WSJ: Video tape of Super Bowl I discovered

Post by **silentfilm** » Fri Feb 04, 2011 11:23 pm

This is a little bit off topic, since it involves the 1967 television broadcast of the first Super Bowl. However, the Wall Street Journal reports that a video tape consisting of 90 minutes of the game (most of the third quarter was not recorded) was recently discovered. This was a holy grail for football fans, although the NFL is claiming copyright over the tape.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... lenews_wsj

Wingwalker · Post by **Wingwalker** » Sat Feb 05, 2011 3:31 am

I must admit that I'm pretty happy this tape has turned up. The first Super Bowl has always been considered a lost treasure to sports fans. I'm always thrilled to see lost material found again regardless. As far as the NFL....they can scream copyright all they like. When all is said and done, I have the feeling they will be filling out a nice fat check to Mr. Harwood for the videos. Thanks for posting this.

westegg · Post by **westegg** » Sat Feb 05, 2011 7:01 am

Just shows there's always room for unexpected rediscoveries.

boblipton · Post by **boblipton** » Sat Feb 05, 2011 7:58 am

If they sent me a letter like that, I'd remind them what happened to most of the Sybilline Books.

Bob

sethb · Post by **sethb** » Sat Feb 05, 2011 8:31 am

Very cute, even if I had to look up "Sybilline Books" on Wikipedia to understand the comment! Shame on me, I had four years of Latin in high school, too.

I'm certainly no expert on copyrights, so I'll just quote another possibly applicable maxim: "Possession is nine-tenths of the law." SETH

missdupont · Post by **missdupont** » Sat Feb 05, 2011 9:20 am

Since it's still under copyright, it does belong to them, just like if CONVENTION CITY turns up, Warner Bros. owns the rights.

boblipton · Post by **boblipton** » Sat Feb 05, 2011 9:32 am

Of course the rights belong to them. Therefore, if I had a copy, I might as well chop it up into little bits.

Bob

gjohnson · Post by **gjohnson** » Sat Feb 05, 2011 12:00 pm

Last year a pristine video tape copy of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series was discovered in Bing Crosby's wine cellar. No network footage was known to exist of one of the most exciting game 7's ever because the tape had been accidentally wiped in the 70's.

Crosby had a copy made because his Pittsburgh Pirates were involved. It makes me believe that nothing is truly lost in this world - we just have to know where to look.

westegg · Post by **westegg** » Sat Feb 05, 2011 12:27 pm

Exactly. I'm sure there are a few things out there we'd be stunned to know actually still exist.

spadeneal · Post by **spadeneal** » Sat Feb 05, 2011 3:04 pm

This is a tad off topic, perhaps. But this is one of the most sought after videotapes in the world, and now it is in existence.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/Supe ... rch-020511

spadeneal

Kelly · Post by **Kelly** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 4:29 pm

Did somebody recently find the last world series film that Pittburgh Pirates play in 1950 recently I just hear MLB Network show that recently I miss it

azjazzman · Post by **azjazzman** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 12:01 am

gjohnson wrote:Last year a pristine video tape copy of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series was discovered in Bing Crosby's wine cellar. No network footage was known to exist of one of the most exciting game 7's ever because the tape had been accidentally wiped in the 70's.

Crosby had a copy made because his Pittsburgh Pirates were involved. It makes me believe that nothing is truly lost in this world - we just have to know where to look.

It wasn't a videotape that Crosby had made, it was a 16mm Kinescope.

And there was no videotape at all of this game, so there was no tape to get "accidentally wiped in the 70's".

azjazzman · Post by **azjazzman** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 12:14 am

silentfilm wrote:This is a little bit off topic, since it involves the 1967 television broadcast of the first Super Bowl. However, the Wall Street Journal reports that a video tape consisting of 90 minutes of the game (most of the third quarter was not recorded) was recently discovered. This was a holy grail for football fans, although the NFL is claiming copyright over the tape.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... lenews_wsj

The 3rd quarter was the decisive quarter, so the fact that it isn't included is pretty darn significant. It was 14-10 Packers at halftime and by the end of the 3rd it was 28-10.

I'm pretty sure NFL Films still has all the footage they shot of the first Super Bowl, so the discovery of this videotape is not as big a deal as the media is making it out to be.

Lamar · Post by **Lamar** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 10:24 am

From the article:
"All that survived of this broadcast is sideline footage shot by NFL Films and roughly 30 seconds of footage CBS included in a pre-game show for Super Bowl XXV."

Kelly · Post by **Kelly** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 11:31 am

Yeah I am one of the few get MLB network I saw world premire on their network last year it was good you got remember it was in good shape you see wear and tear on certain scene

azjazzman · Post by **azjazzman** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 1:30 pm

Lamar wrote:From the article:
"All that survived of this broadcast is sideline footage shot by NFL Films and roughly 30 seconds of footage CBS included in a pre-game show for Super Bowl XXV."

