The Nation Desperately Needs a “Miracle on Ice” Moment!

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There are certain events in life that stand the test of time and are forged in history forever. Some good and some bad, then there are ones that are so rare and unbelievable they end up on a podium by themselves. In America we experienced one of those events; it took place on a winter afternoon some thirty two years ago and will forever be known as the
“Miracle on Ice.”
It occurred when the 1980 U. S. Olympic Hockey team defeated the Soviet Union in a medal-round game. Now some of you may say who cares? It was just some stupid hockey game. Well you first need to consider and understand the dynamics behind it, in order to appreciate what it gave to us and the impact that it had across the nation. There was the decades-old Cold War still going on with the Soviets. President Jimmy Carter was considering a Boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics, to be held in Moscow, in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and there was also 52 Americans being held hostage in Iran at the time. To say that tensions were high around the world would be a gross under statement!

The Soviets were then considered the greatest hockey team on earth, better than our professional NHL teams. They had won the previous four Gold medals and had not lost an Olympic hockey game since 1968. The U.S. team was made up of a bunch of young amateur college kids. Most Americans were just hoping the slaughter that was going to take place that day on our home soil was not too awful and maybe our boys could at least make it a respectable defeat. No one on the face of the earth had given these boys a chance to pull off an upset that would shock the world, except one person in particular, their coach, the late Herb Brooks.

Once on the ice and as the game started to unfolded and take shape, people slowly started to tune in and get interested. I would imagine most Americans including myself had not watched a lot of hockey in their lifetime prior to this as it was not the most popular of sports here in our country. Well that pretty much all changed when Team Captain and Elder Statesmen of the group, Mike Eruzione scored the go ahead and eventual game wining goal with exactly 10 minutes left to play and put the Americans up by a score of 4 to 3. I remember thinking to myself at the time; hey this is not going to be a blow out after all. Then as the clock got under 2 minutes, I said to my mom and dad; they are going to win! They are going to beat those Communist Bastards! What we all heard next was simply the stuff Legends are made of; it was Al Michael’s famous television call.

“11 seconds, you’ve got 10 seconds, the countdown going on right now! Morrow, up to Silk. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in Miracles? YES!”


What followed next in that Lake Placid Hockey Arena was pure joy and pandemonium! That same joy and pandemonium spilled over to every bar, street corner and into every living room across America. It lasted for what seemed like days and even got a bigger boost when the kids went on to capture the gold medal by winning its last game over Finland. It was a special moment, one that brought the country together with great pride and overwhelming joy! Everyone was proud to be an American and nothing else seemed to matter for that small period in time. It had no boundaries; gender, race, politics and religion had suddenly vanished! This was perhaps the last time in our history; that the “Entire Nation” has shared a moment like this. Hopefully history will repeat itself someday soon, as we are desperately in need of another Miraculous Moment.

*** Special Thanks to Michael Burgess the Author of the New Book:

“A Long Shot To Glory”

Michael took the time to pay us a visit here at GoodTimeTherapy.com and gave us a great compliment on the article. I would just like to say thank you and that I greatly appreciate it! – Rodney

“I loved your comments on the Miracle on Ice Moment.” – Michael Burgess

I recently published a book on the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid called A Long Shot to Glory: How Lake Placid Saved the Winter Olympics and Restored the Nation’s Pride. I wanted to give the fuller story of how those games came to be in 1980 that produced the Miracle on Ice and how a small town overcame all the financial and political hurdles to produce such a memorable moment of national pride and patriotism that no one who was alive can forget.

You can get a copy of his book at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com and you can reach him by email at: mjburgess2@aol.com as he would greatly appreciate your feedback about his book.

Real Reform “We the People” All Can Believe In!

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We the People of the United States have had the privilege of watching our elected officials in Washington, D.C. get hardly anything accomplished for quite some time. It’s time for real reform, the kind we all can believe in. Our elected officials are supposed to be representing “We the People.” Is that really taking place? It seems more like they are representing themselves and not the American people. The only way to Right the Ship and ensure the country has a chance to bounce back is to have real reform as to how they represent “We the People!” It may sound difficult but it’s really very simple.

