Any Sporting Event Part 2

The event that I would want to see. It is a slam dunk. The 1980 US Hockey Team vs The Soviet Union. It was more than David vs Goliath. It was more than a sporting event. It crossed boundaries into politics, and some would say it changed the course of The Cold War and the history of the United States. How about some facts surrounding the game. In the four Olympics leading up to 1980, the Soviet team was 27-1-1, out scoring opponents 175 - 44, and won four gold metals. The scores in the Soviet games leading up to the face off with the USA, 16-0 vs Japan, 17-4 vs Netherlands, 8-1 vs Poland, 4-2 vs Finland, 6-4 vs Canada. The field house capacity at Lake Placid 8,500, can you imagine how loud a small venue like that could get? The Soviets declined a request to have the game moved from the afternoon to the evening, which would have made the game aired live. In the United States, the game was aired on tape delay. Coach Herb Brooks pre game speech ended with "You were born to be a player. You were meant to be here. This moment is yours." The average age of the US team (21 years 8 months), the average age of the Soviet players (25 years 11 months). During the game, the Soviets had 39 shots compared to 19 by the US Team. In the final minute of the game, the Soviets did not pull their goaltender in favor of a 6th attacker. In fact, the Soviets never practiced pulling the goalie, the coach did not believe in it. Right after the clock had expired and while the dramatic scene of the US team celebrating on the ice, coach Herb Brooks ran back to the locker room and cried. The Sports Illustrated cover the following week ran with the just photo below, no captions or headlines.

Here is video of the final minute. I like the quick shot of the Soviet team dumbfounded and just standing there watching the US celebration, dare I say almost entertained by the reaction. But that was not the goal medal game. There was still the matter of defeating Finland to capture the goal. The team was down 2-1 at the 2nd intermission, during which time Herb Brooks told his team, "If you lose this game, you will take it to your graves." He paused, took a few steps toward the locker room door, turned back to his team, "To your fucking graves." and walked out. The US went on to score 3 goals in the final period and won 4-2. The Soviets went on to crush Sweden 9-2 winning the silver. While they did accept their silver metals, they declined to have their name individually inscribed on them, as is custom. A US team did not defeat a Soviet team again until 1991

Another one came up just the other day. How about Bo Kimble shooting a left handed free throw in honor of Hank Gathers, his fallen teammate who days earlier had died on the court. It was the first game of the NCAA tournament. It was known that he was going to make the tribute and as he stepped to the line, the arena was silent, and when the free throw was good, the place erupted. Some say, had Hank not died, that team would have won the whole tournament. Side note; The Loyola Marymount vs. Michigan game that same tournament, final score 149 - 115. The highest scoring tournament game in history. An average of 6.6 points per minute.

Continuing on I found this great high quality Youtube video of sports highlights. It captures about everyone other one you could think of. In watching the video, my short list of athletes and /or games I would have loved to see.

Pete Maravich while he was in college. For those that don't know, he holds the record for highest career average points per game in NCAA history at 44.2 points per game. However, they went back and looked at game tapes and calculated what his career average would have been had there been a 3 point line when he played....57 points per game! He is highly underrated as a basketball player.

I think seeing Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson in their primes wound have been a real treat.

Barry Sanders while at Oklahoma State and Herschel Walker at Georgia. A couple of things fall in Georgia's favor and they could have easily won 3 national championships in a row while Herschel was playing for them.

I can't think of a bigger college football game in recent year than Boise State vs Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. I was living in Minnesota at the time and I went to bed half way through the 3rd quarter. Big mistake.

Usain Bolt setting the 100 meter world record in 9.69 seconds at the 2008 Olympics, that is averaging 23 miles per hour. Also the 200 meter world record.

Bob Beamon shattering the long jump record by nearly 2 feet.

One word: Pele.