Slightly OT: U.S.A. Sports Missing Episodes

[Grumbledook]

I was reading the section in Dick Fiddy's "Missing Believed Wiped", and the section on U.S. missing episodes mentions Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game (Warriors vs. Knicks, 3-2-1962). I assume the request is for radio play-by-play tapes, since apparently the game was not on television! In fact, there was no photographer assigned to the game. After the game, a photographer wrote the number "100" on a piece of paper and photographed Chamberlain holding the paper; this is the only visual documentation we have of the game.

As for the Roberto Clemente 3000th hit game, I wonder if anyone has contacted WWOR. Since the Pirates were playing the Mets, the game likely would have been covered by WOR channel 9 (now WWOR). Since it was late in the season and was a meaningless game for both teams, however (Mets were out of the race and Pirates I had already clinched), perhaps not.

[Wright Blan]

Even worse than that: the televised version of Super Bowl I doesn't exist. NFL Films footage of the game exists, but not any of the broadcast despitethe fact that it appeared on two networks! Definetly on my "Most Wanted Footage" list.

[Grumbledook]

Wright said:

Even worse than that: the televised version of Super Bowl I doesn't exist. NFL Films footage of the game exists, but not any of the broadcast despitethe fact that it appeared on two networks! Definetly on my "Most Wanted Footage" list.

Actually, if the rationale behind not archiving TV programs is that television is an ephemeral medium, then it makes sense that sports programs would have a low priority, since games are more ephemeral than pretty much any other programs except perhaps the news - you might record a game to watch later, but if you found out the final score, you probably wouldn't bother to watch. But it is surprising that it didn't occur to anyone that video of the first Super Bowl might be something they'd want to hold onto. I think Super Bowl II is missing as well, along with the 1967 NFL Championship Game (the famous "Ice Bowl" between the Packers and Cowboys).

I was listening to the MLB Home Plate channel on XM; one of the callers complained that many of the "classic" games that are aired on that channel are only a few years old (they replay many games from the last 3-4 years with only a select few games from the before 2000). The host explained that they had a limited number of vintage games; he also explained that they were working to "clean up" some of the older tapes to restore them to what they considered broadcast quality. It surprised me that a channel run by MLB, a sport which is steeped in its own heritage, apparently doesn't have much of an archive. [The tapes are out there, although they may not be broadcast quality: I remember when I was growing up Baseball Digest used to carry ads in which companies sold (probably off-air) recordings of classic games.]

[Wright Blan]

I'm not sure if MLB Home Plate is run by MLB or by XM, but I suspect the latter. MLB owns the rights to the footage, then XM would pay to broadcast the games.
Since Bud Selig and his motley crew can hardly run a professional sports league, I have doubts they can run a satelite radio station.

[Chris Moise]

I've read that the oldest survivng regular season MLB game is a 1969 Cubs game..

[RMF]

Chris said:

I've read that the oldest survivng regular season MLB game is a 1969 Cubs game..

Actually, it's the next-to-last Red Sox game of the 1967 series.

[RMF]

RMF said:

Chris said:

I've read that the oldest survivng regular season MLB game is a 1969 Cubs game..

Actually, it's the next-to-last Red Sox game of the 1967 series.

Season, I mean.

[Grumbledook]

Wright said:

I'm not sure if MLB Home Plate is run by MLB or by XM, but I suspect the latter. MLB owns the rights to the footage, then XM would pay to broadcast the games.
Since Bud Selig and his motley crew can hardly run a professional sports league, I have doubts they can run a satelite radio station.

MLB Home Plate is seriously lacking in content. They'll interview someone, and then play it back 4-5 times the same day. Moreover, it is difficult to take this channel seriously as Mark Gray has a show on it. Any decent-sized market probably has a terrestial sports station that runs rings around it.

[Wright Blan]

Grumbledook said:

Wright said:

I'm not sure if MLB Home Plate is run by MLB or by XM, but I suspect the latter. MLB owns the rights to the footage, then XM would pay to broadcast the games.
Since Bud Selig and his motley crew can hardly run a professional sports league, I have doubts they can run a satelite radio station.

MLB Home Plate is seriously lacking in content. They'll interview someone, and then play it back 4-5 times the same day. Moreover, it is difficult to take this channel seriously as Mark Gray has a show on it. Any decent-sized market probably has a terrestial sports station that runs rings around it.

Heck, Colin Cowherd probably can run rings around it by himself. (Check him out on ESPN radio. XM carries it)

[Wright Blan]

Chris said:

I've read that the oldest survivng regular season MLB game is a 1969 Cubs game..

Are you talking as an audio or video footage?

I do know that "The Shot Heard 'Round the World" still exists ("The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!). I don't know if the full game footage exists, however.

[RMF]

Wright said:

Chris said:

I've read that the oldest survivng regular season MLB game is a 1969 Cubs game..

