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4-Year-Old Channels Kurt Russell's 'Miracle' Speech

Categories: Amazing Kids



A preschooler in a YouTube video performs an inspirational coach's speech from the movie "Miracle."

And not everyone is happy about it.





Sports fans everywhere remember the Miracle on Ice at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. That was the year the United States beat the Soviet Union in ice hockey, a feat that seemed impossible in the weeks leading up to the games.

Jim Sacco is a big hockey fan, and the 1980 miracle was a big moment in his life, according to a story on Yahoo! Sports. Sacco did what a lot of fathers do -- he shared that passion with his son Josh. (Josh recently turned 5; he was 4 when the video was filmed.) Sacco even brought his son "to Lake Placid to skate on the hallowed ice and sit on the bench where the late coach barked orders," Yahoo!'s Greg Wyshynski wrote on his Puck Daddy blog.

And of course, father and son watched the 2004 movie "Miracle" together.

About 150 times.

These repeated viewings led to young Josh performing scenes from the film. Dad decided to film Josh reciting U.S. Hockey Coach Herb Brooks' locker room speech, as performed by Kurt Russell. He posted it on YouTube to share with family members, but of course other people saw the clip and the cuteness of it all pushed it viral.For comparison, here is Kurt Russell.



Kurt is better, but the kid has a certain honesty and freshness that he brings to the role. His delivery of the line, "Screw 'em!" was particularly powerful.

Anyway, cute kid, right? Well, not everybody thinks so. Some viewers were appalled. For example:

"Whatever happened to studying science? -or literature? -or just watching cartoons (not 150 times in a row, I mean)?" And then there's: "The kid will probably grow into a fine, upstanding citizen. Who works at Burger King."

Some folks enjoyed the clip. "Seriously, guys. Ease up," wrote "Mike D." "I'd be proud to call this kid my son. This video just made my day."

If there is criticism to be handed out, one could direct it at the boy's father. Was Pop interested in snagging 15 minutes of viral-video fame through his child? The Yahoo! story says that Dad posted the video on YouTube to avoid burning DVDs for family members. Still, as parenting sins go, this one isn't as bad as, say, anything Jon and Kate Gosselin have done in the past year. No matter what, you certainly shouldn't attack the kid. He's 5 years old.

Do you think the father was wrong to post this on YouTube? And do you think the video is cute, or annoying?

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