Intelligence, Please…

Cover of the March 1980 issue of Sports Illustrated (credit: Heinz Kluetmeier)

Little did Heinz Kluetmeier know when he snapped the photograph above that his artistic vision would encapsulate one of the greatest feats in the history of amateur sports. He would also make a powerful political statement about the strength of American resolve found in ordinary men. Team USA Men’s Ice Hockey victory over the Soviets at the Lake Placid Winter Olympic Games in 1980 was a defiant action toward a nuclear-capable Communist/Socialist aggressor. American sentiment toward the Soviets prior to 1980, the history of the 1980 Team USA Men’s Hockey Team, and the visual components and compositional elements of Kluetmeier’s work reveal a timeless truth about American valor: America does not need superheroes or super weapons to prevail in its struggles; it needs only patient and consistent principled competition among good men to prevail.

Note: For a complete list of outside works referenced in this series, please click here. Read Part 1 of the series here.

The Lake Placid Olympic compound provided another theater for combating communism; it was a proving ground for capitalist and democratic idealism, as socialist and communist regimes from all over the world sent in their ground troops to try to capture the coveted gold medals; it was a symbolic arena in which the United States would test its strength and constitution against a very unwelcome Soviet foe.  Lake Placid was a place for the United States to literally “start sweating” and uniting under the “common faith” for which President Carter pleaded. Yet the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, and Muslim fundamentalists seized a U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran.  The United States feared a Soviet invasion.  The U.S. Olympic Committee, expressing disdain for Soviet hegemony, decided to preemptively boycott the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow in hopes that the Soviets would boycott the pending Lake Placid Winter Games. The plan backfired, and Premier Brezhnev released a statement from the Kremlin, a domineering jeer, saying in essence that the whole of the USSR and the Eastern bloc would show the world how great they were by defeating the United States in Lake Placid.

Team USA Men’s Ice Hockey won a Gold Medal in 1960, but according to the Smithsonian Institute, “…teams from the Soviet Union had dominated Olympic ice hockey, and they were the overwhelming favorites in 1980,” and “few outside the team expected much at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY.”  During an exhibition round in early February 1980, the Soviet Union defeated Team USA 10-3 in front of a sell-out crowd at Madison Square Garden in New York City, according to Evan Weiner, correspondent for NHL.com. Kevin Allen, writing for ESPN Classic, says that “The Americans trailed in six of their seven Olympic wins,” signifying that every game could have provided an early exit for the team, that each game would relentlessly test the strength of the team.  He continues, saying that “…the Soviets weren’t hockey gods, but they were legends.  [Several Soviets present] were all members of the Soviet team that had [defeated] the NHL All-Stars in the 1972 Summit Series.  The NHL All-Stars thought they would dominate the Soviets in all eight games.  Instead, they needed a goal by Paul Henderson with 34 seconds left in regulation of the final game to win the tournament with a 4-3-1 record.”  Not even professional hockey superstars could trump the talent of the encroaching Soviets.  To make matters worse, the Soviets again dismantled the NHL All-Stars at Madison Square Garden in 1979 by a score of 6-0.  And thus the question remained: how, if not even professional All-Stars can win, would the United States defeat the Soviets during the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics?

This question perplexed Coach Herb Brooks.  He explained to USA Hockey as he interviewed for the Head Coach position, “All-Star teams fail because they rely on talent of individuals, and the Soviets take that talent and turn it against you in a system that is designed for the betterment of the team.  I want to take that system and beat them at their own game,” or so goes the somewhat fictionalized Walt Disney account of the story, MIRACLE.  Brooks knew that supermen or super hockey players could not defeat the Soviets.  Instead, he held tryouts in Colorado Springs, and selected 26 twenty-somethings after watching only a day of drills.  Many players had only recently finished college.  Just as there was tension in America about how best to solve the problems exacerbated by the Cold War, a split among the team was evident.  The team consisted primarily of University of Minnesota and Boston College alumni, many of whom had played against each other in the NCAA’s prestigious “Frozen Four” National Championship tournament. It would take incredible discipline to temper the egos and brash machismo of youngsters.

Herb Brooks’ players knew him for his hard-nosed coaching tactics, which included keeping the team on the ice to skate “suicides” for several hours after tying the Finnish national team in exhibition play.  He was, according to the team physician, able to unite the team against him.  “Well, maybe if they hate him, they won’t have time to hate each other,” said the doctor.  Yet despite his unrelenting and grueling physical demands on his players, his belief that “strong legs feed the wolves” produced serious results.  After their 10-3 exhibition spoiler three days prior to Opening Ceremonies, early round play included a 2-2 tie to #3-ranked Sweden, and a 7-3 win over #2-ranked Czechoslovakia.  But when the day arrived to play the Soviets, many were still uncertain about what the outcome would be.  Legendary ABC hockey broadcasters Al Michaels and Ken Dryden had an on-air conversation about the monumental showdown between the United States and the Soviet Union- political equals but completely unevenly matched in the world of hockey.  Michaels said of the game, “[This is] an event that needs no build-up, no superfluous adjectives.  In a political or nationalistic sense, I’m sure this game is being viewed with varying perspectives.  But manifestly, it is a hockey game.” Dryden followed with his own ill-boding commentary, “[The United States] will be playing against probably the best team in the world: a team that is far better than they are, a team that has dominated hockey for the last fifteen years…It’s one thing to be young and promising.  It is quite another to be good.”

To Be Continued…