Miracles

Poster from Miracle, the 2004 film

about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey victory

My hip replacement surgery, this past Wednesday afternoon, went very well. My recovery, however, has been another story. Everybody tells me I'm doing great, but it sure doesn't feel like it.

I have never read the novel The Fault In Our Stars, written by John Green and published in 2012, or seen the movie made of it in 2014, starring Shailene Woodley. I am familiar with the story.

A teenage girl, stricken with cancer, is told to rate her pain on a scale of 0 to 10. She is told to "save her 10," for the most painful thing she ever feels. She meets a boy her own age, who is also enduring cancer, and falls in love with him. When he dies, at his funeral, she says, "This is my 10."

I don't want to minimize anyone else's suffering. I know there are people who have it far worse than I do, physically and psychologically. But knowing that hasn't made the pain I have felt any easier -- before or after.

At the hospital, they asked me to ask me to rate the pain on a scale of 0 to 10. I figured, any pain that makes you at least moan has got to be at least an 8. It took 7 separate painkilling drugs to get it down to a 4.

Since I got home from the hospital on Thursday night, it has varied from an 8 down to a 2. Right now, on this Saturday morning, using Oxycodone, Tylenol and ice, it's a 4.

The whole point of getting this surgery was to make the pain stop. On occasion, the pain would be so bad that it woke me up at night. Since the surgery, including since I came home, the pain has woken me up at night. However, given my drug schedule, that's actually not that bad a thing.

My mobility has improved. I can get around the house, or at least around the ground floor on the house, with a walker. I haven't tried the stairs yet, but I can get to and from the kitchen and the bathroom with no problem.

My appetite is fine -- no surprise there -- and I don't have a problem standing up and using the bathroom. But I have not yet, how shall I put this, had to sit down. People are concerned about that, but I just haven't felt the need.

Physical therapy and occupational therapy have already been scheduled. Personally, I think it would be better to call the latter "operational therapy." Calling it "occupational" makes it sound like assistance at work.

Eventually, the pain will stop. By that point, my mobility should improve to the point where I can start looking for work again. Maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to return and get paid, and have a nice Summer. I haven't had a nice Summer in a long time.

(UPDATE: At this point, for most Americans, COVID-19 was just a nasty rumor. We had no idea that it was going to shut everything down by March 12, which ended up messing up my physical therapy schedule. So, there was no "Summer of 2020.")

And maybe I can go out with my family, and enjoy nice things again. One of the last things we did together as a family before my father died was a trip to the Bronx Zoo. It was terrific, but the place is just too big, and my legs were really feeling it at the end.

My nieces love Six Flags Great Adventure. I haven't been there in 35 years, and I know the place is huge. It would have been a mistake for me to go there last year, but, this year, maybe I can do it.

And as for going into New York, that City involves so much walking around, that it made it a problem for me. And you never realize just how big the Port Authority Bus Terminal is, until you come out of the Subway at 42nd Street and 8th Avenue, and have to get to your bus' gate on the top floor at 40th Street and 9th Avenue. It doesn't sound like much, but for someone with bad legs and a bad back, it is.

Every so often, we hear the expression "the miracle of modern medicine." This kind of surgery used to lay people up for months on end. Now, it should only be a few weeks for me. I just hope it's only the first couple of weeks that will be the truly painful part.

On the 30th Anniversary of the event, I wrote a piece about how the victory of the U.S. hockey team over the Soviet Union's at the 1980 Winter Olympics wasn't actually a miracle, and that it could be explained by forces less than supernatural or divine.

Then again, I did cite the Biblical story of David vs. Goliath as my Number 1 reason, and pointed out that David's victory wasn't really a miracle, either.

David's victory, circa 1000 BC, was the 1st step in uniting the 12 Tribes of Israel into a single nation. My surgery has united some far-flung tribes as well.

Among my family's friends, there is a tremendous range of people, including friends of my mother and my sister that I've never met, who have stood up and expressed their warmest wishes, and shown themselves, in the words of Thomas Paine, to be "winter soldiers," and not just "sunshine patriots."

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone -- at the hospital, and online. (I haven't had the chance to go out into the world yet. Then again, I haven't needed to.)

Sometimes, social media can seem like a cauldron of uncontrolled emotion, with people casting all filters aside just to make a point that might make sense only to them, on politics, sports, music, fashion, whatever.

But what I've seen has brought people together. The ability of these formats to act as a worldwide support group for anyone who might need it is staggering.

This week, there was a story about a 9-year-old boy in Australia. He is an Aboriginal, and he is also a dwarf. He said that the bullying he receives for his race and his disability is so bad, it makes him want to take his own life. People all over the world have taken up his cause, to let him know that he's not alone, and that going on is worth it.

When I was 9 years old, my problems weren't as bad as his, but there were so many times when I felt totally alone, and it felt like nobody cared.

Today, the whole world can show someone that they care. The means to show that simply wasn't available when I was 5 years old, the last time that hip was operated on, lying in a dark hospital room in New York, with metal stitches causing me "10 pain." That means is available now, for terrified 9-year-olds and for hopeful if aching 50-year-olds, wherever they may be.

As they used to sing on Sesame Street, "And if that isn't a true blue miracle, I don't know what one is."

How Long It's Been: America Won the Olympic Gold Medal in Hockey

The 2014 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team. Sponsored by Metamucil. Because they just couldn't seem to give a shit.

Yes, Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick probably prevented the Semifinal from being a 5-0 Canada victory. But now he knows how Cory Schneider of the Devils feels, not getting enough support from his offense.

In a previous post, I suggested that the Gold Medal we won in Lake Placid -- more specifically, the win over the Soviet Union to make the final-game win over Finland, and thus the Gold Medal, possible -- was not a "miracle," no matter how many times it gets called "the Miracle On Ice."

Regardless of whether you agree, look at what the U.S. team has done in subsequent Winter Olympics:

* 1984, Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (Bosnia): Won 1, Lost 2, Tied 2. 7th out of 12.

* 1988, Calgary, Alberta, Canada: Won 2, Lost 3. 8th out of 12.

* 1992, Albertville, France: Won 4, Tied 1, Lost 0, beating France in the Quarterfinals, losing in the Semifinals to "The Unified Team" (a last gasp for the Soviet Union, which broke up a few weeks earlier, but the team was kept together for logistical reasons, and it beat Canada for the Gold Medal). Lost the Bronze Medal to Czechoslovakia, this finishing 4th.

