This article depicts some of the emotions still felt from the miracle on ice game. The 2014 olympics was the first time since 1980 that the two countries played against each other in ice hockey. The melodrama was also heightened on on the Russian side because this was the first time the Olympics were ever held in Russia, and it was the first time the to countries have squared off since 1980.
Some Russian fans turning on the television in recent weeks could be forgiven for thinking they were moving back in time. In the Soviet era, sports was an essential propaganda tool. Arkady Ratner, a former Soviet television official, once gave an example of how blunt a cudgel hockey could be in an interview with Sovetsky Sport newspaper. Hockey games taking place in North America were typically shown on tape delay at 7 p.m. Moscow time, without the results being announced in advance. But in 1981, an 8-1 Soviet trouncing of Canada coincided with a government-mandated price hike on certain goods. So the Party ordered the media to repeat the news of the glorious victory over and over all day.
"And only later was it said that vodka and sausage got more expensive," Ratner said. "That's how Soviet propaganda worked."
This was another prime example of the propaganda used during the Cold War.
No comments:
Post a Comment