Missing a miracle

I am writing this shortly after the expected finish of the gold medal men's curling match between the US and Sweden (which I did not realize at the time was going to be held 15 hours later). I do not know the result and am hoping to not know it when I watch the broadcast after I get home from work today.

Yesterday, I knew the result of the semi-final match against Canada right as it ended since due to multiple circumstances, I was in the car listening to sports radio at the time. During the day at work, someone who knows I have been following the sport since it became an Olympic event 16 years ago mentioned it to me (and was informed that it was NOT a good thing to do) and during the day I saw three FB posts about the match.

I still watched the match when I was home but much of the thrill was gone since I knew how it was going to end. The last shot of the match that decided who wins (a shot every Olympic curler would be expected to make every time but is not made 100% of the time) had no drama for me since I knew that the US had won.

Watching that semi-final match reminds me of the 1980 US/USSR Olympic men's hockey championship pool game. Though it was played at 1:30 PM local time and not in the evening as the movie Miracle portrayed, it was not broadcast in the US until that evening and since there was no internet, most people had no idea what happened until that evening.

I was a freshman at St. Rita H.S. at the time and the boys' varsity basketball team was playing De La Salle which was a big deal for me since the starting center for St. Rita was a sophomore who was a teammate of mine in grammar school and De La Salle finished 4th in the state in 1979.

As I was getting ready to go, my mom mentioned the hockey game that was going to air and I stated that I don't want to see the USSR blow out the US again like they did 3 weeks before in an exhibition. I had no idea at the time that the Soviet players partied hard (what I now refer to as Hope Solo style) with the pairs gold medal winners the night before and were so hung over that they lost to the US. During the 4th quarter of the basketball game, the announcer mentioned the result and there was a standing ovation from the overflow crowd.

I have seen the "miracle on ice" game played multiple times since then but always with the knowledge that Mike Eruzione scored a late third period goal to lead a bunch of college amateurs to victory against one of the best teams in the world missing out on the real experience of the event. If there was one thing I would want to change in my life that would not have future consequences, me staying home to watch that game would be it.