The second week of every month our elected officials will return home to their voting districts from Washington D. C. They will spend that week educating the people in their district through Town Hall Meetings, TV, Radio and the Newspapers about all the proposed Bills that will be voted on in Washington, D.C. the following month. Basically the good, bad and ugly, along with how it may or may not affect “We the People.” This will be a great added benefit to the American public, as we usually do not get the fine details until the Bill has already been passed into Law or the bigger problem; if it’s ever passed into Law!

Then for the following two weeks, “We the People” will be able to discuss the proposed Bills and its details amongst ourselves and get clarification from our elected official as to any issues that we deem necessary. On the last Tuesday of every month the Polls will open and we the American people will vote on whether to pass the Bills or not! The votes will be counted and what ever the result, a yes or no for that voting district is how each elected official representing their district will vote when the Bill comes up on the floor of the United States House and Senate. It will take a simple majority to pass the Bill into Law. If it ends up a being a tie vote in either the House or Senate; the Bill will have to have changes made to it and then re-presented to the American people and will be voted on again by “We the People!”

Now we can pretty much imagine that our elected officials will surely scoff at this idea! It will force them to really do what “We the People” sent them to Washington, D. C., to do in the first place! Represent the people in their voting district instead of their own self interest. They will more than likely tell us that the Bills are much to complicated for
“We the People” to understand and it would place to big of a burden on all us hard working Americans; to have to take a few hours out of our busy lives once a month to ensure that we keep them honest and make them earn their pay check. Heck, that kind of sounds like what “We the People” have to do everyday when we get up and go to work here in America.

This is not about anyone’s individual political affiliation or views. It’s not about winning or losing an election, far from it. Way too many Americans have fought and died for this country since it was founded! It’s about “We the People” standing up and taking back our country before it’s too late and preserving the “American Dream,” that we all hold so very close to our hearts and dearly love!

There is only one question that remains unanswered……. What will “We the People” do?

Rattlesnake Races – Its Olympics Texas Style!

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You know the saying, everything is bigger in Texas! The same holds true for Rattlesnakes that make the Lone Star State their home. Every year in March, the sleepy little town of Historic Old San Patricio, Texas comes alive with a distinct sound coming from its fair grounds; No it’s not Willie Nelson on stage, far from it, but just as entertaining though. It’s the sound of giant rattlers and not the kind you find at Baby’s “R” Us. It’s the World Championship Rattlesnake Races and has been going on for 40 years. We had just been relocated to south Texas, courtesy of the Navy and were out exploring our new surroundings; the wife had seen a bill board earlier in the week advertising the event, so we said to each other “When in Texas, do as the Texan’s do.”

When we arrived at the event, there were a few thousand people, music, food and games for the kids, and of course Rattlesnakes, lots of them! There was a make shift enclosure with about 50 snakes inside and a man and women standing inside with the snakes giving a lecture to the crowd of folks gathered around. The grand stand was filled with people just enjoying the kids having a burlap sack race on the course that resembled a football field, which would later on in the day; unleash its fear on all those who would dare to take part. We got some food and drink and settled in our seats to experience this odd event, not knowing what to expect. Not long afterwards the lady sitting next to me, said she was the owner of “Loretta’s Long-neck Saloon” and that she was a sponsor of the event and that she needed to find someone to represent the Saloon and race one of the snakes for her. She then asked if I would do it? I looked at her and said are you out of your mind Lady! After a few moments of intense discussion with the wife, I gave into the pressure and agreed to it. I then said, well I need to have a couple of beers in me, as if this is how its going to end and I get bit by a Rattlesnake and die today; I don’t want to feel any pain.

It was race time and we lined up 10 across in our marked lanes, each with a box containing a Rattlesnake with the names of the snake painted on the box, my girls name was “Grin-in Granny.” We each had a handler assigned to us, just in case any of the snakes got aggressive and tried to “Strike the Pose.” We were given a Git-R-Stick to beat the ground around the snake, as this gets the snake to move out and down the course. Absolutely no touching of the snakes is allowed; just the ground around it and that was fine with me. The gun sounded, the boxes were removed and 10 venomous snakes took to the field. Granny took a lunge forward and was off like a rocket! She never looked back and was at the finish line before I even had to tap the ground once. The crowd was in Awe, as this was one of the fastest snakes ever seen over all the years that the event has occurred, and she just advanced to the finals the next day. The wife decided she had to get in on the fun also, so I paid the entry fee and soon she was in the next heat; unfortunately her snake did not fare as well and she ended up finishing in the middle of the pack, but had a good time anyway.

