The beginning of the 1980s was a year of tumultuous changes in the world compared to the inspirational story of this miracle. The Cold War was at its peak. America was just emerging from a humiliating defeat in Vietnam and the world was still reeling from an oil crisis when the Soviet Union decided to exert its influence further by invading Afghanistan. The world of sports was also affected by the duel of these two superpowers as the west contemplated a boycott of the Summer Olympics in the Moscow. In the midst of this volatile world climate, an inspiration story was taking shape that would catalyst the decline of the communist world and revolutionizes the world of sports.

We can trace the beginnings of this inspirational story to two great ice hockey playing nations. Just prior to the Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid, USA in February 1980, the Soviet Union was considered to be the best ice hockey playing nation of the world. Since 1960, the Soviets had clinch gold in every Olympics. Along the way, they have amassed a 27-1-1 record scoring 175 goals and allowing 44 goals in the process. Although Soviet ice hockey was deemed an amateur sports, the Brezhnev regime had allowed the player to take on ‘soft jobs’ while training full time in outstanding sports facilities. Heading into the 1980 Lake Placid games, the Soviet team was ankled by veteran players like Boris Mikhailov, Vladislav Tretiak, and Valeri Kharlamov, and youngsters Viacheslav Fetisov, Vladimir Krutov and Sergei Makarov. To make things more difficult for the USA, this Soviet team has beaten them 28 times out of 35 meetings. The latest debacle was a 10-3 defeat suffered at the hands of the Soviets in one of the warm up matches leading to the 19080 Winter Games.

The USA on the other hand was far from the inspirational story they are to become. Made up of a diverse collection of players who have never played together for long, these group of players had the greatest problem of being totally distracted from what they were supposed to do. They were also under the impression that the Soviets were unbeatable and therefore they did not stand a chance against them. Everyone expected them to lose, except for the most important person in the team – Head Coach Herb Brooks. It was perhaps a good omen that Brooks was the last player cut from the 1960 USA Olympic squad, which was also the last USA team that beat the Soviets. Brooks was on a mission to get the best out of his team, and he became the father of this inspirational story. Watch how Brooks inspired his team here.

In this inspirational story and miracle, Team USA beat the heavily favored Soviets in a tight contest, sparking renewed patriotism in a country that has seen too many defeats in the past decade. It also created a new revolution in professional hockey as the demise of the Soviet Union began a slow but steady flow of outstanding Russian players to the National Hockey League. A new era of modern and professional sports was born. Miracles as they say do happen to those that want it the most.

About the author;

Jimmy Tong has been a Physical Educator for 13 Years in Singapore, with degree in sports science and physical education from Loughborough University in UK. He has extensive coaching experience in soccer, floorball and rugby teams in Singapore Schools.He is currently a sports development officer in Singapore schools as well as an active contributor of sports training articles to improve sports performance in athletes. He hopes to enable people’s success to come by inspiring them with true sports motivational and inspirational stories.

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2. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints – Brees was in the center of one of the greatest sports stories in a decade, putting the Saints on his back and leading them to their first Super Bowl title. The undersized quarterback has had to fight off doubters his entire college and pro career, and winning the Super Bowl might have changed the conversation to where Brees ranks among all-time great quarterbacks. His popularity has skyrocketed since the Super Bowl victory, and his jersey is the No. 3 top-selling NFL jersey.

3. Donovan McNabb, Washington Redskins – After a decade in Philadelphia, McNabb was shipped south to division rival Washington in a stunning move that was questioned by pretty much every NFL expert. Skins fans are now in the same situation that Vikings fans faced last season, rooting for a guy they booed and jeered for the last 10 years. McNabb instantly upgrades the quarterback position in Washington, and makes the Skins legitimate playoff contenders.

4. Tim Tebow, Denver Broncos – Maybe the best college football quarterback ever, Tebow seemingly has it all: the talent, the good looks, the humbleness, and the faith. The only thing he doesn’t have is a starting job. Drafted No. 25 in the 2010 NFL Draft, Tebow is the Broncos backup signal-caller behind Kyle Orton but still is one of the most popular players in the league. Shortly after the draft in April, Tebow became the top-selling NFL jersey.

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6. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers – Believe it or not, Bryant is entering his 15th NBA season, but at age 32 he is still one of the best players in the NBA. The five-time NBA champion led the Lakers to another title last season, and remains the most popular NBA player around the world. In fact, Bryant has had the top-selling NBA jersey for several years now. Look for Kobe to overcome injuries this season on his way to leading Los Angeles to a sixth NBA title and a “repeat threepeat.”

7. Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies – Halladay will almost surely be the 2010 National League Cy Young award winner, having just finished a season where he went 21-10 with a 2.44 ERA. “Doc” was the biggest offseason acquisition heading into the 2010 season, and he performed even better than anyone could have hoped. Halladay tossed the 20th perfect game in MLB history on May 29 and threw the second no-hitter in postseason history, mowing down Cincinnati, for the icing on the cake.

8. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins – The 23-year-old finished second in the NHL in scoring with 109 points last season (51 goals and 58 assists). After losing to the Detroit Red Wings in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals, the Penguins star became the youngest captain in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup when Pittsburgh won it a year later. Look for Crosby to be the face of the league for the next decade.

9. Derek Jeter, New York Yankees – Mr. November was drafted with the 6th overall pick in the 1992 amateur draft, and all these years later he just wrapped up his 16th season as a Yankee, where he has notched 2926 career hits and won five World Series. All this, and Jeter is still just 36 years old. Jeter has the top-selling MLB jersey and is one of the most popular players to ever don the Yankee pinstripes. He’ll likely end up back in the Bronx next season, where he’ll be on track to record hit No. 3000.

10. Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals – The first overall selection in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, Ovechkin has been a dominant force in the NHL for the last half of the decade. The left wing was named the league’s MVP in 2009 and was named to the First All-Star Team for a fifth consecutive season. Ovechkin is one of the league’s most popular players, and currently has the No. 2 top-selling NHL jersey.

This man was something special, and the best pitcher I have ever seen. He had a freakish arm – he played 27 seasons -, having never experienced a serious arm problem, while being able to consistently touch 96 – 102 MPH on the radar gun. Many pitchers these days are happy to throw one no-hitter in their career, but Nolan had the ability to possibly throw a no-hitter in every start.

This is nearly impossible to pull off, let alone against the New York Yankees. The fact that it was against the Yankees made the comeback even more memorable, because these two have a longstanding/viscous rivalry that tops many. The Yankees can suck it…that is all.

Any fan of football, or sports in general, will recognize this play, or just the phrase “the band is out on the field.” There were no serious implications with the game, other than the fact they are/were big rivals. Just the sheer madness of the band on the field, and flipping the ball all over the field, warrants this play to be on any top sports list.

I just recently started getting into hockey, but I have always known about Gretzky his accomplishments/records. Wayne had the entire package and was probably the best all-around player to ever bless the sport. He was a great guy and deserved every bit of recognition he received.

Sadly, this error is what Buckner is best known for. The Mets tied the game up in the bottom of the 10th inning and had the winning run (Ray Knight) on second base with Mookie Wilson up to the plate.

I know that he had teammates, but the Bulls do not win one single championship without the likes of MJ’s talents. The man is arguably the best to ever play basketball, and it is hard to go against this with everything he accomplished. You could also argue which sport he was better in…baseball or basketball?