Read the opposing arguments from Babe Ruthless and Loyal Homer.
The semifinal game of the 1980 Winter Olympics between the United States and USSR is considered the greatest sports moment in American History. Al Michaels even went so far as to call the American’s victory over the Soviets a “miracle.”
Rather than refer to that as some sort of divine happening, though, I think of it more as Karmic retribution, where the world was correcting a situation gone wrong eight years earlier on a basketball court in Munich.
In a reversal of roles, it was the Americans who had assumed the role of unstoppable juggernaut as they prepared to face their Cold War opposition in the 1972 Munich Olympics. The American Basketball Team to this point had never lost a game in Olympic competition, carrying a 63-0 all-time record, and SEVEN consecutive Gold Medals, into the 1972 Final against the USSR.
But thanks to the horrendous officiating that took place as the clock ticked to 0:00, the U.S. lost a Gold Medal that they rightfully held claim to in a controversial series of officiating blunders that would go down in history as being the worst blown call(s) of all time.
With just 0:03 left on the clock, USSR led the Americans 49-48. Thanks to a foul by the Soviets, though, American guard Doug Collins found himself at the free-throw line facing down the two most pressure-filled baskets of his life.
Despite that immense pressure, he sank the first of his two shots, tying the game at 49-49. That is when everything fell apart.
The Phantom Horn
As Collins was set to shoot his second free-throw, the official scorer sounded the buzzer, but nobody seemed to hear it, including Collins who made the shot, giving the U.S a 50-49 lead.
Nobody can sufficiently answer why the buzzer sounded, but the officials SHOULD have paused the game at least long enough to settle that question BEFORE allowing the game to proceed.
The Technical No-Call
Because Olympic Basketball rules prohibited a timeout after a second free-throw was made, the clock started immediately, and the Soviets were forced to rush the ball down court. However, the Soviet coach, insistent that his team had called time out PRIOR to Collins’ second shot (arguably the reason the buzzer sounded) stormed onto the court in protest.
The officials FINALLY stopped the clock, with 0:01 remaining in the game.
Ultimately they decided that Collins’ shot was legal, and that no timeout had been called. At that point, since the Officials had determined that Collins’ shot was good, the Soviet coach SHOULD have been charged with a Technical Foul for running onto the playing area, and only 0:01 should have been left on the playing clock.
What ACTUALLY happened, though, was that no Technical would be called, and the Soviets benefitted from a de facto time out that they did not deserve to draw up a play while it was all sorted out.
Clock Error #1
Before play resumed, an Olympic official had determined that the full THREE seconds, not just one, should have been added back onto the clock in light of the stoppage of play.
After the game, though, it was determined that this official did NOT actually have the authority to impact that kind of a change during play, and the clock SHOULD have been left at 0:01.
Clock Error #2
After the Olympic official incorrectly ordered that the game clock be reset to 0:03, the scorer mistakenly set the clock time to 0:50, a mistake that once again was not caught, and play proceeded.
If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try Again
Even though the clock had been mistakenly reset to 0:50, the ball was inbounded by the Soviets, who passed the ball down court and missed a shot as a buzzer sounded.
The Americans (again) thought they had won the game, but the call was (again) reversed in favor of the Soviets. The buzzer was apparently sounded to stop play so that the clock could be reset, but the referees on the court failed in their duties once more, allowing play to commence after having initially missed the clock error.
Enforcing a Rule that Doesn’t Exist
Before the Soviets inbounded for a THIRD time, referee Renato Righetto ordered the American defender on the ball to back off, allowing the Soviet player an unobstructed opportunity to inbound the pass. The problem was that Righetto enforced a rule that does not exist in International play. Still, the video clearly shows the American defender backing away from the inbound pass at Righetto’s insistence, also ordering his teammates back in an attempt to avoid a Technical Foul that would not, and COULD not have been called.
Third Try is a Charm
The clock was once again reset to 0:03, and the Soviets were given their THIRD attempt to complete this final inbound pass. Only this time, after two failed attempts that SHOULD have ended the game, they hit a last-second shot to win the game 51-50.
The US team, in protest, refused to accept their Silver Medals and still argue that they had won the Gold. Supporting the American side, Righetto also refused to sign the official scoring sheet.
All of these protests would be in vain, though, as it would be the USSR standing atop the podium.
The team of officials responsible for supervising play in a Championship game at a world-wide competition failed not once, but SIX times, to live up to their expectations and correctly call a game. The Soviet Team had committed one technical foul that they were never charged with, and missed two baskets, while the U.S. team was forced to abide by rules which were non-existent, all over a period of six seconds that should have only taken three, and twice were given undeserved reprieves for all of their mistakes.
The Miracle on Ice wasn’t a Miracle at all – it was PAYBACK!
Posted by Bleacher Fan 
