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Great Teams Think of Themselves as Winning Underdogs
It's David versus Goliath, and I hope we remember to bring our slingshots.
—HERB BROOKS, prior to the U.S.—Soviet game at the 1980 Winter Olympics
People remember that during the Olympics, the mask I wore had shamrocks on it—one on the right and one on the left, to the outside of the eye openings. The shamrocks were for luck, and also a nod of pride to my Irish heritage. During the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, the U.S.A. starting goalie, Ryan Miller, played with a mask on which were painted Olympic and patriotic images—and also a shamrock, which I was honored to learn he had placed there as a tribute to me.
I am a mix of Irish and Scottish ancestry, with a bit more of my lineage weighted to the Irish side. My people came from the British Isles. Fundamental to my family history is something that is fundamental to the history of tens of millions in America: Leaving a place—a familiar place, even if at the time it was a place short on opportunity—and traveling to a place about which a lot had been read and talked about, a place that held great promise, yet no guarantees, and about which there was still a lot that was unknown.
You came to the United States because you were persecuted, hungry, and hoping for something better. Many came here because they had to escape something, or get away from someone or something, even the law.
You came with dreams—big dreams. You had big hopes. You believed you could defy the odds, do the ...
