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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.

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12 Comments

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  1. Leahy
    1. Posted by Leahy Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:27 pm EDT

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    no auctions to take a weekend trip to Vegas with Rick Tocchet or a trip to the ponies with Ed Olczyk?
  2. Adam Jones
    2. Posted by Adam Jones Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:45 pm EDT

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    i'll go halfsies on the neal broton package with you.
  3. Chemmy
    3. Posted by Chemmy Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:45 pm EDT

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    Been there, done that. I was at the Miracle premier in Boston, along with most of the BU season ticket holders. Whenever BU got mentioned the entire crowd erupted into cheers and applause.
    Pretty amazing.
  4. Ga Hockey
    4. Posted by Ga Hockey Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:40 pm EDT

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    As a rec league Ice hockey goalie, I would love to watch this movie with Jim Craig and ask him what was going through his mind as it started to dawn on him that himand the team might just win the game
  5. GT
    5. Posted by GT Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:14 pm EDT

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    What if you end up with the back up goalie? What a jip!
  6. Arnold S
    6. Posted by Arnold S Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:05 pm EDT

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    man, I love that movie. Very inspirational.
  7. Bubbabanjo
    7. Posted by Bubbabanjo Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:05 pm EDT

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    Man I still cant believe Herb is gone. That man was Hockey. He never got the cred of some.....but he was a genius.
    Miss ya Herb!
  8. CUP#12
    8. Posted by CUP#12 Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:40 pm EDT

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    what proud memories this story has invoked in me today! thanks!!
  9. redwinger
    9. Posted by redwinger Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:48 pm EDT

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    @ Leahy
    Why take Tocchet to Vegas when you can probably take Janet!
  10. Minnesota
    10. Posted by Minnesota Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:52 pm EDT

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    hey speaking of a bunch of guys from minnesota, seriously, has anyone heard anything about what mark parrish's plans are?
  11. NYR10LSC
    11. Posted by NYR10LSC Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:13 pm EDT

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    Watching those games from the 1980 Olympics and listening to Black Hawks games on the radio with my Grandmother as a kid is what got me into Hockey.
    Wouldn't trade those memories for anything.
  12. johnniesque
    12. Posted by johnniesque Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:39 pm EDT

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    Can they really get Pavelich to show up? That would be amazing! Not to mention that Harrington is in Switzerland...

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