You know, I was about that same age and it was the first hockey game I'd ever watched too. I was glued to the set and didn't move until after the game. It was right at the height of the cold war and we wanted to beat the big bad Ruskies in every event. Alot of casual fans don't even realize that a) the Russians were basically a Soviet All Star team that had played together for years and hadn't lost a game in forever and the US team was comprised of college kids who'd only played together for a short amount of time b) that the same 2 teams played in an exhibition game a few months or so before the Olympics and the Russians destroyed us something like 10-0 and c) this was not even the gold medal match. The US still had to win 2 more games to win the gold.
