One way to do it, by Matt Wolfe

I love hockey. I might be one of approximately 42 people throughout the continental United States that can say that but it is true. I like that it is the only sport that you need to learn how to stand and walk and run all over again (on ice skates) and how so few are good enough to play at the most competitive level. I love that the talent pool is a global one with players coming from all over North America and Europe to play, and that high school kids (for the most part) cannot quickly become the best at the sport (yes, I have heard of Sydney Crosby).

My most memorable sports moment, fittingly, comes from Hockey. The funny thing is that the event happened 4 years before I was even a glint in my father’s eye. I am referring to was has been voted one of the greatest upsets in all of sports…ever. I know it has been well covered and recovered and analyzed and re-analyzed and that even a motion picture was made based on the event. Regardless, if I am moved to write about an event that I was not even able to see first hand, that should speak to the significance of said event (not to mention the Flyers haven’t won since 1976).

I am speaking about the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team. That was the year in which a group of college kids from the US, a team that was not even considered Olympic quality, beat the best hockey team in the world, hands down. The Russians were the best, no questions asked, no arguments. It was scientific fact. The Olympics were a battle for second place. Just imagine though, being a kid, literally a kid who barely shaves, playing against a team that has been together almost as long as you have been alive. Imagine yourself practicing everyday, knowing you might not make the team, knowing that no matter how fast you skated, how hard you shot the puck or how accurate that shot was, or how smart you played the game, you would still be, at most, the first loser (that’s second place).

Then, imagine winning. To steal a line from the HBO special covering the event, the Russians were amazed by the reaction of the American team when they won. The Russians had forgotten what competition was like. They had lost that thrill of victory feeling because to them, it was a job more than a game. The US team, against all odds, even against ‘science’ defeated the most powerful and most talented hockey team in the world. Never mind the political agendas that went with the game and the feeling of pride that Americans felt after the win. Just imagine yourself beating an opponent that was unbeatable. It’s like beating Chuck Norris in an arm wrestling match. The utter jubilation in those kid’s faces and in their actions when the clock hit 0:00 is a moment that I for one am glad was captured on film because without that, there would be no accomplishing the impossible. That game was truly an impossible goal and one that the American team in fact defied. Had it happened in any sport, I would have written about it. I am just glad that it happened in Hockey.