Super Bowl XIII alert

It's weird that way. I'm sure there's some obscure Patriots-Oilers game from the late 60s that survived only because some NBC exec didn't tape Mannix over it or something.

 

The Ice Bowl? You mean the NFL Films version with Ray Scott recreating the play-by-play, but minus Frank Gifford and Jack Buck? Or the real McCoy CBS telecast with Scott and Co.?

 

If you had the actual telecast, you'd hear one of the funniest lines I've ever heard. Somewhere along the way, Gifford says, "I think I'll have a bite of coffee." Forty years ago and I remember it like yesterday. But CBS lost this one too, except for a couple of highlights. There are also tape highlights of SB I from CBS, and an NBC-TV audio soundtrack, but no full video.

 

From what point where the Super Bowl broadcasts consistently kept? Super Bowl V and after?

 

VII for sure, maybe VI. I know the end is out there in the bootleg video world, though I haven't seen it. Part of V is also supposed to exist. You'd think the networks would have been a little more careful about archiving this, if only to enter the Emmy Awards and the like. Too bad the games weren't on ABC, which has all those old Wide World of Sports shows that pop up in part on ESPN Classic.

 

Refreshing.

 

I and II -- CBS master tapes are missing and presumed destroyed. NBC probably taped over its master tape of SB I, because not until the days of Roone Arledge did networks start routinely saving and archiving sports footage. The NFL and National Museum of TV/Raido have done an exhaustive serach for SB I -- networks, local affiliates, military bases for kinescopes -- and are believed to have come up empty.

III -- Complete, except that some plays on the Colts' scoring drive are missing.

IV -- The last five minutes and postgame are the only color footage known to exist. However, a complete B&W kinescope of the CBS telecast -- shown on CBC -- was located about two years ago.

V -- 33 minutes of second-quarter footage is all that most collectors currently have, though a complete telecast is rumored to be out there.

If you want anything complete from VI on, you can find it. eBay is becoming a more difficult source, as sellers are evidently being cracked down on there.

EDIT: As Clerk mentioned, some CBS highlights of SB I exist, but that's it.

 

The thing that stands out to me the most when I see older original broadcasts (football, baseball) is the silence. Today's announcers think they should be talking ALL THE TIME. Phil Simms didn't let 1 second go by without running his mouth. The pictures tell the story, I don't need to hear the constant chatter from the booth. The old pros knew this, too bad their knowledge wasn't passed on.

 

Slightly off-topic, but RealSports has a great feature on the Sabols and NFL Films this week.

 

I'm hoping I got it all on tape when they re-ran it last night. Haven't had the chance to check yet.

I enjoyed some of the differences from today's game, like fullbacks who actually run the ball. The fullback was the primary ballcarrier for the Steelers until Bill Cowher replaced Chuch Noll in 1992.

Also the roughing the passer rules let the defenders get away with a hell of a lot more. These guys were taking two and three steps after the ball was gone and smacking the quarterback with no call.

And amazingly enough, they both survived.

One thing I had never noticed in the highlight packages. I have always heard how an official took out a Cowboys' defender (Cliff Harris?) on Franco Harris's touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Never noticed that Ray Pinney was in great position to make that block anyway.

 

I've got it on TiVo. If I knew how to get it onto the hard drive of my Mac at home, I could burn it to DVD.

 

If you get a chance to watch NFL Films Super Bowl series, I highly recommend it. Some of the best writing, cinematography and production value of anything I've ever seen. And, of course, John Facenda's "voice of god."