04/18/24
March 27, 2007
The search for sports history: Forty years ago, no one would've dreamed that the hockey game they just watched would've been replayed in its entirety on today's NHL Network, so no one bothered to take care of the footage. Here are some stories of sports video history nuts, and what they have and haven't uncovered.
posted by DrJohnEvans to culture at 09:45 AM - 5 comments
>At this point, though, it's only a dream. Video of the series doesn't exist. Are they sure? I've seen that George-Armstrong-into-the-empty-net-clincher game twice in the last two years. On the CBC and on APTN.
posted by Philfromhavelock at 07:46 PM on March 27, 2007
I love the way they're even assuming that A) the media will LAST long enough to hand it down a generation, and B) the ability to play it will still exist. Cool article though. I love all this archival stuff. If you're a geek like me, reading up on the restoration of Doctor Who stuff is equally interesting.
posted by Drood at 01:34 AM on March 28, 2007
Interesting article, DJE. I love hearing about people finding such treasures in their attic or a relatives' house. Equally interesting is some of the stories behind the discovery.
posted by wingnut4life at 04:50 AM on March 28, 2007
"For all we know, some of sports' greatest games disappeared because somebody needed tape for The Littlest Hobo," Johnston says. "Everybody was guilty of it. That's almost exactly what I did. I had game 4 of the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals and the whole ceremony that followed on a VCR tape but accidentally recorded over it with episodes of "The Oblongs" and "Home Movies". I have the Championship video now but it's not the same thing. It doesn't show Sergei Brylin falling backwards into the bench when everybody was hopping over the boards onto the ice to celebrate.
posted by MrFrisby at 09:39 AM on March 28, 2007
Very interesting, DJE. Having done some archival film research myself, I've sorted through all kinds of things to either be very disappointed with what was recorded, or been pleasantly surprised. The cool one was seeing the '54 Grey Cup footage of the controversial "fumble" (the Alouettes contested it was a forward pass) returned for a TD by ol' Spaghetti Legs, Jackie Parker. Also, seeing the QB jump to make a pass at the line of scrimmage instead of dropping back was something I hadn't seen before. Eventhough CBC airs classic Grey Cup games leading up to the game each year, I hadn't seen too much footage, or many of those games from the '40s or '50s until then. A major disappointment was screening what was supposed to be a jubilant celebration for the Edmonton Grads after returning from overseas only to see a curbside welcome for a few of the players with a couple of cars waiting??? At any rate, I think that these rare finds are something that will keep sport historians and nostalgic fans excited for a long time, either for having found them, or in the continued search for them. On a very different note, I didn't think it was FPP worthy, but Canadian sport history fans might be interested to hear this news about a $1M donation to the women's hockey program at McGill University--the first of its kind in the history of Canadian (Inter)University Sport.