Yahoo! Sports' Memorable Olympic Moments: Herb Brooks Defeats Communism

Our good friends at Yahoo! Sports have begun a series of "Memorable Moments" celebrating the best and most enduring moments in Olympic history. They've also asked us what our favorite moment is, and quite frankly, there can be only one answer: The Miracle on Ice.

By now, every red-blooded American knows the story. During the Cold War, the mighty Soviet Union dominated the international hockey scene. After the United States stunned the world by winning the gold in 1960, the Soviets had won four straight gold medals from 1964 on, and were the overwhelming favorites to do so again in 1980 on U.S. soil in Lake Placid, New York.

During a tense and turbulent time for the country, the Americans put together their scrappy bunch of collegiate and amateur players. Surely, there was no way such a rag tag bunch could take down the Soviets, a well oiled machine that had played together for years.

Someone forgot to tell head coach Herb Brooks.

As immortalized in the greatest sports movie of all-time (not even a debate) Miracle, Brooks worked magic in the lead up to the Games and soon enough, the Americans and Soviets were to face off in the medal round. Before the game, Brooks delivered a legendary speech, and then to battle the superpowers went.

Fastforward to the third period, with the teams improbably deadlocked at 3-3, with American goalie Jim Craig turning in a sensational performance in turning back the Soviet attack. With just 10 minutes left in the game, this happened. It really did:

But there was still 10 minutes for the best hockey team in the world to mount a comeback...

But as everyone knows, capitalism and freedom held firm.

The Americans held the Soviets at bay, and now we turn it over to legendary broadcaster and Arizona State alum Al Michaels for the final call...(if this clip doesn't give you chills, you are either dead or a Communist. Probably)

The Americans later defeated Finland to win the gold medal, while the Soviets settled for silver.

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

Celebrate the most compelling moments in Summer Games history with 'Memorable Moments' on Yahoo! Sports. Re-live moments such as Nadia Comaneci's perfect 10s in Montreal, Michael Phelps' record eight gold medals in Beijing, Carl Lewis' unforgettable four gold medals in Los Angeles, the spectacular success of the 1992 US Dream Team, Muhammad Ali in Rome and Atlanta, and any more!

These special moments are showcased through exclusive video, iconic photos, and stories on Yahoo!'s hub dedicated to the coverage of the Games. Enjoy the unique storytelling from Yahoo! Sports' award-winning writers and experts, as well as through the lens of Yahoo!'s users themselves.

Check out Memorable Moments on Yahoo! Sports!