25 years later, and I still believe in miracles...

I can tell you exactly where I was 25 years ago today: A high school freshman, who had just gotten home from high school and finished my homework.

I watched the news to see how the team was doing. Back then, the Olympics were only broadcast in prime time, so a lot of the events were on tape-delay. The local sportscaster told me that the U.S. hockey team was trailing the Soviets 2-1 at the end of the first period.

Imagine my surprise, when watching the prime time coverage of the game, when the U.S. scored a goal with seconds left in the first period to tie it at 2-2. This was before the internet and 24-hour news channels and all the other ways of getting information, but I'm the type that enjoys watching replays without knowing the score so I don't know if I'd tried to find out the score once the game was finished, anyway.

With 10 minutes to go in the game, Mike Eruzione (who had scored a crucial goal against Sweden two weeks earlier--for some reason, my friends and I were hockey nuts even though we lived in Alabama, and had been following Olympic hockey since the Games had begun) scored a goal to make it 4-3.

The next 25 or so minutes of my life were nerve-wracking with each save, and the U.S. held on to win...and eventually won the gold medal.

It was emotionally moving and exciting, and I used photos from magazines to adorn my room for years afterward.

I do believe in miracles.