Sports Broadcasting History

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The most important sports broadcasting moment in US history is Al Michaels’ play calling of the semi-final game showcasing the USA against the Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympic games. The second most important moment was the US women’s national soccer team victory against China in the 1999 Women’s FIFA World Cup. The third moment is when Jim Valvano’s squad won the 1983 NCAA finals. The lasting image from the game is when Valvano looks for someone to hug in celebration of the victory. ‘Miracle on Ice’ is the greatest sports broadcasting moment in the 20th century. It was aired on ABC and Al Michaels and Ken Dryden were the broadcasters. This moment is so important because it was truly an underdog story. The USSR was so dominant at the time, even beating the NHL all-stars the year before the 1980 Olympics. The USA team was filled with amateur players and the USA had the youngest team in the whole tournament (Sandomir) The broadcast was watched by 34.2 million people and changed the landscape of hockey in the USA (Sandomir). When time was winding down on the game in the last couple of seconds …show more content…

The USA women’s team beat China in a penalty shootout. The most famous moment from this broadcast is when Brandi Chastain clinched the victory by scoring on the fifth penalty kick. Chastain took off her jersey and dropped to her knees in celebration (Miller) A moment no American will ever forget as soccer became an important sport again in America. The game was sold out and watched by more than 40 million people on ABC (Howard). The whole country was rooting for the women to bring home the gold medal. This women’s team is regarded as the best US team of all time and they lived up to that honor. This World Cup garnered more viewers than the NHL playoffs and inspired girls across the country to continue aspiring to be world-class athletes

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