With the London Games coming to a close on Sunday, an Olympics movie seemed appropriate for today's post. "Miracle" is a dramatization of the 1980 U.S. ice hockey team, from their initial formation to their victory at the Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York. While it obviously focuses on the "Miracle on Ice" win over the Soviets, the heart of the film is its depiction of head coach Herb Brooks, played by Kurt Russell, and the lessons he imparts to his athletes. The final scene is of the medal ceremony, where Russell, as Brooks, does a voiceover that sums it up beautifully:
I've often been asked in the years since Lake Placid, what was the best moment for me? Well it was here: the sight of twenty young men of such differing backgrounds, now standing as one. Young men willing to sacrifice so much of themselves, all for an unknown. A few years later the U.S. began using professional athletes at the Games: Dream Teams. I always found that term ironic, because now that we have Dream Teams, we seldom ever get to dream. But on one weekend, as America and the world watched, a group of remarkable young men gave the nation what it needed most: a chance for one night not only to dream, but a chance once again to believe.