Al Michaels on The Miracle on Ice (taken from Joe Posnanski's excellent column in SI)

Al Michaels says that if he had thought up his famous line earlier -- "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" -- he never would have said it. The thing you have to understand about Michaels is that he's a pro's pro. Get the names right. Get the action right. Never jump the gun. Never say what you don't know. That's his blueprint. That's his life. And Michaels believes that if he had thought up the line earlier, he would have discarded it because in his head it would sound jingoistic or corny or both.

But he did not think up the line earlier... he was calling the game and the word "miraculous" popped into his head. That's what it was. Miraculous. The Soviets were the greatest hockey team on earth... better than NHL teams. The U.S. team was a bunch of college kids. This could not be happening. Miraculous. And as the puck came out with five seconds to go -- "How lucky was I that the puck came out," Michaels would say -- the words just came out of him.Do you believe in miracles? Yes!

Years later, Michaels would re-do the hockey commentary for the movie "Miracle." But when it came to that final, memorable line -- probably the most famous call in the history of American sports -- they used the original recording. "I couldn't do that line again," Michaels says. "No way."

This is in the Al Michaels-Bob Costas story, but it's worth repeating here... Michaels did not just leave after the game was over. He called the Finland-Sweden hockey game. So while he, of course, understood just how big the U.S. victory had been, he was unaware of the nation's reaction, unaware of the way Americans had poured into the streets of Lake Placid. When he left the game, he saw all the people celebrating, all the waving flags, and he made it back to the hotel, and someone said to him: "Wow, that was incredible what you said." And for a second Michaels thought, "What did I say?"

To read the original column by Sports Illustrated writer Joe Posnanski, click on this.

Don't you think the Russians jersey with a "CCCP" (Союз Советских Социалистических Республик) is way cool and menacing at once? I have four hockey jerseys -- Islanders, Blackhawks, Northstars, and the Devils. Now the Russian CCCP is awesome and I have always wanted to get me one of these. Hmm. How to get? On another note and I just have to say this -- the Mighty Ducks movies suck.