With the summer Olympics just a few weeks away, SB Nation blogs are taking a look at some of the greatest moments in Olympic history. So, what did I do? Well, I picked a moment from the winter Olympics, of course. Above is the ESPN Classic replay of the entire "Miracle On Ice" game from the 1980 winter Olympics. Why? Because of all of the symbolic elements associated with the game. If you watch the first few minutes of the broadcast, you can see a portion of the infamous Jimmy Carter "Malaise" speech that now seems like the perfect juxtaposition to the American hockey team's win. I don't need to rehearse in-depth the situation for you. There were American hostages being held in Iran, the economy was in the tank, and, like the speech he gave indicated, there actually was a general malaise over the United States. The symbolic nature of the win over the Soviet Union was one of the few bright lights in what was a somewhat dark time for the country.
We also all celebrate the game because of the extreme underdog nature of the win. There aren't many times that an American team gets to play the underdog role in anything. But in 1980, the amateur team of guys mostly in their late teens and early twenties upset what was frankly a machine. The Soviet hockey team was easily the world's best assembled team. The proverbial rag-tag bunch from the United States led by the (now) iconic Herb Brooks to pulled the upset with the entire world watching and become the ultimate sports David vs. Goliath story. The game also gave us perhaps the most famous call in broadcasting history (Al Michaels screaming "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!"). I was just over a year old when this happened, so all of my enjoyment and recollection of it is from replay, but having watched the entire game a number of times, it's hard to imagine anything topping it.
Celebrate the most compelling moments in Summer Games history with 'Memorable Moments' on Yahoo! Sports. Re-live moments such as Nadia Comaneci's perfect 10s in Montreal, Michael Phelps' record eight gold medals in Beijing, Carl Lewis' unforgettable four gold medals in Los Angeles, the spectacular success of the 1992 US Dream Team, Muhammad Ali in Rome and Atlanta, and any more!
These special moments are showcased through exclusive video, iconic photos, and stories on Yahoo!'s hub dedicated to the coverage of the Games. Enjoy the unique storytelling from Yahoo! Sports' award-winning writers and experts, as well as through the lens of Yahoo!'s users themselves.
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