An exploration into melodrama and sport: the 'Miracle on Ice' and the Cold War lens.

Seifried, Chad

It is well documented that the modern Olympic Games (i.e., since 1896) are a setting for melodramatic hubris. For example, flags flying or rising into the rafters, national anthems playing, and the ceremonial arrival, collection, and announcement of various teams/countries provide the important symbols necessary to prompt the staking of geopolitical positions for the production of melodrama. (1) Amateur athletes who perform and compete on this world stage can easily secure recognition as evil villains, mythical heroes, or fallen victims. This occurs because the level of athleticism and the natural drama of contests (i.e. uncertainty of the outcome) provides for exciting performances and exhilarating competitions, which readily connect and complement the fields of battle for national pride and ideological legitimacy. To deny the Olympics and other major world competitions existence as playgrounds for nation-based ideological wars is foolish; sport has frequently been used as an instrument of foreign policy since the 19th century. (2)

Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic movement, promoted the idea of high drama in the Olympics to help build a more unified, rational, and harmonious world. However, events like the Cold War boycotts of 1980 (Moscow) and 1984 (Los Angeles) by the Americans and Soviets, respectively, challenged and undermined the Olympics as a non-political world event. (3) Behind a veil of global unification, the actual Olympics during the Cold War Era were generally celebrated as good versus evil. (4) Furthermore, for the media personnel of participating countries, the Olympics served to "reaffirm either stereotypical images of national others or reconstitute them into new images through a greater range of portrayals." (5) For western countries, like the United States, that meant they promoted themselves as the "good guys" because they represented democracy, freedom, and capitalism. (6) Those in opposition, like the Eastern Bloc communist regimes, were publicized as the "bad guys" because they were militaristic war mongers that sought to restrict the freedoms and social rights of their people and others who they invaded. The Soviet Union was singled-out as the main bad guy by the American media because they emerged as the main superpower in the world which supported communist or socialist governments. (7) Furthermore, the Soviets invaded several countries since the end of World War II to promote and impose socialist/communist regimes. (8) Athletically, the Soviets were also recognized because they constructed a training system which sought to produce physically superior athletes through early age-identification and selection which placed those athletes in special "sport schools." (9)

The United States and Soviet Union wrestled for ideological control of the world through the political propaganda each country's sport system produced during the Cold War. (10) Thus, the Cold War "can be said to constitute one of the important organizing frameworks for the presentation of international sports in North America." (11) American political leaders condemned communist regimes because they did not display or embrace the freedoms that defined America. In fact, they often saw communist countries as part of an evil empire which aimed to destroy freedom and social rights through violence and pro-fascist or dictator propaganda. To retaliate against the tide of communist-led countries, America used the media and melodrama to contest pax-Soviet ideology. In order to better understand this phenomenon, this work chose to examine the melodramatic narrative/imaging created by the American media during the 1980 Winter Olympics (Lake Placid, NY) hockey competitions and semi-final medal contest between the United States and Soviet Union. The 1980 hockey medal round game in particular was a significant page in Olympic history and served as an important battleground because the Soviets and Americans came together to renew their rivalry in one of the most publicized physical confrontations of the Cold War. (12) Essentially, the game allowed the two countries to substitute a battle on the ice for a real war that always seemed a possibility.

This essay explores how the print media in the United States covered the 1980 U.S. Men's Hockey team during their Olympic campaign through news columns, commentaries, and pictures/images. The 1980 United States win against the Soviet Union and subsequent gold medal highlight the creation of a collective identity that Americans embraced through their absorption of melodramatic plotlines. From a historical perspective, the coverage and result of the 1980 U.S. men's hockey game against the Soviet Union emerged as the signature event at those Olympic Games and quite possibly the history of American Olympic participation. For the United States, the 1980 men's Olympic hockey team is remembered as a marvelous and miraculous event in American folklore. This essay also streamlines and illustrates how the American media covered the U.S. Olympic men's hockey team through manipulating the story of a full cast of characters toward the production of a modern fairytale.

The news coverage of the 1980 U.S. Winter Olympic hockey team can be viewed as an example of the use of melodrama or emotive language/images to juxtapose the moral perspective and virtues of the United States versus those of the Soviet Union. A major reason for the pursuit of this topic aimed to discuss the appropriateness of this tactic to communicate the American perspective. The investigation analyzed newspaper articles primarily from February 8, 1980 through February 24, 1980 in the Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, New York Times, and Los Angeles Times. The selection of this time period and these publications occurred for several reasons. First, the newspapers represent a balanced cross-section of the United States (i.e. East, Midwest, and West). Next, the newspapers all enjoyed national distribution to demonstrate and communicate the thoughts and feelings of the American identity. The collective identity of the country was best represented and communicated to the populace in this medium during this time. The time period was selected because it narrowed the evolving storyline and current events. The date of the pre-Olympic matchup between the Soviets and Americans was chosen to help establish the beginning of the story. The weeks leading up to the Soviet-U.S. medal-round matchup and a few days after were also included to help illustrate the development of the melodramatic narrative.

This work postulates that melodrama serves more than just to entertain; it also acts to help polarize political discussions toward a collective identity preferred by the mass media. (13) It should be noted this work does not intend to generalize the creation of a complete collective identity shared by the mass media but simply provides a perspective of this phenomenon with this particular event. The idea that all Americans shared the same collective identity is not something this work aspires to declare. The hypothesis of this work instead argues that an identity of the 1980 U.S. hockey team was uniquely defined through the struggle created by the melodramatic Cold War lens. This work acknowledges there were significant divisions in American society which could reduce any attempt to presume one collective identity but I assert that those differences on this study might deny the shared experiences that different people of the United States enjoyed during the 1980 Winter Olympic Games. The United States, from this perspective, is a collective state established through the freedoms that Americans enjoy (e.g., speech, religion, and capitalist market) and not influenced by the economic and cultural differences within the country. Furthermore, the American identity is seen as a homogenous political group focused on democracy and freedom. By contrast, the Soviet collective identity is promoted through its political doctrine, corrupt, destructive, and imperialistic, a nation whose international power attempted to exert the socialist perspective on the world. As a foreign "invader" it is portrayed as the personification of evil. (14) This work suggests that these well-established nationalist distinctions were used by Olympic partners (i.e. newspapers) to create melodrama. The American media produced a storyline which publicized that American athletes fought to uphold a democratic ideology and the freedoms of the West against Soviet and communist invasion.

Previous scholarly work, for example in the 1990s, demonstrated that the American media capitalized on the drama produced by sport or sport figures through establishing characters, narratives, and plots similar to television soap operas. (15) However, this study is unaware of any special attention in sport studies to explore the concept of "melodrama" through specific sporting events (e.g. Olympics). Ungureanu stated that sound scholarly work examining the use of language-based topics such as melodrama to cloud issues and obfuscate thought are "rather difficult to find." (16) That fact alone presents partial rationale for the message of this essay.

I have argued elsewhere that the media's use of specifically-selected language (e.g., euphemisms, metaphors, doublespeak) and images is rarely based on a scientific understanding of words or concepts that they present, but what they believe will attract a viewer or reader's attention. (17) Dionne further argued that the misuse and manipulation of language and images unfortunately produces a growing "distrust of language, distrust of the correct, and distrust of practicality itself." (18) Thus, it appears appropriate for scholars to study the use of melodrama because it possesses the ability to manipulate individuals, environments, and events for the advantage of the author/source. Moreover, it is important for sport scholars to examine the concept of melodrama and the language/images used to create it because sports uniquely possess the capacity to be framed as drama through the main characters (i.e. athletes and teams) utilized to generate a seductive storyline. This essay responds to a call for future studies to examine in detail the coverage of sport and determine how much it reflects everyday life.

