WINTER SPORTS in Southern California consist of indoor basketball - at least it did when I was growing up in the late '50s and early '60s.
That was way before Wayne Gretzky and the L.A. Kings.If there had been a question on a quiz, "What's hockey?" answers might have ranged from "a disease you get from kissing too much" to "a seafood delicacy originating in Australia."
Never do I recall a dinner conversation or any other conversation at home sounding like this:
"Boy, what a great game the Rocket had last night. He got his second hat trick in a week. I think the Canadiens are going to tromp on Gordie Howe and the Red Wings and win another Stanley Cup."
The late '50s brought major league baseball to Southern California. The Dodgers broke the hearts of Brooklynites by bolting to Los Angeles in 1958. But where one heart breaks another rejoices. All of a sudden boys in Southern California got to take joyous trips with their dads to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to see Pee Wee, Gil and the Duke plus the twin flamethrowers, Drysdale and Koufax.
But the Big Red Machine in those days was the Soviet Union, not the Cincinnati Reds. And the Cold War was a very competitive one.
It was just as bad as the Dodgers losing to the Yankees when the USSR did its Sputnik number on the U.S. in 1957. It didn't matter that the contraption probably wouldn't have met our safety standards. The grim reality was this: The Russians had reached the Final Frontier before we did.
And it seemed in international athletic events that their "amateurs" seemed to get the better of ours even when we were superior. There was this track and field series between the U.S. and Russia. Our men could beat their men but the Russians insisted on the meet being determined by combined men's and women's scores. Their women (that's what they said they were) clobbered our women's teams and therefore would win the overall title.
That's why what happened in 1960 was so sweet.
Hockey to the rescue.
In 1960 the Winter Olympics came to California - Squaw Valley.
In the opinion of many Southern Californians, the Winter Olympics were to the Summer Olympics what hamburger was to filet mignon.
That notion of worth was to change dramatically thanks to Jack McCartan.
Jack McCartan?
That's the name that stuck with me.
McCartan was the goalie for the rag-tag U.S. hockey team, a team that in tuneup games for the Olympics lost to Michigan Tech and Denver University. And then just three weeks before the Olympics lost again to something called the Warroad Lakers of Warroad, Minn.
This was the team that was going to take the ice not only against the Russians but talented Canadian and Czechoslovakian teams as well.?
Apparently it was relieved it didn't have to play the Warroad Lakers again. The U.S. trailed Czechoslovakia, 4-3, after two periods in the opening game but then scored four straight goals in the final period to take a 7-5 victory.
After victories over Australia, Sweden and Germany, the U.S. faced the co-favorite Canadians. McCartan stopped 20 shots in the second period alone and the U.S. rallied for a 2-1 victory.
Next up: the Soviets.
Before the "Do you believe in miracles" at Lake Placid there was the miracle of Squaw Valley.
After falling behind 2-1, Billy Christian, with an assist from his brother Roger, fired a shot into the goal to make it 2-2 late in the second period. With 5 minutes to play the Christian brothers teamed up again for the winning goal. McCartan was like an octopus the last few minutes in protecting the lead. The United States knocked off the mighty Russians, 3-2.
It still needed a victory over Czechoslovakia a day later to win the gold. And, according to David Wallechinsky, author of "The Complete Book of the Olympics," the Soviet Union, in an extraordinary display of sportsmanship, helped the U.S. win.
After two periods the U.S. trailed, 4-3. Soviet captain Nikolai Sologubov entered the U.S. dressing room and through pantomime (he didn't speak English), encouraged the U.S. players to take some oxygen. A tank was obtained and the revived U.S. team went back on the ice and scored six straight goals to win 9-4.
The United States has won hockey gold twice, both times in dramatic fashion and both times on American soil - 1960 in Squaw Valley and 1980 in Lake Placid.
The next time the Winter Olympics come to the U.S. is 2002.
To Salt Lake City.
To a place already associated with miracles.