Simple Church

by Thom S. Rainer

Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" That is perhaps the most famous call in sports broadcasting history. Announcer Al Michaels yelled it as the United States' hockey team pulled off one of the greatest upsets of all time. Their epic defeat of the Soviet hockey team is referred to as "the miracle on ice." The movie Miracle tells the story of the 1980 United States Olympic hockey team that shocked the world. Two days after beating the Russians, the U.S. team defeated Finland and won the gold medal. Why was it considered a miracle? The Soviet team had held the gold medal for the previous twenty years. They were by far the most dominant hockey team in the world. They had recently destroyed an all-star team of professional players from the National Hockey League. The U.S. Olympic team was all amateurs, mostly college kids. They were seeded twelve in the tournament. No one but themselves believed they could win. Herb Brooks was charged with assembling and coaching the group of amateurs. Before the dream of gold could become a reality, he had to align the team around the same approach to hockey. He had to maximize everyone's energy. It was a daunting task. The guys came from different backgrounds, colleges, and parts of the country. They came with their own approaches and styles of play. Unity did not come easily. They were a group of individuals, not a team aligned on the same agenda. Each player identified with his former team, not the Olympic team. Miracle depicts Brooks during ...