Jim Williams » Do you believe in miracles? Al Michaels definitely does
By: Jim Williams
Examiner Sports Columnist
March 8, 2009
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| Al Michaels was assigned to call the 1980 semifinal Olympic hockey game between USA and Russia because he was the only commentator on the ABC staff that had ever called a hockey game before. (Getty Images) |
Al Michaels will be returning to the Olympic beat and will be the lead daytime host for NBC’s 2010 Vancouver coverage. Bob Costas will remain as the network’s primetime host.
It has been 22 years since Michaels has been involved in an Olympic broadcast, but he will forever be known for his call in 1980 of the semifinal game as Team USA defeated a heavily favored Russian team and his phrase: “Do you believe in miracles?” became one of sports’ most famous tag lines.
But few know how Michaels got that assignment for ABC at Lake Placid in 1980.
“I was the one guy on the ABC staff, and it was a phenomenal staff that started with Jim McKay and Howard Cosell, Frank Gifford, Keith Jackson to Chris Schenkel, a lot of very, very high-profile terrific people, and I just happened to be the only guy who had ever done a hockey game. I had beaten everyone on the staff 1-0,” said Michaels. “When Ken Dryden retired from the Montreal Canadiens after a spectacular and short career, he had gone into New York to talk to the people at ABC about perhaps being the analyst for the 1980 Olympics. I didn’t know Ken, but he had mentioned to somebody in that meeting that ‘hey, you guys have Michaels under contract. I watched him call a game in the ’72 Olympics, what about him?’ That got them to think about me as well. When it came down to the end of it, I was the only guy on the staff who had done one hockey game and I actually knew what icing and offside were, so you put all those things together. The irony is, as a kid I loved hockey. I’ve had Los Angeles Kings season tickets for 20 years, to show you what a sick hockey fan I am. That really tests the limits. All those crazy things happened, and I wound up sitting in that field house at Lake Placid on Feb. 22, 1980.”
Michaels is considered the best play-by-play man in the business — having done numerous Super Bowls, World Series and NBA Finals telecasts — but of all things he has accomplished in his amazing career, he will never forget that day in 1980.
“When I look back, obviously Lake Placid would be the highlight of my career. I can’t think of anything that would ever top it. I can’t dream up a scenario.”
So in a way, it was a miracle that Michaels got that assignment in the first place.
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this! on dcexaminer.com.
