Speaker 1: Welcome to This Moment in Sports History. Podcast number The
Speaker 1: Miracle on Ice begins January nineteenth, nineteen eighty. On January nineteenth,
Speaker 1: in sports history, one of the most iconic underdog stories
Speaker 1: ever told, began its journey toward immortality. While most people
Speaker 1: remember The Miracle on Ice for its stunning climax on
Speaker 1: February twenty second, nineteen eighty, the story actually starts on
Speaker 1: this date, when the United States Olympic Hockey team arrived
Speaker 1: in Lake Placid, New York, to begin their final preparations
Speaker 1: for the thirteenth Winter Olympic Games. What makes this date
Speaker 1: significant isn't just the arrival, but what it represented. A
Speaker 1: ragtag group of college kids and amateurs were about to
Speaker 1: face the most dominant hockey machine the world had ever seen,
Speaker 1: the Soviet Union's Big Red Machine. The context makes this
Speaker 1: moment even more remarkable. The Cold War was at its
Speaker 1: frostiest point in years. Just weeks earlier, the Soviet Union
Speaker 1: had invaded Afghanistan. President Carter was considering an Olympic boycott,
Speaker 1: and American morale was at a low point with the
Speaker 1: Iranian hostage crisis dragging on the idea that a team
Speaker 1: of American college players with an average age of twenty
Speaker 1: one could compete against the Soviets, who had won four
Speaker 1: consecutive Olympic gold medals and hadn't lost an Olympic hockey
Speaker 1: game since nineteen sixty eight, seemed preposterous. The Soviet team
Speaker 1: wasn't just good, they were legendary. They had embarrassed the
Speaker 1: NHL All Star six to zero just months earlier at
Speaker 1: Madison Square Garden. Their roster included names like Vladislav Tretiak,
Speaker 1: considered the world's best goaltender, and players who had been
Speaker 1: playing together for over a decade as a unit. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: coach Herbrooks had assembled his American squad through grueling tryouts,
Speaker 1: deliberately creating a team built on speed, conditioning, and heart
Speaker 1: rather than raw talent. He had made the controversial decision
Speaker 1: to cut his own goalie from his University of Minnesota
Speaker 1: Tik to select Jim Craig. He chose Mike Arizunia, a
Speaker 1: little known player from Boston University, as captain. As the
Speaker 1: team settled into Lake Placid on January nineteenth, they carried
Speaker 1: the weight of impossibly low expectations. Bookmakers had them as
Speaker 1: one thousand to one long shots to win gold. Sports
Speaker 1: Illustrated predicted they'd finished seventh in the eighteen tournament. Even
Speaker 1: their own families doubted they'd medal. What happened over the
Speaker 1: next month became the stuff of legend. The shocking four
Speaker 1: to three victory over the Soviets not the gold medal game,
Speaker 1: as many misremember, but a metal round game, followed by
Speaker 1: the four to two win over Finland to actually claim
Speaker 1: the gold medal al. Michael's call of do you believe
Speaker 1: in miracles Yes became one of sports's most famous moments.
Speaker 1: But January nineteenth represents something special, the moment of arrival,
Speaker 1: when dreams were still just dreams, when the impossible hadn't
Speaker 1: yet been challenged, and when a group of young Americans
Speaker 1: were about to embark on a journey that would transcend
Speaker 1: sports and become a cultural touchstone for an entire generation.
Speaker 1: And that wraps it up. Join us tomorrow and be
Speaker 1: sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss
Speaker 1: a daily slice of sports history. This has been a
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Speaker 1: Dot A. I thank you for listening.