Hockey fans are no doubt already aware that this is the the thirty-second anniversary of the US Olympic team's improbable victory over the USSR at Lake Placid. So it's long since past time that a meme long associated with that particular game be put to rest once and for all.
I can't recall the number of times I've heard it over the years including at least a couple of times today. When someone wants to sound like they know something about hockey they'll roll out this little baby as if were a fresh pearl of wisdom rather than a long spoiled rotten fish.
It goes like this:
"Most people don't even know that the game against the Russians wasn't for the gold medal."
You know what? They do know. They know that the Friday game against the USSR was a medal round game and that the US still had to beat Finland on Sunday to win gold (which they did after Herb Brook's legendary "you'll take this to your F***ing graves!" speech before the third period). You know why they know?
Because smug know-it-alls like you have been repeating this trite little notion that they didn't for the last thirty-one years! Admittedly, I too was one of those smug a-holes for maybe the first dozen years or so, but over time realized how played out and untrue it had become. So let us hear it no more.
