2020 brought me heartbreak over our divided country. May 2021 bring Americans together to defeat the virus and rebuild.

The USA hockey players are exhausted. Sweat-soaked and doubled over, the young men heave and suck big gulps of air. And still their coach orders them to sprint-skate the “suicide drill” over and over.

They start at one net, skate to the blue line a quarter of the way to the opposite net, return, skate to the red halfway line, return, skate to the far blue three-quarter line, return, skate the length of the ice to the far red line and return.

Surely, as they reach their starting net, they must be done.

But no.

“AGAIN,” the coach barks. The players dig the teeth of their steel blade toes into the ice and push off to skate the drill. “AGAIN.” 

They’ve already played a game, and done so many of these drills. The whistle blows. “AGAIN.”

The crowd left long ago. 

“AGAIN.”

The custodian turns off the rink lights. Now they skate in the dark.

“AGAIN.”

By this point, these college-aged players are getting sick. The assistant coach questions the head coach, who is about to repeat the order.

One Nation Under God, Indivisible

Far longer than one scene from this true story about the 1980 U.S. hockey team’s ultimate victory, our last year in America has been remarkably punishing and unrelenting. We’ve been pushed beyond what seemed possible.

I’m ready to skip ahead to the triumph and celebration scene. How about you? Movie magic delivers in about two hours. In real life, we don’t know how long it will take.

But — the same lesson that ended these drills in the movie version of this story would also deliver relief to America in 2021. We all play for the same team, Team USA. The sooner we move beyond bitter, dysfunctional partisan politics and demonstrate loyalty to “one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,” the better.

My stories and reflections here are about making peace — not politics — and that’s true for this story. This year especially, I have avoided divisive discussions over politics with friends and family in person and on Facebook. On the rare occasions when I’ve engaged, I’ve stressed my belief that we can disagree over most things and remain in family and community relationships. That our families and social fabric must prevail. So many families have struggled over differing views this year, on top of all the other hardships of the pandemic.

Sometimes making peace means saying your peace. What we’re watching in this country is beyond politics. Trump’s authoritarian reach for power is un-democratic and dangerous.

May our love of country and duty to America’s core values carry us through these times.

A Win that Lifted a Country

Watching these players skate in Disney’s movie “Miracle,” you expect one of them to snap under the strain. This is the movie version about the underdog 1980 U.S men’s hockey Olympic team that defeated the Soviet Union team in Lake Placid and went on to win gold. 

I’m queasy watching it every time — even though I know what happens next and how it turns out.  

I was 9 when the real-life team skated for gold, and I’ll never forget watching those games with my mom and the sheer, breath-taking joy when this team of college kids beats the “invincible” Soviet team, then the Finland team.

Electric elation. Crackling goosebumps and a sense of pride. A joy the whole country shared.

Their win lifted the country onto their shoulders and out of a dark time.

Whether you like hockey, or even sports, doesn’t matter. Watching this great American dream story even now, even after the beating America took in 2020, would leave you feeling good, proud, inspired and hopeful about who we are as Americans and what we can accomplish. 

That’s how I wanted to feel heading into 2021.

Not discouraged, like I felt the morning of New Year’s Eve reading news reports of the slow, hampered business of vaccines actually reaching people’s arms.

Not the deep grief for our American family I’ve felt all year as bitter political and cultural divisions seemed to only deepen in response to the pandemic. At the beginning, I thought we could unite against the common enemy: the virus. Apparently, I was naïve.

Not the shock and disgust I feel as an outgoing U.S. president repeatedly, historically and shamelessly attacks democracy. 

Come on America! We have smart people. We have resources. We are creative. We’re better than this. 

What it Takes

What will it take to again work together to solve problems, to function? Twice in I’ve leaned as an American into the unity of our country: the horrific days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and the 1980 Olympic win.

“I can’t believe you want to watch this again,” my husband said, settling into his chair New Year’s Eve after we finished our takeout steak sandwiches. (Delicious, by the way, from Otto’s, a local foods restaurant and brewery in State College, Pa.)   

I am not an athlete. I grew up in a family of sports fans and married into a family of athletes.

Long before I met my husband and stepsons, “Miracle” was a favorite family movie.

We’ve watched Miracle so many times I tease them. Again? 

But that morning, I thought about how we’ll survive these times. How a winning team is made, how people come together to work on a common goal. It takes a spark, leadership, alignment with a shared purpose. Time. Timing. Luck. Commitment. And I remembered this scene of young hockey players skating beyond exhaustion in the dark.

Watching the scene on YouTube and reading up on this Miracle story fired me up for the New Year, so I went with it.

Five minutes in, my husband and I enjoyed meeting each guy on the team all over again like they’re old friends. Rizzo! OC! The beloved Jim Craig. And you have to chuckle over the ‘70s-era haircut and plaid pants and blazers of Kurt Russell, who plays coach Herb Brooks. 