* 1994, Lillehammer, Norway: Won 1, Tied 3, Lost 1. Lost in the Quarterfinals to Finland. Ranked 8th out of 12.

* 1998, Nagano, Japan: Won 1, Lost 2. Lost in the Quarterfinals to the Czech Republic (after Slovakia split from them in 1993). These Games, the first in which current NHL players were allowed, were disastrous for the Canadian team, who flopped, but an uglier one for us, as our players were seriously misbehaving off the ice.

* 2002, Salt Lake City, Utah: Lost in the Gold Medal Game to Canada. We hung with them for 2 periods, but ran out of gas in the 3rd.

* 2006, Turin, Italy: Won 1, Lost 3, Tied 1. Lost to Finland in the Quarterfinals. 8th out of 12.

* 2010, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: Again, lost to Canada in the Gold Medal Game, this time in overtime. Zach Parise -- then of the Devils -- tied it in the last minute of regulation, and it was very possible that we would do to Canada what they did to us 8 years earlier: Beat them on home soil, and what was a disappointment to us would have been a disgrace to them. But Sidney Crosby scored the Golden Goal.

* 2014, Sochi, Russia: Lost in the Semifinals to Canada, 1-0, and it never looked like we were going to score.

So the last Gold Medal for the U.S. hockey team remains the 4-2 win over Finland, in Lake Placid, on February 24, 1980.

As of this coming Monday, it will have been 34 years. How long has it been?

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Coach Herb Brooks has died, but all 20 players are still alive. One, Bob Suter, is the father of current U.S. player Ryan Suter, who plays his club hockey with the Nashville Predators. (UPDATE: Suter turned out to be the first to go, of a heart attack at age 54, on September 9, 2014.)

The Predators did not exist in 1980. Nor did the San Jose Sharks, the revived Ottawa Senators, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Florida Panthers, the Anaheim Ducks, the Columbus Blue Jackets or the Minnesota Wild.

The Dallas Stars were still the Minnesota North Stars. The Atlanta Flames were about to sign U.S. goalie Jim Craig, and then, in the next off-season, they moved to Calgary. And the New Jersey Devils were still the Colorado Rockies -- a name that now belongs to a Major League Baseball team.

The NHL was still in its 1st season with the 4 surviving teams from the World Hockey Association. Of those, only 1 is still in the same metro area, the Edmonton Oilers. The Hartford Whalers have become the Carolina Hurricanes. The Quebec Nordiques have become the Colorado Avalanche. And the old Winnipeg Jets became the Phoenix Coyotes, and will change their name to the Arizona Coyotes in the coming off-season. (The Atlanta Thrashers have since begun play, and have also since become the new Winnipeg Jets.)

At that point, the Oilers, the Flames, the Rockies/Devils, the Nords/Avs (unless you count the 1977 WHA title), the Lightning, the Whalers/Canes (unless you count the 1973 WHA title), the Ducks, the New York Islanders, the Los Angeles Kings, the Houston Rockets, the Detroit Pistons, the Chicago Bulls, the San Antonio Spurs, the Miami Heat, the Dallas Mavericks, the San Francisco 49ers, the Denver Broncos, the New England Patriots, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the New Orleans Saints, the Seattle Seahawks, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Kansas City Royals, the Minnesota Twins, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Braves since they moved to Atlanta, the Florida/Miami Marlins, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the team now known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and the Giants since they moved to San Francisco, had never won a World Championship.

The Isles, the Oilers, the Flames, the Pens, the Devils, the Lightning, the Canes, the Ducks, the Kings, the Rockets, the Pistons, the Bulls, the Spurs, the Heat, the Mavs, the Seahawks, the Niners, the Pats, the Bucs, the Saints, the Orlando Magic, the Utah Jazz, the Indiana Pacers (unless you count their 3 ABA titles), the New Jersey (now Brooklyn) Nets (unless you count the 1974 and '76 ABA titles), the Buffalo Bills (unless you count the 1964 and '65 AFL titles), the San Diego Chargers (unless you count the 1963 AFL title), the Atlanta Falcons, the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans franchise (unless you count the 1960 and '61 AFL titles), the Carolina Panthers, the Royals, the Braves since they moved to Atlanta, the Jays, the Marlins, the D-backs, the Angels, the Milwaukee Brewers, the San Diego Padres, the Houston Astros, the Colorado Rockies, the Tampa Bay Rays, the Texas Rangers, the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars franchise, the Vancouver Canucks, the Florida Panthers, the Washington Capitals and the new Ottawa Senators had never reached their sports' finals.

And (aside from the previously-mentioned NHL teams), the Magic, the Mavs, the Heat, the Marlins, the Rockies, the D-backs, the Rays, the old Charlotte Hornets (now the New Orleans Pelicans), the new Charlotte Hornets (formerly the Bobcats), the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Memphis Grizzlies, the Toronto Raptors, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Carolina Panthers, the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans didn't even exist yet.

As of Super Bowl XLVIII, those facts are no longer true.

The NHL of 1980 was in transition between the Montreal Canadiens dynasty that had won the last 4 Stanley Cups, and 10 of the last 15, and the Islander dynasty that would win the next 4, led by Denis Potvin, Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy and Billy Smith. Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, and their Oiler teammates were just stepping onto the stage, but by no means were they ready yet.

Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull and Dave Keon were wrapping up legendary careers. Bobby Orr should still have been in his prime, but his knees had forced him to retire a year earlier. His Bruins teammate Phil Esposito was then the biggest star on the New York Rangers. Canadiens Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson and Bob Gainey, Bobby Clarke of the Philadelphia Flyers' 1974 and '75 Cup winners, Darryl Sittler of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Gilbert Perrault of the Buffalo Sabres and Marcel Dionne of the Los Angeles Kings were the biggest players in the League.

In the NBA, the Los Angeles Clippers were still playing down the coast in San Diego, the Kings in Kansas City, and the New Jersey Nets were playing on the Rutgers campus, as the Meadowlands arena was just beginning construction. In the NFL, the Colts were still in Baltimore, the Cardinals were still in St. Louis, the Rams were still in Los Angeles, the Titans were still the Houston Oilers. In MLB, the Brewers were still in the AL, the Astros still in the National League, and the Washington Nationals were still the Montreal Expos.

