Sportsman of the Year


 

  T hey owned the whole country for a while. It made you want to pick up your television set and take it to bed with you. It really made you feel good.

Photograph by Heinz Kluetmeier
Text by E.M. Swift

In 1980, the U.S. hockey team won the gold medal at the Lake Placid Winter Games after beating the heavily favored Soviet Union in the semis and Finland in the finals. The former Olympians have since led varied lives. Defenseman Ken Morrow went on to win three Stanley Cups with the Islanders, making him the first player to earn both a gold medal and the Cup. Morrow is now 38 and a the director of pro scouting for the Islanders. Forward Neal Broten, now 38, won the Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 1995. Forward Mike Eruzione, who scored the winning goal, is now 42. He works in the alumni office at his alma mater, Boston University. Goalie Jim Craig, 40, is an account manager for a Massachusetts firm that creates newspaper advertising inserts. Coach Herb Brooks left professional hockey after several stints in the NHL.

 
Sportsmen of the Year:
1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963
1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974
1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
   

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