Again, sport is a useful device to explore how the use of melodrama or emotive language/imaging reflects a specific perspective of reality because it provides a reference point for people to see, touch, and feel the descriptions provided. (19) Sport experiences captured by virtue of participation, written descriptions, films, and recordings, all provide a significant base of support for people to understand the suspense within the narrative being created by the media. The exaggeration of events, actions, and the characters of melodrama fit well with the happenings of sport because it is full of hyperbole, drama, and moral conflict. Thus, since good and evil are apparently available or transparent in any sporting contest with the right set of conditions, the final focus of this essay seeks to discuss the appropriateness of using melodrama and emotive language/imaging to help persuade audiences toward a specific perspective. A variety of recommendations are also provided to help identify the misuse of melodrama for Olympic scholars to consider.

Description of Melodrama

The concept of melodrama has been explained in several ways. For example, Elisabeth Anker described it as, "a mode of popular culture narrative that employs emotionality to provide an unambiguous distinction between good and evil through clear designations of victimization, heroism, and villainy." (20) Other recent scholarship on melodrama also focused the concept on the use of popular culture by presenting it through exaggerated images and/or characters that typically exist on morally opposite poles in some sort of plotline. (21) Melodrama has also been presented by literary critic and scholar Peter Brooks as a common device used to address disturbing and repressed social issues. Specifically, Brooks suggested, "Melodrama starts from and expresses the anxiety brought by a frightening new world in which the traditional patterns of moral order no longer provide the necessary social glue.... It demonstrates over and over that the signs of ethical forces can be discovered and can be made legible." (22) Overall, melodramatic narratives should be seen as tools which can categorize people, behaviors, and relationships into the Manichaeanism camps of good and evil because there is no gray area or doubt permitted in which those actions or people will enjoy dual citizenship or identity. (23)

This commitment to the melodramatic narrative is characterized by two central themes. First, by appealing to internal emotions, melodrama reveals a polarizing world perspective through which a "moral struggle is made visible" through "an indisputable force." (24) Within this theme, melodramatic scenes are played out or described through the use of symbols and simple binary opposites (i.e. characters) that are juxtaposed against each other. The logical discussion of pathos and actions created by the polarization of melodrama helps establish a "dramatic revelation of moral and emotional truths." (25) The bestowing of moral positions prompts the narrative to establish a victim and villain. It also confirms that suffering is imposed on the righteous and that heroic actions will follow to challenge the invaders' evil intentions.

Typically, authors of the melodramatic use pathos to arouse compassion or sympathy for tormented and distressed participants, and to establish the need for some sort of heroic action by them or on their behalf. Pathos is grounded in universally honorable integrity which is taken advantage of by the "bad guys" in the story. The "good guys" must somehow endure the suffering inflicted by the villain while sticking to their principled beliefs and training in order to receive the benefits of the impending heroic action which will restore their status and reassure their moral position. The ability to tolerate and persist despite any and all disabilities through the ordeal imposed by the "bad guys" essentially allows the "good guys" to achieve greater standing than earlier in the narrative by shifting the view of them as weak prey to confident representative of moral virtue. (26) Melodrama appeals to the disposition that people possess for outrageous or excessive spectacles, as well as for the subjugation of publicly acknowledging virtuous attempts and successes.

The second major theme characterized in this use of melodrama centers on the recognition of secrecy and uncertainty. (27) Melodrama appears to capitalize on the mystique of villains, openly questioning how they became powerful and/ or evil. Secrecy provides them with an advantage over their antagonist and can serve as a characteristic of evil-doing (i.e. cheating). Uncertainty emerges through trying to predict the outcome of the battle between good and evil but also through questioning what the villains are hiding and preparing to do to the victim/hero. Restive uncertainty serves for the good guy and audience because it builds doubt about whether or not good can succeed against evil. Within the current examination, the build-up of the Soviet mystique is presented through several examples. For instance, the "Iron Curtain" is promoted as the main resource that veils the unknown training methods used by the institutionalized and government-supported Soviet sport system. Several articles reflected that the extensive precautions and secrecy exhibited by the Soviet players, coaches, and officials, while successfully protecting their secrets and providing them anonymity, also led to resentment among their peers because they were perceived as being unfriendly and less likely to follow traditional practices concerning world amateur competitions. (28) As an example, the various articles presented the Soviet players as professional athletes and subtly proposed that they might, in fact, be using illegal performance-enhancing drugs. (29) They speculated that the results of this led the Soviets toward world domination in hockey for the past several decades, a dominance displayed against both amateur and professional teams. (30)

The 1980 Olympics

Background

Americans possessed a genuine collective fear of an attack on American soil during the Cold War, an attack permeated by nuclear overtones. However, this threat was not exclusive to a real invasion similar to that seen in the movie Red Dawn. The 1980 Games in Lake Placid symbolically represented an invasion on American soil by the Red Army and fed the American reaction to the hockey contest. (31) The medal-round hockey contest between the Soviets and Americans during the 1980 Winter Olympics was used as propaganda to shape Americans' view of the Cold War. Through the use of melodrama, various newspaper and media outlets fashioned the contest between the U.S.S.R. and the United States as one presenting the position that America had won a significant battle in the Cold War. As an example, the 1980 United States Olympic Book identified this match as a historically patriotic event by suggesting, "It was the ultimate 'us' against 'them,' the good guys against the bad guys and all that. A lot was at stake, especially in light of the strained relations between the United States and the Soviet Union." (32)

The stage was set for the big showdown between the two superpowers well before they clashed on Olympic ice. Soviet influence appeared to be rising throughout the world; threats to peace emerged regularly; the American economy sagged. The invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union added to the drama. (33) Ronald Reagan, winner of the Republican presidential nomination, developed his 1980 campaign around Cold War rhetoric, a rhetoric which sought to engage the U.S.S.R. more actively and publicly than had Jimmy Carter's presidential administration. (34) The U.S. Secretary of State, Cyrus Vance, announced just two weeks short of the opening of the Games that the U.S. would boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics to be hosted by Moscow. The International Olympic Committee emphatically denounced the decision as an attempt to ruin the international festival of harmony. (35)

Shortly following the announcement by Secretary Vance, in fact, three days prior to the Lake Placid Games opening, the United States met the Soviet Union in New York City's Madison Square Garden for an exhibition hockey match. Prematch rhetoric centered on America's terrible international record against the Soviets (1-33) and the icy relations between the countries. The American chances in the match and the Olympics were considered slim to none even by their own coach, Herb Brooks, who interestingly was described as a "dove" in the "hawkish profession of coaching." (36) The American players were characterized as kids (10 of the 20 players still possessed college eligibility) and as "infants" when it came to learning a new type of hockey not generally played in the United States. (37) The Soviet players in contrast competed together for several years (some as early as the 1972 Olympics) and almost all were members of the Soviet military. (38) Comments by Herb Brooks alluded that this combination made the Soviets "assassins" who would do anything to execute the directive of their government. (39) As professional/amateurs, some American pundits held the view that the Soviet hockey players were motivated to win, not so much to promote communist ideology, but rather to continue the life of special privilege and overseas opportunities that other members of their country could not enjoy. (40)

The Soviet Team won the pre-Olympic match-up 10-3 in front of 11,243 spectators in what was generously described as a "whipping." (41) While the pain and embarrassment of the contest reflected by the score was obvious to any hockey fan, the detailed reports also documented how each goal was scored in order to emphasize the struggle the Americans endured. The pictures provided also supported the notion that the young Americans were physically dominated. For example, two pictures from The New York Times showed Americans getting bullied by the Soviets. (42) In one picture, U.S. goalie Jim Craig is being sprayed with ice when Vladimir Krutov stopped in front of the net to score a goal. In another picture, a Soviet player is shown flipping an American player into the air in an exhibition of physical dominance. A picture from The Washington Post, showed an American player "stumbling to stop a shot on goal while another remained frozen and helpless." (43) The pictures, commentary, and captions demonstrated the use of pathos to help the reader envision complete domination by the Soviets over the younger and fundamentally weaker Americans. The vivid descriptions and photographs further evoked sympathy for the American team with depictions of the team as innocent, ill-prepared, and immature. Furthermore, the newspapers provided the essential opportunity to see the U.S. team as the victim, and the American people too, because the team represented their country. The message was clear: the Americans were worse than the Soviets, and the Soviets made sure the Americans knew it.

