Here is a taste of Bruce Berglund's fascinating piece at The Washington Post: The 1980 Lake Placid games changed everything. In the lead-up to the Games, the preview issue of Sports Illustrated had a vastly different look, starting with the striking cover photo: speedskater Eric Heiden in his gold racing suit. True to the magazine’s prediction, Heiden completed a historic sweep of all five speedskating events. Ratings for ABC’s prime-time broadcasts spiked on days Heiden … [Read more...] about How ABC and the “Miracle on Ice” shaped Olympic television coverage
Bruce Berglund
How did the 2022 Winter Olympics end up in Beijing?
Those who listen to The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast know historian Bruce Berglund. He last appeared on the show in February 2021 to talk about his new book on global hockey. You can listen to that interview here. As part of his research for that book, Berglund traveled to the Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. He tells some great stories about that experience during the podcast episode. Today on his Facebook page, Berglund wrote: I love the Olympics. Four … [Read more...] about How did the 2022 Winter Olympics end up in Beijing?
Episode 82: The Fastest Game in the World
Ice hockey is now a global sport. Even Brazil, Mexico, Jamaica, and Australia have national teams. The National Hockey League has teams in Miami, Tampa Bay, Dallas, Nashville, and Phoenix. Junior league hockey is played in Shreveport and Amarillo. Anyone who wants to understand hockey today must not only tell a story about skates, rinks, sticks and goals, but must also tell a story about television, marketing, suburbia, social welfare, politics, class, climate change, and … [Read more...] about Episode 82: The Fastest Game in the World