Jersey

Mike Eruzione was on one of the morning shows today.  He is auctioning off the jersey, pants, shoulder pads, stick, and socks that he used during the "Miracle on Ice" competition during the 1980 Winter Olympic games.

The items apparently were in his attic for years, and then when he rediscovered them, he put them in a safe deposit box for a while.  Now he is parting with them for good.  The jersey itself is expected to fetch more than $1 million.  Eruzione intends to divide the money between his three children and a charity that he supports.  He notes that he has two jerseys and three children, so there was no way he could have made it a fair split by keeping them.

The stick was used to make the definitive score against the mighty Soviets, who looked like grizzled, unbeatable, iron-clad men in 1980, versus the boyish college boys they faced and lost to.  Most of us remember where we were during that last game, the best situation being with family and friends.  It was pure sport and pure adrenalin, and given the perilous times we were in, a victory we sorely needed.

Somehow, the American guys believed in themselves.  Was it Herb Brooks, their now legendary coach who instilled such confidence in them?  Was it their unbridled naivety that had not as yet grasped the audacity of thinking they could defeat this pro team?  Were they just out there doing what they had done many, many times before in preparation for the 1980 games?  Whatever, it was an amazing victory.  I didn't even want to watch "Miracle on Ice," the movie.  As I told my son, "I lived this.  I remember it."  But one day it was on TV and I did watch.  It was actually a very good movie.  I relived it again.

Many of us have faced challenges with the odds stacked against us.  Many of us have worked to succeed at something that most would never have thought we could achieve.  I've seen those TV programs where a person survives out in the wilderness or survives a horrific crime, and at the end they give their own reasons as to why they think they did.  "I refused to die," "I just thought about my family," or "I was able to stay warm by doing ____."  Very few times do any of the survivors say what is on the tip of my tongue, "I'm alive because of God."  Pure and simple.  Our life is a gift from God, and He is with us every step of the way.

For me, the credit for anything good goes to God.  That includes the improbable 1980 American victory.