“If you lose this game, you’ll take it to your (expletive) grave.”
Now, that’s pressure, right?
That was the pregame pep talk Herb Brooks, coach of the 1980 U.S. hockey team, gave to the troops prior to their game against Finland. A win would give the Americans their first gold medal since 1960. A loss could conceivably leave them off the podium.
Just to reinforce the message, Brooks said it one more time.
“Your (expletive) grave.”
Two nights earlier, the U.S. pulled the all-time stunner, beating the Soviets 4-3 with Winthrop’s Mike Eruzione scoring the winning goal. A loss to Finland, after all the celebrating, would have been such a letdown that it’s just unimaginable to even think about it.
Of course, the U.S. did win and secured the gold.
I often wonder if people really appreciate what it feels like to blow an opportunity that’s practically so close you can reach out and grab it — not just in sports, but in any aspect of life where you’re seemingly safely in the lead after 71 holes, only to double-bogey the 72nd and lose the Masters.
Actually, ask Greg Norman. He had a six-stroke lead going into the final round of the 1996 Masters, but shot a 78, including four bogeys, to lose to Nick Faldo. Norman is still alive, but I’ll bet he has at least one nightmare about that round every week.
You wouldn’t really have to find Norman. Ask Tom Brady. All he and the Patriots had to do in 2008 was defeat an ordinary New York Giants team in the Super Bowl to complete the NFL’s first undefeated season since 1972-73. Piece of cake, right? Not so fast. Giants, 17-14. Those still with us from that ’72 Miami Dolphins team pop champagne corks every year when the last remaining undefeated NFL team loses.
Of course, the 1968 Baltimore Colts know a thing or two about this. The New York Jets weren’t supposed to be on the same field in that Super Bowl. But Joe Namath guaranteed victory and then backed it up. Down went Johnny Unitas and the Colts in perhaps the most important game in pro football history, as it gave credence to the upcoming merger of the NFL and AFL.
In 1974, Muhammad Ali, well past his boxing prime, challenged George Foreman for the heavyweight championship. Foreman was big, strong and on a tremendous roll. But Ali, more out of survival than anything else, devised a strategy called “Rope-a-Dope,” where he backed into the ropes and let Foreman flail away as he covered up. In the eighth round, Ali moved in for the kill. Much later in his career, Foreman had a second act in boxing, and third in selling countertop grills. But he was never really the same. And that defeat had to haunt him.
The 1985 NCAA men’s basketball championship was played on April 1, and anyone who didn’t watch it and just saw a score might have thought it was a bad April Fool’s joke. The 66-64 final in Villanova’s favor over Georgetown is still considered one of the most memorable upsets of all-time.
First, this was supposed to be a coronation for Patrick Ewing and the Hoyas. Second, Georgetown was poised to be one of the most dominant teams in college basketball history. Third, Georgetown was the top overall seed with only one loss, while Villanova was the eighth seed in its regional bracket with 10 defeats.
But someone forgot to tell the Wildcats how badly the odds were stacked against them. They shot an otherworldly 79 percent (to Georgetown’s 54) to upset the mighty Hoyas. There’s no doubt here that this game will be one of the last things Ewing thinks about this side of the grave. He never won another title beyond the one Georgetown had won the previous year.
Thankfully, Brooks’ skaters will never have to worry about what they’re taking to the grave. Let’s hope the U.S. gives us a couple of more reasons to celebrate.
