Chapter 36 – The Big Game
Marie woke up two days later seeing a already awake and fully aware Silk. He was on his back and just staring up at the ceiling, wide eyed. She kissed his cheek, which made him look over at her. "Good morning. How long have you been up?"
"A while," he muttered.
Marie sat up and sat Indian style. "Thinking about the game?"
Silk nodded and sat up as well. He just sat there staring at the wall that was in front of him.
"You know what? You guys knew you were going to meet the Russians eventually in these games. No matter how the game goes down this afternoon, the country will still be behind all of you," Marie said to him.
Silk shrugged. "There's a lot of people out there that are taking the game seriously."
Marie reached out and turned his head toward her. She looked into his eyes before smiling and leaning in to kiss him. "Don't think about that. Just go play a game. Play for you, play for the team, and Dave no matter what happens those people can screw themselves. Don't put so much pressure on your shoulders."
"But it's the Russians," he responded. "We've worked really hard to get to this…"
Marie did the only thing she thought of at that moment. She hit the back of his head. "Sorry. I had to do it. Don't let the game in New York affect you. You guys got to experience how they play. They're just another team to beat."
Silk sighed, "I got to get my mind off of this."
Marie sat there a while before smiling. "There is one thing I can do, but I don't know. It'll only help for a few minutes."
Silk smirked. "I guess I'll just have to take you everywhere with me today until five."
Marie rolled her eyes before getting up to go to the bathroom. "Excuse me for a second."
Silk took a hold of her hand. "Hey, I thought we were going to get naked."
Marie leaned down, kissed him, and before she left she said, "See I already have you thinking of something else."
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Later that day, around four the girls including the families stood in line outside the arena. There was already a big group forming and a few people scalping tickets for $340. As Marie stood there she began to get anxious and nervous. She wanted the game to start already and was nervous to see the outcome. In truth, she was nervous because the guys had gotten so far where nobody thought they'd be. It seemed like today was a do or die day.
When the doors finally opened, it felt like everybody was trying to push in at the same time. They girls found their seats near the ice. The electricity in the building was rising and the girls could tell it was going to be an exciting game. Marie's nervousness went down a little, but the anxiousness stayed with her. She kept thinking back to July to then, and took a moment to pray silently. Before she knew it, it was close to game time and the crowd was chanting "USA! USA! USA!"
"Holy shit! No way!" Connie exclaimed when the guys took the ice.
"Go Jack!" Regan shouted when she realized he was out there.
Marie smiled and cheered for him. After the anthems were sung, the teams went over to their benches and the face-off was ready to happen. Marie took a deep breath and thought back to that morning. She took her own advice and calmed down, well the best she could. The ref dropped the puck and after a short battle between Johnson and Mikhailov, the Soviets had the puck.
The Russians took the puck and when they were behind the net, Morrow picked it up. However, Mikhailov got it back and took a shot. Jimmy kicked at it and it rolled away. Marie cheered when Silk got it, but a second later a Russian took it. Jimmy saved the puck again when Petrov took a shot. Rob got checked and he went over the wall of the bench, Connie threw a profanity out, but a few seconds later calmed down because Rob was fine and jumped back out there. When Buzz was skating with the puck, he got slashed from behind, the crowd knew, and before they could say "what the hell?" the puck was deflected in.
"That was a slash!" the crowd shouted, but it didn't help.
Marie clasped her hands together and let out a sigh. The scene looked familiar and she tried not to think bad thoughts. "You know what! Forget about that goal!" she shouted hoping one of the guys heard her through the crowd. She licked her lips when the face off at center ice happened again.
Around six minutes left in the first period, Jack went out onto the ice, the girls cheered for him. Connie had been the one to notice. Marie was more in shock when Jack made a check and fell to the ice. She didn't even see Pav pass the puck to Buzz who scored. The girls jumped up and down next to her before she finally realized they had scored. "Yes!" she shouted and pumped her arms in the air. She looked up at the scoreboard and watched the instant replay after taking a photo.