The concept of retribution and retaliation was barely present before the Olympics, but like all melodramas the writers provided the readers with a sense of hope that things could change for the better despite the team's darkest hour. The readers of the collective articles were prompted to continue supporting their team during Olympic play if they wanted to erase the pain of the contest. The American media presented a glimmer of hope for the U.S. hockey team through several comments on the potential of the American players. (44) Herb Brooks suggested he liked the "youthful enthusiasm his team displayed and indicated he would enjoy another shot at the Soviet team." If indeed that came to pass, Brooks suggested he would attempt to capitalize on what he felt was his "team's superior speed and energy." (45) In the end, the articles left readers with the fantasy that it was possible to repair the U.S. reputation and that the team might possibly assume the role of hero in repelling the attack of foreign invaders through exertion of unused and unrealized power.

Olympic Coverage before the U.S.-Soviet Match

Valentin Sych, vice chairman of the Soviet Union's sports committee, described the Lake Placid Olympic village where his team would stay as "anti-humane" due to its prison-like atmosphere. (46) In Sych's mind, the #1 seeded Soviet Team was more deserving of accommodations closer in quality to those experienced by high ranking Olympic officials. After all, Soviet hockey players were considered superstars in their country. By contrast, the seventh seeded American team seemed happy to simply be a part of the Olympic experience. More importantly, they wanted to get off to a good start against the third-seeded Swedes in their first game. In front of a less than half-filled arena (4,000/10,000) the Americans tied Sweden 2-2, scoring a goal with 27 seconds left in the contest, a goal that Coach Brooks described as an "answered prayer" for his team's great performance. (47) Interestingly, this game generated little attention from the American media. Other medal-award events took priority. Various American newspapers provided only non-front page coverage in their sports sections. Still, what little information existed provided much toward the melodramatic plotline.

For example, pictures of the exciting comeback-tie featured a variety of positives for the American newspaper audience. The Chicago Tribune published pictures of Swedish goalie Pelle Lindbergh "getting beat" by American Bill Baker for a goal, and Mark Pavelich "standing up" against an unidentified Swedish player. (48) Similarly, The New York Times published a picture that showed the U.S. team collectively applying pressure to the Swedish goal in which the Swedes appeared desperate to save a puck from going into the net. Another picture presented U.S. goalie Jim Craig standing in authoritative position over a Swedish player (Per Lundquist) who had been knocked down to the ice. (49) Overall, these pictures suggested that the Americans appeared to be taking their first step toward transformation to hero status and that their fellow Americans should recognize this and celebrate accordingly.

The articles also provided some important descriptions to help the reader view the American team as a vastly improved unit. Specifically, words like "industrious, poised, aggressive, intuitive, and exuberant" were used in the various articles to express the team's positive features and characterize their performance. These articles also noted that the Americans appeared to learn from their previous contest with the Soviets just a few days earlier--the six months of intense training for these Olympic Games were not lost on the writers. The performance that the Americans displayed against the highly respected Swedes was considered a reward for their hard work. Though the team was still overwhelmingly described as "a young bunch of kids," the articles suggested they were growing up fast. Finally, little was mentioned about the Soviet Union and other future American opponents. However, reports did highlight the Soviets defeat of Japan, 16-0, and Czechoslovakia's rout of Norway, 11-0. The Czechs were America's next opponent. The melodramatic plotline was further enhanced by the fact that two powerful enemies, the Soviets and Czechs, lay in the path of American success. (50)

In their second game, the U.S. upset Czechoslovakia, 7-3, in front of roughly 7,000 spectators. The win caught the attention of the various news outlets, prompting front page coverage in the sport section, not only because Czechoslovakia was a superpower in hockey but also because it was an Eastern bloc country under Soviet influence. (51) The Americans were enthusiastically described as younger at each position and quicker to the puck, exhibiting "uncanny radar." (52) The Czechoslovakians were described as men who were about 10 years older on average than their American opponents, experienced players against the world's top competition, including NHL teams. They were also portrayed as men who possessed significant upper body strength versus their American counterparts. For example, U.S. left winger Dave Silk described the Czechs, like the Russians, as having "massive muscles" which they used to hold their opponents at bay. (53) Denlinger further extended the perceived disparity between the Czechs, Soviets, and Americans with his depiction of the U.S. team as "cherubic-looking collegians" who looked like they were "playing against their older brothers." (54) Clearly, as Herb Brooks offered, the team's youth and inexperience could be a liability. On the other hand, he intended to use "youth" to their advantage.

The Americans' youth and speed allowed them to react quickly to the puck. Moreover, it provided them with the ability to mete out physical retribution as a response mechanism to "battle dirty" opponents on the world stage. For example, the aggressive hitting of the American "gang" was described as clean, effective, enthusiastic, and intelligent, while a hit inflicted on American forward Mark Johnson by Czech defenseman Jan Neliba was called a "cheap shot." The "cheap shot" on Johnson was portrayed as the pivotal moment which motivated the team to play, and, in fact, the incident was the first indication in the media that the Americans could fight back and serve revenge on their opponents. (55)

At this point, the media also created a connection between the Soviets and the Czechoslovakians; the Czechs were depicted as playing in a style similar to the Soviets. Specifically, the Soviets playing style was described as the "ultimate in cerebral hockey" and cold-bloodedness. The media portrayed the Czechs as not far behind in ability or performance, indeed, "copycats" of the Soviet system. Interestingly, another point raised by the media identified a possible flaw with the Soviet/Czech system, a flaw that centered on over-passing the puck. The media attempted to connect this perceived shortcoming to the political ideology of the Iron Curtain governments. Denlinger suggested that the Czechs lack of "capitalist greed" and reluctance to pursue individual glory hurt them against the Americans because their team-oriented passing system forced them to shun an open 10-foot shot in favor of passing to a teammate 5-feet away from the net. (56) The Americans' individual star system promoted a "let it rip" tactic, complemented by follow-up rushes to the net for rebound opportunities. In the end, the American media proposed that the defeat of Czechoslovakia offered strong hope for the U.S. to reach the final round of medal play, and, as well, play successfully against the Soviets should they meet again.

Following subsequent American victories over Norway (5-1) and Romania (7-2), which ran their record to 3-0-1, the media began to focus on a possible impending match-up between the Soviets and Americans in the "final four" medal round of play. (57) Furthermore, as sportswriter Dave Anderson noted, "viewers all over America ... are suddenly paying attention to these young Olympians." (58) The contest against Romania produced a crowd of over 8,500, making ice hockey one of the most highly attended sports of the Olympic Games. (59) Overall, the media increasingly centered its attention on the Soviets, at the same time portraying the U.S. team to the American public as "ready for the conflict." They further promoted patriotism as they described the possible meeting as an important opportunity for the team to represent the country and for the American public to support the team. U.S. defensemen Mike Ramsey said he looked forward to the possible re-match because of the patriotic feeling the crowd provided him during their previous Madison Square Garden exhibition match against the Soviets. He wanted to hear the crowd roar and sing the national anthem because it made him feel "good to represent the U.S.A.," and what that symbolized.

