9:57 PM ^
I remember it well. I was a Junior in high school and was at my friends house in their rec-room watching on a 13" black and white TV. They (my friends family) were basketball fans and I was spending much of the game explaining things like offsides and icing.... but we all knew how big is was when we won. A great day!
February 22nd, 2023 at 10:08 PM ^
We had a bunch of high school friends visit us in Bursley Hall to watch the game. What a wild party!
February 23rd, 2023 at 12:54 AM ^
Old enough to have seen Team USA’s captain Mike Eruzione play in college at Boston University. Went to a book signing in January 2020 when he signed copies of his book, The Making of a Miracle: The Untold Story of the Captain of the 1980 Gold Medal–Winning U.S. Olympic Hockey Team. Neal Boudette who wrote the book lives in Ann Arbor.
February 23rd, 2023 at 2:18 AM ^
I was one of the few who watched the game live. For most of the country it was on ABC at 8pm on tape delay.
Midway thru the 2nd period I managed to pick up a French-speaking UHF channel, 32. Had never seen it before or since. Do not know where they were broadcasting from. Could only follow the video, as it turns out the French have a different word for *everything*.
I spoke to one person, via phone, after the game ended and before ABC at 8. Didn't give it away except to say "you're *really* gonna want to see this".
February 23rd, 2023 at 8:26 AM ^
I was able to watch it live, but I don't know which channel it was on. Thought it was ABC, but maybe not? Anyway, I was in 8th grade at the time and my school had bball games that night . We always played the JV team early, then the girls game, then my game (varsity) would kick off. I stayed home and watched the hockey game, then ran to school for the bball games (only a few blocks). When I got there, it was the middle of the girls game and I told my friends. One of them ran over to the scorers table and told them the score. At the next whistle they announced the win - and a (literal) 5-minute standing ovation ensued! Everybody knew what happened and the place was nuts!
Ahh, good times... Thanks for that fun memory!
Thinking about this, I almost had to have watched the ABC feed and arrived at the school around 9:30? I want to say the JV game started at 7:30, so the timing works out. But it was 43 years ago...
February 23rd, 2023 at 8:39 AM ^
I tear up every time I hear Al Michaels' call at the end... what a great moment in sports history.
February 23rd, 2023 at 11:33 AM ^
I'll have to watch Miracle tonight. More oomf to it this year than we've had in a while since Russia invaded Ukraine 364 days ago, just missing the anniversary last time around.