THE NAME ON THE FRONT OF THE JERSEY

 Sometimes a scene from a movie can stay in my brain forever. Not many of them. Just a few. There is one scene from a 2004 movie that is as fresh in my mind today as it was when I first watched it. On the surface, the movie is about hockey. On another level, it is a video handbook on how to tap into human potential to obtain extraordinary results. It is a true story, told of course with some Hollywood creative touches.

Before getting to that scene, I need to provide some context.

Miracle on Ice tells the story of the USA’s victory over the Soviet team, which cleared the way for their gold medal victory over Finland in the 1980 Olympics. To say that the USA team were underdogs is a laughable understatement. The Soviet team was considered the best hockey team ever assembled. They were better than any professional team in the world, dispelling all doubt by beating an all-star team made up of professionals from the NHL.

The U.S. team was a collection of college kids, pursuing an impossible dream. You don’t have to be a sports fan to love a David and Goliath story. And this one is a classic for the ages − especially when you consider the political backdrop. The USSR was unquestionably our Cold War enemy and the US was living through a period of diminished stature on the world stage, epitomized by the Iran hostage crisis.

The Soviet government had poured unlimited resources into their quest to dominate international sports competition and the Soviet army knocked the free world on its heels by invading Afghanistan.

There are two main characters in this story. The first is the coach, Herb Brooks. The second is the entire team. (This may provide a clue as to where I am going with this.)

Herb Brooks carefully chose the players who would compete to make the team. He was criticized for omitting some of the best college players in the country. His answer: “I am not looking for the best players. I am looking for the right players.”

Herb believed he had figured out what no other coach had − how to beat the Soviets at their own game, first by being the aggressors for every minute on the ice and becoming physically and mentally conditioned enough to be able to do that. And then by devising specific strategies to instantly capitalize on every single opportunity − which meant learning to know each other so well that their situational response would become second nature.

And here is the final piece of my set-up.

Herb Brooks is meticulous. He knows each of his players like the back of his hand, and because of his perfect poker face combined with being a man of extremely few words, the players might have underestimated how thoroughly he knew each of them. So, when a player wants to address him, the player will skate over to the coach and announce his name and hometown. Herb will then ask, “Who do you play for?” The player will then respond with the name of his college.

And now, the scene.

The team is playing an exhibition game in Norway. To them it just an exhibition game. They are coasting to a tie with the Norwegian team. Players on the bench are joking with each other and eyeballing attractive girls who are watching the game from the stands.

A flicker of irritation shows itself on the man with the poker face. The game ends and as the players start to leave the ice to head to their locker room, Brooks instructs his assistant coach to keep the players on the ice. They are a cocky bunch and some of them are a bit indignant. They have plans for after the game and don’t want to be held up.

Brooks confronts his team: You don’t want to work during the game? No problem. You can work  now.

He instructs them to line-up, side by side, and skate hard across the rink, turn and skate hard coming back. This is the coach’s favorite conditioning drill, which the players sarcastically refer to as doing Herbies.

They complete the drill, then look to the coach for what comes next.

The man of extremely few words is angry. And that anger boils over as he informs his players that they are not the team they think they are:

You got to think about something else, each and every one of you. When you pull on that jersey, you represent yourself and your teammates. And the name on the front is a hell of a lot more important than the one on the back. Get that through your heads!

Again, he orders them across the rink and back. And then again. And again. After each exhausting drill, the players look to the coach for a sign that their punishment is over. Instead, they hear the dreaded word: AGAIN!

Anxious to go home, the rink manager turns off the lights. The players are now drilled in darkness. Brooks is merciless.

AGAIN! AGAIN! AGAIN!

You think you can win on talent alone? Gentlemen, you do not have enough talent to win on talent alone.

AGAIN!

They are now beyond exhaustion. What they are doing can barely be called skating. Players are stumbling and falling. There is a pause in the action. Each of them is down on one knee or on both knees. They are gasping for air.

The team captain begins to speak, struggling to spit out the words: Mike Eruzione. Worcester, Massachusetts.

Coach Brooks turns and calmly addresses his player. Who do you play for?

Eruzione (still gasping for air): The United States of America.

Coach Brooks addresses the team: That will be all, gentlemen.

Mike Eruzione had figured it out. He was no longer playing for Boston University. He was selected for this team over more talented players because Brooks believed that Eruzione and the other players selected would ultimately understand that the name on the front of the jersey − Team USA − was a hell of lot more important than the player’s name on the back on the back of the jersey.  

The next day the two teams played another exhibition game. Team USA won 8 to 0 against the Norway National Team. It was not just Mike Eruzione who figured it out. They all did. And the rest is history.

No player knew Herb Brooks better than Rob McClanahan. Before playing for him on Team USA, he played for him in college at the University of Minnesota, and after the miracle on ice, he played for him in the National Hockey League, as a member of the New York Rangers.

In all that time, they were never friends. In his own words:

When he (Herb) passed away there were hundreds of players at his funeral and every one of them would tell you they'd play for him tomorrow. He was a winner and that's what you play sports for, but candidly, I was afraid of him.

They were all afraid of him. Throughout their history with the legendary coach, in McClanahan’s words: Fear was the constant.

And that statement might remind you of another “American” team.

Donald Trump has failed on an epic level. Donald Trump has committed numerous high crimes and misdemeanors. Donald Trump has vandalized every government agency within his power. Donald Trump has sought every opportunity to use his office to enrich himself, his family, and his friends. Donald Trump works tirelessly to turn his Americans against all other Americans.

And Donald Trump could not have done a fraction of this, were it not for the spectacular cowardice of the Republican Senate. From the moment Trump won the election, fear has been the one constant − fear of being mean tweeted, fear of being branded with a derogatory nickname, fear of being primaried by a more Trump-loyal Republican.

