—for my granddaughter, Kennedy
It has since become known as “The Miracle on Ice,” the U.S.
hockey team at Lake Placid in the 1980 Winter Olympics
beating the Soviet Union, four-time defending gold medal
champions, 4-3 in a semifinal game that took place in what
is now called the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena, named after
the coach of the U.S. team. Twice each year, the CAN/AM
series for youth hockey is held in Lake Placid, each team
getting to play once in that famous arena, my 9-year-old
granddaughter a member of a Connecticut squad that needed
to win on that ice surface in order to reach the final, coming
into the match with a one-win/one-loss record. As it turned
out, her team prevailed 7-1 in that key game, and she scored
a goal, the magic of the storied place rubbing off, leaving
only one more game to secure the championship. No matter
the outcome, because there are just two teams in the final,
she will learn a lesson about Kipling’s two imposters, but
it will be hard to see them treated just the same. When your
team wins, everyone shares in the glory of the victory—each
player gets to hold the trophy for what will become a framed
photo cherished for a lifetime. But when you lose, everyone
shares in the sorrow of the loss, how to handle it gracefully
a tough lesson to learn, but a necessary one, because there’ll
likely be many more losses than victories in a lifetime. Still,
you always do your best and play to win.