The next day we headed back to the event for my rendezvous with “Grin-in Granny.” She was the odds on favorite and would make me a “World Champion” and bring me all the fame and fortune that goes with it. Well there was just one little problem; it was pouring down rain, cold and nasty outside. Yep, you guessed it; Rattlesnakes do not care for that weather any more than you or me. So as we all got in our lanes for the final heat, the gun sounded and the boxes were removed, the snakes just all coiled up and hissed at us! They weren’t having any of it and had no interest in slithering through mud puddles no matter what we tried. I was covered in mud from beating the wet ground around us and was all talked out; I tried the Herb Brooks Miracle on Ice speech but Granny didn’t seem too motivated by it. After about 30 minutes we had finally gotten them half way down the course and the announcer gave the 2 minute warning and said he would call it then. I was neck and neck with the person next to me but neither of our snakes were moving and when the gun sounded; my dreams of being a World Champion were crushed!

Granny and I fell about a foot shy of the promise land but we gladly finished in second place and were happy to get out of the rain and receive the trophy; it is a 6 foot long mounted diamond back Rattlesnake that has had its share of admirers and has forced me to tell this story over 500 times it seems. So if you are ever down in Texas in March, make sure to add this to your list of things to do. Who knows, you might even end up being the next World Champion Rattlesnake Racer.

My Journey to the Egyptian Pyramids

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As we boarded the bus in Alexandria, Egypt that would take us on the four hour journey to Giza, I realized that anything I had done or seen in my life would soon be dwarfed by night fall! About two hours into the drive, the bus started to over heat and we were in the middle of the desert, and I said to my friend sitting next to me, “Are we on a movie set?” because you couldn’t have scripted it any better. After a two hour delay we were on our way again and was glad that the bus driver had tools with him and knew how to fix the problem.

When we arrived at the Pyramids, we drove by the Sphinx; that depicts the pharaoh as a human-headed lion, wearing the headdress of the pharaohs. It was in poor shape at the time and preservation work was under way on it. Behind it standing in the bright sunshine was Khafre’s Pyramid, as I disembarked the bus I just stood in admiration and tried to let it all soak in. This is going to be a good day I thought to myself, as I knew we were about to go inside the Pyramid and make the climb to the top. As we made our way to the entrance we were advised to leave our cameras with an Egyptian man sitting on a blanket, as they were prohibited inside. Once inside, the smell of a thousand years soon hit our senses and we started to make the climb in a single file line, up what must have been three hundred steps to a room at the top with just a small cut out opening to allow the sunlight in. To my surprise there was not much to see inside as it was kinda dark, other than a little light from the sun coming from the opening, but it really didn’t matter as I was “Standing atop Greatness” and that is what I had come for in the first place. After about twenty minutes or so we headed back down those steps and collected our cameras from the fine gentleman outside on the blanket.

We were then turned loose to do what we wanted for a couple of hours and I headed straight for the Sphinx. It was in sad shape and all the scaffolding around it did not make for great pictures, other then the fact my friends and I were able to climb to the top of the scaffolding and got some nice shots as we were posing like a Pharaoh in front of it. Once down from it, I spotted a man and his camel in tow and asked if I could take some pictures, before I knew it, he had his headdress off and onto my head, and was helping me mount the camel. I thought how great this is! He then said go, go, go he will come back, go ride! So off we went for a little ride around Khafre’s; it was a little rough but I was having the time of my life. Soon thereafter as the man had promised, the camel returned me to his owner and I climbed off, thanked him and gave him twenty dollars for my experience that would last a lifetime. To this day! I cannot think of any trip or experience that has matched that day and will treasure my journey to Giza for the rest of my life. So if you ever have the opportunity, just go, go, go and enjoy the journey of a lifetime.

Steeler Nation – The Gold Standard for Other Teams Fan Bases to Follow!

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All day, Mark Washington had been a target of the Pittsburgh air attack.
Now on 3rd and 4, Bradshaw read a blitz that would leave the cornerback in 1 on 1 coverage with Lynn Swann. The result is Super bowl history!! If you are a member of Steeler Nation, then you can probably recite that better then you’re A B C’s, as it’s been entrenched into your brain and sole forever! Along with other key phrases, “like a pool hall hustler who had been trifling with his victim too long” and of course “The Rams had two defensive backs covering Swann and a linebacker blitzing Bradshaw and they still could not damage the throw or prevent the catch.”

