Do you believe in miracles? Even 30 years later?
It was exactly three decades ago today that a group of fresh-faced hockey players rewrote the David vs. Goliath story. The United States hockey team shocked the world, and the powerhouse Russians, in an Olympic semifinal showdown in Lake Placid, N.Y.
It didn't matter if you saw the game live or not. Not many did, because it wasn't televised live on network TV. But Team USA's unfathomable 4-3 victory set a marker in history that lets even the non-hockey fan remember where they were, and what they were doing 30 years ago.
Jeff Sauer has great recall of Feb. 22, 1980. The former University of Wisconsin hockey coach was employed at Colorado College, where he also had a hand in selecting the Olympic team roster that Herb Brooks would take with him to Lake Placid.
"I was on the selection staff with Herb Brooks, I was there the night he (Brooks) announced the team," Sauer said. "Every one of those guys on that team, a college coach had been involved with them in some way. Either recruiting them, playing against them, that sort of thing. You were all kind of, a part of the team,"
Sauer had an inside peek at this team of destiny, but admits he and everyone else had the same doubts.
"There were some surprise picks," Sauer said. "But Herb did a really good job on the political end of things, and covered all his bases. In the end, the 25 players he selected that night were the 25 best that were available.
"The one thing that we were really concerned about, to be honest with you, was goaltending. The goaltenders that he picked were just average goaltenders at the time."
Jim Craig was above average between the pipes that weekend, and his American flag-draped skate at game's end is one of many memorable snapshots frozen in time.
Sauer was scheduled that night to host Bob Johnson and the Badgers in a college hockey game. Badger Bob's focus was on picking up a road win in Colorado Springs, but his heart and mind were understandably in New York. His son, and former Badgers skater Mark, was a key cog in Team USA's drive to destiny.
"Mark became the guy," Sauer said. "Even to the day that Herbie passed away, Herb would tell you that Mark was the soul of that team. But Herb maybe spoke to Mark once or twice. He never really pulled him aside other than once to tell him that this team is going to go wherever you go, and you're the leader and just go out and play."
As Sauer tells it, he and others in Colorado wondered how Bob Johnson could not be rinkside watching Mark win a medal in the Olympics. It was a once in a lifetime deal. Sauer, referees, even media members -- they all encouraged Johnson to hop on a plane and be there in the flesh to watch his son make history.
Communication 30 years ago resembled "The Flintstones" compared to the "Jetsons" world we live in today. Remember, the game in Lake Placid was played in the afternoon, and was not on live TV. Colorado Springs was two time zones away, so Bob Johnson had fudge time to track the game, and still be at the arena for his matchup with Colorado College later that night.
"Bob Johnson was staying down the hall from me, and kept calling my room asking if I had the score," said Bill Brophy, who was a hockey beat reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal at the time. "He thought I must have access to the score. Bob kept calling and calling, and I told him ‘Bob, the game's not on my TV either, but I'll see what I can do to find you the score.'
"So I called my friend Jimmy Nelson, a volunteer assistant coach with North Dakota. He's in Grand Forks, where they have the Canadian TV feed showing it live. I'm hanging on the phone with Nelson the whole second period, relaying the information to Bob," said Brophy.
When the Tigers and Badgers dropped the puck, there were many in the arena who still didn't know the final score between Team USA and the Russians. But word trickled out, and the buzz in the building was electric. With ABC rolling the replay, Sauer remembers sneaking peeks while his WCHA game was playing out.
"Our penalty boxes at the Broadmoor World Arena were right next to our benches," said Sauer. And the penalty box timekeeper on the end of the bench where I stood had a portable TV set. And right in the middle of our game against Wisconsin, I'm looking down at the TV set seeing Mark Johnson score that goal at the end of the first period to tie the game."
Bob Johnson eventually relented and hopped a plane to be on hand for his son's magical moment, a 4-2 victory over Finland to capture the gold medal. But Sauer recalls Johnson asking his team for their blessing, and the vote was not unanimous. There were Canadian players on Wisconsin's roster that couldn't recognize the family ties or history in the making. Meanwhile, Jeff Sauer beamed with pride back in Colorado Springs.
"There was a big debate going on whether they could even play each other in the Olympics," said Sauer. "The Russians were put up there on a pedestal. The college hockey community, because there were 23 guys who were college guys, every college coach and every program in the country had a real strong feeling about the guys that played on that team."
That sense of pride hasn't dissipated.
"You say its 30 years ago, but you still feel proud about it," Sauer said. "I know exactly what I was doing; I know what I was eating, where I was, what time of day it was. I can't remember my anniversary every once in a while, but I certainly remember the gold medal win in Lake Placid!"
A great day for U.S. hockey, indeed.
Bob currently does play-by-play at Time Warner Cable Sports 32, calling Wisconsin Timber Rattlers games in Appleton as well as the area high school football and basketball scene. During an earlier association with FS Wisconsin, his list of teams and duties have included the Packers, Bucks, Brewers and the WIAA State Championships.
During his life before cable, Bob spent seven seasons as a reporter and producer of "Preps Plus: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel High School Sports Show."
And the joke is, Bob has a golf shirt from all four Milwaukee television stations. Sad, but true: Bob has had sports and news anchor/reporter/producer stints at WTMJ, WISN, WDJT and WITI.
His first duty out of college (UW-Oshkosh) was radio and TV work in Eau Claire. Bob spent nearly a decade at WEAU-TV as a sports director and reporter.
You may have heard Bob's pipes around town as well. He has done play-by-play for the Milwaukee Mustangs, Milwaukee Iron, and UW-Milwaukee men's and women's basketball. Bob was the public address announcer for five seasons for both the Marquette men and women's basketball squads. This season, you can catch the starting lineups of the UW-Milwaukee Panther men's games with Bob behind the mic.
A Brookfield Central graduate, Bob's love and passion for sports began at an early age, when paper football leagues, and Wiffle Ball All Star Games were all the rage in the neighborhood.