The ideas of the NBA using international players, MLB using Asian natives, and the best players from Eastern Europe being allowed to leave for the NHL (unless they successfully defected, like the Stastny brothers of Slovakia and the Nordiques) were far-fetched.

Not one player on the current U.S. team, including current Ranger Captain Ryan Callahan, had yet been born.

Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller was born 5 months later; Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik, 7 months later. For the current Canada team, which will play Sweden on Sunday for the Gold Medal, Martin St. Louis, Roberto Luongo, Patrick Marleau and Chris Kunitz had been born, but current Islander Captain John Tavares had not. Devils legends Scott Stevens, John MacLean, Ken Daneyko, Bruce Driver and Claude Lemieux were in high school. Martin Brodeur and Scott Niedermayer were in elementary school. Patrik Elias was about to turn 4.

Only the New York Rangers and Islanders, the Edmonton Oilers and the Detroit Red Wings are using the same arenas they were using in February 1980. In the NBA, only the New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors are. The only MLB stadiums still in use are Fenway Park in Boston, Wrigley Field in Chicago, the Oakland Coliseum, Kauffman (then Royals) Stadium in Kansas City, and the Los Angeles area stadiums, Dodger Stadium and Angel (then Anaheim) Stadium. Now that the San Francisco 49ers have left Candlestick Park, the only NFL stadiums still in use are the Oakland Coliseum, Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Qualcomm (then San Diego) Stadium, Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Ralph Wilson (then Rich) Stadium outside Buffalo, and the Superdome in New Orleans.

In addition to the Canadiens, the defending World Champions were the Yankees, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Seattle SuperSonics -- who are now the Oklahoma City Thunder. Muhammad Ali had retired as Heavyweight Champion of the World, the WBC and the WBA were recognizing Larry Holmes as Champion, while the IBF didn't exist yet.

Old-time hockey legends Aurel Joliat, King Clancy and Eddie Shore were still alive. So was Jeff Malone, who, with his brother, "Phantom" Joe Malone, played on the 1913 Stanley Cup Champion Quebec Bulldogs.

Of the current New York Tri-State Area managers and head coaches, Terry Collins of the Mets was managing in the Pittsburgh Pirates' minor-league system. Tom Coughlin of the Giants was the offensive coordinator at Syracuse University. Mike Woodson of the Knicks was at Indiana University. Alain Vigneault of the Rangers was playing for the Trois-Rivières Draveurs in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Joe Girardi of the Yankees, Rex Ryan of the Jets were in high school. Jack Capuano of the Islanders was in junior high. Peter DeBoer of the Devils was 11. Jason Kidd of the Nets was 7.

Since Lake Placid, the Olympic Games have been held twice each in America, Canada and Russia, and once each in the former Yugoslavia, Korea, France, Spain, Norway, Japan, Australia, Greece, Italy, China and Britain.

There were 26 Amendments to the Constitution of the United States. None of the Justices then on the U.S. Supreme Court is still on it. The Equal Rights Amendment was still pending, but expired in 1982. The idea that a corporation had the rights of a person was ludicrous -- but so was the idea that people of the same gender could marry each other.

The President of the United States was Jimmy Carter, but he was being besieged by inflation and high gas prices at home, and the Iran Hostage Crisis, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and OPEC abroad. Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and, to a lesser extent, Governor Jerry Brown of California were challenging him in the Democratic Primaries.

Brown's predecessor, Ronald Reagan, would swamp Carter in the election that November, and Carter's achievements, which were interesting, soon became forgotten. George H.W. Bush was one of Reagan's competitors for the Republican nomination, and would be elected Vice President with him, and would succeed him 8 years later.

Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, their wives, and the widows of Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson were still alive. Bill Clinton was about to be dumped out of the Governorship of Arkansas, although he would regain it 2 years later. George W. Bush had recently lost his 1st run for public office, for Congressman from Texas. Barack Obama was a freshman at Occidental College in Los Angeles, and Michelle Robinson was about to graduate high school. Joe Biden was in his 2nd term in the U.S. Senate from Delaware, and John Boehner was working for Nucite Sales, apparently believing the line in the movie The Graduate about the future being "plastics."

The Governor of New York was Hugh Carey, and of New Jersey Brendan Byrne. The Mayor of New York City was Ed Koch, about to face a transit strike, and not only beat but embarrass the union.

There were still living veterans of America's Indian Wars, the Spanish-American War, the Boer War, the Boxer Rebellion, the Philippine Campaign, the Russo-Japanese War and the Potemkin Mutiny. A member of the RMS Titanic crew was still alive.

The current holder of the Nobel Peace Prize was Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu -- better known as Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The Pope was John Paul II. The current Pope, Francis, then Father Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was studying English at the Jesuit Centre at the Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy in Dublin, Ireland.

The Prime Minister of Canada was Joe Clark, but his Progressive Conservative Party government was about to fall apart, leading to the return to power through election of the Liberal Party and former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. The monarch of Great Britain was Queen Elizabeth II -- that hasn't changed -- but Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister. There have since been 6 Presidents of the United States, 5 Prime Ministers of Britain, and 3 Popes.

England's FA Cup would soon be won by West Ham United, of East London, on a goal by Trevor Brooking, defeating North Londoners Arsenal, who had won it the year before. The Hammers have not won a major trophy since. Liverpool would repeat as Football League Champions, and the previous season's Champions, Nottingham Forest, would repeat as winners of the European Cup, defeating German club Hamburger SV in the Final.

Major books of 1980 included Warren Adler's The War of the Roses, Jean M. Auel's The Clan of the Cave Bear, Pat Conroy's The Lords of Discipline, Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, Ken Follett's The Key to Rebecca, L. Ron Hubbard's Battlefield Earth, P.D. James' Innocent Blood, Stephen King's Firestarter, Judith Krantz' Princess Daisy, Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity, and Sidney Sheldon's Rage of Angels. All were made into major motion pictures or TV-movies.

Published that year, long after its author's suicide, was A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. Numerous attempts have been made to film it. At various times, it has been set to star John Belushi, Harris "Divine" Milstead, John Candy and Chris Farley as lead character Ignatius J. Reilly. All died before the project could begin, and all before reaching their 44th birthday. (Say what you want about drugs, but these men were also quite fat, which is probably why they were considered, as much as for their acting ability.) Also considered, but still alive at this writing, have been John Goodman, Stephen Fry, Zach Galifianakis and (the closest thing to a thin guy thus far) Will Ferrell. Hurricane Katrina set the New Orleans-based project back as well. Steven Soderbergh, at one point scheduled to direct, remarked "I think it's cursed. I'm not prone to superstition, but that project has got bad mojo on it."

