Craig Cohen: Sports that inspire and offer us hope

This past weekend I decided to take in Disney's homage to the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, Miracle. I have to admit, I was skeptical at first, because I wondered how a movie could be better than the greatest sports moment in history. How could you one-up the story of a bunch of college kid nobodies who beat the best team in the world for two decades -- the hated Soviets -- and then went on to win the gold medal?

It's certainly a tough task. While Disney did an admirable job, I feel that there was something that they missed: the impact that this ragtag group had on captivating the attention of an entire nation. This touches on the transcendent appeal that sports, as a whole, can have.

America ushered in 1980 mired in a general state of malaise with an overwhelming sense of pessimism about the present and future. The economy was in shambles. Inflation was running rampant. Americans were held hostage in Iran. President Carter remarked that for the first time in history, Americans thought that the next five years would be worse than the previous five. Not the most pleasant of times.

Yet these were the times in which the kids of the U.S. hockey team were playing. Before the game between the Soviets and the Americans, Al Michaels remarked that it did not make a difference if you knew the difference between a clothesline and a blue line because somehow this game meant more than that. Thousands of Americans sent telegrams to the team telling them to "beat those Commie bastards" because they saw in those young men what the nation needed most: hope. In the face of insurmountable odds against a far superior foe, the players showed unwavering courage and truly believed that despite all of their shortcomings, they could emerge victorious.

Winning the game (sorry to spoil the ending) did not make people believe that the "evil empire" would somehow go away. The point of the matter is that for a brief while, it made us feel like it did. It made Americans feel like we had won something bigger than a hockey game. We believed that the joy and raw emotion the players expressed was ours to share.

This is the sort of grand appeal that sports can have in our society, one which is a very important part of our culture. In the athletes we watch on television, we see ideal characteristics of what we admire and respect: dedication, teamwork, commitment to a common goal and most importantly, a thirst for victory and success even in the face of daunting challenges. That's why millions of Americans care passionately about their team (whichever it may be) and that's why year after year, they show such dedication. They believe that somehow, they can share in their team's glory and make it their own.

Some may say that in times of turmoil, sports should take a back seat to current affairs, believing that we need to "keep things in perspective." But I would disagree; it's times like these when we need sports the most. If things take a turn for the worse, we need these games in order to help us feel a sense of regularity.

Every so often, fate smiles upon us and gives us the privilege of bearing witness to a sporting event that can stand as one for the ages -- one whose impact stretches beyond the boundaries of the rink or the court. On such occasions, we sit awestruck and remark, "You know what; this is more than just a game."

Sept. 11 provided us with such a rare opportunity. Ten days later, the New York Mets played the Atlanta Braves at Shea Stadium in the first game in New York after the attacks. The nation was still in a state of shock and depression but the players took to the field anyway. It was important to go on with our lives and sports served as the means of returning to normalcy.

This particular game provided us with one of the more stirring moments I have ever seen. Before a crowd of 41,235, Mike Piazza of the Mets led his team to a dramatic come-from-behind victory with a towering home run in the bottom of the eighth inning. As the ball sailed over the wall and into the seats, you got the feeling that the home run seemed to say, "We'll never give up. We will always fight for what we believe in." Somehow you knew that things would work out alright.

As the players of the U.S. hockey team swarmed the ice after upsetting the Soviets amidst a thundering chant of "USA! USA!," one could feel a similar passion in the air like the one Mike Piazza aroused at Shea. Sports made us care again. Sometimes, the significance of what happens on the field of play pales in comparison to the ramifications off it. Craig Cohen is a Wharton sophomore from Woodbury, N.Y. He Hate Me appears on Fridays.

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