August 12, 2003
Time Runs Out On The Miracle Worker
Herb Brooks, the head coach of the 1980 U.S. Men's Olympic Hockey Team that won a gold medal and captivated a nation in the midst of hard times, died today in a car accident in Minnesota. He was 66.
I never knew Herb Brooks. I never saw him in person, and after the 1980 Olympic Games in Lake Placid, never rooted for a team he coached.
Then why have I been walking around all evening feeling like I've been gut punched?
It may be hard for readers even just a few years younger than me to understand, but even back then as a 12-year old, I could tell that things just weren't right in America. The nation was locked in a recession, with gasoline rationing a recent memory. Our nation seemed impotent in the face of a radical Islamic regime in Iran that invaded our Embassy and took its staff hostage. The Cold War was real, and we didn't know if the good guys were going to win.
Enter Brooks and a team of college kids he had molded into a fiery squad that at times may have hated and resented him more than the Olympic opposition. Brooks had taken the 1980 team on a brutal pre-Olympic tour that culminated in an exhibition against the powerful Soviets at Madison Square Garden just a week before the start of the Games in Lake Placid.
I can still remember begging my father to take me. And I should feel lucky that he didn't, as the Russians cruised to a 10-3 victory, hardly noticing the Americans at all. Heading to Lake Placid, expectations couldn't have been lower.
Which made what happened next all the more delightfully improbable. The Olympic Tournament started quietly enough, as the team salvaged a last-minute tie with Sweden, then rolled through the rest of the preliminary round without a loss and earned another date with the Soviets in the medal round.
In a 300-channel universe with satellite tv and digital cable, can anyone still understand the concept of tape delay? But that's what the geniuses at ABC served up for us on that February evening, not starting the telecast until 5:00 p.m. in the East, several hours after the game had already begun.
But this was a miracle we're talking about, and the weekend would be magic. Even today, nearly a quarter century later, when I watch the highlights of Al Michaels counting down the final seconds of the 4-3 win over the Soviets the tension all comes flooding back, as if the Soviets might actually be able to tear a rift in time and come out on top.
But it wasn't over yet. Team USA still had to beat Finland on Sunday morning in order to win the gold medal. How Brooks was able to bring his team down from such an emotional high on Friday, and then have them focused for success on Sunday has to be one of the greatest coaching achievements of all time.
But bring them down he did, and a 4-2 win secured the gold for the Americans. And then, over the next few weeks, something equally improbable happened. All over the country, after being out of fashion for some time, it became ok to say you loved your country again. Full throated, flag waving patriotism was back, and it was Brooks and 20 kids with names Eruzione, Schneider, O'Callahan, Craig, Christian, and all the others, that made it happen.
Yesterday, on a highway outside of Minneapolis, America lost a hero. A team lost it coach. A family lost its father. And I said goodbye to a cherished piece of my childhood. Rest in peace, Herb Brooks. And thank you. Thank you for more than you could ever know.
POSTSCRIPT For those of you with less vivid memories of 1980, this piece from ESPN Classic is as good as any if you're looking for a refresher course on the team. As you might have guessed, tributes to Brooks are coming from everywhere, and deservedly so. From the New York Times' Dave Anderson, we get this lost detail:
But as the coach, Herb Brooks didn't get a gold medal, only the players did. Or so everybody thought. But years later, when he was asked if he resented not getting a gold medal, he chuckled.
"I did get one," he said. "When nobody was looking, one of the Olympic officials in charge of the medals gave me an extra he had."
And now that Herb Brooks has died, much too early and much too sadly, maybe that gold medal should be put in his coffin with him.
Brooks' hometown Star-Tribune has a great photo album of his life (incredibly intrusive registration required), including a shot from high school that can't help but warm your heart.
In 2004, Disney will release a movie version of the exploits of the 1980 Olympic Team called, surprise, Miracle. It stars Kurt Russell as Brooks. Something tells me it will probably be a little better than Miracle On Ice, the 1981 telemovie that starred Karl Malden as the coach of Team USA (Karl Malden!?).
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» Herb Brooks remembered from STICKandMOVE
Eric McErlain on the coach of the 1980 Miracle on Ice team. [Read More]
Tracked on August 12, 2003 04:15 AM
» herb brooks from all-encompassingly
"At all levels of the game, including college hockey, Olympic hockey and the National Hockey League, Herb Brooks was a consummate teacher, an unparalleled motivator and an unquestioned innovator." --gary bettman [off wing opinion on brooks] [reaction]... [Read More]
Tracked on August 13, 2003 02:40 AM
» LET ME REPEAT: I STILL BELIEVE IN MIRACLES from Pejmanesque
And so will you, once you read this post. (Many thanks to Jeff Cooper for the link.)... [Read More]
Tracked on August 15, 2003 10:11 PM
Well said, Eric. You captured the man, his achievement, and the historical context. A fine tribute.
Posted by:
at August 12, 2003 10:51 AM
I attended his pee wee hockey camp in Shattuck, MN before he became coach of the North Stars. Man, did we ever idolize the guy. What an imprint he made on the game and our memories of it.
Posted by:
at August 12, 2003 11:36 AM
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