The Buildup to the Match between the Soviet Union and United States

Following a 4-2 victory over West Germany in their last game of pool play, the American media polarized the scheduled medal round match-up between the Soviet Union and United States with some powerful descriptions and comparisons concerning the two teams and countries. For example, Verdi compared the playing styles of the two teams. The Soviets were described as consistently trying to overwhelm their opponent in the opponent's defensive zone in order to "kill" them with shots on goal. They were considered relentless. Verdi cited the opinion of Ken Dryden, former Montreal Canadians all-star and future NHL Hall of Famer. Dryden provided an excellent analysis and explanation of the technique and strategies the Americans could use to defeat the Soviets. Specifically, Dryden commented that the lack of focus on the individual prevented the Soviets from producing super highly-skilled players like Guy LaFleur or Bobby Hull (NHL Hall of Famers). Dryden proposed that the team-oriented approach made the Soviet players predictable; the Americans could capitalize and beat the Soviets with individual talent and speed. Interestingly, Dryden connected the Soviet's team approach to their country's political make-up in that they de-emphasized individuality and favored the team concept. Dryden postulated that North Americans valued individual performances, put their heroes on pedestals, and thus produced more highly skilled players motivated to pursue individual glory without castigation from teammates, coaches, or government system. (60) The use of "pedestals" and "star comparisons" was important to develop the melodramatic narrative. It also provided the vehicle for people to see the Americans as capable in the battle against a well-tested veteran opponent.

In the days leading up to the contest, Anderson also presented a contrast between the Soviet sport system and that of the United States. Anderson cited information about the Soviet Union published in an Olympic guide book. Some specifics included: a) the identification of 26,077 physical education collectives involving ice hockey programs in which some 749,940 people were affiliated; b) 287,291 ice hockey players who had achieved official sport categorization in hockey, and 6,461 who had achieved candidacy for a Masters of Sport degree or Grade 1 status; c) 986 full-time government funded coaches who trained qualified ice hockey players; d) 14,460 ice hockey rinks; and e) 55,637 referees. This impressive statistical information basically characterized the Soviet sport system as a complex and complicated structure which sought to establish world dominance through its government-supported schools, coaching, facilities, and educational system. This information presented the United States as suffering from a severe disadvantage because a significant amount of America's collective resources were not dedicated to amateur athletic performance. Again, the concept that the Soviets were producing professional/amateurs was supported by the idea that they were training to invade, conquer, and impose their ideology on their enemies. (61)

Kevin Klose's article also tied in well to the idea that the Soviets openly invaded other countries. For example, Klose reminded readers of the 1968 invasion of Soviet tanks into Prague, further commenting that representing the will and prestige of the communist government ultimately meant winning gold medals. Klose also speculated that failure to achieve this success triggered swift punishment by the communist government through the firing of coaches and removal of players from their privileged position in Soviet society, much like the situation which professional athletes endure in the United States when they underperform. This pressure to succeed appeared to motivate Soviet head coach Nikolai Tikhonov, noted as a Lieutenant Colonel in Soviet Red Army, who possessed a "face and body language full of tension undoubtedly a sign of premature aging." (62)

The regimented ingrained focus of the Soviet players was reported to make them oblivious to pressure but also appeared to socially stigmatize them as well. Captain of the American hockey team, Mike Eruzione, described the Soviets as secretive and unfriendly because they did not interact with other Olympians. Teammate Dave Silk commented on the habits of the Soviets at the Olympic Village. "The Soviets" he said, "spend their time playing a game called Submarine, picking off American battleships. Geez, you ought to hear them carry on when they get one" For the Soviets, the mission was simple: win the gold medal without regard to the purpose/charter of the Olympic Games. Media comment castigated the Soviets for promotion of their political ideology as superior to all others in the world, a promotion enhanced by their dominance in international sport. (63) The Soviet Press Agency (TASS) added to this by producing propaganda which suggested the Soviet Olympic team was superior to those of all other countries. (64)

This sequence of articles expressed the use of rhetoric and vivid descriptions to evoke reactions from the readers. Melodrama emerged to help stimulate and unify the American readers around the heroic effort that their hockey team was about to display against a secretive and unfeeling opponent. The U.S. hockey team was cast as the protector of American ideals, indeed protector of the homeland itself from Soviet invasion. The polarity established between the Soviets and Americans was evident and appeared to demand that, on behalf of western civilization, the U.S. team exact revenge for their previous loss. As an example, the other top stories promoted by the various news centers on the days leading up to the U.S.-Soviet match focused on the Soviet War in Afghanistan, a State Department ban on visits to America by Soviet scientists, and the various political protests and banners confiscated at the Olympics protesting Soviet Union policy. (65) Clearly, anyone reading the media material could not help but be driven towards patriotic fervor surrounding the American-Soviet confrontation on ice.

Post-match Coverage following the Miracle on Ice

Not surprisingly, game day produced a sellout crowd (10,000) and a high demand for any and all available tickets; some single tickets went for as high as $600, or roughly $1,585 in 2010 dollars. (66) The various articles described the political tension of the contest, underscoring an atmosphere that resembled the ugly Olympic and World Championship environments that the Soviets were party to establishing when they played Hungary (1956 Olympic Water Polo) and Czechoslovakia (1969 World Hockey Championships) following their invasion of those countries. (67) A quote by sociobiologist Edward O. Wilson was used to elevate this event to "an elemental physical struggle between tribal surrogates." This idea was supported through the wearing of national uniforms and the International Olympic Committee's promotion of parades and national anthems. (68) The impending match transcended the sport of hockey because the cathexis created by the media built-up the event into a monumental contest of not only sporting, but political significance too. The heightened political atmosphere was well conveyed by Bob Verdi in his notation that U.S. Marines guarded and secured the hockey arena building to help discourage the possibility of ugly international incidents. (69)

David Israel contributed to the politicizing of the event by presenting the Soviet hockey team as resembling the Red Army because they rolled "out human tanks and waves of troops in graceful assaults on ice to conquer any land and destroy any contemptuous opponent." In this metaphor, the description of the Soviet team as the "big red war machine" utilized narrative and visual imagery to infuse the reader with a feeling that the Soviets were militaristic imperialists seeking to invade the United States. It further helped to give the plotline an enhanced melodramatic meaning. (70) Further, Israel noted that the U.S. was on a "crusade" to defeat the Soviets, a circumstance that eventually occurred when Mike Eruzione provided the U.S. with a lead (4-3) 10 minutes to go in the contest. The excruciating final minutes provoked the Soviets to a determined and relentless comeback attempt, documented by the fact that they attempted a total of 39 total shots at American goalie Craig. (71)

The United States Olympic Book promoted the celebration which followed the victory as reminiscent of that which followed the conclusion of a major war. Americans saw their hockey players and their performance as heroic and something to celebrate. (72) Members of the press box jumped with joy, Time magazine described the crowd noise, heightened by an "ear-splitting roar: U.S.A! U.S.A.! U.S.A!" (73) The streets of Lake Placid literally exploded in celebration, prompting huge fireworks displays in addition to spontaneous chants and singing. (74) Howling mobs of ecstatic fans exited the arena and flooded to downtown bars to spread the cheer and to watch the replay of the event. Liquor stores emptied; traffic came to a standstill. (75) Elsewhere in the United States, from New York to Los Angeles, the announcement provoked similar types of behavior. For example, the announcement of the score interrupted a basketball game at the Philadelphia Palestra between the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University. The 5,000 people in attendance rose and spontaneously started to sing the national anthem. Automobile drivers all over the United States blared their horns while many others lit up telephone switchboards with calls to express pride and a sort of "national vindication" against the Soviet Union after years of tension and adversity in places like Cuba, Afghanistan, Iran, and the Middle East. Two Los Angeles residents extolled the game as great because the "Americans beat the Russians" and the win did a lot toward "destroying Russian or Communist supremacy." (76) The New York Times of February 28th connected the melodrama on the ice to the real world of international tension: The Nimitz, a nuclear-powered American aircraft carrier, was being covered by a Soviet intelligence ship last Friday in the Indian Ocean, but that was strictly routine and not enough to distract her 5,300 officers and men from rapt attention to the ABC broadcast of the hockey game. At the close, the jubilant crew flashed a message to the Soviet ship the Peleng, 'Olympic hockey: U.S. 4, Soviet Union 3'. (77)

President Jimmy Carter telephoned the U.S. team immediately after the victory to congratulate them on their success and spoke to them about how their victory represented the ideals of the American people. Carter told coach Herb Brooks that the victory "made the American people very proud ... [and] reflected American basic ideals." (78) President Carter invited the team to come to the White House for a "couple cases of Coke" following their victory. (79) Significantly, this innocent invitation to join him for a Coke provocatively suggested the celebration of a capitalist product with fellow capitalists. These events all happened following the semi-final medal round match. The U.S. team had not even won a gold medal yet, but it did not matter because the result of American-Soviet match provided a special opportunity for national vindication against the tension provoked by the supposedly bad guys.

