On this day in 1980 the Games of the XXII Olympiad opened in Moscow. It is most noted in America as being the games the United States- President Jimmy Carter boycotted due to the Soviet invasion into Afghanistan. All told 66 countries were in the boycott. The games were not shown of course on American television.

I thought Carter- as with most of his decisions was wrong in boycotting the Olympics. I am glad of one thing that the Soviets did during their decades in power though- Carter announced the boycott in January of 1980 before the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. The Soviets could have boycotted those games but they didn’t. If they had- the greatest sporting event in American sports history wouldn’t have happened- The Miracle On Ice.