Sports have enamored us for years. We tune in and attend dozens of events every year hoping to catch a moment in history that won’t be forgotten for decades. Throughout time, we have come across too many events to count, but I want to focus on the top two moments I think have changed the way we look at sports and what they mean in our nation’s history.
There are so many events that come to mind when thinking about big sports moments: Babe Ruth’s “called shot” in game three of the 1932 world series, Ali’s knockout of (40-0) George Foreman in the eighth round, Reggie Jackson’s three straight home runs in the 1977 World Series. I could go on for hours, but those are moments in which we look back on as just that: moments of sports history. The events I’m talking about are the ones we remember changing our history not only on the field but off, the ones we look back on to remind us how far we’ve come.
My first American sports hero is Jackie Robinson. In 1947, Robinson stepped onto the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers as the first black male to break the color barrier in what is known today as America’s favorite pastime, baseball. This changed everything in the way we view not only baseball, but every sport that gradually accepted African Americans into their realm. Robinson opened doors for many, and helped others realize how all men are created equal both on and off the field. Robinson set a standard and left such a mark that his number 42 has been retired by not only the Dodgers, but the entire MLB.
My next hero is more than a single individual; it’s a team. Everyone has heard of or seen the movie, “Miracle.” It’s one of my favorite movies of all time. It showed my generation, along with generations to come, how one team, one country on the break of another cold war, high unemployment, inflation and an energy crisis, rose to the occasion when their peers needed them the most. On Feb. 22, 1980, the USA men’s hockey team defeated the unbeatable Soviet team 4-3 to move on and win the Olympic gold medal. Such an upset the event was dubbed the “Miracle on Ice,” which inspired the movie’s title. This event did more than give these athletes a piece of gold; it gave the U.S. hope. It inspired many to believe that we, the United States of America, can overcome the feat and rise again.
Sports achieve more than what meets the eye. It carries some and saves others. We look back at Jackie Robinson and the 1980 U.S. gold medal team as people that have opened our eyes and led us to be the bounce-back, never give up, bleed red, white and blue type of country. Never give up.
