The United States hockey team stuns the sports world by upsetting the
Soviets and winning the gold medal at the Winter Olympics. The U.S. boycotts the
Summer Olympics in Moscow because of the Soviet Union's invasion of
Afghanistan. Houston Astros ace J.R. Richard's career is cut short by a stroke at age 30.
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February 22, 1980
U.S. hockey team wins Olympic gold
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Captain Mike Eruzione's decisive third-period goal helps the scrappy,
unheralded U.S. hockey team shock the heavily favored Soviets 4-3 at Lake Placid, New
York, prompting sportscaster Al Michaels' ecstatic cry, "Do you believe in miracles?"
It's almost anticlimactic, but two days later the Americans lock up their
first hockey gold medal since 1960 with a 4-2 triumph over Finland.
 2.7M QuickTime Movie - 20 sec.
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March 21, 1980
U.S. boycotts Moscow Olympics
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Citing the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, President Carter tells a group of American athletes that the U.S. won't be sending a team to the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. Later in
the month, Carter orders the U.S. secretary of commerce to ban all exports to the Soviet Union "of any goods or technology" related to the games, further encouraging other nations to join a U.S.-led boycott.
1.3M QuickTime Movie - 23 sec.
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July 30, 1980
Pitcher J.R. Richard, 30, felled by stroke
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J.R. Richard, perhaps the hardest-throwing, most intimidating pitcher
in baseball, suffers a stroke during pregame practice with the Houston Astros.
The 6-foot-8 right-hander, who throws a 100-mph fastball and has twice led the
National League in strikeouts, undergoes immediate surgery to remove a blood clot
in his neck. But his left side is paralyzed and he never pitches again.
1.6M QuickTime Movie - 27 sec.
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