Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - Last week marked the 44th anniversary of the Miracle On Ice, where David beat Goliath.
Feb. 22, 1980 marked the day the United States men's ice hockey team, made up solely of amateurs, stunned the mighty Soviet Union in the semifinals at the 1980 Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York.
To this day, it is still one of the most memorable sports moments in my life. I wasn't at the game, but I did watch it on television.
I'm sure the experience would have been even more amazing if I didn't already know the result.
For the one or two of you that have never heard this story, that game was not shown live. It was played at 5 o'clock in the afternoon and aired three hours later on ABC.
There was no way the U.S. was going to beat the Soviets, who seemed to steamroll the competition every four years at the Olympic Games.
I also knew the U.S. had no chance against hockey's version of the "Big Red Machine", because I had seen the two teams play each other in an exhibition game at Madison Square Garden just nine days earlier. It was not pretty.
The Soviets skated circles around the Americans en route to a 10-3 butt-kicking.
So when they announced on the news they were going to show the score and if you didn't want to know you should turn the channel for a moment, I just waited for the inevitable. Another win for the bad guys.
Needless to say, I was shocked, but I couldn't react and couldn't say anything, because my two brothers said they didn't want to know. It took everything in my power to keep that incredible news to myself.
I watched the game, and it was still absolutely wonderful to see us win. The Al Michaels, "Do you believe in miracles?!" line is one of the greatest calls in sports broadcasting history.
For some reason, over the years, a number of people remembered that as the Gold Medal Game, but it was not. That victory put the U.S. in the Gold Medal Game two days later against Finland.
Unfortunately, I didn't see a single second of that game. I had a job as a cashier in a local department store, and I had to work. We would all get periodic score updates over the loud system in the store, and everyone let out a big yell when the final score was mentioned.
I've always felt the players on that team were hockey royalty.
When I worked at WJJL Radio in Niagara Falls, part of the job included covering Buffalo Sabres home games. I'll never forget the first time I walked into the locker room and there was Mike Ramsey, the youngest member of that 1980 squad, sitting at his stall. I was in awe. I just wanted to be a fan and ask him a ton of questions about that amazing experience, but I knew I couldn't since I had a job to do.
I got my chance eventually, but not with Ramsey.
Over the years, I interviewed both Jim Craig, the gold medal-winning goalie, and Mike Eruzione, the U.S. team captain. They will always be two of my all-time most memorable interviews, because it was my opportunity to speak with two individuals who played key roles in one of the greatest sports stories of my lifetime.
Next time, I will turn the channel so I don't know the final score beforehand.
