There's still a lot of affection for the true amateur athlete, John Powers believes, but you're no longer going to see a 'kid next door' kind of team win like you did in the 1980 games. Even the little fifteen year-old girl figure skating on the ice is making a salary that's more than most adults make in a year, Dick Button adds. There's no longer any confusion between amateurs or professionals, Paul George adds, you're either in or out. "Would it be fun to have the 1980 team replicated? Yes. Is it practical? No."
After winning the gold for the US Women's Hockey team, AJ Mlezcko remembers excitedly calling up all her friends and finding out that they already knew since it was all over the news. The publicity of the win brought women's hockey to the forefront. Before she had played at the Olympics, she recalls making a presentation at an elementary school on the Cape. When she asked how many kids played hockey only a few boys raised their hands. When she came back to the same school to show the kids her medal she asked the same question and immediately everyone in the classes' hand shot up.
Before she played on the American team Suna Murray didn't consider herself patriotic, but after being cheered for with the flag at the games, she now does. Cecile Tucker became so close with her crew at the games, who became her best friends, that they still get together on the Charles at least once a year. When he came back from the Olympics, Harry Parker went over to the Harvard oarsmen he was coaching and said, "you can do this too ". After winning a gold in ice hockey for Canada, Tammy Lee Shewchuk learned that instantaneous parades had broken out in the streets of Canada and was thrilled to hear how many people were behind them. For Tony Brooks, the Olympics were such a great experience that if he met any high school kid with a shot at it, no matter how small, he would encourage him to "take it ".
In 1983, Bill Cleary remembers taking the Harvard team over to play a few games in Czechoslovakia. When they got off the bus in a small mining town he ran into an old Czech athlete he had known back when he played in the 1956 games in Prague. Just as the Harvard team was taking the ice to play, his acquaintance ran out on the the ice and said into a microphone, "Even though our countries are not friendly, we are true friends, we are Olympians ". He then handed Bill the coat of arms of the city. They spent the rest of the night together looking through scrapbooks of their days as professional athletes. The next morning, Bill Cleary learned that his friend had died. The whole experience highlighted for him that the Olympics aren't just about winning or losing but the competition itself and most importantly, the people.
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