1980 Hockey Symbolism

The 1980 USA Hockey team was an extremely symbolic event for the US and Russian competition. The social context of the game definitely played a large role in the competitive nature and sense of pride and nationalism in each team, since it was during the Cold War and Russia had been trying to dominate while the US was attempting to enforce peace-keeping. Russia had dominated for years as a powerhouse as they had been trying to do politically as well. The US's chance to show Russia that they could be beat both politically, and in a sense of sport, was through this competition of the powerhouse and the underdog favorite. People thought it couldn't be done but the sense of nationalism and pride in one's country, depicted in many ways throughout the film brought the USA Hockey team to an entirely different level. For example, when the US coach keeps the hockey team (primarily made of college players) stay after the game and make them do sprints until they can barely stand, and finally, a player stands up, states his name, and that he plays for the United States of America, it brings a sense of pride and shows the coach that they in fact do play for "the name on the front, not on the back." Throughout the film there are many example of this sense of nationalism, especially during the game when the coach motivates the team to bring their nation together. By beating the Russians, they prove to the world that the Russians can be beat in many different ways. Throughout the film there were many times I felt a sense of pride and that I could relate to to the players attitudes. When they speak up to the coach, work out until they cannot stand or even breathe, and when they are on the ice and the people are chanting "USA", it definitely impacts the thinking and sense of pride in one's country. I understand this sense of pride to be similar to the Palestinian pride as depicted in the film, however there was no physical competition, or knowingly bringing together a nation under their flag to fight for what matters.