Rating: 
Summary: Perhaps The Greatest Coaching Job in the History of Sports
Review: A great chronicle of those heady days in Lake Placid nearly 25 years ago. Everyone seemed to find something they liked in this improbable victory. For me it was the coaching job turned in by Herb Brooks. It may be the greatest coaching job in the history of sports. Here are excerpts from an AP article about the late Coach Brooks which says it all:
Herb Brooks was behind the bench when the American Olympic Hockey team pulled off the greatest upset ever at Lake Placid NY in 1980, beating the mighty Soviets with a squad of mostly college players.That shocking victory, plus beating Finland for the gold medal, assured the team a place in immortality.
The young U.S. team was given no chance against a veteran Soviet squad that had dominated international hockey for years and had routed the Americans 10-3 in an exhibition game at Madison Square Garden the week before the Olympics.
On Feb. 22, 1980, the U.S. team scored with 10 minutes to play to take a 4-3 lead against the Soviets. As the final seconds ticked away, announcer Al Michaels exclaimed, "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!"
It remains one of the most famous calls in history.
Brooks' leadership helped turn a ragtag team into champions. He had hand picked each player.
"You're looking for players whose name on the front of the sweater is more important than the one on the back," Brooks once said. "I look for these players to play hard, to play smart and to represent their country."
Interviewed years later on why he headed to the locker room shortly after the Miracle on Ice, he said he wanted to leave the ice to his players, who deserved it.
Players kept a notebook of "Brooksisms," sayings the coach used for motivation, such as: "You're playing worse and worse every day and right now you're playing like it's next month."
But, before playing the Soviets, Brooks told his players: "You're meant to be here. This moment is yours. You're meant to be here at this time."
"He was ahead of his time," team member Ken Morrow said. "All of his teams overachieved because Herbie understood how to get the best out of each player and make him part of a team. And like everyone who played for him, I became a better person because I played for Herb Brooks."
Born in St. Paul, Brooks played hockey at the University of Minnesota, where he later coached from 1972 to 1979, winning three national titles. He was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990.
When Brooks decided to coach the 2002 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team at Salt Lake City, he was asked why he would return after writing the most improbable story in hockey. "Maybe I'm sort of like the players -- there's still a lot of little boy in me," Brooks said. "And maybe I'm a little smarter now than I was before for all the stupid things I've done."
Brooks was the last player cut on the 1960 U.S. gold medal team, and unfairly so, the victim of favoritism by his coach. But he persevered, and played on the United States Olympic Hockey Team in 1964 and 1968. And when he coached the 1980 Olympic Team, he did not repeat the mistake made by his 1960 coach. It was difficult and painful, but he did the right thing selecting the players for his 1980 team. And as they say, the rest is history. Or was it really a miracle? That is left for each reader to decide for themselves.
In an interview at his White Bear Lake home not long before his untimely death, Brooks described to the Minneapolis Star Tribune about watching one of his favorite movies, "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."
"You know, Willie Wonka said it best: We are the makers of dreams, the dreamers of dreams," Brooks said. "We should be dreaming. We grew up as kids having dreams, but now we're too sophisticated as adults, as a nation. We stopped dreaming. We should always have dreams. I'm a dreamer."
This DVD deserves to be in every sports fans' library. With it I recommend the book, One Goal: A Chronicle of the 1980 Olympic Hockey Team, if you can find a copy of this sought after collectible.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Sports Documentary!!!
Review: After seeing the movie Miracle, I bought this DVD from amazon.com, and have watched it several times. It really is a great piece, with some nice camera work and instant replays. The interviews and segments with the Russian team and people's reactions were also very interesting. A bargain for a wonderful piece of sports history. Yes, i believe in miracles.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Sports Documentary!!!
Review: After seeing the movie Miracle, I bought this DVD from amazon.com, and have watched it several times. It really is a great piece, with some nice camera work and instant replays. The interviews and segments with the Russian team and people's reactions were also very interesting. A bargain for a wonderful piece of sports history. Yes, i believe in miracles.
Rating:
Summary: Do YOU Believe in Miracles?
Review: AFter this documentary you will! This is the most inspirational documentary, or movie for that matter, of all time. I get goosebumps nearly throughout the whole film every time I watch it!
Rating: 
Summary: Where's the actual ABC-TV broadcast DVD????