Are you talking as an audio or video footage?

I do know that "The Shot Heard 'Round the World" still exists ("The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!). I don't know if the full game footage exists, however.

If we count audio (and radio coverage) of games, than the earliest surviving regular season game is of the 9/20/34 game between the Tigers and the Yankees.

The 10/3/51 "Shot Heard Round The World" game was televised, but I don't believe that the footage of it has survived. This is one complete version of the game (as called by Gordon McLendon over the Liberty network) and two incomplete versions (Russ Hodges on WMCA and Red Barber on WMGM) that are known to exist.

[Grumbledook]

Wright said:

Grumbledook said:

MLB Home Plate is seriously lacking in content. They'll interview someone, and then play it back 4-5 times the same day. Moreover, it is difficult to take this channel seriously as Mark Gray has a show on it. Any decent-sized market probably has a terrestial sports station that runs rings around it.

Heck, Colin Cowherd probably can run rings around it by himself. (Check him out on ESPN radio. XM carries it)

Yes - even our local ESPN affiliate WEPN, which pre-empts a lot of ESPN programs (e.g. they had Michael Kay instead of Tony Kornheiser, and Jim Rome instead of Game Night) covers Colin Cowherd.

[Wright Blan]

Grumbledook said:

Wright said:

Heck, Colin Cowherd probably can run rings around it by himself. (Check him out on ESPN radio. XM carries it)

Yes - even our local ESPN affiliate WEPN, which pre-empts a lot of ESPN programs (e.g. they had Michael Kay instead of Tony Kornheiser, and Jim Rome instead of Game Night) covers Colin Cowherd.

Where are you exactly?

Anyway, Cowherd's a genius. And I'm not just saying that because I live in metro Atlanta; home of Cowherd's mancrush, Michael Vick ;D. His going nuts today over Tyler the eighth grader was hillarious!

[Wright Blan]

RMF said:

Wright said:

Are you talking as an audio or video footage?

I do know that "The Shot Heard 'Round the World" still exists ("The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!). I don't know if the full game footage exists, however.

If we count audio (and radio coverage) of games, than the earliest surviving regular season game is of the 9/20/34 game between the Tigers and the Yankees.

The 10/3/51 "Shot Heard Round The World" game was televised, but I don't believe that the footage of it has survived. This is one complete version of the game (as called by Gordon McLendon over the Liberty network) and two incomplete versions (Russ Hodges on WMCA and Red Barber on WMGM) that are known to exist.

Newsreel footage of the actual Bobby Thompson HR exists. It was used in an episode of M*A*S*H* around the 1980 season.

[Grumbledook]

Wright said:

Grumbledook said:

Yes - even our local ESPN affiliate WEPN, which pre-empts a lot of ESPN programs (e.g. they had Michael Kay instead of Tony Kornheiser, and Jim Rome instead of Game Night) covers Colin Cowherd.

Where are you exactly?

Anyway, Cowherd's a genius. And I'm not just saying that because I live in metro Atlanta; home of Cowherd's mancrush, Michael Vick ;D. His going nuts today over Tyler the eighth grader was hillarious!

In northern New Jersey, about 20-25 miles from New York City, where the whole sordid thing known as sports talk radio was born back in 1987, when WHN (1050-AM) changed their format from country to sports talk, and also changed their call letters to WFAN (NYC now doesn't have a country music station, but that's another story). About a year later, WFAN moved to 660, which had been WNBC for the previous 40 years, and the rest is history.

I also used to listen to "One On One" on the college radio station WFUV (11 PM-2AM Saturdays, 11-1 AM Sundays), which gave us a whopping 5 hours a week of sports talk radio (listeners could call in) even before WFAN (I think it first aired in the early 1970's; I'm not sure when it ended, but at some point in the 1990's WFUV became a rather generic public radio station and One On One was cancelled).

WEPN is the new call designation for WEVD, which became the NYC ESPN affiliate in 2001. Since then, they have offered a mixture of network (ESPN) programming, syndicated programming (e.g. The Jim Rome Show), and local programming (e.g. The Michael Kay Show). Evidently, they thought enough of Colin Cowherd to include his show with the other ESPN shows they carry, moving Michael Kay to the afternoon drive (4-7 PM) slot.

WSNR (620-AM) out of Jersey City was also a short-lived Sporting News Radio affiliate. They have a weak signal which does not cover the suburbs, however, and within a year or so, they went to brokered time (mostly foreign) programming on weekdays, and relegated Sporting News Radio to weekends. Soon the weekend coverage was pretty much gone, and they only covered Sporting News Radio in the overnight hours - but last I checked they had foreign programming during the overnight as well. There are rumors that they are going to upgrade their signal and re-launch Sporting News Radio on 620, but that rumor has been floating around for a long time and I don't know if it's true.