Do you believe in miracles?
I’m note sure. The very question sounds corny. But I do remember right where I was in 1980 when TV sportscaster Al Michaels asked it to our nation in such a way that you just couldn’t answer, “No.” The scene was in a little town called Lake Placid and the clock was counting down on the greatest athletic upset of my lifetime: Our (That’s right…Our!) improbable (try “impossible”) win over the Russian hockey team. The images are etched into our national consciousness. Who can forget goalie Jim Craig, draped in the American flag, looking for his father in the stands? (Do you remember that that wasn’t even the gold medal game?)
While that was maybe the greatest Olympic moment, it’s not the only one. Remember…Maine girl Joan Benoit (Samuelson) entering the stadium at L.A. on that sweltering 1984 summer day as the women’s marathon champion;
And just this week, we were treated to yet another performance for the ages, by yet another Mainer: Seth Wescott’s dramatic come-from-behind (I mean from all the way back from last to first!) victory in the gold medal round of the snowboard cross event. (I mean, did you see that?)
Benoit Samuelson had this to say about it: “Talk about a world class athlete in every sense of the word…. I think everyone, no matter what his or her discipline or passion in life, could take a huge lesson away from the way he came back and won the gold. He certainly did his state, his sport, and his friends and family very proud.”
Yeah, that’s it. That’s why the Olympics are so great. The athletes at the games appeal to that thing in all of us that does, in fact, want to believe in miracles. Our daily lives cause the flame to fade away and then it’s reignited every four years by a new group of aspirants, most of whom seem to hail from Anytown, USA.
We don’t get that same sense from pro sports. Maybe it’s the money, or the scandals, or the corporate sponsorships, but that athletic genre is more about entertainment than inspiration. I have followed the Boston Celtics my whole life, but I tend to regard the players with a distant admiration, unsure of how to separate image from reality. Even though I only watch skiing, swimming, or track every four years, I find myself drawn in by the human drama of the incredible effort put forth by people, most of them seemingly ordinary, who want to see how good they can be at something. Whether hockey or track or…curling, they just plain go after it.
These people dare to pursue miracles and we live vicariously through them. Watching them on our flat screens, we accept that we could not match their athletic prowess, that we would not medal in anything. But we also think, even if just for a moment, You know, maybe I could “just plain go after it,” too. We might not get carried away enough to imagine that we could do either our country or our sport proud, but there’s no reason we cannot do “our friends and family very proud.” That’s doable. That’s also inspirational. You know, it might even pass for a miracle.
For more information about Malcolm Gauld, Hyde Schools, and The Biggest Job book and seminars, contact Rose Mulligan at (207) 837-9441, by email at [email protected],
and visit online at www.hyde.edu and greatparenting101.com.
I’m note sure. The very question sounds corny. But I do remember right where I was in 1980 when TV sportscaster Al Michaels asked it to our nation in such a way that you just couldn’t answer, “No.” The scene was in a little town called Lake Placid and the clock was counting down on the greatest athletic upset of my lifetime: Our (That’s right…Our!) improbable (try “impossible”) win over the Russian hockey team. The images are etched into our national consciousness. Who can forget goalie Jim Craig, draped in the American flag, looking for his father in the stands? (Do you remember that that wasn’t even the gold medal game?)
While that was maybe the greatest Olympic moment, it’s not the only one. Remember…Maine girl Joan Benoit (Samuelson) entering the stadium at L.A. on that sweltering 1984 summer day as the women’s marathon champion;
- “He’s got six!” …was the announcer’s statement when Mark Spitz took his 6th swimming gold in 1972; (And we didn’t know he wasn’t finished.)
- Michael Phelps surpassing Spitz’s gold medal total;
- The Black Power salute in 1968 at Mexico City;
- Our national anguish in 1972 over the injustice endured by the US basketball team at the hands of blatantly biased officiating;
- The Dream Team (Bird, Magic, Jordan, etc.) of 1992 at Barcelona serving up a version of basketball that will perhaps stand forever as the sport’s penultimate standard?
And just this week, we were treated to yet another performance for the ages, by yet another Mainer: Seth Wescott’s dramatic come-from-behind (I mean from all the way back from last to first!) victory in the gold medal round of the snowboard cross event. (I mean, did you see that?)
Benoit Samuelson had this to say about it: “Talk about a world class athlete in every sense of the word…. I think everyone, no matter what his or her discipline or passion in life, could take a huge lesson away from the way he came back and won the gold. He certainly did his state, his sport, and his friends and family very proud.”
Yeah, that’s it. That’s why the Olympics are so great. The athletes at the games appeal to that thing in all of us that does, in fact, want to believe in miracles. Our daily lives cause the flame to fade away and then it’s reignited every four years by a new group of aspirants, most of whom seem to hail from Anytown, USA.
We don’t get that same sense from pro sports. Maybe it’s the money, or the scandals, or the corporate sponsorships, but that athletic genre is more about entertainment than inspiration. I have followed the Boston Celtics my whole life, but I tend to regard the players with a distant admiration, unsure of how to separate image from reality. Even though I only watch skiing, swimming, or track every four years, I find myself drawn in by the human drama of the incredible effort put forth by people, most of them seemingly ordinary, who want to see how good they can be at something. Whether hockey or track or…curling, they just plain go after it.
These people dare to pursue miracles and we live vicariously through them. Watching them on our flat screens, we accept that we could not match their athletic prowess, that we would not medal in anything. But we also think, even if just for a moment, You know, maybe I could “just plain go after it,” too. We might not get carried away enough to imagine that we could do either our country or our sport proud, but there’s no reason we cannot do “our friends and family very proud.” That’s doable. That’s also inspirational. You know, it might even pass for a miracle.
For more information about Malcolm Gauld, Hyde Schools, and The Biggest Job book and seminars, contact Rose Mulligan at (207) 837-9441, by email at [email protected],
and visit online at www.hyde.edu and greatparenting101.com.
Comments