re: #29 bratwurst

I just watched an NBC Sports Network special on this topic. Al Michaels points out that while most events people ALWAYS remember where they were for are negative (JFK assassination, 9/11, etc.) the one he will always be associated with was a very happy day indeed.

I grew up in Kansas City and hockey was not big there AT ALL, but yet I vividly remember exactly where I was when I heard about this win over the USSR.

I was in Lake Placid the day of the hockey final. Up there with my family to watch the 4-man bobsled event.* Hockey was a big thing in northern NY state so the USA beating the USSR in the semi-final was a big thing. It was interesting walking down the main street of Lake Placid and more than one place was posting score updates on chalk boards for the public to see.

* - My father’s engineering team at ALCOA actually worked on one of the 4-man bobsled’s chassis. And there are photos in the family of said bobsled on test runs. And then, right before the Olympics, that particular team bought a bobsled off one of the European teams and used that one in the event. A pretty big disappointment. And compounded for one of the other engineers since a few days before he’d traded hockey final tickets for 4-man bobsled tickets given there was little/no expectation of the USA team playing for the ice hockey gold medal.