A little while later, Petrov sent it to another Soviet, but he got tied up by Jack. Petrov got the puck back, and Jimmy saved it. A few more seconds later, he was saving it again. Marie's heart was beating rapidly in her chest and she felt a little jumpy. Johnson had gotten the puck, but when he charged toward the Soviet net, he got checked into the goal. The play kept going, and the Soviets skated with the puck into the US zone. A Russian went around Morrow and scored making it 2 to 1.
The crowd's excitement went down a notch, but after about a minute they started to chant USA over and over again. Marie started to chant and clap her hands along with them. When the game started back up, Marie's heart kept beating rapidly because Jimmy was saving the puck every time it was shot at the goal. When the period was ending, and only eight seconds was left, Johnson got the puck and skated toward the goal. Marie held her breath in those seconds and when she scored like a second left, she screamed and jumped up and down. She took a quick photo of the group out on the ice before the guys headed out for the intermission.
Marie, Connie, Regan, and Jill stood around talking about the period. Marie stood there trying not to think ahead of the game. Right now it was tied and she was thankful that it wasn't 6 to 0. When the first intermission ended, Jill went back to her parents, and to everybody's surprise Vladimir Myshkin was between the pipes instead of Tretiak. Marie thinking that would be a great turn of events took a picture.
The Russians got the puck, but Jimmy hit it away. Bah took the puck, was on a breakaway. Marie's heart yet again jumped, but she let out a disappointed grunt when Myshkin stopped the puck. If she thought that was heart stopping, a few minutes later, Jimmy wasn't getting up. The Russians had scored making the game 3 to 2, but Jimmy had fallen to the ground. "Come on, Jimmy," she whispered. When he got up, he appeared shaken up, but fine and that earned him a few cheers.
"If they want to play dirty, we should too," Connie said.
Marie leaned over. "Nah, lets get them where it hurts, the net." Once she knew it the second period ended and the game was still 3 to 2. Marie sat there watching the zamboni's clean the ice. She was thinking anything could happen. And in her mind she knocked on wood.
The third period was about to start and the whole stadium was rocking. Marie had to yell at the girls to tell them something. She watched the guys go over to the bench. She didn't know what they were doing, but after a few seconds they put their hands together and Marie knew they yelled "USA".
Marie stood there watching the face-off in anticipation. It was the third period. By the end of the twenty minutes, one of the two teams was going to play in the gold round. For a game this close it was a scary situation in a way. Marie knew this period wasn't going to be the easiest one. "Can't the time go faster?" she said out loud. Putting a hand over her mouth, she crossed her other hand around herself.
Bah got the puck from Jack, but sent it back to him, yet Jack sent it him again. Bah sent it over to Rammer who sent it to Buzz. He took a shot, but Myshkin stopped it. The whole crowd groaned in frustration. A Soviet cleared it out. A few minutes later, Silk was taking the puck down the center. Marie cheered for him, but winced when he got checked. The loose puck got picked up by Mark, who went straight for the net.
"Yeah!" Marie yelled jumping up and down when the puck went into the goal making the game 3 to 3. "Holy shit!" she shouted turning toward the girls. When she turned back toward the ice, she took a picture of all the guys on the ice celebrating together.
When the game resumed, the action on the ice was intense. Jimmy was saving shots every time they shot the puck toward him. Around ten minutes and ten seconds, Bah made a check when Rizzo headed out into the ice. Pav sent him the puck, and he skated a few feet before he took a shot. When the red light went on, Marie covered her mouth in shock when a little yell came out. She recovered fast and got a picture or two of the team out on the ice celebrating with Rizzo.
"Unbelievable!" she yelled at the girls. Regan wiped away tears and hugged both of them. Marie looked back out there, the group was headed back and after Rizzo cheered again, he looked over toward them and pointed. Connie put the sign 'he shoots, he scores' above her head. "Oh yeah!" Marie exclaimed. She prayed silently that they kept the lead from now on.
