Goal Horns Blaring for 'Red Army'

The first time the ice hockey film “Red Army” caught my attention in November 2014, an NPR reporter teased the documentary’s many attributes.

The New York Times also ran a positive review, and I enthusiastically geared up to see this Olympic-centric story without knowing a long, patient wait-time would ensue.

The three-month hold provided a taste of time inside a rink-side penalty box. Lots of action “out there” for would-be patrons of the film, but no way to engage. 

The long wait is finally over as “Red Army” finally reaches the big screen in Atlanta this weekend (March 13-15) for a limited engagement at Tara Cinema 4 (see other city premiere dates here). Fortunately, with the help of the film’s publicity team I was able to screen the film last week.

I thoroughly enjoyed “Red Army” and recommend it for many reasons. Though it starts with a slow-ish pace that initially rolls like an ESPN “30 For 30” episode, “Red Army” gains momentum about 40 minutes in, stealthily setting up several “a-ha” and cheer worthy moments like the masterful on-ice goals crafted by the film’s star players.

These stars are Slava Fetisov, Vladislav Tretiak and other Russian hockey legends who – under the tutelage of domineering state-employed coaches – emerged as the Soviet Union’s biggest hockey heroes. The narrative is mostly built around Fetisov, who first appears stating he is “busy” while studying text messages on camera. He sternly gestures “the bird” to his interviewer who did not take the hint to please hold questions.

The director and interviewer is Gabe Polsky, whose bio states he’s a Chicago native and son of Soviet immigrants. His resume blends college hockey experience with big screen know-how. 

As Polsky chuckles about Fetisov’s middle finger, the hockey star’s career creds fill the screen by the dozen; here’s a guy who knows hockey and may be history’s greatest player of the game.

Viewers learn how the rink sport emerged as the most watched athletic spectacle of Soviet culture and how the national team grew to dominate international tournaments through innovative training techniques including study of chess and ballet.

The touchy-for-Russians subject of Team USA’s “Miracle On Ice” victory at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, displayed through tightly edited cuts of archive footage with Al Michaels’ famous play-by-play, brings viewers to a Soviet hockey “reset” moment that forever changed the lives of Fetisov and his teammates, mostly for the better but often with personal turmoil at the hands of  coach Viktor Tikhonov, who managed four Olympic teams to three gold medals in 1984, ’88 and ’92. He’s the main bad guy (among several, including top brass of the Soviet military) who would not go on camera for “Red Army” before his death in November 2014.

I loved learning more history of the final decade of Communist Russia on ice, its evolution through the early ’90s and transformation in recent decades and the hockey players’ roles as knights or rooks (but mostly pawns) influenced geopolitics, Olympic hockey and the NHL.

It was also fun to see how the “Red Army” team set up later sports moments including Russian stars of the Atlanta Thrashers and other NHL team selections. And I had no idea Fetisov later played for the Detroit Red Wings with a former Team USA foe from the Miracle On Ice in the same locker room.

The motion graphics created for “Red Army” really pop, and their use helped me understand aspects of hockey I did not previously notice. The player and coach “trading cards” with Soviet era colors and animation also helped this viewer keep track of several unfamiliar Russian names and faces.

But the biggest payoff may be the lessons in perseverance and personal relationships – it was pleasant though not surprising to find Werner Herzog, a champion of stories about innovators under duress, shared an executive producer credit.

Watch for the lifelong friendships put through the wringer, and for a mid-century icon who reemerges to save one’s spirit in the nick of time, as bonus takeaways.

Bottom line: Skate on over the blue line and score a win with tickets to see “Red Army” a great film about hockey and several extraordinary lives. 

Images via Sony Pictures Classics except the Sarajevo gold medal photo from this site.

On Miracles And Memories

During Thanksgiving I quickly read the new Al Michaels autobiography "You Can't Make This Up: Miracles, Memories and the Perfect Marriage of Sports and Television" penned with L. John Wertheim (noted Sports Illustrated and Olympic tennis reporter).

For the Olympic or sports enthusiast, it's a fun read!

