Reflection

This piece is the written work of Ross A. Muscato, Director of Communications for Gold Medal Strategies, and a complication of stories from our friends and fans.

The letters and emails still come in – mostly from North America, but also from Europe and Asia.

People talk about where they were, what they were doing, and what it meant to them.   If they are American, or if they lived in America in the late 1970s, they talk about national pain and unease and discomfort.  People from all over describe personal hurt and challenges and setback.

Then they talk about how what happened in a small village in the Adirondacks in February 1980 rejuvenated their spirit, gave them encouragement, and adjusted and set their focus on achieving and making them better.

Working for Gold Medal Strategies, the company founded by Olympic gold medalist, Jim Craig, goalie for the 1980 U.S. “Miracle on Ice” hockey team, allows me to work with history day after day.  Jim, who is also the president of Gold Medal Strategies, was standout throughout the Lake Placid games.

Over the past week, so much hoopla, with the 30 year anniversaries of the “miracle” win over the Soviets and the clinching of the gold  medal two days later with a victory over Finland.

All set against the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

A remarkable, amazing, improbable run that came when Uncle Sam needed it: the Cold War at Arctic temperature, with the Soviets having recently invaded Afghanistan; our economy was in terrible shape; and U.S. citizens were held hostage in Iran.

Sport can transcend the arena; it can ennoble and be positive and good.

Jim was up in Syracuse, NY a couple summers ago where he delivered a speech to a large dental group practice.   After the speech, a dentist, Dr. Samuel Wakim, came up to Jim, and I listened as he told Jim – and I watched as the doctor’s eyes began to water – a story about how when he was 14  and his family had moved to the Houston area from Lebanon around the time that the Iranian hostage commenced.

“It was kind of difficult early on; my classmates thought I was Iranian, or Libyan,” said Dr. Wakim.  “But during the Olympics, as your team won, I bonded with my classmates and I cheered along with them, and rooted for you.  I became an American during the 1980 Olympics.”

A couple weeks ago, I was on the phone with a Buck Dopp, a retired cable industry executive living in Arizona.  Dopp has a neat blog (www.buckdopp.com) at which he writes and shares wisdom, reflections, and meditations.  On his blog, he describes a difficult period in his life.

“I remember quite vividly my frame of mind, and situation in life, in February 1980. I was 29 years old, married with three small children,” writes Dopp.  “Although I was a college graduate, I couldn’t get a job in Sioux Falls, South Dakota so I worked for a temporary agency. My regular assignment was to empty the garbage in the dorms at a local college for about $4.00 per hour …. I felt like a failure and I was embarrassed by my circumstances. I daily fought off the fear that I wouldn’t be able to pay my bills, make the rent or even feed my family.”

Tough circumstances.  But Buck Dopp didn’t stay down.  And it was a hockey team that helped him up.  Here’s another excerpt from this blog post:

“I began reading about the U.S. Olympic hockey team and followed their early victories. It was refreshing to read some good news about America and to get my mind off my own problems. Watching the young Olympians succeed started to give me hope in America and just as importantly, hope in myself”

Commenting on the U.S. victory over Finland, Dopp writes, “I will never forget the iconic image of Jim Craig in 1980 being mobbed by his team, draped with the American flag …. When I watched that game, I was filled with excitement and hope for my country. I will never forget the emotions it aroused. Once again, I was proud to be an American and I was glad that someone was not ashamed to wave Old Glory. Their victory gave me confidence that I could succeed too.”

Barry Rosen was one of the 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days, from November 4, 1979 through January 20, 1981.  Rosen makes an appearance in the HBO documentary Do You Believe in Miracles?  The Story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team.

“When we did come back there was a video put together by the State Department about what went on during the entire time that we were taken hostage, ending with the Olympic hockey game.,” says a smiling Rosen on camera.  “And I can tell that all of us as hostages watched that and applauded most for that one more than anything else.  For me, who just came out of Iran, it was one of the happiest things to really see.  I spent 14 and half months in deep captivity and there, you know, I am exposed to this wonderful sight of Americans going crazy over a hockey game.  I wish I had been there – that was my only regret.”

Barry Rosen has it right: it was a wonderful sight.

And Americans were going crazy over a hockey game.

In fact, we’ve never stopped.

Ross A. Muscato is director of communications for Gold Medal Strategies.