In 1980, George R.R. Martin published The Ice Dragon, a children's fantasy novella. J.K. Rowling was in high school. Stephenie Meyer was 6 years old. No one had yet heard of Hannibal Lecter, Celie Harris, Forrest Gump, Alex Cross, Robert Langdon, Lisbeth Salander or Katniss Everdeen.

New in theaters when the Miracle On Ice happened were American Gigolo, the original version of
The Fog, Roman Polanski's X-rated version of Caligula, and Hero At Large, starring John Ritter as a struggling actor hired to play a superhero, standing in for the actor playing the hero in a recent film (within the film), who, through having his costume on underneath his street clothes, is able to use the shock of "Captain Avenger" appearing before would-be store robbers to foil the robbery, and becomes a real-life hero, and then lets his fame go to his head.

Gene Roddenberry was raking in the dough from the recent release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Steven Spielberg wasn't so lucky: 1941 had just flopped, although he would go on to make much better films set in the World War II era. George Lucas was putting the finishing touches on Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. No one had yet heard of Ash Williams, John Rambo, the Terminator, the Ghostbusters, Marty McFly, Robocop, John McClane, Jay & Silent Bob or Austin Powers.

Gil Gerard was starring on TV as Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and Sam J. Jones was filming Flash Gordon. Roger Moore was preparing to film the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only, Christopher Reeve was a success as Superman, Lynda Carter had recently wrapped up playing Wonder Woman, Adam West was still the most recent live-action Batman.

Wrapping up their 1st seasons -- U.S. television seasons ended in late March in those days -- were Hart to Hart, Benson, Trapper John, M.D., Knots Landing and The Facts of Life. J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) was about to get shot on Dallas, inventing the TV end-of-season cliffhanger. Tom Baker was playing The Doctor.

The week before the Gold Medal Game (which was played on a Sunday), Match Game had the following panelists: Freeman King, Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly, Betty Kennedy, Bill Daily and Joyce Bulifant.

No one had yet heard of Christine Cagney and Mary Beth Lacey, Sam Malone, He-Man, Goku, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Thundercats, Bart Simpson, Fox Mulder, Zack Morris, The Seinfeld Four, Andy Sipowicz, Ross Geller and Rachel Greene, Xena, Ash Ketchum, Jed Bartlet, Tony Soprano, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Rick Grimes, Don Draper, Walter White or Richard Castle.

Robert and Kris Kardashian had recently become the parents of daughter Kourtney, and would soon become the parents of daughter Kim. Bruce Jenner was starring in Can't Stop the Music, roasted as one of the worst film musicals of all time. It's not clear whether he'd met Kris yet.

In the weeks surrounding the "Miracle On Ice," Paul McCartney was arrested in Japan for bringing marijuana into the country, and held for 11 days before being deported. Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones and his fiancée Jo Karslake were similarly busted in the Caribbean for cocaine possession. Pink Floyd opened their tour to support The Wall. David and Angela Bowie got divorced. Bon Scott of AC/DC drank himself to death.

The Pretenders, Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark, the Psychedelic Furs, Bryan Adams and Christopher Cross released their self-titled debut albums, Bob Seger released Against the Wind, and The Cure released Boys Don't Cry. The Clash had recently released London Calling. The Number 1 song in America was "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen. Michael Jackson's former Number 1 hit "Rock With You" was still high on the charts.

Frank Sinatra was about to release the album Trilogy: Past Present Future, which included his versions of Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender," ex-Beatle George Harrison's "Something," Jimmy Webb's "MacArthur Park," Neil Diamond's "Song Sung Blue," Kris Kristofferson's "For the Good Times," Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are," and "Theme from New York, New York."

Inflation was such that what $1.00 bought then, $2.98 would buy now. A U.S. postage stamp cost 15 cents, and a New York Subway ride 60 cents. The average price of a gallon of gas was $1.22, a cup of coffee 94 cents, a McDonald's meal (Big Mac, fries, shake) $1.55, a movie ticket $2.67, a new car $7,574, and a new house $73,600. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the preceding Friday, the day of the win over the Soviets, at 868.77.

There were desktop computers, but, as yet, no laptops. Mobile telephones existed, but they were as big as Army walkie-talkies. The leading home video game system was the Atari VCS (later renamed the Atari 2600). No one had yet heard of Mario or Master Chief.

AIDS was around, but not yet discovered. "Chronic fatigue syndrome" was hardly known, and even more rarely were doctors, who hate to admit that they don't know something or can't cure something, willing to diagnose it. There were heart transplants, liver transplants and lung transplants, and artificial kidneys, but no artificial hearts. The birth control pill was long-established, but there was, as yet, no Viagra. NASA was still trying and failing to get the 1st space shuttle off the ground. The tallest building in the world was the Sears Tower in Chicago.

In the late Winter of 1980, Voyager 2 reached Saturn, providing the best pictures yet of the ringed planet, and discovering a few of its moons. Andrei Sakharov, the scientist who essentially built the 1st Soviet hydrogen bomb, and then turned anti-nuclear and human rights activist, was arrested by his own government. Israel and Egypt, following their Camp David Accords, established full diplomatic relations. Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, was assassinated for speaking out against El Salvador's fascist government. A plane crash wiped out the U.S. boxing team -- not that they would have gone to the Olympics in Moscow that summer anyway, because Carter announced, in response to the invasion of Afghanistan, that the U.S. was boycotting the games.

In America, the ABSCAM investigation snared several members of the U.S. Congress, including the man who was then my Congressman, Frank Thompson, and one of my Senators, Harrison Williams; both would go to prison. Herman Tarnower, author of The Scarsdale Diet, would be shot and killed by his girlfriend, Jean Harris. Angelo Bruno, leader of the Philadelphia Mob, was rubbed out. His successor was Phil Testa, known as the Chicken Man because the front for his activities was a poultry business. A year later, he, too, would be rubbed out, as told in Bruce Springsteen's song "Atlantic City."

