• Sunday-What'sUP February 24 - 10:56 am

Last week our Shoebox Memory Wayback Machine took us to the 1960 Olympics, where a U.P. boy helped bring home the gold. This week we fast forward to the 1980 Olympics by way of the electronic Shoebox of Ron Syria. Born in Ontonagon, he is no stranger to the Pasty Cam, having taken us to the east side of Bond Falls in 2002. Ron has also posted occasional comments in the Cam Notes archives through the years.

While he is an accomplished athlete and coach himself, it was a different kind of talent that took Ron and his wife Margo (in the top photo) to the games in Lake Placid (second photo). Ron is an inventor, and among his inventions: scoreboards and judging systems (third photo). He and his wife were officials at the 1980 Olympics, where he says, "The 'Miracle on Ice' was every bit as exciting as portrayed on TV and in the movies". In later years Ron and Margo toured the country in the course of their scoreboard business:Ron says of the fourth photo, "No, dogsled was not one of the events. : ) It was there so people who had never seen a real dogsled setup could have the experience of taking a ride." By the way, the coming week will see the arrival of quite a few dogsleds here in the Keweenaw, as the CopperDog 150 gets underway. No shortage of snow this year!

Our thanks to Ron for sharing the memories on this day that sees the current Olympics in Sochi, Russia conclude.

Have a good week :o)

Very cool. It would have been so great to have
been at that hockey game.

Thanks for sharing.

Another interesting blast from the past. Nice pictures all, Charlie, but I really love Ron's and Margo's motorhome!!

Certainly enjoyed watching the Winter Olympics. Once every 4 yrs. politics can be put aside and the focus is on all of the best athletes in the world no matter which country they are from.

Historic.

Amen, Dave. We didn't miss much of them. Very
good!

The Copper Country has another strong connection with the 1980 Olympics. Bruce Horsch, who was a goalie on John MacInnes' third national championship team, played four years for the Michigan Tech Huskies. He went on to become a an assistant coach at Tech, and a long time coach and athletic director at Houghton High School.

Bruce was selected for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team, and was one of the final cuts, as coach Herb Brooks decided to go with two goaltenders in Lake Placid.

He's mentioned in this Los Angeles Times article:

Miracle on Ice, Revisited


Bruce Horsch, left, and John Rockwell, goaltending tandem from the 1970's


Bruce Horsch, #31