Echoes of an Era

This marked the release of the 2nd movie based off an SNL skit, Wayne’s World. The movie starred SNL cast mates Michael Myers as Wayne Campbell and Dana Carvey as his best pal Garth Algar hosting their cable-access show in Wayne’s parents’ basement. The film had a budget of $20 million but well exceed that returning $183.1 million worldwide becoming the 10th highest grossing film of 1992. Wayne’s World had a great album (as to be expected) that reached number 1 on the Billboard 200, even being certified as double platinum. The most famous song from the movie was easily Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody during the head-banging car ride in the Mirthmobile. Thanks to the famous scene, Bohemian Rhapsody rocketed to number 2 on the charts 17 years after its initial release. The studio originally wanted to use a Guns N’ Roses song for the now famous scene but lead actor Michael Myers said that he would quit the project if Bohemian Rhapsody was not used. The movie may be most remembered thanks to its’ endless list of catchphrases like “Schwing” or “Schyea” or the duo even popularized saying “That’s what she said.” On the 30-year anniversary of the release it is safe to say that Wayne’s World is still a great, hilarious ride.

The 1972 Winter Olympics were held in Sapporo, Japan which marked the first time the Winter Olympics were held outside of Europe or North America. 35 different countries came to the Winter Olympics, including Taiwan and Philippines for the 1st time, to compete in 35 events across 6 different sports. This was the final Winter Olympics where a skier won a medal using all-wooden skis before most skiers switched to mostly fiberglass synthetics. This was also the only Winter Olympics where the Men’s Doubles Luge event ended in a tie and resulted in two gold medals. Spain and Japan won their first gold medal in their countries Winter Olympic history. Japan swept the podium on the normal hill ski jumping to form the group known as the “Hinomaru Squadron” led by gold medalist Yukio Kasaya. The city of Sapporo at the time was the largest city to ever host the Winter Olympics. The city installed a new subway system, had extensive road and airport improvements, and built some new facilities in preparation of the games, many of which are still in use today. Canada withdrew its’ hockey team due to the IOC refusing professional players on its team, despite Canada claiming the Soviet team already used them who went on to win the Men’s Gold. The Soviet Union won the most medals in the Olympic Games with 16 and also the most gold medals with 8.