George Meany, and William O. Douglas, and Jimmy Durante died. So did David Janssen, star of The Fugitive, and the actor best known for playing The Lone Ranger's companion Tonto, Jay Silverheels. So did track legend Jesse Owens, and English soccer icon Dixie Dean. (Not to be confused with American baseball icon Dizzy Dean, who died in 1974.) Christina Ricci, and Chelsea Clinton, and John Ritter's actor son Jason Ritter were born. So were hockey star Simon Gagné, and football star Todd Heap, and figure skater Alexei Yagudin.

February 24, 1980. The American hockey team won the Olympic Gold Medal. They've come close since, but haven't done it again.

They will get another chance in February 2018, in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Olympic Hockey: The Better Team Won

What else can I say? Team Canada played harder and better, and deserved to win. They outplayed the U.S. for 59 minutes, and it was only a fluky goal that put the New Jersey Devils' Zach Parise in position to score the equalizer with 24 seconds left that gave us any hope.

Still... Did it have to be Sidney Crosby? The diving little... He would have fit in perfectly on Manchester United or Chelsea. Oh well, I guess it's better than the Gold Medal-winning goal being scored by DUI-homicide driver Dany Heatley.

And give Canada credit: They beat the Russians before we had a chance to try. Good.

I can't even be happy for Martin Brodeur: While he was the starting goalie on their 2002 Gold Medal team, he was just a backup here, and it's a lot harder to cheer a 2nd win than a 1st one, anyway.

Anyway, Canada put on one of the best Olympic Games ever, showing nationalism without chauvinism, and, despite a lot of grousing, in the end, they did "own the podium." The U.S. set a record for most medals won at a Winter Olympics, and came up with several heroes: Lindsey Vonn, Hannah Kearney and Seth Westcott; Bill Demong winning our first-ever "Nordic combined" Gold Medal, and the bobsled team captained by Steven Holcomb winning our first in 62 years; repeat performances from Apolo Ohno, Shaun White and Shani Davis; and even a fully-redeemed Bode Miller.

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Spring training is underway. Yesterday, at Port St. Lucie, Jose Reyes hit a triple in an intersquad game. His running seems to be back on track. His hitting? Take it with a grain of salt: He hit it off a Met pitcher.

Aaron Boone retired. Although he didn't get a hit after coming back, he did come back to play Major League Baseball again after open-heart surgery. And what does it say about the Mets' organization that Boone came back from open-heart surgery before Reyes came back from... whatever injury he had?

I hope Johnny Damon does well in Detroit. From April through September. But if they make it to October, I hope the Yankees beat them in the Playoffs. I'm still ticked off about that '06 Division Series.

The Nets are still on track to finish 8-74, setting a new NBA record for futility. All they have to do is win one out of every six games they play for the rest of the season, and they'll avoid it. But can they? I'm not optimistic.

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Days until the Devils play another local rival: 8, a week from tomorrow, at home against The Scum. Three days later, a trip to The Island to play the Fish Sticks.

Days until Opening Day of the 2010 baseball season: 33, the Yankees playing the Red Sox at Fenway for the ESPN Sunday-night season-opener. A shade over a month.

Days until the next North London Derby between Arsenal and Tottenham: 39.

Days until the Yankees' 2010 home opener: 42. 6 weeks.

Days until the 2010 World Cup begins: 90. 3 months.

Days until the World Cup Final: 131.

Days until Rutgers plays football again: 186. A shade over 6 months.

Days until the new Meadowlands Stadium (still unnamed) opens: 187.

Days until East Brunswick plays football again: 192.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving clash: 268. Less than 9 months.

Days until Derek Jeter collects his 3,000th career hit: 456.

Days until the Rutgers-Army football game at Yankee Stadium: 620.

Days until the 2012 Olympics begin in London: 878.

The 1980 Gold Medal: It Was NOT a Miracle

The U.S. hockey team beat Canada, 5-3, in a fantastic group-stage game at General Motors Place in Vancouver -- rebranded "Canada Hockey Place" for the sake of the Olympics. It was the 1st time in 50 years that the U.S. beat Canada in Olympic hockey.

It's being called the greatest upset in the tournament since February 22, 1980, 30 years ago today, when the U.S. beat the Soviet Union in Lake Placid, New York, and then went on to beat Finland 2 days later for the Gold Medal.

Hail the Champions:

From Massachusetts, all from Boston University: Goaltender Jim Craig, right wing and team Captain Mike Eruzione, right wing Dave Silk and defenseman Jack O'Callahan.

From Michigan, but attending Ohio's Bowling Green State University: Defenseman Ken Morrow and center Mark Wells.

From Wisconsin, and the University of Wisconsin: Center Mark Johnson and defenseman Bob Suter (coached by later Pittsburgh Penguins coach "Badger Bob" Johnson, Mark's father).

From Minnesota, and the University of Minnesota: Head Coach Herb Brooks, defensemen Mike Ramsey and Bill Baker, center Neal Broten, right wings Steve Christoff and Eric Strobel, goaltender Steve Janaszak, left wings Rob McClanahan, Buzz Schneider and Phil Verchota.

From Minnesota, and the University of Minnesota's Duluth campus and team: Right wing John Harrington and center Mark Pavelich.

And from Minnesota, but the University of North Dakota: Right wing Dave Christian.

Schneider had also played on the '76 U.S. Olympic team. Harrington and Verchota played on the U.S. team again in '84. Brooks had played on the '64 team and was the last player cut from the '60 team that won the Gold Medal on home ice at Squaw Valley, California, a team that included Christian's father and uncle.

Broten and his brothers Aaron and Paul all played in the NHL, and all for the New Jersey Devils, as did Mark Johnson. Suter's brother Gary became an NHL star, and Bob's son Ryan is on this year's team.

"We Beat the Russians!" It was a great moment.

But a "miracle"? Miracle, my Yankee Doodle ass.

The Top 5 Reasons the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Win Was NOT a "Miracle"

Or, if you prefer, ESPN style...

The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame the Soviet Union for Losing the 1980 Olympic Hockey Gold Medal.

5. Viktor Tikhonov. The USSR boss panicked when Mark Johnson scored with 1 second left in the 1st period, pulling Vladislav Tretiak, supposedly the best goalie in the world, for Vladimir Myshkin.

It wasn't that bad a choice, as Myshkin was terrific for 38 of the last 40 minutes. But when Johnson and Eruzione scored to take the U.S. from 3-2 down to 4-3 up halfway through the 3rd, it looked like Tikhonov had blown it.

