Editor’s note: The Daily’s editorial department acknowledges that this article is premised on a conflict of interest. This article is a special feature for Daily Week that does not represent the Daily’s standard journalistic practices.
Though 1980 was an eventful year across all sports, one single moment stands head and shoulders above the rest — the Miracle on Ice. In the final round of the men’s ice hockey tournament at the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, the United States upset the heavily favored Soviet Union in a 4–3 thriller, with Winthrop, Mass. native and former Boston University Terrier Mike Eruzione scoring the go-ahead goal. As the final seconds ticked off the clock, announcer Al Michaels famously exclaimed, “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”
Beyond the Cold War undertones, the Miracle on Ice is the ultimate underdog story. The Soviets weren’t on just any hot streak coming into Lake Placid — they had won gold at each of the last four Olympics. Captain Boris Mikhailov and goaltender Vladislav Tretiak led a team that included 11 future members of the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame. They had faced the United States 12 times since the 1960 Olympics and won all 12 games by a combined score of 117–26.
Not only were the Soviets the titanic favorites, but hockey had little traction in the United States at the time outside of a few select areas. Americans made up just 9.1% of the NHL in 1980, and 78% of those players were from either Minnesota, Michigan or Massachusetts. All of the players and coaches on the 1980 Olympic roster were from either those three states or Wisconsin, with 12 of the 20 players and five of the six coaches hailing from Minnesota alone. NHL players weren’t even allowed to compete in the Olympics at the time, so it’s safe to say that the pool of American talent was exceedingly limited.
But somehow, some way, this scrappy group of college kids that represented just four states became nationwide heroes. Two days after slaying the Soviet dragon, they took down Finland to secure the gold, a game which has become almost a footnote in history due to the transcendence of the Miracle on Ice. In 1999, Sports Illustrated named the Miracle on Ice the greatest sports moment of the 20th century, a moment which is depicted in the brilliant 2004 film “Miracle.” Kurt Russell stars as Herb Brooks, the head coach who led the U.S. to glory at Lake Placid.
Speaking of the Olympics and the Cold War, the United States spearheaded a boycott of the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow in protest of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan the year prior. 64 other countries joined the United States in the boycott, which was reciprocated by the Soviets and their communist allies at the 1984 games in Los Angeles.
In college football, 1980 was the first of running back Herschel Walker’s three illustrious seasons at Georgia. Walker led the Bulldogs, who had finished 6–5 the year prior, to an undefeated 12–0 season, capped off by a Sugar Bowl win over Notre Dame on New Year’s Day 1981. He rushed for 1,616 yards on 274 attempts, good for 5.9 yards per carry and 146.9 yards per game.
With a Heisman win in 1982, Walker left Georgia as one of the most accomplished players in college football history. His career 5,259 rushing yards remain a SEC record more than 40 years later — and he only played three seasons in college. A 2020 ESPN poll ranked Walker as the second-best college football player of all time, behind only Jim Brown.
Meanwhile, in the NFL, the Pittsburgh Steelers won their fourth Super Bowl in six years with a 31–19 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Jan. 20, 1980. It was the last championship for the vaunted “Steel Curtain” defense, which featured four Hall of Famers — defensive tackle Joe Greene, cornerback Mel Blount and linebackers Jack Lambert and Jack Ham. The 1980 season kicked off in September and ended in January of the next year, with the Oakland Raiders dominating the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV, 27–10.
Though the Steelers’ dynasty was at its end, a new dynasty was born in the NHL. In the Stanley Cup Final, the New York Islanders defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in six games, starting a run of four consecutive championships and five straight final appearances. Led by future Hall of Famers Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin, Billy Smith and Bryan Trottier, the Islanders of the early ’80s are the most recent team to win three Stanley Cups in a row, much less four.
The Philadelphia 76ers, like the Eagles and Flyers, also fell one step short of a championship in 1980. In Magic Johnson’s rookie year, he and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dominated the NBA Finals, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a four games to two series victory. It was the first year of the “Showtime” era of Lakers basketball, characterized by quick play relying on fast breaks. The Sixers would get their revenge in 1983 after acquiring Hall of Famer Moses Malone, sweeping the Lakers in the finals that year.
Luckily for the city of Philadelphia, they did win a championship in 1980 courtesy of the Phillies. Though the franchise was founded in 1883, it had been mired in futility for much of its existence, and this was their first-ever championship. Third baseman Mike Schmidt won the first of his three NL MVP awards while pitcher Steve Carlton won the third of his four career NL Cy Youngs. In their four games to two World Series win over the Kansas City Royals, both showed up big — Schmidt posted a 1.176 OPS while Carlton won both games he started.
If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll have realized that Philadelphia sports accomplished something miraculous in 1980 — all four major teams reached the championship series or game in their respective leagues. It’s the only time in sports history that’s happened.
Whether you think the Miracle on Ice, Herschel Walker’s heroics at Georgia or Philadelphia’s run at a “grand slam” of sports was the defining story of 1980, there’s no denying that it was an amazing year for sports. (It wasn’t a bad year for journalism, either.)
