04/24/24
January 14, 2016
NFL Network Airs 'Lost' Super Bowl on Friday: On Friday night at 8 p.m. Eastern, NFL Network will air the first ever rebroadcast of Super Bowl I between the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs. The game is pieced together from multiple sources and includes all 145 plays. Play-by-play comes from a radio broadcast by George Ratterman and Jim Simpson (who died Wednesday)."Given that no full version of the game exists anywhere and that it is the first Super Bowl ever played, I think it's great that we finally have a full record of the game, even though it wasn't competitive by the end of the third quarter," said NFL Films senior producer David Plaut. (How 'bout a spoiler warning, dude?)
I'm slightly younger than the Super Bowl, so I can't win that competition. The first one I recall seeing live on TV probably was Pittsburgh's 16-6 defeat of Minnesota in 1975. I remember the halftime announcement that Tampa Bay was getting a team better than the game. I was fired up about the Bucs, even though I lived in Dallas, because I didn't know sports leagues could expand.
posted by rcade at 06:53 PM on January 14, 2016
Thanks for the heads-up - I now have something interesting to watch tomorrow.
My first Super Bowl was Super Bowl VII: Miami over Washington in 1973 when Garo Yepremian saw his only "pass" (the ball slipped from his hand as he attempted to pass) be returned for a touchdown. I find it hard now to watch the games - they're so stretched out time-wise, especially with the halftime concert. I might pop in around 10 p.m. ET - if it's close, I'll watch it; if not, I'm sure I can find a history or science show to watch.
posted by jjzucal at 07:30 PM on January 14, 2016
I watched the game in a bar in Fort Walton Beach, FL. I was "on the road again" doing some flight test work on one or another aircraft self-protective system at Eglin AFB. We were off on Sunday, and rather than sit in the motel room, a bar seemed a better choice. I really don;t remember too much of the game, but I do remember Lombardi's post-game presser. He did not seem overly impressed by the upstarts from the AFL.
posted by Howard_T at 11:05 PM on January 14, 2016
I have also watched each Super Bowl, from before that was the name of the game. I was 8 when the first took place, and few of the adults I was surrounded by thought the " AFL-NFL championship game" would ever amount to anything. 2 years later, the Jets changed that.
posted by Scottymac at 02:14 AM on January 15, 2016
Every time Don Shula opens his mouth to trash Bill Belichick, I remind myself of what Shula looked like on the Colts' sideline during Super Bowl III. Stubborn pride watching its own demise unfold without seeming to comprehend that it could happen and was happening. In title games of one form or another, Shula got outcoached more often than not.
posted by beaverboard at 07:57 AM on January 15, 2016
I was around for I but the first I remember is III, being an eight year old in Jersey of course Namath was The Man for my school group. Especially since the Giants were crap for most of the '60s and '70s. What a coat he wore!
posted by billsaysthis at 10:16 AM on January 15, 2016
First I remember is the Niners and Bengals in '82 (I'd just turned 7), doubly so because I won $5 off my mom betting on the Niners. I still suspect she thought they would win too.
posted by yerfatma at 10:46 AM on January 15, 2016
Super Bowl XXII is my first. I remember being really excited when the Broncos went up 10 and then the Redskins dropped the hammer in the second quarter and it was devastating to my seven year old self. The 49ers Super Bowl a couple years later was much more palatable as it felt like it was over before it started.
posted by tron7 at 12:01 PM on January 15, 2016
Apparently, a video of the game as originally broadcast does exist. Not complete, but a major find nonetheless.
posted by NerfballPro at 07:10 PM on January 15, 2016
The look and colors of the game are just as I remember them.
But what a travesty this show is. To have a bunch of yahoos lounging around on a studio set, talking over the game call and cutting to and away from the action as they see fit is absurd. There's no continuity or intelligent commentary, and these guys along with whoever the producers and concept people are that came up with this format, are all assholes for thinking that this is how we want to watch a historic game. They've devalued the game itself and made it completely secondary and almost irrelevant to their inane indulgence. Lame, clueless idiots.
It was all I could do to hang in there until the "end of the first quarter" before bailing out. Someday, I'll get to see the game straight ahead on its own merits, without all the ancillary bullshit.
posted by beaverboard at 08:52 PM on January 15, 2016
Yikes. I was bummed to have missed the broadcast, but now I'm fine with it. The NFL Network, of all things, should respect a game like that enough to let it stand on its own.
The raw camera footage available with MLB's postseason.tv is such a tease. I'm sure it has to do with exclusive broadcast rights sold to FOX, but it's existence for that week serves as a frustrating reminder that the technology exists for different audiences to watch the action in different ways.
There was an inning or two during last year's baseball playoffs where the broadcast booth audio wasn't making it through to the postseason.tv stream. I picked a camera and heard only the sounds of the game and the crowd. I love Vin Scully, but that was the best 30 minutes of baseball I've ever witnessed through a TV.
posted by cl at 01:27 PM on January 16, 2016
I had a television that would drop out the announcers in a sporting event sometimes, leaving only crowd noise. I guess they're on different audio channels or something. It was awesome. That sound be a standard feature of TVs.
posted by rcade at 02:28 PM on January 16, 2016
I'll have to watch that. I watched the entire game as an 8th grader rooting for the Chiefs. Shame that they had to painstakingly reassemble the footage from snippets when existing complete copies of the game weren't or could not be made available.
I admired the Packers but didn't like the way Lombardi condescendingly belittled the AFL players and teams. The Chiefs gave them a good run for their money in the first half, and no doubt got their attention.
I remember thinking at halftime, could we be watching something magical and historic happen?
I asked the same question 2 years later watching Super Bowl III and got a different answer.
Watching the Chiefs return to the big stage to whomp the Vikings in Super Bowl IV was one of the most enjoyable sporting events I ever saw.
Wonder how many ancient SpoFites have watched every Super Bowl live. Me, Howard, a few others perhaps. Unless Howard was stationed somewhere and on duty and not able to see the game once or twice.