Do you believe in miracles? On this date in history, legendary sportscaster Al Michaels posed that iconic question to viewers during the final moments of the 1980 United States Olympic hockey team’s upset of the Soviet Union.
The story of the match that came to be known as the “Miracle on Ice” was immortalized in the aptly titled 2004 Disney movie Miracle. In one of the movies’ most memorable scenes, Coach Herb Brooks, portrayed by Kurt Russell, delivers a pregame speech capable of making even a stoic heart palpitate.
Before his team’s semi-final match against the heavily favored Soviets, Brooks gathers his players in the locker room. He stands silently in front of them, assessing their readiness. Then, he begins:
“Great moments are born from great opportunity. And that’s what you have here tonight, boys. That’s what you’ve earned here, tonight.”
As far as movies go, Miracle is considered to accurately depict true events, including dialogue. But did the real Herb Brooks speak those actual words in his pregame speech?
It’s hard to say.
There weren’t any cameras rolling in the locker room that day. The speech Kurt Russell gives in the movie came from Jack O’Callahan, a player on the 1980 team who consulted on the script. Director Gavin O’Conner asked O’Callahan to write down as much of Brooks’ speech as he could remember.
“I don’t know if (Brooks) said, ‘Great moments are made from great opportunities,’ or if those are my words that sorta have taken on a life of their own,” O’Callahan said in a 2015 interview with NPR radio.
“(The movie speech) wasn’t word for word. There were some things in there that were probably what he said and some things that were just me putting my own words in there based on my memories. But when the guys all saw the movie, I actually asked a few guys, ‘Is that kinda what he said before the game?’ They were like, ‘Yeah, pretty much.'”
No debate exists, however, about the accuracy of a shorter, far less eloquent speech Brooks gave two days later—one that did not make it into the movie.
After the “Miracle on Ice” match, the United States faced Finland in the finals. Losing to Finland would render their upset victory over the Soviets an otherwise unremarkable footnote.
Trailing Finland 2-1 after two periods, Brooks simply told his players during intermission: “If you lose this game, you’ll take it to your (expletive) graves.” He then turned and headed toward the door before pausing, looking back over his shoulder, and repeating, “Your (expletive) graves.”
The coach left the locker room without saying another word. His team came out and scored three goals in the last period, en route to a 4-3 gold medal victory. The rest is, as they say, history.
Brooks’ shorter, less eloquent, lesser-known finals “speech” offers an insightful glimpse into what haunts good teammates—regret.
Good teammates tie their worth to the extent of their service. Knowing that they could have done more to help their team causes them tremendous grief. The fear of regret motivates them to exhaust their efforts.
Hence, the miracle of good teammates’ consistently being nice emanates from their commitment to eliminate regret from their lives.
So what “miracles” can you perform for your team today? Not sure? Start with being nice. The rest will miraculously take care of itself.
As always…Good teammates care. Good teammates share. Good teammates listen. Go be a good teammate.
