bids
Got an extra $250,000 lying around? You could buy Mark Pavelich's 'Miracle on Ice' medal
Steve Powell /Getty Images
Do you believe in — sentimentality?
Mark Pavelich does not, at least not too much; the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team forward is putting his gold medal up for auction, beginning next week.
Facing the heavily favored Soviet Union in the semifinals, the U.S. team pulled off an upset victory and went on to win gold; the story became a movie called, fittingly, Miracle.
Pavelich, 56, is not broke and strapped for cash. Rather, he wants to "help his kids out with education, the trust and that kind of thing," according to Heritage sports director Chris Ivy, whose company is handling the auction.
Bidding on the medal starts at $62,500 and goes up from there, with Ivy anticipating a final base number closer to $250,000. Another medal from the team belonging to Mark Wells sold for $310,700 back in 2010. Pavelich earned two assists in the semifinal victory, one of them on the game-winning goal by forward Mike Eruzione.
"(Pavelich) marches to the beat of a different drummer," Eruzione said. "But that's why we love him."