After the game, the media looked for a Soviet who spoke English, and found Viacheslav Fetisov. They asked Slava what went wrong. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Coach crazy!"

4. Vladislav Tretiak. The great goalie did screw up. Besides, his whole reputation was based on that 1972 Summit Series, in which he collapsed down the stretch.

Was he a deserving Hall-of-Famer? Yes. Was he as good as, say, Martin Brodeur? For 20 minutes, he was exactly as good as Jim Craig, who turned out to be a scrub by NHL standards.

3. Home Ice Advantage. If that game is played just 75 miles away, in Quebec, the Soviets win. But it was in the "U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!" The Soviets were in a cauldron of patriotism, and they couldn't handle it.

2. No More Mystique. The big reason the Soviets were so heavily favored going into this game is that they embarrassed the U.S. team 10-3 at Madison Square Garden mere weeks before. They had beaten several NHL teams over the past few seasons. And most of the 1980 Soviets had also been on the 1972 team that pushed Canada's NHL All-Stars to the brink of an embarrassing defeat in the "Summit Series."

But by February 1980, those Soviet players and their tactics were no longer a mystery. We knew their tendencies, their strengths, their weaknesses. On top of that, the U.S. had already tied a strong Sweden team and beaten a Czech team that was stronger than the Swedes. The Soviets were great, no question about it. But familiarity bred courage. The Americans weren't afraid of the big Red bastards anymore.

1. King David. People call the story of a team or a person that wins when supposedly overmatched a "David vs. Goliath story." The funny thing is, people forget that David didn't kill Goliath with a slingshot, which sounds like a child's toy. He knocked Goliath out with a sling, which can be a very formidable weapon, and then used a sword to hack the giant's head off.

By the same token, several of the U.S. players turned out to be very good. Morrow immediately began to help the New York Islanders win 4 straight Stanley Cups. Broten helped the Minnesota North Stars reach the 1981 Finals and, eventually, the New Jersey Devils to win the 1995 Stanley Cup.

Ramsey was a terrific defenseman for years with the Buffalo Sabres. Johnson, McClanahan and Pavelich almost always seemed to be in the Playoffs with one team or another.

Maybe they didn't become great kings like David (or even great Los Angeles Kings like Marcel Dionne), but they did, in a manner of speaking, "unite the tribes" -- the nation as a whole for a glorious weekend, and the nation's hockey fans for all time.

By contrast, most of those Soviet players had never played a full 80-odd-game NHL-style season. Once they did get into the NHL, except for Fetisov, they did not excel. Okay, the ones who did make it were old by then; and, to be fair, their best offensive player, Valery Kharlamov, was killed in a car crash on August 27, 1981, only a year and a half later.

We'll never know how good most of them could have been, but, like a college basketball superstar who goes from playing 35 games a season to 80 and can't hack it in the NBA, it's hard to see most of the Red Army playing so many games, especially since most of the Soviet Union's "major league" cities, despite the country's vast distances, weren't any further apart than the 3,000 miles separating North America's Atlantic and Pacific Coasts.

The 1980 U.S. team wasn't just "20 college kids." The majority of them, 13 out of 20, went on to play in the NHL. That was a record: No previous Olympic team, including Canadian teams, had ever produced 13 future NHL players. And most of those turned out to be good professionals. Better pros than the already "professional" Soviets.

It was not a miracle. It was, however, the greatest moment in sports history.

And while they're no longer Communists, I still don't like the Russians. I hope we play them in the Gold Medal game again. And shred the bastards.

UPDATE: In the Medal Round in 2010, it was Canada who ended up having to face the Russians, and beat them. The U.S. did beat Finland again, in the Semifinal, but lost the Gold Medal game to Canada on an overtime goal by Sidney Crosby.

Tiger Woods, 1996-2009; Eldrick, 1975-?

Orenthal James Simpson killed three people. He killed Nicole Brown Simpson. He killed Ronald Goldman. And he killed "O.J. Simpson," the guy we thought we knew, the guy we liked. Born 1967 (the year "O.J." burst onto the national consciousness with USC), died 1994.

Eldrick Tont Woods only killed one person. He killed "Tiger Woods," the guy we thought we knew. Tiger Woods, born 1996, died 2009.

People who excel, at anything, have seen themselves do amazing things. Some of them get the idea that they can do anything.

Well, sometimes, they can, until they can't. Sooner or later, the public catches on.

Even Presidents. Lyndon Johnson found out he couldn't lie about Vietnam. Richard Nixon found out he couldn't like about Vietnam or the things he did to get himself re-elected. Ronald Reagan found out he couldn't lie about the things he did to combat terrorism in the Middle East or Communism in Nicaragua. (But, to the end, he got away with lying about the harm he caused the American economy.) George Bush the father found out he couldn't lie about the economy. George Bush the son found out he couldn't like about the economy, Iraq, torture, and his own apparent saintliness -- which, in the end, was apparently only to him.

More to the point, Bill Clinton found out he couldn't like about his marital transgressions. Sports stars have had this problem, too. The New York media covered up Babe Ruth's philandering and boozing, Joe DiMaggio's suspected violence toward Marilyn Monroe and suspected ties to organized crime figures, and Mickey Mantle's attempts to, uh, break the Babe's records.

But those days are over. Joe Namath may have killed such protections with his attitude of, "Yeah, I like to fool around with ladies and have a drink now and then, so what?" So what? Joe, you might have won a 2nd Super Bowl if you'd... Oh, who am I kidding: The Babe won 7 World Series (3 in Boston, 4 in New York), Joe D 9, Mickey 7.

Here in the New York area, we've seen blowups of the personal peccadilloes of Alex Rodriguez, Darryl Strawberry, Tiki Barber, Michael Strahan, Patrick Ewing, Isiah Thomas and Sean (the Slug) Avery. Frankly, I'm surprised Derek Jeter has managed to guard his private life as much as he has. Come to think of it, Reggie Jackson was a very wealthy, highly eligible bachelor (though a divorced one) in the post-Namath era, but we rarely heard anything of his love life.

But no one is immune. Not even Michael Jordan: Eventually, it came out that he had habitually cheated on his wife Juanita, and they split up.

