February 22, 1980 - Olympic Ice Hockey - USA vs Soviet Union
Distant Replay
English - March 03, 2021 20:00 - 40 minutes - 37.9 MB - ★★★★★ - 19 ratingsFootball Sports TV & Film cbs espn mlb nfl sports abc baseball classicgames collegebasketball collegefootball Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
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More than 40 years ago, a bunch of college kids from the USA squared off on a sheet of ice in Lake Placid, NY at the 1980 Winter Olympics against a heavily-favored Soviet Union squad.
These two teams played an exhibition just a month earlier that ended in a 10-3 Soviet victory so many didn't give the Americans a chance. But this game that would turn out to be arguably the most important sporting event of the 20th century.
In the moment when it was happening though, the powers that be at the Olympic Games didn't even deem it worthy of a primetime TV slot so much of the country saw the game on tape delay. If there was any game worth the wait it was this one, and it was awesome to go back and watch for the podcast. Join us as we take you back to that historic night in New York. On this episode we discuss: The dominance of the Soviets leading up to this matchup Al Michaels and his iconic performance behind the mic The final round format for medals Periods or quarters? Jim Craig is a beast Why did the USSR coach bench his all-world goalie? Ticket prices for the big game The strange Olympic hockey format that has led to a lot of confusion over the years Herb Brooks Why the game was tape-delayedWe'll talk this and much more on the show. If you want to see it as it aired on ABC that night in 1980, check out our website here: https://distantreplaypodcast.com/ep-66-1980-olympic-hockey-team-usa-vs-soviet-union/