40 Years Ago Today: Do You Believe in Miracles? Yes!

Forty years ago, the most formative sporting event of a generation happened...and hardly anybody saw it live. Although the game was played at 5:00 Eastern, it was taped-delayed until ABC's coverage started at 9:00 PM Eastern.

I was a second-grader watching the Maple Valley Lions play basketball when word began to make its way through the Vermontville, Michigan gym that the impossible had happened. The upstart United States Olympic hockey team had upset the Soviet's Big Red Machine. Even though most Americans already knew the outcome, the replay became one the most-watched television programs of 1980.

Team USA celebrates its win over the vaunted USSR - ESPN.com photo

The dobbers in America were pretty low before that hockey game. Iran held 52 Americans captive. The only thing higher than gas prices was the interest rate...and those same Soviets were a press of a button away from wiping us off the globe with a barrage of nuclear missiles. Then, The Red, White, and Blue won a hockey game and it changed everything. Instantly, a nation united and collectively picked its chin up as it watched its hockey team on Sunday beat Finland and win the gold.

One hockey game launched a whole new outlook on a new decade...and that was the real miracle.

Now thanks to YouTube, you can watch the whole thing anytime you want.