As the clock ticked down, Marie was biting her lip and her nails in anticipation. Every time the puck went toward Jimmy, she would hold her breath. When it was five minutes left in the game, there was a little break. Marie sighed, and closed her eyes. "I think I'm going to throw up," she whispered in Connie's ear.
Connie turned to her, laughed, and put an arm around her. "You'll be fine. I'll be the one who's going to throw up."
Marie chuckled. "This game is exciting."
"I know!" Connie piped.
The game started again. The time to Marie was going slow, but she was amazed at how the guys were skating. All the Herbies they did, all the exercise routines were paying off. When there was 3:19 left, Marie prayed that nothing bad happens to anybody or that a mistake is made. A minute from that moment took forever. The players out there were battling hard, from what she saw Tikhonov was yelling in Russian. It looked like he didn't know what to do.
Around 1:33 left, Marie was shrieking in fright. They were in the American zone and Jimmy was saving the puck left and right. A minute left, Marie took a hold of Connie's hand and without them realzing it, they both were holding onto each other tightly. 34 seconds left, Marie was holding her breath. 11 seconds left, she heard the count down, but all she could think of was "Oh my God!"
"4… 3… 2… 1," the crowd shouted.
Marie couldn't even react to the buzzer. She stood there in shock, but realized after a minute that the team did it. They beat the Russians. Through tears, she took a quick picture of the guys out on the ice celebrating before turning to both a crying Connie and Regan. They hugged and with all three half hugging each other, they watched the guys celebrate. They did it, and after this afternoon, all the practices and games they played the last seven months, paid off. They might win the gold.
Before the guys got off the ice, the girls headed with the families toward the locker room. Marie got another picture of them coming down the hall back from the ice. Smiles graced their faces. Rizzo grabbed a hold of Regan and lifted her off of the floor. Rob and Connie hugged. Silk placed a hand on Marie's cheek, the kiss was a kiss where they could tell the feelings of what the other was feeling. After, Marie circled her arms around his shoulders and placed her head against his chest.
"Congratulations," she said when looking up at him. "I am so proud of you guys."
"Before the game started, my nervousness went down. Herb gave an inspiring speech," he told her. "I love you."
"I love you, too. Now go over and see your family," Marie said to him letting go. She followed him over and together they celebrated.
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When the team finally got outside, the streets were littered with people celebrating. Baker's sister was so amazed with the people that she made a comment about how there were so many flags and that hadn't seen a lot of them since the 60s. The Sports Illustrated reporter went with the team back to the hotel with them. The team celebrated together and they watched the game that the broadcasting channel decided to show at eight. Marie mentioned that the scalpers were asking a lot for the tickets.
"Are you telling me it wasn't worth it? I'd have paid a thousand to have been in that atmosphere," Mark replied after hearing that. 2
As the guys watched the game, they cheered when the guys scored. They got into it and even though they knew what happens, watched in excitement. At the end when they heard Al Michaels exclamation of 'Do You Believe in Miracles? Yes!', they cheered for that. Marie sat there and after a few minutes hugged whoever was near her. She wiped away the few tears that fell down her cheeks. She was so proud of them.
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Marie looked up later that night at Silk and smiled. He was just looking at her. "What are you thinking about?"
"Everything that has happened. It finally sunk in that we beat the Russians. We beat them! Now we have the chance at gold," he said.
Marie laughed at his excitement. "You guys did an amazing job. When you were in the bathroom earlier, I called my parents. Dad was so happy for you. Josh told me to tell you congratulations. Mom told me to give you a hug."
Silk rolled her over onto her back and kissed her. "I love you."
Marie smiled at him and just replied, "I know."
"We should try to get some sleep, but I am still wired," he said.
Marie smiled. "Then we shouldn't waste anytime." She leaned up and kissed him.
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bold letters: I don't really know which sister said it, but it was part of the Sports Illustrated article.
2: Mark Johnson did say that in the Sports Illustrated article.
