40 years ago today , where were you ?

[IowaRam]

we were over at my Aunt and Uncles house , I was like 14 , I still remember the media hype leading up to this game was off the chart


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PFZp1eeFZs

 

[Memento]

Not even a twinkle in my parents' eyes. :

 

[CGI_Ram]

I remember the exact moment. Watching on one of these.

I seem to remember seeing Lou Brock hit #3000 on that same TV. I was pretty young, like 8-9. But I remember it.

 

[Tano]

I remember the exact moment. Watching on one of these.

I seem to remember seeing Lou Brock hit #3000 on that same TV. I was pretty young, like 8-9. But I remember it.

Damn that looks like the same TV I was watching it on.

 

[BonifayRam]

Daily, Working construction, throwing cement blocks up to a 2nd story scaffolding in Marion Oaks Fl.. In addition, moving 80 lbs bags of cement out from under plastic tarp towards the cement mixer while my nose created cement boogers & the burning Florida sun worked on my future skin cancers.

Nightly I was playing music in a Country/ Blues/ Rock show band 6 nights a week @ the Admiral Bimbo's liquor lounge on hwy 27 & I-75 in Ocala Fl. I was also the assigned bouncer came with the job in the band. It's no longer there today.

 

[norcalramfan]

I remember the exact moment. Watching on one of these.

I seem to remember seeing Lou Brock hit #3000 on that same TV. I was pretty young, like 8-9. But I remember it.

My Grandparents had something like that, radio and record player on either side of console.

 

[T-REX]

I had just graduated High School the summer before. I was watching from home with the family and if memory serves, the game was on tape delay so the game was already over but we didn't know the outcome . It was a special night. I became a Pittsburgh Penguins fan because of it, following Mark Johnson. That turned out pretty well for me.

 

[Ramhusker]

Was a fresh new airman at Moody AFB living on base in the dorms. Hadn't been there but two months and knew no one but the guys I worked with and don't even remember where I watched the game but do remember watching it since I was all patriotic in the military. I'm sure we were getting drunk at the time.

 

[LesBaker]

I remember the exact moment. Watching on one of these.

I seem to remember seeing Lou Brock hit #3000 on that same TV. I was pretty young, like 8-9. But I remember it.

Living the life of luxury with the Magnavox.

 

[Loyal]

Living the life of luxury with the Magnavox.

"I had a Curtis-Mathis" ~ Les

 

[Loyal]

The context of the game was incredible. The day after was the famous Nashua debate with Reagan and others, before the New Hampshire Primary. ("I paid for this microphone, Mr Moderator!") The USA wasn't very proud of itself. Carter was famous for his "Malaise" speech, excepting that he never said the word. But his meaning was that the United States should just get used to not having better days ahead. America's best days were behind her. Stagflation gripped the country, and we were still smarting from Viet Nam and Watergate. Worse yet, our geopolitical enemy the USSR was strong and seemed to be winning the Cold War.

Then this scrappy hockey team did what it did against the mighty Soviets. I was almost 16 years old and could give a flip about hockey at the time, but I actually wept after we won that game. It was a Miracle. It is possibly the greatest moment in sports for me. Certainly on par with the 1999 Rams and the the 1981 & 1988 Dodgers.

 

[RamsFan4Life]

I was at Peter J Pitchess Wayside Honor Ranch awaiting transport to the Superior Court in Norwalk California on this day 40 years ago where I was to appear before the judge who sentenced me to 5 years in state prison to plead for a sentence modification. A rare occurrence according to all of the sheriffs and correctional officers I mentioned it to who mocked me for my foolish waste of time and effort. One CO who thought it a huge folly and chided me every step of the way even went so far as to offer me a wager.

I remember watching this game and then the gold medal game while locked down. Some criminals still love their country.

On March 12, 1980, the judge who sentenced to 5 years in the state penitentiary reconsidered and credited me with time served and released me on the spot.

I never did look up that CO to get my 10 bucks........

 

[Corbin]

I was born 40 years ago so didn’t live through this moment, I get we are I. The middle of the Cold War but how the heck did this hockey game mean so much? Just memories? Curious to what some of you have to say.

