The 1980 Olympic Hockey game. U.S. vs. Soviet Union?

Question

Okay, so i get what happened in the cold war, but like, why did the american people give so much support to the U.S. hockey team when they played the Soviet Union?

Answer 1

The Soviet Union team was by far the best in the world and had been for decades, it was comprised of professionals (including some of the most talented hockey players of all time, not just at the time) and was considered the pride of Soviet sports.

The U.S. team was made up of amateurs and college kids, and was pretty much an afterthought in international competition when compared to the rest of American athletics. The Americans weren't even supposed to make the medal round, much less win gold a few days later against Finland.

Also, the Olympics were held at Lake Placid, NY. So there were a lot of Americans in the stands and in the U.S. media to support the hometown team.

Answer 2

The USSR was a "professional" team. Technically they were all members of the "Red Army," but all they did was play hockey all day. The USA were amateur college players. It would be like a college all star football team beating the NY Giants in the Super Bowl. Remember, back then, professional sports players were not allowed in the Olympics.

Answer 3

Because they were the underdogs!!!

Answer 4

I was eleven years old in 1980, and it was really the first time in my lifetime (it seemed) that somebody in  America had done anything worth celebrating.  I knew that at some point in the then-recent past a president had resigned and that there had been a war in Vietnam that nobody wanted to talk about.  The Apollo space program was long over and the Space Shuttle had not yet gone up.  Russia had invaded Afghanistan, and Jimmy Carter was talking about boycotting the 1980 summer games in Moscow as a result.  There were also a bunch of American hostages being held in Iran, and the government seemed impotent in terms of ever getting them out.

I don't think it was as much a question of the American people supporting the U.S. hockey team when they played the Russians, I think it was more a question of the Olympics being televised back when most of the country only got about eight channels.  People who knew little about hockey or the U.S. team stumbled across the U.S.-U.S.S.R. broadcast and were galvanized enough to tune again a couple of days later when the U.S. then bounced back from a 2-1 3rd period deficit to defeat Finland 4-2 and win the gold a couple of days later.

I think the fact that the 1980 Olympics is so misremembered by so many people is part of what has given birth to so much of this semi-literary literary-claptrap about the cold war and whatnot.  The fact is that it was that 1980 Olympics came after a particularly cynical decade for the United States, and the gold medal was a rare opportunity to express patriorism unhampered by any party politics.  It would be wonderful to see it happen more often.

Answer 5

Because they were a bunch of amateur college kids who played a bunch of seasoned pros. They were given no chance to win a medal let alone the gold. Plus in an exhibition game about a week before the games the Soviets beat them 10-3. It also has to be taken into account that during Feb. 1980 the country's morale was at an all time low. The economy was really poor, the Iranian hostage crisis was in its 4th month, in general just a really bad time for America. Then along came a bunch of college kids who gave the country a feel good moment. They went out a beat a heavily favored team who beat NHL teams on a regular basis. A lot of people forget they actually had to play one more game and had a comeback in the the 3rd period against Finland to win the gold medal.