Review: Am I the only one who feels ripped off by a documentary, Disney movie and a BAD made-for-TV film of this seminal sports event- Why hasn't a DVD been released of the complete original ABC-TV broadcast? In addition, why hasn't the 1980 USA team's entire run through the Olympic hockey tournament been put out as a box set? Imagine a well-produced set with the games themselves of course, then bonus material with interviews from players, coaches and background on the political and social climate of those days in the tense world of 1980! This would be an unbelievable seller, and especially once word gets around to the current generation what an amazing spectacle this was- nothing that needs to be dramatized, that's for sure. I can only surmise that some kind of legal wrangling is going on with whomever holds the rights to the telecast(s)- I assume ABC/Disney, or why else wouldn't this have been released on VHS or DVD by now? I know the USA/Soviet game has been shown occasionally on ESPN Classic cable channel-I have a taped copy of it, but the video is pretty bad and would benefit greatly of course being remastered on DVD. Not to mention the limited viewership of ESPN Classic compared to a DVD release is a no-brainer! If anyone has any information on something brewing concerning a DVD coming out eventually please post here, thanks!
Rating:
Summary: Yes...... I do believe in miracles
Review: Awesome movie. Brings you right back to February 1980. A must have for any hockey fans.
Rating:
Summary: For anyone proud to be American.
Review: Definitely a great documentary. Definitely a great victory. This documentary is even better than the movie and I would recommend it over the movie. It is also obvious to me that there are some seriously bitter America-bashers writing reviews about something they will never have to be proud for. I make no apologies for loving America and Americans and everything that the world criticizes us for... for winning, for losing, for making right decisions, for making wrong decisions. This is our country and I am d*mn proud of it. I'm tired of being told by the select few how wrong it is to be American.
Rating:
Summary: Do you believe in great videos? YES!
Review: Excellent. Superlative. Fantastic. None of these words adequately describe how good this video is. And it's not a sports video, it's a history video. That's because the story of the 1980 USA hockey team is not only the greatest sports moment of the 20th century, it is a part of the history of the Cold War. The video expertly sets out the dire world political environment at the time and the poor morale in the US and interweaves the tale of Herb Brooks and the hockey team, from tryouts to the last day they were together at the White House after their dramatic victory. This is a great video and I challenge any American to watch it without getting a tear in the eye or a chill down the spine. By all means, get it.
Rating:
Summary: Watch this before you watch the movie "Miracle"
Review: I really liked the movie "Miracle" but the whole time I watched it I couldn't get past the fact that it was made by Disney out of my head. Everytime something seemingly amazing happened I kept thinking, "why did they have to Hollywood this up, why did they have to add Disney magic?". I thought the story was good enough to stand on it's own without addind unnecessary drama. Well guess what...they didn't add anything. All that stuff actually happened. A goal really was scored in the last moments of a game to get them to the medal round, the coach really did make them skate in the dark after tieing inferior competition, the captain of the team really did almost get cut, Brooks really did disappear into the tunnel immediately after they won, etc. etc. IT'S ALL TRUE!! Reality out did Disney, now how often can you say that?
I won't go on about this being the greatest sporting moment in American history and one of the biggest upsets in sports history period because that is already a well known fact. What I will say is this DVD does an excellent job of putting the game in true context. The cold war, the gas problems, hostages, America having a "crisis of confidence". It also does a great job of conveying just how powerful of a team was Russia. It includes interviews with a few Russian players along with some footage of their domination (to put it lightly!). Just watching Vladislav Tretiak doing his stand up-get down drills gave me chills. That team was scary!
All in all this DVD does a near perfect job of wrapping everything up into an easily digestable documentary that shows you just how truly amazing of an event was the Miracle on Ice. I recommend this DVD to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: IF YOU'RE AMERICAN YOU WILL LIKE IT
Review: I remember back in 1980 watching the Americans beat the Russian Olympic Hockey team, at Lake Placid. At the time, I didn't realize the Russion intimidation factor nor did I realize what an upset the American victory represented to the Russians. The American were an amateur hockey team and the Russians were a professional hockey team with some of the worlds best players. I remember being impressed by the American Hockey team as they passed puck with fluidiness and team coordination and the creative of the patterns. The American seems very good and did not seek like an under dog team even though the average age was 21. The legs beat the wolf. I felt great after the American's won, stood up and cheered, and thought about the game all day.
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