If Jordan -- before Tiger, before Derek (still unmarried, though rumored to be engaged to actress Minka Kelly), before Peyton Manning (as far as I know, true to his wife), the original Nike-and-Gatorade man -- couldn't be protected forever, how could Tiger?

Face it, Eldrick: When the National Enquirer looks more credible than you do, you've got a problem.

He now acknowledges he has a problem. It's not the sex; that's a symptom, not the disease. The disease is an entitlement complex.

It's an old story: An athlete is told from the time he's a boy, "You are special. You can do anything." And he sees that he can do anything on the field. He begins to think he can do anything off the field. The next thing you know, he's caught in the VIP Room during a raid, or he's wrapped his car around a pole (I think you've had enough, Mr. Dykstra), or he's in rehab for some chemical or other (including, possibly, his own hormones), or he's kicked to the curb by the wife.

In Ball Four, Jim Bouton said that whatever an athlete's chronological age is, take off 10 years. This makes Tiger 24, not 34. (Of course, at the time Bouton wrote that, he was 30, therefore, by his own reckoning, he was 20.)

Tiger has admitted that he had this sense of entitlement, and that he took advantage of it. Point in his favor. He says he wants to make up for it. Another point in his favor. He also defended his wife against the allegation that she tried to clock him with a golf club, and that she shouldn't be dragged through the mud. Another point in his favor.

Right now, the first thing in his life should be straightening himself out. The last thing in his life should be what Nike, Gatorade, the PGA, and the people who still overlook his behavior want.

Being "Tiger Woods" is what got him into this mess. He has to be Eldrick again. That is the best thing for Eldrick, and the best punishment for "Tiger."

The next-best punishment for "Tiger" is to ignore him. Besides, it's golf. It's not even a sport.

*

Now, let's get back to the Winter Olympics, and the hashpipe. Excuse me, the halfpipe. That's not a sport, either. It's in the Olympics for one reason, and one reason only: To get the U.S. more medals. I'd rather beat the cold countries at their own games. If we do, great. If we don't, at least we're in classic Winter Olympic sports, not stuff that was made up for our benefit.

The U.S. team has beaten Switzerland and Norway. Nice. But the big game is against Canada on Sunday night. Win it, and they're in the knockout rounds. Lose it, and they'll still be in a play-in game for said rounds. So it won't be terrible if they lose it.

Besides, they may get another shot at Canada in one of said rounds, maybe even the Gold Medal Game like in 2002. I don't know if they'll win, but I hope they'll at least play the full 60 minutes; in 2002, they barely showed up for the 3rd period, and that's why Canada won: They played 60, and hard.

*

The Nets finally reached an agreement to play the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons at the Prudential Center in Newark. Maybe now, they'll get to experience a sellout with neither Kobe nor LeBron in sight. Come to think of it, maybe The Rock will get to experience one with neither the Rangers nor the Flyers in sight.

Here's an idea: Screw the Barclays Center proposal, and keep playing in Newark for the next 50 years! Be "the New Jersey Nets"! After all, they won't all be 5-49 seasons!

The Nets -- Nots? Naughts? Nuts? -- are still on a pace for 8-74, surpassing the 9-73 '73 76ers. They host Chris Bosh and the Toronto Raptors at the Meadowlands tonight. I'm not optimistic.

*

Pitchers and catchers have reported! Which means YAY! Onward and upward to Title 28!

Days until the Gold Medal hockey game: 9.

Days until the NHL's Olympic break ends (at least for the Devils): 11.

Days until the Devils play another local rival: 19, on Wednesday, March 10, at home against The Scum. Three days later, a trip to The Island to play the Fish Sticks.

Days until Opening Day of the 2010 baseball season: 44, the Yankees playing the Red Sox at Fenway for the ESPN Sunday-night season-opener. 6 weeks.

Days until the next North London Derby between Arsenal and Tottenham: 50. 7 weeks.

Days until the Yankees' 2010 home opener: 53. Less than 8 weeks.

Days until the 2010 World Cup begins: 101.

Days until the World Cup Final: 142.

Days until Rutgers plays football again: 197.

Days until the new Meadowlands Stadium (still unnamed) opens: 198.

Days until East Brunswick plays football again: 203.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving clash: 279.

Days until Derek Jeter collects his 3,000th career hit: 467.

Days until the Rutgers-Army football game at Yankee Stadium: 631.

Snow Job for New Jersey's Teams

On Wednesday night, for the 2nd time in 3 nights, the Devils played the Philadelphia Flyers, the Broad Street Bullies – or, as I prefer to call them, the Broad Street Bozos. And the result was the same on Wednesday at the Prudential Center as it was on Monday night at Whatever Bank Owns This Season's Naming Rights Center in Philly: Two-nil, and the Devils fucked it up, and lost 3-2 on Simon Gagne's overtime goal. Rats!

But that's not the worst of it: The worst of it is that they played despite a 15-inch blizzard. Did they learn nothing from the January 22, 1987 game with the Calgary Flames, when only 334 people came out to the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands? (Nope, that's not a misprint: Three hundred and thirty-four. Had you been Number 335, you could have counted the rest during a single power play. The Devils won, 7-5.)

The attendance on Wednesday night, for an opponent with a nasty rivalry and a fan base that, despite being almost as evolved as the Geico Cavemen, travels well, was 5,580. I’ve been to high school basketball games with bigger crowds. (Not many, a couple of Middlesex County Tournament "final four" games at the Rutgers Athletic Center, but it has happened.) The Devils would have been better off postponing the game, and trying to get a sellout of 17,625 at another time.

Speaking of high school basketball games, that's what the Nets said it felt like, playing at home the same night against the Milwaukee Bucks. At the Byrne… no, Continental… no, Izod Center… it is still the "Izod Center," right? Or is that "IZOD Center"?... they lost 97-77, and the attendance was 1,016.

I have seen quite a few games at East Brunswick High School's gym with bigger crowds than that. (It can hold about 1,800.) Long-time lame-duck franchise (as contradictory as that sounds) + historically bad season (still on pace to surpass the 1973 Philadelphia 76ers' 9-73 as the worst record in NBA history) + bad building + no rivalry with opposing team + no marquee star on opposing team + opposing team not having a lot of traveling fans + economy still in the early stages of recovery from a dreadful recession = pathetic attendance. One thousand and sixteen. I've been on New Jersey Transit trains with more people than that on them!