Clearly, the media attrition discussed above provided many written messages to communicate scenes from the contest and the moral positioning of the warring factions. The words "freedom" and "America" in the articles were intended to mean the same and serve to evoke pathos from the reader to join the quest of triumph over tyranny. Make no mistake, the ultimate objective was freedom, not the gold medal. The idea that freedom was at stake helped to build the melodramatic narrative because the attack on freedom was the same as an attack on America. Since the ideal of freedom was under attack by the Soviets, the United States was called to retaliate and defend the notion and practice of freedom on behalf of the entire world. The U.S. hockey team, in essence, served to represent the retaliation and retribution for past wrongs and failures concerning freedom. The Manichean distinctions of good and evil, right and wrong, were established by the works of the various writers. Interviews with players, coaches, Olympic officials, and American citizens litter the newspaper landscape and provide support for this point. The theme of victimization, retribution, and the defense of American moral virtues was presented as a powerful tool to evoke emotional reactions from the reader.

The conclusion of this melodramatic narrative would be incomplete without a discussion of photographs, because pictures convince the reader that the melodramatic narrative paints a true picture. Through repetition, the photographs convinced the reader that the Soviets and Americans played a hard-fought contest in front of an excited pro-American crowd. President Jimmy Carter, the ultimate symbol or representative of the American people and freedom, was presented on one side of an action photograph with Herb Brooks on the other side, to help reassure the American people that their way of life was good, just, and that they had earned the right to celebrate who they were. Other photographs projected Americans celebrating by waving flags, cheering, and singing on the streets all over the United States, while Soviet officials, coaches, and players looked confused, indeed stunned over losing to the Americans. (80) These reactions following the event demonstrate the fervor of the American people in supporting claims of superiority over the Communist party. Essentially, Americans felt they had gained control of the Cold War, a feeling based on the result of a 4-3 hockey game and a large measure of help from reports provided by the America media.

Conclusion

This analysis of newspaper coverage of the U.S. men's hockey team during the 1980 Olympic Games uniquely demonstrated how "melodrama" can help to polarize the collective identity of a nation through a sporting event. In this instance, it was the Americans during the Cold War Era. The melodramatic narrative displayed in the collection of articles, commentaries, and photographs accented American ideals under challenge by the Soviet empire, prompting a heroic response from the hero.

This analysis of the newspaper coverage of the U.S. men's hockey team featured a prominent use of melodrama. The representations provided in the various newspaper outlets also provided a pronounced ideological flavor that reinforced the notion that sport and politics are not exclusive. During this time, the response to the melodramatic narrative was so strong that few Americans could publicly criticize the actions and behaviors of the country in response to Soviet aggression. Essentially, the polarization of American moral virtue and Soviet intentions categorized the actions and behaviors of each into Manichaenism's opposites, good and bad. Therefore, those against American choices must be evil, either by choice or by birth.

The conversational tone of the American media framed the American/ Soviet Olympic contest as representative of the real life struggle for physical, financial, and ideological position on the world stage. The presentation of the pain suffered by the American team was regularly presented to help define the motivation that the young Americans needed in order to beat the Soviets; a sort of fantasy retribution. However, in post-celebration commentary, it was revealed that the real victory could not have occurred without their moral position which ultimately supplied the American team with a "higher power" to defeat the Soviets. This point permeated the melodramatic narrative presented in the columns, commentaries, and picture/photographs.

The Americans were described as the protectors of freedom and the greatest representative of what freedom could provide: the power to fight against the encroachment of communism. This framing tactic helped the media to arouse the support of the American people around actions initiated by the state or perpetrated against it. Media coverage of the U.S. hockey team portrayed them as the heroes that America and the world needed to retaliate against Soviet imperialism. Naturally, the values and morals of the United States were portrayed as the victim. Victimization contributed significantly toward the creation of a collective identification which necessitated a response from the state (i.e. government) in order to compensate the victims for their loss or suffering. (81) In this instance, all Americans shared in the reward of the U.S. hockey success because the team was assembled, trained, and sent forth to protect the moral virtues of the American people.

Finally, this work would like to acknowledge that there appears some downside to the use of melodrama to evoke a collective reaction and belief. First, framing the Olympic contests as good versus evil polarized an already heated polarization during the Cold War. Much like poking a caged tiger, a risk ensued of damage to any potential economic, political, or social situation. Portraying oneself through the melodramatic narrative as the hero is also very seductive. The hero is looked upon by others respectfully and with great admiration. Yet, accepting the hero label can provide the country with an excessive need to save others, indeed a belief that they can do just that whether or not the intended recipient might need or even want such "salvation." Furthermore, it could prompt people to ignore their own lot when they themselves need saving or attention. The economic recession characteristic of the late 1970s and early 1980s suggested America may have over-extended itself globally by trying to protect others from communist and socialist influence. Specifically, as the dominant representative of western ideology, America appeared to have trapped itself into staying committed towards protecting that status despite the financial implications it imposed on its own people.

The freedoms that democracy produces allows the American people to question and debate the internal and external (i.e. global) decisions made by their government. However, melodrama focuses people on retribution, revenge, and retaliation without looking in the mirror to ask what they themselves contributed to their own victimization. For instance, the media corpus examined did little to describe the flaws, decisions, and international actions of the United States with respect to the Cold War. Furthermore, it provided no alternatives or solutions to help work with the Soviets on a friendlier basis. The history of the political and social differences between the two countries was not reviewed, ka prospect that might provide a proper balanced perspective on the Cold War. The melodrama evoked helped to reduce independent thinking, potentially providing the government with more control over its people, without accountability for the results of its actions. From this perspective, the government and media can lie, cheat, and steal from the populace because they can utilize and/or capitalize on the anonymity that melodrama provides to their identification or connection to the questionable or dubious behaviors they may practice.

The specific language and imagery within melodramatic narratives should also be criticized because it possesses the ability to produce significant errors in judgment. Dewey posited that this can occur because the language and symbols of melodrama can be effectively manipulated to suppress evidence by failing to provide audiences with a complete and accurate description of the facts. (82) I have noted elsewhere that "the sport media frequently uses sensationalism or highly emotive language to attract attention from the public" for similar reasons. Others also concur that those employed in the media regularly select, organize, arrange, and/or limit specific pieces or information, facts, and images in order to affect the views, behaviors, and feelings of their constituents. (83) Therefore, if we accept Kitch's notion that the mass media industry acts as the "primary source of what most people know about history," it is possible to see that sport broadcasters and journalists may serve as the foundation for what people think or believe about others and events in America itself. (84) Further more, the media's power to characterize specific individuals, teams, and events with expressive labels, symbols, and imagery can greatly affect their "career, finances, legacy, and social image" positively or negatively. (85)

This work also advocates that members of the academic community should make an effort to identify and help others recognize the misuse and abuse of melodrama by the media to convey a specific political or organizational ideological preference like that presented above. Bushman argued that this should emerge as a priority of "utmost importance" and that this request should not be viewed as inappropriate or impractical because the practice of using clearer and more understandable/succinct language should create a population of more informed people capable of making better choices and decisions. (86) Appropriately, we should take precautions to assure that our own academic creations and those of others (e.g. media) do not use language and imaging which intentionally misrepresents an event or individual along with making an irresponsible connection to a greater economic, political, and social perspective. Words and images exist as unique organisms that appear very dependent on the context presented by the source/author. (87) A need is apparent to make a greater collective effort to promote writings that are supported by facts, the result of intelligent and sophisticated research efforts. Similarly, we need to forcefully critique writings primarily based on emotion and opinion.

