Editorial

The Miracle On Ice Is The Greatest Sports Moment Of All Time

(Photo by Steve Powell/Getty Images)

David Hookstead Sports And Entertainment Editor
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What is your favorite sports moment?

This was a question asked Wednesday night by ESPN on Twitter, and it’s the easiest question in the world for me to answer. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)

The Miracle on Ice is by far and away the greatest sports moment to ever happen. Even though I wasn’t alive in 1980, I still consider it the greatest moment.

Herb Brooks took a young team of college hockey players to the winter Olympics in Lake Placid, and beat the Soviet juggernaut, which had dominated the sport for decades.

Despite losing to the Soviet Union in an exhibition game prior to the Olympics, our guys took the ice and won a 4-3 thriller over the greatest hockey team on the planet.

When America needed some hope and something to cheer for, our 1980 men’s Olympic hockey team got the job done.

Nobody thought we had a shot of beating the Soviet Union. After all, the Soviets weren’t just viewed as a hockey team. They were almost viewed as superhuman on the ice.

Everything about them was incredible. They were fast, moved in the open ice, anticipated where players and the puck would be and just routinely throttled everyone they played.

Yet, on that fateful February 22 day in 1980, Herb Brooks took his scrappy squad and pulled off the greatest upset in the history of sports.

Eventually, we beat Finland and won the gold medal. We never saw anything like it before, and we might never see anything like it ever again.

So, the answer to ESPN’s question for me and millions of Americans around this great country is simple. It’s the Miracle on Ice.

P.S.: I watch “Miracle” every Christmas with my family. It seriously never gets old.