Off to school I went the next day, all dressed in Black and Gold!! The teachers hated me! The other kids hated me! And the bus driver hated me! I didn’t know it at the time as I was only 12 years old; I just became a new member of Steeler Nation. You see I lived in south Florida at the time, not Pittsburgh, PA. My parents retired and moved south to live out the rest of their days in the warmth of the sunshine state. Shortly after the Steelers last Super Bowl victory in the 70’s all the Steel Mills closed down and over 40% of the workforce in and around Pittsburgh had to pick up and move to other areas of the country to find work.

This is when the birth of Steeler Nation occurred and has grown into what it is today! It took 26 years before another Vince Lombardi Trophy would travel through the streets of downtown Pittsburgh in the back of a convertible. During that wait, the fans dove into those memories of the past and started to pass them down to their children and grandchildren around the dinner table and on Sundays while watching football on TV. So when you see thousands of Steelers fans at stadiums around the country; they didn’t travel from Pittsburgh for the weekend to watch their Steelers play, they already live in that city and almost every city across the nation and in a lot of cities around the world.

The wife and I went to Paris a few years back to celebrate our 20th anniversary, so at 11pm Paris time, I put on my Polamalu jersey and grabbed my “Terrible Towel” out of the suit case and then looked at the wife and said “Are you coming or not?” she looked at me like I was crazy, but said what the heck, as we had already been up for 20 plus hours and were still wide a wake after getting off the plane and to the hotel with the major time zone change and the effect on our bodies. So off we went into the Paris night, about a mile or so up the street to a British Pub that I knew would have the game on the big screen. You see when I bought the tickets to Paris and booked the hotel room; I then went to the Paris sports network guide and found out who would be showing the game and at what locations. Forget about the Eiffel Tower; I figured we would stumble across that sooner or later, but it was game time and the Steelers were on TV!

Sure enough we found the pub and the soccer fans were filing out as their game had just ended. I tried to talk to the bar tender and tell him what channel the game was on, but with the language barrier; as he was French and not British to my surprise, he just handed me the remote control and I found the channel in a few short tries. We settled in with some cold beers and were enjoying the game; it was not long after that when I heard from the street outside a women shout out “Oh my God, he is wearing a Polamalu jersey.” I knew this would happen all along as I had faith in Steeler Nation! She then ran inside the pub with her husband in tow and asked if we were winning? They were from California, and had just arrived in Paris a few hours ago. By half time we must have had half the pub filed with members of Steeler Nation from all parts of the United States that were on vacation. The bar tender didn’t know what to think, but he knew that I had attracted the crowd and he just kept yelling out loud “Pool la Moo A, Pool la Moo A, You drink on me, OK!” He was just killing Troy’s name and I was laughing so hard I had to use my Terrible Towel to dry my eyes. Well we lost that game to the Bears but it didn’t really matter because new friendships were forged like bonds of steel that night In Paris.

So as I end this story I hope I gave you a sense of what Steeler Nation is, and always will be. If you’re a fan of another sports team then I hope you can take something out of this and take back to your fan base and make it better. Its not always about football, it’s about family and friendships that are forged and memories that will last a life time.
To the members of Steeler Nation, I leave you with – Here We Go Steelers – Here We Go!!

Casey Anthony – Guilty of Panic

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The Jeffery Dahmer and O.J. Simpson trials were captivating to say the least! But Casey Anthony left us all standing at the altar searching for the truth, and we are still searching today. Sure Jeff Ashton told us what a horrible person she was as he was running her over with the bus! She refused his plea deal that would put her in jail for 13 years and probably would have walked out in less then 5 years with good behavior and time severed credits. What other option did he have but to charge her with the Death Penalty? I guess he thought he would try and scare the truth out of her to avoid having a date with “Old Sparky.” Then Jose Baez borrowed the keys to the bus and threw George Anthony under it, and even though it was not the popular thing to do, it worked and he managed to help save his daughters life, but those tire marks are still on his back today. Hey George, I do not believe that happened at all! Judge Belvin Perry must have thought he was working at the Grey Hound bus terminal in Orlando with all that traffic running through his court room.

I’m just not buying into it; I think both sides got it wrong!