Paying attention to the use of melodrama also serves to allow us the opportunity to better understand, indeed question, how language and images can be appropriately matched to a reality that is impartial. Furthermore, this practice can help us focus on the real issues at hand and the agenda presented. It appears necessary and important to examine the context and motives of authors or speakers because emotive language and imagery holds the ability to dictate or influence individual reactions and understandings, qualities that can, if not diagnosed intently, lessen our level of respect for people as moral agents. (88) Finally, sport scholars need to better appreciate the study and extraction of exposed meanings from melodramatic narratives, especially those connected to the Olympics, because as noted in the introduction and supported by this work, the Olympics are susceptible towards being manipulated by the tools of self-promotion and negative melodramatic communication, aroused by the attention that the world provides to the event and the exposure that the various athletes, events, and stories has to audiences worldwide.

Endnotes

(1) Bettina Fabos, "Forcing the fairytale: Narrative strategies in figure skating competition coverage," in Stephen G. Wieting, Sport and Memory in North America (Portland, OR: Frank Cass Publishing, 2001), 186. See also Wallace Irwin, The Politics of International Sport-Games of Power (New York: Foreign Policy Association, 1988), 4.

(2) Iri Cermak, "Seeing Red: Mediasport Discourses of Soviet Olympic Hockey," New Scholars-New Visions in Canadian Studies 1 (1997): 3. Cermak suggested it was part of the Soviet "nation's manifest to employ sporting success as advertisement for its political and social system." See also D.D. Nimmo and J.E. Combs, Mediated Political Realities (New York: Longman, 1990).

(3) It should be noted that several past Olympic Games (e.g., 1936 Berlin, 1968 Mexico City, 1972 Munich) were also undermined by staged political connections. The United States boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow, Russia to make a political statement against the Soviet Union because they invaded Afghanistan. The Soviet Union responded four years later and skipped the 1984 Summer Olympic Games held in Los Angeles. See also these articles about the 1980 boycott announcement: Craig R. Whitney, "The Soviet Union Builds A Grand Design for Athletics," The New York Times, 10 Feb. 1980, WO12; Ken Denlinger, "White House Words Have Slushy Feel; Carter Message Men Are Boycotting Clarity This Morning Carter Olympic Stance Shows Slushy Signs," Washington Post, 14 Feb. 1980, F1; and Bob Verdi, "U.S. Team Eager to Penetrate Soviet Hockey Mystique," Chicago Tribune, 22 Feb. 1980, C1.

(4) See also Craig Nickerson, "Red Dawn in Lake Placid: The Semi-final Hockey Game at the 1980 Winter Olympics as Cold War Battleground," Sport History Review 26 (1995), 73-85. For another perspective see also Clayton Jones, "Political Hurdles," Christian Science Monitor, 22 May 1980, 12. Similar to Cermak, Jones mentioned that since the first participation of the Soviets into the Olympics (1952), the "U.S. and the U.S.S.R. wrestled for national prestige, pressing for an advantage in political propaganda by claiming the most medals."

(5) Cermak, "Seeing Red," 3.

(6) Jeffrey D. Mason, Melodrama and the Myth of America (Bloomington: IN, Indiana University Press, 1993). In Chapter 1, Mason identified that Americans embraced the idea that their country is the land of the free and their democratic society provided the power to the people. Mason also pointed out that the capitalist identity of the country suggests anyone can achieve economic success.

(7) Nickerson, "Red Dawn in Lake Placid," 74-75. See also John Lewis Gaddis, "The Cold War, the Long Peace, and the Future," Diplomatic History, 16 (1992): 234; and Walter LaFeber, "An End to Which Cold War?" Diplomatic History, 16 (1992): 61-65.

(8) Kevin Klose, "System behind Soviet Union's Hockey Machine," Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 1980, D1; and "Those Non-Political Olympics," The New York Times, 26 Feb. 1980, A14. Both articles commented on the invasion of Prague, Czechoslovakia in August of 1968. See also, David Israel, "Good Guys Triumph in the Ultimate Showdown," Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb. 1980, A1. Israel noted the invasion of the Soviet army into Budapest, Hungary prior to their match-up against the country in water polo during the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics. It should be noted that the author recognizes that socialism and communism are two separate ideological doctrines but they will be used interchangeably throughout the essay because they share a principle that argues the public should own and control goods and services produced in an economy through planning by a centralized organization, which is commonly a political group.

(9) Whitney, "The Soviet Union Builds A Grand Design for Athletics," WO12. Whitney argued that socialism crushed the original Victorian Olympic ideals of pure amateurism and created "professional amateurs" through the state/government-sponsored schools and clubs which helped identify and train potential athletes at an early age to perform better than athletes from other countries who did not benefit from government subsidy for their training. See also Cermak, "Seeing Red," 10; and Klose, "System Behind Soviet Union's Hockey Machine," D1. Klose suggested identification and relocation to sport schools could happen as early as kindergarten.

(10) Clayton Jones, "Political Hurdles," Christian Science Monitor, 22 May 1980, 12. Jones proposed that the Soviets and American used the medal count at the Olympics and the results of other world sporting events to wrestle national prestige from each other.

(11) Cermak, "Seeing Red," 3.

(12) Nickerson, "Red Dawn in Lake Placid," 80-82.

(13) Elisabeth Anker, "Villains, victims and heroes: Melodrama, media, and September 11," Journal of Communication 55 (2005), 23, 25. Anker argued that melodrama shaped "a type of amorphous but unified American national identity undivided by internal identity politics, in which "the other" becomes the enemy of American identity as such. Melodrama structures American national identity as a unified community fighting against incessant threats to its very existence,"(25).

(14) Michael Rogin, Ronald Reagan: The Movie, and Other Episodes in American Demonology (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1988), xiii. Rogin argued that historically, Americans defined themselves as victims because they frequently had to defend their borders from "others" seeking to control its resources. This prompted the "creation of monsters as a continuing feature of American politics."

(15) Cheryl Cole and Harry Denny, "Visualizing Deviance in post-Reagan America: Magic Johnson, AIDS, and the Promiscuous World of Professional Sport," Critical Sociology 20 (1994), 23-47; Samantha King, "The Politics of the Body and the Body Politic: Magic Johnson and the Ideology of AIDS," Sociology of Sport Journal 10 (1993), 270-85; Jim McKay, "Marked Men and Wanton Women: The Politics Of Naming Sexual Devi ance in Sport," Journal Of Men's Studies 2 (1993), 69-87; Jim McKay and Philip Smith, "Exonerating the Hero: Frames and Narratives in Media coverage of the O.J. Simpson Story," Media Information Australia 7 (1995), 557-66; Nicole M. Muller, "As the (Sports) World Turns: An Analysis of the Montana-49er Social Drama," Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 19 (1995), 157-79; and Jim McKay and David Rowe, "Field of Soaps: Rupert V. Kerry as Masculine Melodrama," Social Text, 50 (1997), 69-86.

(16) S. Ungureanu, "Euphemisms," Philologia 49, no. 1 (2004), 127-149. See also A. Rahimi and R. Sahragard, "A Critical Discourse Analysis of Euphemization and Derogation in E-mails on the Late Pope," The Linguistics Journal 1, no. 2 (2006), 29-87. These authors also indicated very little research exists on the study of euphemisms and other emotive language common in melodrama.

(17) Chad Seifried, "Recognizing and Combating Emotive Language: Examples Associated With Sport," Quest 60 (2008), 200-213.

(18) E.J. Dionne, Jr., Why Americans Hate Politics (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1991).

