The Miracle behind The Miracle

As the 1980’s began, everything that could go wrong for America was going wrong. Since the end of World War 2 in 1945, the U.S and the Soviet Union had a very tense relationship. This became known as The Cold War, and would last until the early 1990’s. For the first time, American citizens began to feel ashamed about their country. Ashamed about America! I find it unbelievable, but back then it was an alarming reality. In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, and there was nothing that we (America) could do about it. The United States obviously did not want the Soviets to invade other countries, but it had reached the point where nothing could be done about it. China had recently been taken over by Communism, and America had always been the enemy of the Communists. In that same year, U.S ambassadors were taken hostage in Iran, and no operation was taken to rescue them. Back in the late 70’s and early 80’s, this was a topic that was almost unthinkable. If the United States was so powerful and a firm believer in Democracy, than why could small groups of people launch violent campaigns against American troops? And why were more and more countries falling into Communism? Political turmoil was threatening the nation, and made things more unstable, than they had been in a long time.

On the U.S Olympic hockey team, there were players from all over the country, but a great deal of them from Massachusetts, and Minnesota. Every sport has their rivalries, and hockey has theirs. Many college players from New England played colleges from the north (Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, etc.). Naturally, rivalries and unhealthy relationships were established between these players that threatened to tear apart the U.S team. In The Miracle, 2 of these players have a fight about a college game that happened in the past. If it wasn’t bad enough that the Americans were heavy underdogs against their bitter rivals, The Soviet Union. The last thing anyone needed was for the American players to dislike, and resent each other. Eventually, these guys learned to play together as a team, and that they weren’t representing Boston University, or Minnesota University. They were representing the United States of America.

A common saying is used to describe most sporting events. “It’s just a game”. However, the Olympic game against the Soviet Union in 1980 wasn’t just a game. The Soviets hadn’t lost to the Americans in twenty years. Naturally, that wouldn’t make Americans feel too proud of their country. The Soviets were considered the best team in the world, and Americans wanted that feeling to end. This game was being played for all of the marbles. If the Soviets won big, national pride and esteem would have hit an all-time low. But the Americans won, and it sent a message out, that we could beat anyone in anything. Not just hockey, the might and the will of this country was too strong for anyone to knock down. It basically gave Americans the feeling that, hey, we could do this! Winning that hockey game gave a sense of national pride, that hadn’t been felt since the surrender of Japan in World War 2, and it certainly hasn’t been felt since. That 4-3 victory wasn’t just a win for the hockey team; it was a win for the United States of America.