Herb Brooks explained the key to his recruiting: I looked for people first, athletes second. I wanted people with a sound value system as you cannot buy values. You’re only as good as your values. I learned early on that you do not put greatness into people…but somehow try to pull it out.

He began with a roster of 68 players that needed to be quickly reduced to 26. He started the process with a 300-word psychological test designed to find the players most coachable under his system, and who possessed the right values.

Republicans have been taking a values test since Trump’s first day in office. 23 Republican Senators will receive their test results in November, scored by the voters in their states. Enough of them are in danger of failing that the Party has been forced to play defense in states where they were comfortably playing offense just a few months ago.

Thanks to Trump’s crashing poll numbers, control of the Senate is now up for grabs.

The ex-Republican strategists behind The Lincoln Project have been skillfully attacking Trump with brilliant tv ads that use his own words and actions to highlight his incompetence. And now they have turned their attention to Republican candidates in states where Trumpism is on the decline.

The founders of the Lincoln Project have made their case blessedly simple. They were Republicans before the party surrendered its soul to Trump. They will likely join the future Republican party, but only after the current one is “burned to the ground.” They offer a simple choice to current Republicans: “Vote for Trump or vote for the country.”

Passing a values test while clinging to the coattails of a valueless leader is no easy trick − especially when that leader is famously vindictive to those who might be inclined to put country or principles first. To escape his wrath, it is best to be silent.

There are predictions that Trump enablers are waiting until just after Labor Day for a miraculous Trump turnaround before they cut the coattails and desperately try to rebrand themselves as true Republicans, dedicated to taking back their party and saving their state and their country from rampaging Socialists, otherwise known as Democrats.

Some of them will undoubtedly squeak by to win their election, but none will ever win back their reputation. How will they justify their silence to their American people? How will they rationalize their cowardly sycophancy while their country was being brought to its knees?

They chose their team. And, whether in or out of elected office, that jersey is on their backs forever. It is the jersey that can never come off. History will show no mercy.

Of course, there is still an opportunity for each of one of them to have his or her Mike Eruzione moment. But the game clock is fast running out.

With a Biden win, Democrats need to pick-up 3 seats to take back the Senate. Mathematically speaking, each contest is equally important. But because of the stature, personalities, and behavior of the incumbents, there are 3 contests that command attention.

Conventional wisdom says that Amy McGrath has little chance of dethroning Moscow Mitch in deep red Kentucky. In 2014, Mitch won reelection by a comfortable 14 percentage points. Pundits point out that though Mitch often appears vulnerable early in a race, he always manages to right the ship by election day.

This time around Anti-Mitch campaigns have asked a thought-provoking question: How is it that Mitch has grown extremely wealthy during his years in the Senate, while much of Kentucky remains mired in poverty? He has yet to offer an explanation. The question will continue to be asked, over and over again. Ignoring it will seem a lot like “taking the fifth.”

The latest Quinnipiac University poll shows McConnell leading McGrath by an uncomfortable margin of 49% to 44%.

Conventional wisdom also says that Lindsey Graham is unbeatable in deep red South Carolina. Graham won reelection in 2014 by 18 percentage points. Once upon a time, South Carolinians knew Lindsey as the hawkish sidekick to John McCain. The never apologetic ex-P.O.W. famously said about Vladimir Putin, “I looked into his eyes and saw three letters, a K, a G, and a B.”

McCain was Graham’s friend and mentor. Others, including George W. Bush, could be fooled by Putin’s act, but not John McCain. Russia was our enemy, pure and simple. Lindsey − the old Lindsey − would have agreed.

The new Lindsey would probably still agree but is now careful not to offend his golfing buddy who not only disparaged his friend and mentor, but for some yet to be revealed reason is totally owned by Vladimir Putin.

Quinnipiac now shows the new Lindsey tied with Jamie Harrison, at 44% each.

As for the Senate race in Maine, conventional wisdom is doing a bit of a tap dance, much like the incumbent herself. Mainers liked Susan Collins for her fierce independence. In 2014, she won reelection to a 4^th term by a whopping 68%.

But her fear of angering Tyrant Trump has turned her into an embarrassment. Reacting to Trump’s traitorous transgressions, she was famously “concerned,” or “disturbed.” Her response should have been nothing short of outrage. She voted not to convict the impeached president because she believed that he “has learned his lesson.” She does have a knack for punchlines.

Challenger, Sara Gideon is leading Collins 47% to 43%.

You already know what Herb Brooks thought of conventional wisdom. According to conventional wisdom, his team would be aiming high if they had set their sights on winning the bronze metal, but the silver, or the gold? What nonsense!

In the locker room before going on the ice to face the Soviets, he told his team that “great moments are born from great opportunity.”

The virus handed Trump a great opportunity. He took the stage with a team of experts and tried to act like a leader. Even that mediocre performance was enough to drive his poll numbers to his all-time high of 49%, with a realistic chance of going higher. A scared to death nation was ready to keep him in office.

But sharing the glory was a pill too bitter to swallow. It didn’t jive with his “I alone can fix it” bumper sticker motto. Those “so called experts” all needed to be fired or demoted, and of course, ridiculed. The name on the front of Donald Trump’s jersey is the same as the name on the back. It always was and always will be.

So, the game is on, Trump is finished, and I will of course be rooting hard for McConnell, Graham, and Collins to be rejected by the voters. But I will hold on to some degree of hope (Call me crazy!) that they will use their influence and their voices to demand a free and fair election and once the results are in − win or lose − will stand up for Democracy and the rule of law.

After all, miracles have been known to happen.

 

Bruce Coltin

Surviving Trump Two Minutes at a Time