Fame launched on YouTube doesn't faze 5-year-old Spring Hill boy

By Maria Giordano, The Tennessean

Age 5 is shaping up to be a big year for Josh Sacco.

In the past month, the Chapman's Retreat kindergartner has sat on Ellen DeGeneres' couch, seen his image on ESPN's SportsCenter and made plans to attend the 2010 Winter Olympics.

And he's got the Soviets and Herb Brooks to thank.

The YouTube phenomenon has been viewed nearly 1.8 million times reciting the famous motivational speech from the movie Miracle, about the 1980 U.S. Olympic men's hockey team's legendary upset of the Soviets.

But Josh's climb to fame came about in a distinctly un-Hollywood fashion. After watching Miracle hundreds of times with his hockey-obsessed dad, one day the then-4-year-old started absentmindedly naming off the roster of players from the 1980 U.S. Hockey team as they were in the movie.

When his dad, Jim Sacco noticed, he started trading lines from the film back and forth with Josh - and was amazed to find his son correcting him.

"He's hilarious," Sacco said. "He does Kurt Russell to a T. He would get mad when I flubbed a line. We probably know the whole movie."

So Sacco did what parents do in the YouTube era: dressed Josh in his Easter suit and videotaped him acting out Brooks' famous motivational speech.

At just under four feet tall, looking like a somber, miniature man, Josh thumps a notebook and looks around at a roomful of imagined hockey players as he gives his dead-on rendition of actor Kurt Russell's delivery - all from memory, as the 5-year-old is only now learning to read.

Sacco uploaded it to YouTube so that his five siblings, his aunts and uncles in Massachusetts and Vermont could see it.

"We're a big Italian-Irish-Catholic family," Jim Sacco said. "It was just too cute and he nailed it so perfectly. It was just too good not to share."

E-mails started arriving

Neither Jim nor mother Julie expected the response it would receive.

The video went viral, spreading everywhere from blogs to USA TODAY's Web site to Fox & Friends and Anderson Cooper 360.

Sacco said they didn't realize what was happening until dozens of e-mails via their YouTube profile started pouring into their inbox, thanking them for posting the video.

One viewer said it made his day, and another out-of-work fan said it inspired him "to be the man I need to be" - after he bawled his eyes out.

It didn't take long for the calls to come - the first from USA Hockey, the organization that oversees hockey leagues and the U.S. Olympic hockey team. They wanted to show the video at some presentations.

"We were freaking out," Julie said. "We were thinking, 'I can't believe this is happening.' "

The coach of Josh's peewee hockey team, the Termites, forwarded the video to the Nashville Predators, which led to Josh being on the JumboTron at the opening of the Predators' hockey season Oct. 8.

"The crowds loved it," said Adam DeVault, the entertainment-marketing manager for the Predators games. "He's a talented kid."

Melissa Little Padgitt, a publicist for The Ellen DeGeneres Show, said producers found the video on YouTube as well. First they aired it on the show, and later brought Josh to Los Angeles for an interview and a live recitation.

"I like when everyone was laughing at me when I said 'Screw 'em!' " Josh said when DeGeneres asked whether he liked seeing his video on her show.

Josh is unabashed in his delivery of that off-color but crowd-pleasing part of the speech. He will tell you that it's his favorite line, while giving you his megawatt smile.

"Nobody thought they would win all of their games," Josh said, explaining the movie. "But they did it. They won the golden medal 4-3."

More excitement ahead

The Saccos don't watch Miracle much anymore. Mom Julie says she's sick of it.

But its dividends seem to keep paying off.

Later this month the Saccos will see the Minnesota Wild square off with the New York Islanders in St. Paul, Minn. The Wild invited Josh and his family to the game, where they will show his video on the JumboTron.

"They want him to wear his little suit and everything," Jim Sacco said.

As the late Brooks was a legend in Minnesota, there is also the chance the Saccos may meet his family.

The video continues to receive more hits every day, as commenters request that Josh next memorize everything from Knute Rockne's famous Notre Dame speech to scenes from Lord of the Rings. Copycat videos have gone up, including a version where Josh's voice is dubbed over Kurt Russell's - and matches perfectly.

And finally, courtesy of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the Saccos will go to Canada to see the U.S. hockey team play in the winter Olympics.

Kim Pantall, his kindergarten teacher at Chapman's Retreat Elementary, says the excitement hasn't affected the boy.

"The thing I love about Josh is he's still just Josh," she said. "He's taken all the attention in stride."