Watching old football games

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jon
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Watching old football games

Postby jon » March 10th, 2021, 6:53 pm

I’ve been having a blast watching old football games. I have a ton of Dolphins games on DVD from around 1983 on and the ones from the early to mid 80’s and 1992-1994 are so fun to watch. It’s almost like watching a game on tv it doesn’t even feel like it’s an old game. Does anyone do this?

The football games I have on DVD actually a lot are now on the internet they got put up a couple years ago. But watching it on tv is really fun.

I’ve also been watching some tennis matches from the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Just like football if you having watched it before it’s like watching it for the first time.

Breaker
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Re: Watching old football games

Postby Breaker » March 10th, 2021, 7:36 pm

I don't do what you're doing, but I did have a similar experience.

I went to a Christmas party for a company (a government agency, actually) I had done some contract work for. I didn't know most of the people there very well, doubly so since significant others were invited as well. Anyway, the host had an ingenious game set up.

We were all given some colorful, fake money, and then he pulled out a huge box of VHS tapes that had horse races from the early 80s on them. None were big name races - no triple crown races to be found, just average Saturday afternoon regional track races.

He had betting sheets for each race, so everyone placed bets and then watched a race, winning, losing, etc. Then he'd do it all over again with a different race. People began to really get into it, cheering for horses and jockeys that were probably long dead. We did this for probably 4 hours - everyone had a great time! At the end he had prizes for the person who maximized their fake money, for most elaborate bet won, etc.

Overall it was one of the best "company" Christmas parties I've ever been to.

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VideoGameCritic
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Re: Watching old football games

Postby VideoGameCritic » March 10th, 2021, 8:01 pm

I hear you! Whenever I stumble upon a classic NBA game (circa 1989) or an old tennis match I am mesmerized!

The NFL is so stupid for completing wasting their back catalog. They should have a weekly Wednesday night football game with some random game from the archives (complete with some old commercials if possible). I bet the ratings would be gangbusters. I'd rather watch those than NEW games!

jon
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Re: Watching old football games

Postby jon » March 11th, 2021, 4:03 pm

One thing from the 1984 games that sticks out like a sore thumb is how hard hitting the game was. There were no wimpy rules against hitting people a little late and driving players into the ground, even marquee QB’s. I don’t know if it’s the protection in the helmet and pads now but back then there were a lot of serious injuries. It seemed like there were so many more broken bones back then. And every so often there would be a career ending injury or serious injuries where the player would never be the same.

I also think the skill level was higher. Back then the defenders could really get away with a lot of contact on receivers down field and it was brutal. There were only 28 teams and most teams didn’t run 3 receiver sets until 3rd down. That’s a lot less players.

With tennis I love watching matches before 2004. In 2004 I think they changed the ball to a heavier bouncier ball. That slowed the game down because it was next to impossible to hit winners past people. That’s why there’s all this baseline grinding with the same players winning every major. It’s basically hit until someone misses its very strange.

Back before 2004 the courts played really fast and it was really excited before they changed the ball which is what I really think happened.

Gleebergloben123
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Re: Watching old football games

Postby Gleebergloben123 » March 11th, 2021, 5:51 pm

YouTube is great for this stuff. I was watching MLB playoff games and World Series Games from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, and NFL games from the 70’s to 90’s. Just watching the commercials is fun. And if you’re lucky, you might hear from the awesomest of sauce, the one and only, the greatest of the great, the Mount Rushmore of men, THE. Howard. Cosell.

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ASalvaro
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Re: Watching old football games

Postby ASalvaro » March 11th, 2021, 6:04 pm

jon wrote:I’ve been having a blast watching old football games. I have a ton of Dolphins games on DVD from around 1983 on and the ones from the early to mid 80’s and 1992-1994 are so fun to watch. It’s almost like watching a game on tv it doesn’t even feel like it’s an old game. Does anyone do this?

The football games I have on DVD actually a lot are now on the internet they got put up a couple years ago. But watching it on tv is really fun.

I’ve also been watching some tennis matches from the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Just like football if you having watched it before it’s like watching it for the first time.

once in awhile i'll put a Cubs game on my big screen from the 80s with Harry Carey announcing and the memories start flowing back..its pretty awesome!

Herschie
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Re: Watching old football games

Postby Herschie » March 11th, 2021, 11:45 pm

ASalvaro wrote:once in awhile i'll put a Cubs game on my big screen from the 80s with Harry Carey announcing and the memories start flowing back..its pretty awesome!


Not trying to one-up you or anything, but I found my Roku that puts out 4:3, 480i composite with the YouTube app, so now I'll watch old Cubs games on one of my many CRTs. Can't listen to Harry for more than thirty-five, forty-five seconds before I bust out laughing. He was the best!

Unfortunately my CRT from 1984, my favorite one, only takes RF. But my VCR converts the picture nicely. And I can watch "The Boys of Zimmer" on it. Still have the tape.

I like using old rosters in MLB The Show, but sadly I have yet to find a way to get either my PS4 or PS5 to work on these CRTs.

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ActRaiser
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Re: Watching old football games

Postby ActRaiser » March 12th, 2021, 10:02 am

Last summer and late fall ESPN was showing old boxing fights! They were awesome. I haven't watched as much TV as I used to but they were great. I need to check out Youtube to see if they have the same thing. It was pretty cool to watch some of these old fights.

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MSR1701
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Re: Watching old football games

Postby MSR1701 » March 12th, 2021, 12:29 pm

1980 UGA vs ND... Before my time, but a great watch!

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RDReynolds
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Re: Watching old football games

Postby RDReynolds » March 12th, 2021, 3:24 pm

jon wrote:One thing from the 1984 games that sticks out like a sore thumb is how hard hitting the game was. There were no wimpy rules against hitting people a little late and driving players into the ground, even marquee QB’s. I don’t know if it’s the protection in the helmet and pads now but back then there were a lot of serious injuries. It seemed like there were so many more broken bones back then. And every so often there would be a career ending injury or serious injuries where the player would never be the same.


This may be why the NFL doesn't showcase this - it would shine a spotlight on just how tough it was on the athletes and the damage their bodies had throughout the rest of their lives in many cases. That leads to two things: one, more potential lawsuits and two, the fact that in many ways the game was a better viewing experience back then as we've noted.

Remember, this is the same NFL of today that more or less censored the Blitz remake a few years ago. They're very cognizant of what they are doing.


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