MiracleLAM



** "Do you believe in miracles?!? YES!!!" My picture is on the Olympics held in 1980 when USA played the Russian hockey team and won. This was a significant time in history. Many people gathered around to watch this game. This game was portrayed in different ways, believing in yourself, teamwork, and miracles. Not only was this a big game because it was the US verses the Russians (Soviet Union) but it was the two teams at war with each other at the time. President Carter was the president at this time and he gave a "crisis of confidence" speech which portrays the struggle America was in at this time this game took place. ** **This was one of the biggest games in history. Dave Ogrean, former executive director of USA hockey said, "It's the most transcending moment in history of our sport in this country."He also said, "For people who were born between 1945 and 1955, they know where they were when John Kennedy was killed, when man walked on the moon, and when the USA beat the Soviet Union in Lake Placid. ****If you couldn’t tell, this was a big moment in history. The US was not expected to win. Columnist Dave Anderson wrote in the New York Times, “Unless the ice melts, or the United States team or another team performs a miracle, as did the American ****Squad in 1960, the Russians are expected to easily win the Olympic gold medal for the 6th time.” The Russians had dominated the Olympics since 1976. When the US team won people wept, strangers hugged each other, and groups around the country broke into stirring rendition of “God Bless America” and the “Star Spangled Banner.” ** ** At the time of this game America was in a big crisis. The economy was not doing so well and the confidence of the people was very low. President Carter gave a speech and it shows the struggle America was in and it gives a lot of examples of how the people of America felt. He read a couple of things that America had written to him and one that I really feel was a good way to summarize how America felt about the war we were in and how America was taking it says, ****“When we enter the moral equivalent of war, Mr. President, don’t issue us BB guns.” America’s confidence was down. And this speech was just President Carter telling them that he would take care of things and that he would listen to the people and make sure we felt confident. **