Our grandparents can recall where they were and what they were doing when Germany surrendered to end World War II in Europe or Japan gave up in Asia.

For our parents, the memorable moment in their lives was JFK's assassination in Dallas.

And for my generation - folks now in what would be roughly the 38-to-55 age group, the equivalent moment came Feb. 22, 1980. That was the day "we" beat the Russians in Lake Placid. It didn't matter that the actual work was done by 20 little-known college hockey players coached by the most demanding of taskmasters. The 4-3 victory, this "Miracle on Ice" over the Soviets belonged to all of us.

Two days later, a victory over Finland clinched the gold medal.

All of it was done in the context of difficult, even depressing times, in the United States. The Carter Administration was a disaster by virtually any yardstick at home, where inflation and recession were converging to trigger an almost unprecedented score on the "misery index," and abroad, where the Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan and Iran held American hostages.

Many of the details of the historic day remain vivid to me, such as sitting in my living room and watching the tape-delay broadcast of the game three hours after the fact without knowing the final score because the game had ended too late to make the news and Al Gore had not yet invented the Internet. We knew that radio would carry news of the final score, but that would have spoiled the drama and excitement if somehow . . .

Other details were filled in over the years by two excellent movies. The first was an HBO documentary, "Do You Believe in Miracles?" narrated by Live Schreiber. The other was "Miracles," a theatrical release starring Kurt Russell in a memorable portrayal of coach Herb Brooks. Though it's Al Michael's call of the game on TV that we all remember, there's also a nice mix of an original radio broadcast that's floating around on YouTube. Check it out.

 

A few other highlights from this week in sports history:

Feb. 20, 1952: Emmett Ashford is certified as organized baseball's first black umpire.

Feb. 20, 1953: Augie Busch buys the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team for $3.75 million.

Feb. 20, 1971: Phil Esposito of the Boston Bruins becomes the quickest to reach 50 goals in an NHL season.

Feb. 20, 1974: Gordie Howe comes out of retirement to play for the Houston Aeros of the World Hockey Association.

 

Feb. 20, 1997: Barry Bonds signs a record two-year, $22.9 million contract.

Feb. 21, 1953: Niagara tops Siena, 88-81, in a six-overtime college basketball game. Larry Costello plays all but 20 seconds of the 70-minute affair, prompting the school to change his uniform number from 24 to 69.

Feb. 21, 1983: The NBA's San Diego Clippers begin what would turn into a 29-game road losing streak.

Feb. 21, 1993 Utah's Karl Malone and John Stockton share MVP honors as the West beats the East, 135-132, in overtime in the NBA All-Star Game.

Feb. 22, 1959: Lee Petty wins the inaugural Daytona 500 in a '59 Oldsmobile.

Feb. 22, 1979: Billy Martin is named manager of the Oakland A's. The price of hot chocolate skyrockets overnight as marshmallow salesmen flee the Bay area.

Feb . 22, 1981: Peter Stastny of the Quebec Noriques sets an NHL record for points in a road game with four goals and four assists against the Washington Capitals.

Feb. 23, 1934: Casey Stengel begins a three-year stint managing the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Feb. 23, 1980: Eric Heiden completes his sweep of five speedskating gold medals at the Lake Placid Olympics.

Feb. 23, 1983: University of Georgia star running back Herschel Walker signs a three-year contract with the New Jersey Generals of the USFL.

Feb. 23, 1985: Bobby Knight earns a one-game suspension and two years of Big Ten probation for hurling a chair across the floor during a game against Purdue. Lucky for him that this is the Miracle on Ice anniversary week or someone might actually recall this obscure moment,

Feb. 23, 1987: The effects of a brain tumor force Dick Howser to retire as manager of the Kansas City Royals.

Feb. 23, 1988: Chicago approves the Cubs' request to install lights at Wrigley Field and play up to 18 night games per season.

Feb. 24, 1967: Wilt Chamberlain makes all 18 of his field goal attempts for Philadelphia in a game against Baltimore.

Feb. 24, 1968: Gary Unger begins a string of 914 consecutive games played in the NHL.

Feb. 24, 1978: Kevin Porter of New Jersey sets an NBA record with 29 assists during a 126-112 victory over the Houston Rockets.

Feb. 24, 1982: Wayne Gretzky scores his NHL-record 78th goal of the season en route to a total of 92.

Feb. 24, 1985: Jim Kelly throws for a pro-record 574 yards with five TDs as the Hosuton Gamblers rally past the Los Angeles Express, 34-33.

Feb. 24, 1988 Matti Nykanen finishes an unprecedented ski-jump triple in Calgary, winning the two individual events and the team gold.

Feb. 25, 1964: Cassius Clay TKOs Sonny Liston in the seventh round for the world heavyweight championship.

Feb. 25, 1972: The Philadelphia Phillies pull off a steal by acquiring Steve Carlton from the St. Louis Cardinals for Rick Wise.

Feb. 25, 1981: The Boston Bruins and Minnesota North Stars combine for 84 penalties for 392 minutes. I'm assuming fisticuffs were involved.

Feb. 25, 1989: Jerry Jones completes his acquisition of the Dallas Cowboys and sacks 29-year coach Tom Landry.

Feb. 25, 1991: Wayne Gretzky, Bruce McNall and John Candy buy the CFL's Toronto Argonauts. Janet Gretzky makes a killing in Vegas by betting a parlay that one of the partners would die and another would be sent to prison before the NFL plays a regular-season game north of the border.

Feb. 26, 1935: The New York Yankees release Babe Ruth.

Feb. 26, 1989: Secretariat is purchased for $5.7 million.