(19) F. Hardaway, "Foul play: Sports metaphors as public doublespeak," College English 38, no. 1 (1976), 78-82. Sport-related emotive language also appears frequently in public to demonstrate or help "explain unfamiliar or difficult concepts in terms of familiar images" (78). See also Seifried, "Recognizing and Combating Emotive Language."

(20) See Elisabeth Anker, "Villains, Victims, and Heroes," 23.

(21) Peter Brooks, The Melodramatic Imagination: Balzac, Henry James, Melodrama, and the Mode of Excess (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985). See also B. Singer, Melodrama and Modernity (New York: Columbia University Press, 2000); L. Williams, "Melodrama Revised," in Nick Browne, ed., Refiguring American Film Genres (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1998), 42-48; and L. Williams, Playing the Race Card: Melodramas of Black and White from Uncle Tom to O.J. Simpson (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001).

(22) Brooks, "The Melodramatic Imagination," 20.

(23) Manichaeanism is a dualist type of philosophy originating in Persia during the 3rd century A.D. which promotes the soul as "good" and represents God with the body as "evil" ijn the form of the Devil. The two are thought to possess similar power and in a constant battle for control. See also Elisabeth Anker, "Villains, victims and heroes: Melodrama, Media, and September 11," Journal of Communicatio, 55 (2005), 23-24.

(24) Lynne Joyrich, "All that Television Allows: TV Melodrama, Postmodernism, and Consumer Culture," in Lynn Spigel and Denise Mann, eds. Private Screenings: Television and the Female Consumer (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1992), 232.

(25) Williams, "Melodrama revised," 42.

(26) Brooks, "Melodramatic Imagination," 25.

(27) Jesus Martin-Barbero. Communication, Culture, and Hegemony: From Media to Mediations (Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publishing, 1993), 225. See also Heather Levi, "Sport and Melodrama: The Case of Mexican Professional Wrestling," Social Text 50 (1997), 64.

(28) Verdi, "U.S. Team Eager to Penetrate Soviet Hockey Mystique," C1. Within this article U.S. Hockey Captain Mike Eruzione stated other Olympians mix and mingle in the village but not the Soviets, an illuson es to them as being secretive, private, and hiding. Soviet Team Host Walther Yacluk also admitted the Soviet players live a secret "elite life behind the Iron Curtain" as national heroes. Verdi also mentioned that the Soviet team failed to show up for scheduled practice time. He further speculated the Soviets strategically skipped the open practice session to hide information. Additionally, he speculated it would not be surprising to hear they likely schedule a private ice time somewhere else to keep people guessing about what they are preparing to do against the United States.

(29) Supra note. 5. See also Bob Verdi, "U.S. Team Convinced of Soviets' Hockey Superiority," Chicago Tribune, 10 Feb 1980, C1.

(30) Soviet club and national teams played 29 contests against National Hockey League (NHL) teams or all-stars between December 28, 1975 and January 8, 1980. Their record was 16-12-1. Between 1954 and 1980, the Soviet Union won 13 gold, 6 silver, and 2 bronze medals in 22 World Championship competitions. Between 1956 and 1980, the Soviet Union won 5 gold medals and 1 bronze in 6 Olympic competitions.

(31) Craig Whitney, "The Soviet Union Builds A Grand Design for Athletics," The New York Times, 10 Feb 1980, WO12. See also Klose, "System Behind Soviet Union's Hockey Machine," D1.

(32) United States Olympic Book (Colorado Springs: United States Olympic Committee, 1980), 29.

(33) Cermak, "Seeing Red," 4. Specifically, Cermak commented that the Presidency of Jimmy Carter was "plagued by soaring inflation, a recurring Oil Crisis [imposed by OPEC], and concurring fuel shortages. The 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis also shook the public confidence in the role of the United States as a global leader. Furthermore, in reaction to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Soviet government's deployment of 25,000 troops, the Carter Administration placed embargoes on all agricultural exports to Soviet Republics and suspended licenses for all technology export."

(34) John Lewis Gaddis, The United States and the End of the Cold War (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992): 60.

(35) Nickerson, "Red Dawn in Lake Placid," 75.

(36) Jim Naughton, "Sports of the Times: Iceman on a Hot Spot, The New York Times, 9 Feb 1980, 19.

(37) Gerald Eskenazi, "The Balance of Power: Ice Hockey," The New York Times, 10 Feb 1980, WO6. Eskenazi mentioned that Canada boycotted the previous Olympic hockey competitions because they thought they thought that the competition was unfair. Canada presented the Soviets as professionals due to their national sport system. They also protested the fact that fighting was not allowed and players involved in a fight would be ejected from the contest. The popular type of hockey played in the United States before 1980 followed the physical game developed by Canada and played in the National Hockey League. However, the Americans trained for 6 months together and achieved a record of 42-16-3 prior to the start of the Olympics under the new system which utilized speed and energy along with the physicality practiced in the NHL. See also Verdi, "U.S. Team Convinced of Soviets' Hockey Superiority," C1, where American goalie Jim Craig questioned the fairness of the Soviet system. See also, Naughton, "Sports of the Times," 19, where Brooks compared his team to "a little girl in nursery rhyme."

(38) Verdi, "U.S. Team Convinced of Soviets' Hockey Superiority," C1. See also Verdi, "U.S. Hockey Team Hopeful Underdog," C1; and Whitney, "The Soviet Union Builds a Grand Design for Athletics," WO12.

(39) Naughton, "Sports of the Times," 19. See also Fachet, "Soviets Rip U.S., 103, In Hockey," F10.

(40) Craig R. Whitney, "The Soviet Union Builds A Grand Design for Athletics," The New York Times, 10 Feb 1980, WO12. Whitney discussed how many of the high achieving performers in the Soviet sports system received better benefits than others in the same technical position (i.e. student or military). Rewards included: financial bonuses ($1,500 or higher), better access to cars, and lavish apartment/living quarters. See also Naughton, "Sports of the Times," 19; and Klose, "System behind Soviet Union's Hockey Machine," D1.

(41) "Soviets Give U.S. Olympians a Lesson in Hockey, 10-3," Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb 1980, C4. See also Robert Fachet, "Soviets Rip U.S., 10-3, In Hockey," The Washington Post, 10 Feb 1980, F10.

(42) Naughton, "Russia Routs U.S. In Hockey by 10-3," S1.

(43) Fachet, "Soviets Rip U.S., 10-3, In Hockey," F10.

(44) Naughton, "Russia Routs U.S. In Hockey by 10-3," S1. See also Verdi, "U.S. Team Convinced of Soviets' Hockey Superiority," C1; Verdi, "U.S. Hockey Team Hopeful Underdog," C1; and Verdi, "Soviets Give U.S. Olympians a Lesson in Hockey, 10-3," C4.

(45) Jim Naughton, "Russia Routs U.S. in Hockey by 10-3," New York Times, 10 February 1980, S1.

(46) Whitney, "The Soviet Union Builds A Grand Design for Athletics," WO12. Interestingly, the Olympic Village was designed to be a prison following the conclusion of the games.

(47) Leonard Shapiro, "Auspicious U.S. Opening," The Washington Post, 13 Feb 1980, D1.

(48) Bob Verdi, "U.S. Hockey Team Stock Soars," Chicago Tribune, 13 Feb 1980, D1.

(49) Gerald Eskenazi, "Americans Tie Swedes, 2-2, On Goal in Last 27 Seconds," The New York Times, 13 Feb 1980, A1.

(50) Czechoslovakia entered the 1980 Olympic Games as the second-seeded team and only country who consistently competed well against the Soviets the previous two decades in international hockey. Over the previous four Olympics they earned either a silver or bronze medal and between 1963 and 1980 they won three gold, seven silver, and four bronze medals in 15 World Championships.

(51) Zo Eskenazi, "US. Hockey Team, in an Upset, Beats Czechoslovak Olympic Squad, 7-3," New York Times, 15 February 1980, A26. See also Bob Verdi, "Sky-high Yanks Dump Favored Czechs," Chicago Tribune, 15 Feb. 1980, D1; and Ted Green, "Shades of '60: U.S. Upsets Czechs, 7-3," Los Angeles Times, 15 Feb. 1980, OC-B1.

