It is the greatest American underdog sports story ever told: how a team of college kids and unsigned amateurs, under the tutelage of legendary coach-and infamous taskmaster-Herb Brooks, beat the elite Soviet hockey team on its way to winning a gold medal at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. The US was the youngest team in the competition, facing off against the four-time defending gold-medalist Russians. No one believed the scrappy Americans had a real shot at winning, but their unblinking fearlessness on the ice prevailed over the seasoned Soviet team. The game instantly became a part of sports lore, confirming the unequivocal dominance of American grit and resilience. Team captain Mike Eruzione takes us behind the scenes of that game, that team, and his life, offering an inspiring look at the friendships, bonds, and amateur spirit that produced the most remarkable upset in sports history and defined a bygone era of Olympic competition. He details his unlikely journey to the ice in Lake Placid and shows how the combination of personalities, regional rivalries, and hard-nosed coaching formed a band of brothers that found strength in one another, even when everyone else counted them out. The Making of a Miracle is riveting proof of how sports has the power to shape lives long after the game has ended, and provides a view from the ice of a profound moment in American sports history whose legacy continues to resonate today. Book jacket.