Though I was familiar with the back story for Michaels' famous 1980 Olympic ice hockey play-by-play and miraculous game-closing commentary that punctuated the event (I vaguely recall age six memories of the first time it aired on ABC in tape delay), when the review copy arrived from William Morrow, it was a no-brainer to skip to Chapter 9 and read the first-hand account of the author's experience during and since that fateful day for Team USA.

Even for those without a visit to Lake Placid, N.Y., under their belt, Michaels' descriptions of the Winter Olympic scene paint a vivid picture of how intimate the venue was when the pucks were in action (the rink is inside a small field house unlike any modern ice arena, much like a "Hoosiers" small town field of play).

In addition to his Miracle On Ice memories, Michaels shared many other five-ringed influences and experiences on the pages of "You Can't Make This Up," notably:

• As a youthful fan of most sports, Michaels recalls "immersing myself in the stories" in a 300-page 1950s era Olympic history book his grandparents gave him at age nine or 10.
• The same book came in handy when Michaels accepted his first Olympic broadcasting assignment for NBC's coverage of the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics in Japan, where he got his first hockey broadcast assignment for the gold medal U.S.S.R. vs. Czechoslovakia game.
• Michaels' first trip to Los Angeles Coliseum was in 1958 (for an L.A. Rams game) when his family relocated from Brooklyn. He later provided ABC's track and field commentary in this Olympic stadium in 1984.
• When asked to name the greatest athlete of all time, Michaels chooses Jim Thorpe. "Here was a man with so much talent and skill that he played professional football and baseball, and won Olympic medals. How differently would we think about Jim Thorpe today if his whole career had been played out on television?"
• Notes on work with dozens of professionals who also became Olympic or other sports broadcasting legends, including Roone Arledge, Howard Cosell, Jim McKay and Bob Costas.
  
• Cosell's disdain for ABC colleagues and decisions made during the 1972 Munich Olympic hostage crisis (after being passed over for the hard news assignment involving Israeli athletes). Michaels also tells is like is was when Cosell became "the world's biggest pain in the ass" just before the Los Angeles Olympics, where Cosell feigned reluctance to provide boxing commentary.
• Perspectives on Arledge, including a chapter on the evolution of storytelling as involved with Olympic coverage. This section also features some surprising details about behind-the-scenes snafus during live Olympic reports in Los Angeles, some with O.J. Simpson and Wilma Rudolph. Great POV related to Joan Benoit, Michael Gross, Maricica Puica, Carl Lewis and many other 1984 Olympic champions.
• Brief notes on covering other Winter Olympic victories including Scott Hamilton, Katarina Witt, Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean in Sarajevo. At a special event in Calgary, Michaels explained some tricks of the trade to Warren Buffett.
• Thoughts on appreciation juxtaposed with disappointment when he learned -- during a drive past Atlanta's under-construction Olympic stadium -- the 1996 Olympic and 1995 World Series broadcast assignments he would not experience.
• Great recent Games notes on Michaels' work in Vancouver, London and Sochi for NBC Olympics reporting, where a 30+ year question about Lake Placid finally got answered.

Whether detailing items with Olympic ties, or describing his tenures working in Arizona, Hawaii, Cincinnati, San Francisco or elsewhere, Michaels effectively leverages humor throughout the book. I laughed hardest at his advice for a colleague reprimanded and nervous about an on-air apology for swearing during a live broadcast.

Lessons on the value of hard work and lasting professional relationships, instilled by his family and mentors, are another key takeaway from this quick read.

I recommend "You Can't Make This Up" and look forward to seeing more of Michaels on future Games broadcasts, now informed by more of his personal storytelling.

Images via William Morrow and Sports Illustrated/CNN

Simon Says ...

While researching Sochi Olympic venues, I came across a fun comparison of the Bolshoy Ice Dome with the 1970s Milton Bradley electronic game Simon. LOL!

Given the building's LED-topped canopy -- useful for creating an electronic image of most any illustration -- my mind eventually wandered to the Mike Myers SNL character who sang "Well, you know, my name is Simon, and I like to do drawings!"

I don't yet have tickets to an event inside the "Major Ice Palace" (the literal translation of its Russian name) but aim to find one -- this Olympic venue is the coolest thing since Beijing's Water Cube!

Image via Imgur