Outside Looking In

Anyone under the age of 50 likely won't remember the 1980 Winter Olympics in which the United States pulled off one of the biggest upsets in sports history when the Americans skated past the Soviet Union 4-3 in the semifinals on Feb. 22 in Lake Placid.
The United States would go on to defeat Finland 4-2 in the gold-medal game two days later.
As the final seconds ticked off the clock in the semifinal upset, announcer Al Michaels uttered the immortal words, "Do you believe in Miracles? Yessssss!"
The shocking upset would later be made into a movie, called "Miracle", starring Kurt Russell as U.S. hockey coach Herb Brooks.
It's hard to believe that it's been nearly 42 years ago.
When I was the sports editor with the West Central Tribune in Willmar, one of the players from that men's Olympic hockey team was the president of the Bank of Willmar. I spent a lot of time talking with him about that moment and learned that some things did not actually happen the same way they were portrayed in the movie.
After meeting Verchota in 2000, I purchased a hockey stick and had him autograph it for me. Verchota scored a goal against Finland in the gold-medal game and finished with three goals and two assists in the seven games the U.S. played in the Olympics.
A few days after my initial interview with Verchota, I traveled to St. John's University in Collegeville (near St. Cloud) to do a story on legendary St. John's football coach John Gagliardi for the newspaper. As I walked down the hallway of the athletic department, I happened to look at the nameplates on the office doors of the coaches and saw the name John Harrington on one of them, although I didn't think it would be the same guy that played with Verchota on that 1980 hockey team.
I finished my interview with Gagliardi and then asked him if that was the same John Harrington from the Olympic hockey team. After being told it was, Gagliardi asked if I wanted to meet him. Gagliardi then walked me back to Harrington's office and went inside to retried him.
As Harrington came out, I immediately recognized the former University of Minnesota-Duluth hockey great. After telling him that I had just interviewed Verchota only a few days earlier and had him sign my hockey stick, Harrington told me to bring the stick along the next time I was around and that he, too, would sign it for me.
Harrington had assisted on the game-winning goal by Mike Eruzione with 1:21 remaining in the "Miracle" game against the Soviet Union. He collected five assists in the tournament.
It just so happened that my daughter was going to college at nearby St. Benedict's in St. Joseph at the same time, and her boyfriend (now husband) was attending nearby St. John's. Eventually, I brought the hockey stick to Harrington and he signed his name, along with his number and "80 Gold" next to where Verchota had signed his name and number on the blade. That stick hangs front and center on my sports room wall.
Verchota and Harrington were the only two members from that 1980 gold-medal winning team to also play for the United States in the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Verchota was named the captain of that team. The U.S. did not medal that year, though.
Verchota has since left Willmar and is the president of a bank in Brainerd. Harrington left St. John's University and has been the women's hockey coach of the Minnesota State (Mankato) Mavericks of the WCHA for the past few years.
What were the odds of two members from that gold-medal winning team living less than an hour from my home at the time? Sometimes you have to believe in miracles.