(52) Verdi, "Sky-high Yanks Dump Favored Czechs," D1.

(53) E.M. Swift, "The Boys of Winter Sports," Sports Illustrated, 52 (1980): 2631.

(54) Ken Denlinger, "A 'Flying Circus' Is Drawing Raves," The Washington Post, 16 Feb. 1980, D6.

(55) Denlinger, "A 'Flying Circus' Is Drawing Raves," D6. See also Eskenzai, "US. Hockey Team, in an Upset," A26; Verdi, "Sky-high Yanks Dump Favored Czechs," D1; and Green, "Shades of '60," OC-B.

(56) Denlinger, "A 'Flying Circus' Is Drawing Raves," D6.

(57) The United States was in second place in the Blue Division while Sweden secured first place. Sweden achieved first place despite their tie against the Americans and identical records because their goal differential was greater which was the tie-breaker for final ranking. The Soviet Union placed first place in the Red division and would play the Americans in the semi-final round for the right to play for the gold medal.

(58) Dave Anderson, "America's Team Plays its Game on Ice," New York Times, 17 Feb. 1980, sec. 5, 3.

(59) Gerald Eskenazi, "U.S. Six Downs Rumania by 7-2 To Stay Unbeaten," The New York Times,19 Feb. 1980, A1. Delays in ticket processing caused the belated appearance of many in the otherwise 10,000 person capacity. The arena was filled before the end of the game.

(60) Bob Verdi, "U.S. Hockey Team pure Delight, But ..." Chicago Tribune, 20 Feb 1980, D1. See also Bob Verdi, "U.S. Team Eager to Penetrate Soviet Hockey Mystique," Chicago Tribune, 22 Feb 1980, C1. See also, Cermak, "Seeing Red," 12. Cermak commented that "the subservience of personal desires to those of the group, and in the Soviet case, to the political system in place, was repeatedly highlighted in the characterization of team play and further, was considered reflective of Soviet society in general."

(61) Dave Anderson "Icehockey the Russian Way," The New York Times, 18 Feb 1980, C5.

(62) Klose, "System Behind Soviet Union's Hockey Machine," D1. See also Bob Verdi, "Upset of Upsets-America Wins!" Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb 1980, A1. Verdi provided an interesting point which mentioned the Americans going out and "having a beer" after their 10-3 loss to Soviet. This implied the Soviet team would not enjoy that freedom after a loss.

(63) Verdi, "U.S. Team Eager to Penetrate Soviet Hockey Mystique," C1.

(64) Anderson "Icehockey the Russian Way," C5.

(65) Nickerson, "Red Dawn in Lake Placid," 76. See also Anderson "Icehockey the Russian Way," C5.

(66) E.M. Swift, "America Rejoiced in the U.S. Hockey Team," Sports Illustrated, 3 March 1980, 20. According to a cost inflation calculator from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, $600 in 1980 is the equivalent of $1,585 here in 2010.

(67) David Israel , "Good Guys Triumph in the Ultimate Showdown," Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb. 1980, A1. Israel discussed the Soviet match-up against Hungary in the 1956 Olympic Water Polo gold medal game and described "the pool was red with blood" in Melbourne when Hungary played the Soviet Union following the invasion of Budapest. See also "Those Non-Political Olympics," The New York Times, 26 Feb. 1980, A14 for a brief mention of the 1956 Olympic match along with the 1969 Hockey World Championships between the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia.

(68) "Those Non-Political Olympics," A14.

(69) Bob Verdi, "Upset of Upsets-America Wins!" Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb. 1980, A1.

(70) Brooks, "The Melodramatic Imagination" (9), as he connects metaphors to melodrama as vehicles of communication. In this instance, the match-up between the United States and the Soviet Union served metaphorically to represent the real life struggle between the two superpowers during the Cold War. The U.S. team represented capitalism and democracy while the Soviets represented communism and imperialism. Cermak, "Seeing Red," (9-11) supported the idea that the American media used the term "Big Red Machine" to create the imagery of the Soviet Union as one collective emotionless single unit with a distinctive style of play and identity based upon a system of recruitment and development of the best talent nationally.

(71) Israel , "Good Guys Triumph in the Ultimate Showdown," A1.

(72) Olympic Book, 29-30.

(73) "A Stunning Show, After All," Time, 3 March 1980, 30.

(74) Tim Wendel, Going for the Gold: How the U.S. Won at Lake Placid, (Westport, CT: Lawrence Hill and Company, 1980), 97. See also Israel , "Good Guys Triumph in the Ultimate Showdown," A1; John Husar, "U.S. Hockey Team Stuns Soviets, Fans," Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb. 1980, S1; and Ted Green, "Americans put Soviets on Ice, 4-3," Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 1980, D1.

(75) Husar, "U.S. Hockey Team Stuns Soviets, Fans," S1. See also Wendel, "Going for the Gold," 114. For instance, around 40 million watched the ABC replay of the contest despite knowledge of the game's result.

(76) Green, "Americans put Soviets on Ice, 4-3," D1. See also Robert D. McFadden, "Cheers Resound across Nation," New York Times, 23 February 1980, 16.

(77) The New York Times, Feb. 28, 1980.

(78) Husar, "U.S. Hockey Team Stuns Soviets, Fans," S1.

(79) McFadden, "Cheers Resound across Nation," 16. See also Husar, "U.S. Hockey Team Stuns Soviets, Fans," S1.

(80) Verdi, "Upset of Upsets-America Wins!" A1. See also Husar, "U.S. Hockey Team Stuns Soviets, Fans," S1; Gerald Eskenazi, "U.S. Defeats Soviet Squad in Olympic Hockey by 4-3," New York Times, 23 Feb. 1980, 1; and Kevin Klose, "Soviet Fans Seek Reasons for Loss," The Washington Post, 24 Feb. 1980, F4. Klose mentioned that the Soviet media blamed much of their poor performance on the age of the defensemen and attributed the improved performance of the Americans to the fact that most had signed professional hockey contracts.

(81) Anker, "Villains, victims and heroes," 35-36. See also, Wendy Brown, States of Injury: Power and Freedom in Late Modernity (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995). Brown's book on identity politics suggested the American identity is influenced by victimization and that melodrama can serve to gather support for a collective American identity. Resultantly, the nation turns to the state to redress any crimes committed against it which in turn increases the power the state can exert to further polarize the country against another.

(82) J. Dewey, The Moral Writings of John Dewey, J. Gouinlock, ed. (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1994).

(83) T.A. van Dijk, "Politics, Ideology and Discourse" in Elsevier Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics 21 (2004), 73-102. See also Rahimi and Sahragard, "A Critical Discourse Analysis of Euphemization," 29-87.

(84) C. Kitch, "Useful memory," in "Time Magazine: Summary Journalism and the Popular Construction of History," Journalism Studies 7, no. 1 (2006), 94-110.

(85) Seifried, "Recognizing and Combating Emotive Language." See also A. A. Yoseloff, "From Ethnic to National Icon: The Americanization of Joe DiMaggio," International Journal of Sport History 16, no. 3 (1999), 1-20. Joe DiMaggio achieved his status as one of the America's most beloved and financially secure sport heroes with the help of the sport media.

(86) J.H. Bushman, "EJ Extra: Honesty in Language: Is This the Way to Achieve Power?" The English Journal 90, no. 4 (2001): 17-19.

(87) Seifried, "Recognizing and Combating Emotive Language," 209; and J.J Macionis, Society: The Basics, 6th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002).

(88) Seifried, "Recognizing and Combating Emotive Language," 211. See also Rahimi and Sahragard, "A Critical Discourse Analysis of Euphemization."

Chad Seifried *

* Chad Seifried is Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.