FanHouse MikeEruzione

Twenty-nine years ago Sunday, a group of American college kids, led by head coach Herb Brooks, went up against the heavily favored Soviet Union and shocked the world with a 4-3 win, giving announcer Al Michaels a career moment and creating a piece of history that not only altered sports but America at large.

The YES Network is airing a show called "Captain's Corner" tonight in which a panel of great New York captains all pat each other on the back and talk about what it takes to be a captain. The panel features guys like Harry Carson of the New York Giants, Mike Eruzione of the 1980 U.S. hockey team, and of course, Donnie Baseball and Derek Jeter of the Yankees.

The show tends to get a bit awkward though, because at one point, Don Mattingly gets a little too enamored with Derek Jeter.

When you play 162 games and watch a guy like this (motions to Jeter), you know that he's a leader because he plays hurt, doesn't complain, doesn't talk about it, keeps going out there, you know. Guy gets hit... whatever happens to him, it's just that you see that toughness day in and day out.

You know if you see a Derek Jeter and see his face right, you think, "Oh a pretty boy right?" Right? But you know, but there's a toughness inside of this guy that you see when you're in that locker room everyday, and that's what guys respect. They respect a guy, and that's where you gain it (in the locker room), cuz' you know, there's a saying for me in the locker room, "Guys are naked." And not just "naked" but, you see their personality, you see them inside and out, you know what a guy's all about when you see them in the locker room.