Brooks’ Vision

Herb Brooks, the coach, played on U.S. Olympic teams then coached the University of Minnesota hockey team, taking it from last place to a national championship within two years then onto two more national championships.

Brooks had a dream. He had a vision for a style of U.S. hockey, and of how to build a team.

His brilliance included selecting players for team chemistry and then building them into a team. He wanted them to dislike him so they could bond over a common enemy. He challenged them, pissed them off and fired them up. 

As the players start practicing, we see old grudges from old rivalries. We watch the guys introduce themselves as playing for their respective colleges. And when the players from Boston University take their turn, I can’t help a “GO BU!” bellow on behalf of my alma mater.

The Name on the Front

During an exhibition game against Norway, Brooks overhears his players checking out girls in the stands instead of focusing on the game. After the game, he kept them on the ice and delivered his punishing string of suicide drills. 

“When you pull on that jersey, you represent yourself and your teammates,” he shouts as they skate. “And the name on the front [USA] is a hell of a lot more important than the one on the back. Get that through your head!”

AGAIN, he sends them sprinting down the ice. 

When they are just about at their breaking point, Mike Eruzione, played by Patrick O’Brien Dempsey, finds the breath to shout his name and hometown, just before the whistle blows, yet again.

“Who do you play for?” the coach asks.

“I play for the United States of America!” Eruzione gasps out.

That ends the hell-drills and the scene, because that’s the point. 

“That’s all gentlemen,” says the coach, excusing the bedraggled team to the locker room.

Fact vs. Fiction

Most of that scene is true. The part about Eruzione saying “I play for the United States of America” to end their punishment that night, is not — according to the interview that real-life player Jack O’Callahan did with the publication Irish America in 2007. <https://irishamerica.com/2007/08/10662/>

Though it is true that Brooks was deliberate and strategic about unifying his team. Last year provided plenty of fresh interviews, the fortieth anniversary of the win.

I prefer the movie version of Eruzione saying he plays for the USA — in part since I have a soft spot for the team’s captain, Mike Eruzione “Rizzo.” Little did I know in 1980 how much college hockey I would watch as a Boston University student, including some from a perch at the old Boston Garden when BU kicked the snot out of Harvard in 1990 to win the Beanpot Tournament. In 1991, BU stomped Boston College and in 1992 trounced Harvard.

Once, I even got to briefly meet Mike Eruzione while I was working coat-check during an event at the BU student union. Nice guy. He tipped well, as memory serves. 

I remind our family about this early on, every time we watch Miracle.

“We know, hon,” says my husband. “You say that every time.” 

(See how long I waited to tell you that?)

Egos Must Yield

Ultimately, the college rivalries had to fade for Team USA to gel. The egos had to give way to what the team needed to win.

That’s what we need in this country right now: loyalty to American democracy above all else. We need common ground and bipartisan solutions. We need coalitions from both parties committed to solutions and compromise.

We don’t have to agree. We don’t have to like each other. We just have to keep talking and working until we solve the problems facing America, on behalf of America. 

Go Team USA! 

In 2020, as I’ve struggled with the reality of a divided America, my husband often quoted a fellow school administrator: “Hey, you don’t have to like everyone on your team, you just have to work with them. The baseball shortstop doesn’t have to like the first baseman — but he still has to throw the ball to first to get the runner out.”

Exactly.

Staying Hopeful

I insist on staying hopeful. Some days, that takes more work than others. 

I remain hopeful that our country will unify against the invisible enemy of the virus, and this hell will end. 

I am hopeful our commitment to America’s core values — Democracy, dreams, progress, government by and for the people, the pursuit of life and liberty for all — provide an unshakeable common ground.

This isn’t just a feel-good thing, it’s how we survive. It’s the difference between a bleak 2021 and a bright 2021, when we can once again safely hug each other and gather in each other’s homes and — restaurants!

Maybe all our leaders should watch Miracle. Maybe we all should, just to remember we truly are on the same team. It’s free on Netflix! We can’t go back — and let’s remember how many then and now are still left behind by the American promise of liberty and justice for all.

We must move forward. But we can look back and remember a critical lesson: The name on the front of the jersey is more important than the name on the back.

Our united America is out there. That spark is out there. Americans will rise. It’s who we are, and what we must still be.

I know it. I’m hopeful. I believe in the best of us.

Photo caption: The jersey worn by U.S. men’s hockey defenseman Bill Baker, a member of the 1980 “Miracle” Olympic team. Part of the collection of the National Museum of American History, in Washington, D.C.

Lisa Duchene is a writer and owner of Polished Oak Communications in central Pennsylvania. ThanksgivinginFebruary.com is Lisa’s blog of stories and reflections about making peace. Visit lisaduchene.com for more. Follow @lisaduchenewriter on Facebook and Instagram for more stories.