"Boys, you just put the greatest goaltender in the world on the bench."

I watched "Miracle" this morning, the movie about the 1980 Olympic Gold Medal winning hockey team. Kust Russell does a great job in the role of coach Herb Brooks.

Hockey is a great game -- my favorite. I enjoy it because of all the things that must come together well in order for a team to do well. It is a true TEAM game. Hockey isn't a game for players with, as Pat Riley calls it, "the disease of me." Individuals must play their best cooperatively in order for their team to succeed.

"Miracle" does a great job of depicting all the elements of a successful team. Leadership, desire, sacrifice, and heart all seemlessly integrated.

I remember well that early Friday evening in Februrary, 1980. It was more than a hockey game. It was a true David and Goliath story. I remember playing street hockey (after all, I was in Ohio) with my buddies, feeling for the first time, a sense of national pride. This was the height of The cold War and we had beaten The Bear.