Post by Grumbledook on Jun 22, 2007 1:35:28 GMT
While in the States we have fared better in archiving old shows than has been the case in the UK and other places abroad, this has not been the case with respect to old sports broadcasts. The rerun potential was limited in the days before 24-hour sports networks, and in any case, who wants to look at old games anyway? MSG recently aired an installment of MSG Vault which gave some insight into how archiving old NHL broadcasts wasn't much of a priority.
The first segment was devoted to showing footage of a Rangers-Sabres playoff game from 1978. But the second segment of the show featured a Rangers-Islanders game from 4-3-1975, which is probably the oldest complete Rangers broadcast in existence. If you let the tape keep running (they used 2" videotape in those days), you get the end of a Rangers-Bruins game from 3-23-1975. Apparently, the technician taping the Rangers-Islanders game figured he could just tape over the earlier game (or perhaps he was instructed to do so, to save money). Fortunately, the Rangers-Islanders game wasn't as long as the earlier game, and we still have some footage from the Rangers-Bruins game (which is a good thing, since it was one of Bobby Orr's final games).
The first segment was devoted to showing footage of a Rangers-Sabres playoff game from 1978. But the second segment of the show featured a Rangers-Islanders game from 4-3-1975, which is probably the oldest complete Rangers broadcast in existence. If you let the tape keep running (they used 2" videotape in those days), you get the end of a Rangers-Bruins game from 3-23-1975. Apparently, the technician taping the Rangers-Islanders game figured he could just tape over the earlier game (or perhaps he was instructed to do so, to save money). Fortunately, the Rangers-Islanders game wasn't as long as the earlier game, and we still have some footage from the Rangers-Bruins game (which is a good thing, since it was one of Bobby Orr's final games).