Thu Sep 18, 2008 10:59 am EDT
You're watching "Miracle" with your buddies, and that awesome speech that Kurt Russell gives as Herb Brooks is playing on the DVD. "This is your time ... now go out there and take it!" Chills, all around the living room. Suddenly, somebody hits the pause button on the remote and says, "OK, here's what he really said in the locker room before the game." And that somebody is Mike Eruzione.

Seriously, there are some opportunities as hockey fans that fit into the category of "wildest dreams." Watching the 2004 film that chronicled the Miracle on Ice with someone who was actually on the ice for that miracle is the pretty much at the apex of hockey geek glee.
Grandstand Sports works exclusively with the 1980 U.S. Olympic men's ice hockey team players, as it did with Coach Herb Brooks before he died. For the last several years, this partnership has included auctioning off appearances by these players for charity. Now that "Miracle" has become a part of so many hockey fan DVD libraries, the movie is a part of that charity package: With a starting bid of $4,000 on eBay (auction ends Sept. 23), a member of the Miracle on Ice team will literally come to your house, watch the flick, answer any questions and sign everything in sight. (If you thought the family dog was cute before, wait until he has Jack O'Callahan's autograph on his belly.)
Purchase prices are tax deductable, and proceeds benefit National Urban Technology Center (Urban Tech), a not-for-profit corporation that "bridges the digital divide" with underserved communities in the U.S.
Joe Scully, assistant director for Grandstand's charity initiatives, said that these packages vary each time -- from which player participates to what the buyer would like him to participate in. But the auction has no geographic restrictions.
"The guys take turns with which player will go. It could be Eruzione, it could be Mark Wells, it could be Buzz Schneider," he said. "The player will actually come to your house; or if you run a local hockey team somewhere in mid-America, you can bring 80 people to watch it on a movie screen, and then just hang out and hear about the real experience of the whole thing."
Win the auction, and you can request a player, although the Miracle guys are the ones who decide which one will attend. Some real-world factors play into it: Right wing Steve Christoff is an airline pilot, for example.
Selfishly, we'd love to have Neal Broten there to get both Miracle on Ice scoop along with tales of Dino Ciccarelli on the North Stars and winning the Cup with the 1995 Devils. But ultimately, the dream is watching "Miracle" with goalie Jim Craig, whose psychological journey is at the heart of the film. Because the only way that could be more squirm-inducing would be if Vladislav Tretiak was in our rec room, too.
Puck Daddy is an NHL blog edited by Greg Wyshynski. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

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12 Comments
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Pretty amazing.
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Miss ya Herb!
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Why take Tocchet to Vegas when you can probably take Janet!
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Wouldn't trade those memories for anything.
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