So New Jersey's 2 major league sports teams (remember, it's the New York Giants and the New York Jets, regardless of their inability to pass a geography class) both played at home at the same time (impossible until the Devils' 2007 move from East Rutherford to Newark), and got a combined 6,596 fans.

Oy vey. Sounds like a serious underbid in the Showcase segment of The Price Is Right. Twenty years ago, when Bob Barker was not only still the host, but still dying his hair. (Speaking of which, yesterday morning, in anticipation of this Sunday's NBA All-Star Game, NBA legends Bill Walton and James Worthy guest-starred in the Showcase segment, offering a trip to said All-Star Game, although the woman bidding on it lost.)

The same night: The Rangers (who suck), home to the Nashville Predators (who?), did not sell out Madison Square Garden, filling only 13,128 of 18,200 seats; the Montreal Canadiens, no strangers to cold and snow, sold out the Bell Centre with 21,273 seats in defeating the Washington Capitals (who, to be fair, are leading the Eastern Conference and do have Alexander Ovechkin); and the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins, also within range of the blizzard, got a sellout of 16,980 at the Civic Arena (excuse me, the Mellon Arena) in a win over the Islanders. There were 3 other games that night, none of them hit by the blizzard.

The NBA the same night? Only 1 other game was played anywhere near the blizzard, and it was in Toronto, where the Raptors hosted the Philadelphia 76ers, and won in front of 16,651, not a bad crowd considering the Raptors are the city's 4th team (behind the NHL's Maple Leafs, the CFL's Argonauts and MLB's Blue Jays – maybe even the 5th behind MLS' Toronto FC).

Ranger and Flyer fans, drunken animals that they both are, like to joke about the Devils' attendance. This has to stop. And we, the fans, can do some things about it.

One way that Devils management can help it to stop is that they can pay attention to weather reports, and acknowledge the fact that playing in the winter does, sometimes, mean you have to postpone games due to snow and icy roads. If you have the Black & Orange Bastards scheduled, and you're told to expect a foot and a half of snow (we got 15 inches in East Brunswick, they may have gotten 18 in Newark, and they got at least that much in Philly, Baltimore and D.C.), don't wait to see how bad the snow actually turns out to be: Lou Lamoriello, get Ed Snider and Gary Bettman on a conference call and reschedule the damn thing!

*

Tonight, the Winter Olympics begin in Vancouver, and the NHL goes on a break. Hopefully, it'll be less stressful than Ross and Rachel’s infamous "break" on Friends.

But I wouldn't bet on it: Paul Martin of the Devils is already off the U.S. team due to an injury, and Zach Parise may also be hurt.

It' in Canada, so Team Canada will play like they don't just want the Gold Medal, but as if they have to have it. I wouldn't mind if they did, but I want it for the U.S.

At least we don’t have a situation like we had in 1998 and 2002. Remember? There, in blue, were Brian Leetch and Mike Richter. There, in red, were Scott Stevens and Martin Brodeur. So far, so good. Except, on those occasions, Leetch and Richter, both of them Ranger Scum, were playing for the U.S., while Scottso and Marty, the 2 greatest and most important players in Devils history, were playing for the team that stood in the way of us winning the Gold, and I had to root for Leetch and Richter, and against Stevens and Brodeur.

Canada won, so Scottso and Marty got their Gold Medals. In all honesty, the Canadians worked harder to win that game, and deserved to win. It remains the only Olympic hockey game the U.S. has ever lost on home soil. (We didn't enter a team in Lake Placid in 1932, we won the Gold at Squaw Valley in 1960 and at Lake Placid in 1980, and we got all the way to the Gold Medal Game at Salt Lake in 2002.)

On the U.S. team: 5 from Michigan, 4 from Minnesota, 3 from New York State (but none further east or south than Ithaca), 2 from Connecticut (Chris Drury of Trumbull and Jonathan Quick of Hamden, both closer to Boston than to New York), and one each from Massachusetts (Ryan Whitney of Anaheim, from Scituate, smallest Bruin State total ever, I think), California (Brooks Orpik of Pittsburgh, from San Francisco), Missouri (Paul Stastny of Colorado, born when Slovakian-born father Peter played for St. Louis), Pennsylvania (Ryan Malone of Tampa Bay, from Pittsburgh), and, for the first time ever that I know of, New Jersey (Bobby Ryan of Anaheim, from Cherry Hill, outside Philly).

On Team Canada: 8 from Ontario, 4 from Quebec (including all 3 goaltenders: Brodeur, Roberto Luongo and Marc-Andre Fleury), 3 from Saskatchewan, 2 from Manitoba, 2 from Alberta (Jarome Iginla and ex-Devil Scott Niedermayer, like Iginla born in Edmonton, but raised in Cranbrook, British Columbia), 2 from British Columbia (they, along with Nieder, are thus playing in their home Province, not just their home country), 1 from the Maritime Provinces (Cindy, excuse me, Sidney Crosby from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia), and Dany Heatley, born in Germany when his Calgary-born father was playing there and married a German woman, so that sort of makes 2 from Alberta and 3 from B.C., if you put Niedermayer where he grew up rather than where he was born.

When we get to February 22, the 30th Anniversary of the 1980 victory over the Soviets, I'm going to show you why it was not a "miracle." No, seriously, it wasn't a miracle. Stay tuned.

*

Hours until the 2010 Winter Olympics begin in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, right here on this continent, if not in this country: 4.

Days until the NHL's Olympic break ends (at least for the Devils): 18.

Days until the Devils play another local rival: 26, Wednesday, March 10, at home against the Rangers (a.k.a. The Scum).

Days until Opening Day of the 2010 baseball season: 51, the Yankees playing the Red Sox at Fenway for the ESPN Sunday-night season-opener. Just over 7 weeks.

Days until the next North London Derby between Arsenal and Tottenham: 57.

Days until the Yankees' 2010 home opener: 60. Two months.

Days until the 2010 World Cup begins: 118. Less than 4 months.

Days until the World Cup Final: 149.

Days until Rutgers plays football again: 204. Less than 7 months.

Days until the new Meadowlands Stadium (still unnamed) opens: 205.

Days until East Brunswick plays football again: 210.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving clash: 286.

Days until Derek Jeter collects his 3,000th career hit: 474.

Days until the Rutgers-Army football game at Yankee Stadium: 638.