Well, that is flat out wrong. I have a 30 minute highlight film of Super Bowl I produced by NFL Films that includes all the important plays. Of note, the two touchdowns in the third quarter that the videotape does not have are there as well.

Probably the highlight of Super Bowl I was the play where Fred "The Hammer" Williamson got knocked out cold. Williamson had bragged before the game that he would be using "The Hammer" to knock out two of Green Bay's receivers. There is also footage (with audio) of Green Bay players laughing about it on the sidelines. The videotape would not have that, either.

I have a friend who used to work at NFL Films and I asked him if they ever threw film away, and he laughed and said, "No way. The Sabols are pack rats, they save everything."

Post by **Mike Gebert** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 2:02 pm

Read what it said:

All that remained of the broadcast.

That much is true, it sounds like-- they have a few clips and the NFL Films stuff that went into the broadcast. Doesn't mean NFL Films doesn't have other stuff that wasn't in the broadcast. (I admit it's been portrayed as if the entire game had vanished without a trace, and that plainly isn't so.)

Jim Reid · Post by **Jim Reid** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 2:02 pm

When they say sideline footage, they may mean footage shot from the sideline, as opposed to a high camera.

azjazzman · Post by **azjazzman** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 2:17 pm

Mike Gebert wrote:Read what it said:

All that remained of the broadcast.

That much is true, it sounds like-- they have a few clips and the NFL Films stuff that went into the broadcast. Doesn't mean NFL Films doesn't have other stuff that wasn't in the broadcast. (I admit it's been portrayed as if the entire game had vanished without a trace, and that plainly isn't so.)

Exactly. That is my point. I have read a half dozen different media accounts, and watched a video news report that included an interview with a guy at the Paley Center talking about it, and the strong implication that this is the only surviving material of Super Bowl I is disingenuous at best.

It's cool that they finally found a 3/4s complete videotape of the original broadcast for historical purposes, but it is important to realize that one of the reasons the networks felt comfortable recording over the videotapes to begin with is that they understood that the game itself was preserved on film by NFL Films.

Lokke Heiss · Post by **Lokke Heiss** » Fri Feb 11, 2011 10:50 pm

The strangest part of the discussion is that I must have watched this game. I don't have any memory of this, but I liked football and would certainly have watched at least part of this game. Maybe I saw London After Midnight too, and have just forgotten it.

I do remember the 'Heidi bowl' because just at the very end of the broadcast the game was getting interesting and I remember the announcers trying to explain what was happening, and then being angry, and then thinking the Heidi movie was actually pretty good, and then getting the bulletin about the last second heroics as a crawl at the bottom of the screen, forever connecting Heidi to American football.

azjazzman · Post by **azjazzman** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 1:50 am

Lokke Heiss wrote:The strangest part of the discussion is that I must have watched this game. I don't have any memory of this, but I liked football and would certainly have watched at least part of this game. Maybe I saw London After Midnight too, and have just forgotten it.

I do remember the 'Heidi bowl' because just at the very end of the broadcast the game was getting interesting and I remember the announcers trying to explain what was happening, and then being angry, and then thinking the Heidi movie was actually pretty good, and then getting the bulletin about the last second heroics as a crawl at the bottom of the screen, forever connecting Heidi to American football.

I not only watched it, I was there in person..at the LA Coliseum, which was not even close to being sold out. Still have the ticket and the program, which cost 25 cents. I was ten years old.

dr.giraud · Post by **dr.giraud** » Sun Feb 13, 2011 2:39 pm

Lokke Heiss wrote:The strangest part of the discussion is that I must have watched this game. I don't have any memory of this, but I liked football and would certainly have watched at least part of this game. Maybe I saw London After Midnight too, and have just forgotten it.

I do remember the 'Heidi bowl' because just at the very end of the broadcast the game was getting interesting and I remember the announcers trying to explain what was happening, and then being angry, and then thinking the Heidi movie was actually pretty good, and then getting the bulletin about the last second heroics as a crawl at the bottom of the screen, forever connecting Heidi to American football.

I remember the "Heidi bowl" because I was a kid and impatiently waiting for HEIDI to start. Didn't care about the game.

Jason Beard · Post by **Jason Beard** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 1:56 pm

Although I'm not a sports admirer, this is a fantastic discovery! In the past few years, we have been witness to the discovery of some wonderful treeasures, both from the world of television and film. As others have commented 'Who knows WHAT other tv, film and radio treasures are still waiting to see the light of day??"

WSJ: Video tape of Super Bowl I discovered

WSJ: Video tape of Super Bowl I discovered

Super Bowl I Video -- found

Re: WSJ: Video tape of Super Bowl I discovered