I believe Casey Anthony is guilty of being a liar, guilty of child neglect which resulted in a death, guilty of improperly disposing of a dead body and guilty of Panic. I do not believe she murdered her daughter Caylee. My theory is different but I think it holds water. Caylee was the love of Cindy and George’s life and Casey’s relationship with them was already strained, at best! So the question still remains, What Happened? The most logical scenario would be she drowned in the back yard pool while Casey left her alone and went in the house to do other stuff. Possibilities would include, call her boyfriend, make something to eat, go to the bathroom or she may have fallen asleep on the couch while watching TV.

The other scenario is she went to the mall or store and left Caylee in the car for an extended period of time and the child suffocated. There have been conflicting reports of the actual high temperature for the Orlando area on June 16th 2008 but according to the State of Florida’s official evidence presented in the trial; it shows the official certified high temperature from the NWS was 90 degrees. I took this straight out of “Dr. Neal H. Haskell’s Forensic Entomology Investigations Report.” I have also included snap shots from that PDF file to back up my information. It’s in the News all the time, a child or pet left in a car and forgotten about and ends up dying. I believe these went into the jury room marked as State of Florida evidence # 10453 and # 10461. If they are incorrect, then that means Jeff Ashton ran over his own expert Witness with the bus also. I only say this because the whole bug testimony revolved around what the certified temperatures were over a period of time.

Why didn’t she just call 911! A normal person would have?

Well I am not going to try and define the mental make up of the Anthony family as I am not a doctor, but if you have seen Cindy on TV then you can tell something is amiss and more times than not “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” When Casey discovered Caylee had died she panicked; everyone is wired differently and will react to a crisis or tragedy in different ways. I doubt 911 even entered her mind; I think Cindy and George were the only thing that entered it and then the shame set in along with the panic and she told herself that she needed to hide this from them. She just took away the love of their life, and probably thought to herself that they would never forgive her no matter how Caylee died; accident or not they would blame her for forever.

What about the duct tape and stickers found on Caylee’s remains?

After Caylee had died and Casey decided she was going down the road of denial, she then needed to have her own private funeral and say good bye to Caylee the only way she knew how; just like the way she had done in the past with the family pets that had passed away. I think she did use the duct tape but in a different way; she used it to cover caylee’s eyes, nose and mouth. Which I feel to keep the bugs out or to keep them shut and closed. Death is ugly and can be very disturbing! All you have to do is ask a doctor, nurse or undertaker and they will 100% confirm it for you. I can relate to this as I have buried over 20 cats, dogs and horses in my lifetime. Each time I have always wrapped their heads with a towel or blanket and have used duct tape to secure it. I know the bugs are going to get inside within a day or so but it just makes me feel good and at peace knowing I gave my beloved pet the best funeral that I could have with a loving good bye. I feel she did the same thing, and since she was doing it herself, the stickers were just something Caylee really liked so Casey probably put some on the duct tape as a sign of her love.

What about all those Google searches for chloroform?

It was discovered late in the trial that a software glitch in the program that the State of Florida had relied on for their evidence in the trial had a major flaw in it and made it appear that their was a lot of Google hits for chloroform. The Software’s designer, John Bradley, came into the court room and said Casey Anthony had visited what the prosecution said was a crucial web site only once, not 84 times. The defense team explained that during the same period of time a man she was dating, Ricardo Morales had posted something on his MySpace page, which was about, “Chloroforming women to seduce them.” It was probably just a joke! I imagine Casey wanted to find out what lover boy had in mind or what on earth was on his mind? I can’t say that I blame her one bit. Reports have stated that soon thereafter Casey ended the relationship with him. In my mind that was all the ammo the State of Florida and Jeff Ashton had on their bus! She was a party girl and used chloroform to kill Caylee so she could party some more! Well suddenly that bus just ran out of gas in my opinion! I do not believe the jury ever heard about this error as it was kept from them, which is a major injustice in my eyes.

Now on the eve of Casey’s release from probation and the up roar that will surely soon follow it, I would encourage people to keep their emotions and actions in check.
“Slow you’re Roll” if you will, and have an open mind and not jump on the bus, just because someone opened the door to it. There are always different sides to every story and you may not like them or disagree with some of them, but it’s a fact of life and everyone needs to respect each others point of view. Remember this, no two human brains will ever think identical thoughts!