Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Views
editorial opinion
Before the Fall of the Wall, there was the Miracle on Ice
in Iran. He wanted us to be proud of by routing its National Hockey League I had to convince Arthur Gelb, the cony one floor below, Dave Anderson,
Gerald Eskenazi ourselves, our teams, and he knew that all-stars in the opening game of their New York Times’s managing editor, to our Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist,
President Jimmy Carter was threaten- fabled series. It led one of the N.H.L.’s send me to Lake Placid. The paper was waiting. I tossed him the paper. He
ing to boycott the Summer Games in best, Frank Mahovlich, to marvel, didn’t think it was worth the money to caught it and rushed down the stairs.
Moscow over the recent Soviet invasion “Give them a football, and in a year send a reporter to cover ice sports. Then he came up again. I typed Page 2,
What a difference 30 years makes — in of Afghanistan. they’ll win the Super Bowl.” When, magically, the United States and sailed it down to him.
sports, and in politics. Now, as the I like to think that the downfall of the I was touring with the young U.S. scored early upset victories, when the It was 4-3 for the U.S. with 10 minutes
United States team prepares for the 2010 once evil empire actually began with hockey team. Brooks was a college crowd in the tiny, 7,000-seat Lake Placid left. The minutes ticked away, then the
Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, American hockey. Indeed, the Cold War coach, a decent enough player as a kid, Arena — which looked like a cock-fight- seconds. Al Michaels, the play-by-play
do we really care if we beat Russia? helped create Soviet superiority in but not good enough to make the cut on ing amphitheater — began chanting announcer, shouted into the micro-
How quaint it all seems now, and yet, many aspects of sport. The Soviets be- the last U.S. team to win a gold medal, “USA! USA!” routinely, the Americans phone, “Do you believe in miracles?”
how significant — my memories of lieved that victory on the playing field, back in 1960. After that, the Soviets had were poised to face the might Soviets. Moments later, he screamed, “Yes!”
writing about the baby-faced bunch of or the rink, would make them the envy taken the big prize in every Olympics. Actually, the U.S. did not defeat the Goalie Jim Craig draped himself in
Americans who were preparing for the of other countries. Somehow, that would Now I see that Brooks’s ideas were Soviets for the gold medal. The last the American flag as he scanned the
1980 Games in Lake Placid, New York. be translated into believing the Soviet also a microcosm of capitalist society, round wasn’t starting until Sunday, and stands. “Where’s my father?” he re-
Herb Brooks’s eyes narrowed. I political system was the better one. and the way it eventually defeated the this was a Friday afternoon game. In peated.
sensed he was making a fist. He began So they tossed out traditional ideas of Soviet Union off the ice. fact, the ABC television network The next Sunday morning the team
to explain to me what it took, what he how to become prolific at a sport. If a There were two great hockey-playing thought so little of the public’s interest, defeated the Finns and won the gold
planned, to defeat the vaunted Soviet coach spotted an 8-year-old with leader- centers in the United States —New that it didn’t even show the game live. medal.
Olympic hockey team, the overwhelm- ship skills, why, he’d be perfect as a cen- England, particularly the Boston area, It was taped for a later showing. Some time later Brooks and Michaels
ing favorite to capture the gold. ter — the decision-maker on a hockey and the colder regions of the Midwest Meanwhile, I was up in my aerie in were reunited. Brooks said to the an-
This Herbie was from the Midwest — line. They created dry-land training — especially Minnesota and Wisconsin. the badly ventilated, cigarette-smoke- nouncer about that “miracle” call, “A
St. Paul, Minnesota — yet he described routines, actually using a soccer ball in- Brooks played the players from the two filled arena. I had a newfangled com- bit over the top, wasn’t it, Al?”
himself as “a street kid.” Heck, I’m from stead of a puck, so that the players regions against each other. He named a puter, but it was too big for the press Then Brooks smiled.
Brooklyn. That’s where street kids are learned how to kick with their skates. scrappy guy named Mike Eruzione box. Instead, one of our reporters was Hard to imagine today that a player
from. But he spoke passionately of creat- They were relentless, unemotional. from Boston University as his captain. to file my typewritten copy from the would wrap himself in his country’s
ing an American style of hockey, a form They were the Soviet bear. But emo- He put players from Minnesota on the basement. When a game was over, flag, would see a victory as something
of sport making use of capitalistic ideals tion, said Brooks, was what it would ice, then scrapped them for New rather than buck the crowds all the way symbolic, one system better than an-
— competition, exuberance, youth. take to beat the fabled Soviets, who Englanders, then reversed the order. down to the bowels of the ancient place, other. Perhaps, in a way, we’ve made
Forget the past. This was a new era. made no distinction between amateur Brooks had only a few months to put I had to figure out another way to get in some progress.
It could have been a metaphor for an and professional. They had defeated a team together. He made himself the my story.
American template. Indeed, it was. this young American team 10-3 in an ex- brunt of the team’s anger and annoy- I had my old Olivetti portable. I typed GERALD ESKENAZIwas for more than 40
He wanted to restore respect to his hibition game. Some years earlier, they ance. He felt that would help them co- the story. Page one was finished. I then years a sportswriter for The New York
country, which was being held hostage had shocked Canada’s nervous system alesce as well. rolled the paper into a ball. On a bal- Times. HEINZ KLUETMEIER/SPORTS ILLUSTRATED-GETTY IMAGES
International Herald Tribune 6 bis rue des Graviers, 92521 Neuilly Cedex France Tel: +33 1 41 43 93 00
E-Mail: iht@iht.com Internet address: global.nytimes.com Subscriptions: subs@iht.com Tel: +33 1 41 43 93 61 Classified: +33 1 41 43 93 85
Regional Office, Asia-Pacific: #1201, 191 Java Road, Hong Kong Tel. +852 2922 1188 Fax: +852 2922 1190 The Americas: Regional Office, 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018 Advertising Tel. +1 212 556 7707 Fax: +1 212 556 7706, Circulation Tel. (toll free) +1 800 882 2884 or +1 818 487 4540 Fax: +1 818 487 4550 ihtus@espcomp.com
U.K.: Advertising Office, 1 New Oxford Street, London WC1A 1NU Tel. +44 20 7061 3500 Fax: +44 20 7061 3529
S.A.S. au capital de 240.000 ¤. RCS Nanterre B 732021126. Commission Paritaire No. 0513 C 83099 ©2010, International Herald Tribune. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0294-8052. Material submitted for publication may be transferred to electronic databases. The full text of the Contributor Policy appears on the Internet at: http://www.ihtinfo.com/press/contributorpolicy.html