 

[RamsFan4Life]

Russian team was basically pros......not only pros but vets. Most with years of experience playing AND playing together.

They were thought invincible and showed us how big and bad they were in a "friendly" shortly before the actual Olympics.

Our guys were always the best in our colleges but NEVER pros. They played a few tune UPS to set the team from the slim pool of stud Americans at the time.

Truly David vs. Goliath.

 

[Force16X]

I was born 40 years ago so didn’t live through this moment, I get we are I. The middle of the Cold War but how the heck did this hockey game mean so much? Just memories? Curious to what some of you have to say.

olympic pride was still a thing back then. being politically correct meant voting all democrat or republican on a ballot. it was important to be better than the russians, etc in sporting events and in military power. plus, team usa wasnt supposed to be very good anyway, remember, the usa beat sweden (?) for the gold, so the russian game was a semi-final matchup, not for the gold. canada was also a powerhouse as well.
on top of all that, it was a really good game.

 

[Classic Rams]

Feb 22, 1980:

Age: I was 18 and a year out of high school

Favorite Sports Teams: Rams, Lakers, Dodgers. It was over a month after watching the Rams lose to the Steelers. Went to the first Hawaii Pro Bowl a week later. Then my interests shifted to the Lakers full time for the next few months, and I was stat checking the box score in the sports pages that day. LA beat the Nets. Awesome year to follow the Lakers.

Car: 1964 royal metallic VW Bug. Bought it used the summer before for $400.

Job: Pizza Hut in Pearl City, Hawaii. Started as a cook, finished as a delivery driver. I'd quit in June 1980 to attend a friend's grad party.

Movies at the time: We had just seen Star Trek the motion Picture a month or 2 earlier. It was still a few months before we went to Empire Strikes Back.

Music: The Police's Message in a Bottle and Walking on the Moon were getting really popular on radio stations. The Pina Colada song and The Rolling Stones' Shattered were also big. Funkytown was just about to be released the next month.

Favorite pastimes: Lifting weights (small gym setup in my room), hanging out with high school and neighbor buddies, playing ping-pong & pool with neighbor friends (we had a table in our living room) as we listened to rock music. Going to the mall with friends to check out various stores and look at the girls. Playing Space Invaders, Adventure, Basketball, Football and other games on my friend's Atari 2600. Playing a board game called Statis Pro Basketball with same friends. Going to the pool or Beach usually by myself. Marvel Comic collection had grown from 7 years before but I had stopped collecting new issues in late 1976 and was just picking up a few back issues here and there at an old comic book store.

Favorite food: Pizza. In Hawaii we had Pizza Hut, Shakeys, McGoo's, and Mama Mia's. Honorable mention: Tombstone.

Favorite alcoholic drink: (legal at 18 back then): Lowenbrau beer, occasional Mickey's, and Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill. Was not a big drinker though.

Jimmy Carter was president.

Oh yeah, and that famous Hockey game. I remember walking into a room when it was on, my dad was probably watching, and being happy for the US beating the Russians. But I wasn't a Hockey fan at all and was more excited about the Lakers at the time.

 

[Corbin]

olympic pride was still a thing back then. being politically correct meant voting all democrat or republican on a ballot. it was important to be better than the russians, etc in sporting events and in military power. plus, team usa wasnt supposed to be very good anyway, remember, the usa beat sweden (?) for the gold, so the russian game was a semi-final matchup, not for the gold. canada was also a powerhouse as well.
on top of all that, it was a really good game.

Thank you for explaining. A lot of things I can understand, or picture the ideas and always had an issue with this for some reason. The pride makes a lot of sense now. Maybe since the Olympics have never been a big thing to me, that’s probably a big part of it.

 

[Ellard80]

shitting myself and playing with dinosaurs

 

[dieterbrock]

Maybe since the Olympics have never been a big thing to me, that’s probably a big part of it.

Back then Olympics were so much "bigger" because the viewing lens was so small. You had 3 major networks that showed sports. Espn was only a minute old then.
From a sports upset mindset, imagine the Dream Team basketball team with Jordan and all the all stars that won by an average of 44 points a game, losing a game. It was that big of an upset.