Chris Kilcourse #3

The Boys of Winter

Author: Wayne Coffey

             Every great story has to come to an end. As cliché as that sounds, it is so true about this wonderful story. This story has arguably one of the greatest endings in US history. As some of you may know, the United States went on to win the gold medal in those 1980 Olympic Games. However that is not what gets talked about as much. Of course that is quite an accomplishment, but the real accomplishment was defeating the Soviet Union to get to that gold medal game. The Soviet Union was the best team in the world. The United States was full of college kids. And to top it off, the United States lost to the soviets 10-3 just one week before the Olympics started.

            The main character in this story is without a doubt the head coach Herb Brooks. Herb brooks is involved in the book from start to finish. It starts with him evaluating everyone during tryouts all the way until the medal ceremony. Without Herb Brooks, the miraculous accomplishment that they pulled off would not be possible. With that being said, I feel as if I have a similar quality to Herb Brooks and that is to never give up. The US team was the underdog the whole tournament. From start to finish, no one thought that this was possible besides one person, Herb Brooks. He knew what it took to win and would do everything he could until his team got that win. Just like Coach Herb, I will also do whatever it takes to accomplish what I have sent out to accomplish. No matter if it’s about winning a game or something like getting a good grade in a class. I’ll do whatever it takes in order to complete the task at hand. The most important thing you can do is keep trying and never give up. This is exactly what Herb Brooks kept telling his team before and during every game. No matter if they were losing or winning, it did not matter.

            The semi final game between the Soviet Union and the United States had payback written all over it. Well at least for the Americans it did. For the Soviets, it was simple. Go out there and destroy them just like we did the in the exhibition game. By now we all know what actually happened and that is that the US beat the Soviets and went on to win the gold medal. But what if the Soviets would have won? What if they would have gone on to win yet another gold medal? Well if that would have happened then it would have been just what everyone was expecting. This book would not be a book. The 1980 Winter Olympic Games would mean no more than the 1976 Olympics or the 1984 Olympics. Lastly, the 1980 US men’s hockey team would go down as just another group of college kids that could not get the job done. Luckily the Soviets did not win; the United States did. And that is why the ending to this story goes down as one of the best endings in US history.