While cleaning out my storage closet i found VHS tapes of the Canadian broadcasts of the 97, 98, and 02 Stanley Cup finals, all won by the Detroit Red Wings.

This is the greatest "find my own shit that ive forgotten about" moment of my entire life.

Anyways I digress. Emotional attachment aside, my mind is blown because

A) im old enough to remember a different era in sports. I just watched Steve Yzerman give Dale Howerchuk a 2 hander so hard that Yzerman's stick broke in 2 places. Not even a word from the officials...not even a look! And both goalies are standup with almost no butterfly whatsoever. Its distracting actually.

B) How did i not realize just how different it was? Has anyone ever experienced this? This is the first full pre-2000 game (1997 Game 1) ive watched of any sport in at least years. Hockey has had a million rule changes so i bet its changed the most, but are others that way?

C) Sergei 4 Life bitches

Ive also had a stark realization of how cool ESPN Classic was when it just showed games.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

My movies: http://russellhainline.com
My movie reviews: https://letterboxd.com/RussellHFilm/
My beer TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebeertravelguide

Have you basically memorized it at this point?

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

Like vs heat or bulls.

Very rarely will I watch a whole game but if it's in the wind half, i'll watch it through

-The Knicks’ coaching search still includes a lone frontrunner, Kurt Rambis, whose qualifications for the position include a strong relationship with Jackson and a willingness to take the job.

I wish these were dvds at least

Who was better than you remember?

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

Hmmm...it will always be some dude from the other team like Horace grant or dan maker lol

-The Knicks’ coaching search still includes a lone frontrunner, Kurt Rambis, whose qualifications for the position include a strong relationship with Jackson and a willingness to take the job.

Lucky to have many of them on VHS via my Dad.

---------------------------------
<--The drought is over

"have fun reveling in your pettiness tho" (C) Dula summing up 98% of OKS

"I didnt finish a damn thing...matter of fact I jerked off after she left."
-Kobe speaking to investigators

L D E A

I was happy with the Cup finals and now im mad there arent any pistons finals

Do people even still do this? Can you record to a hard drive from a smart tv? Do i need to keep carrying around this shitty VCR for the rest of my life?

Hasnt been a finals worth recording to since 04 so its never come up before.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

>I was happy with the Cup finals and now im mad there arent
>any pistons finals
>
>Do people even still do this? Can you record to a hard drive
>from a smart tv? Do i need to keep carrying around this
>shitty VCR for the rest of my life?

There is Bulls fan that posted a ton of full NBA games including the '89 & '90 Finals: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-044bto1AXpoC6xiH5ntA/videos

WHAT'S GOOD *****? What's REALLY good?!?!????!!! Ha HA!
http://40.media.tumblr.com/d8e2daf9f3f37244cd05436bcdf05973/tumblr_mt4qibKq4c1rgam01o1_1280.png

Thanks

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

_____________
if racism is a cancer, black thought is the answer.

Rjcc is code for "bitch-ass troll"

DROkayplayer™

Only one was bits and pieces of a game vs the Bears.

Those were post-trap years so the quality of hockey as a spectator sport had already fallen quite a bit. But did you notice anything different in terms of enjoyability?

I can't even watch regular season hockey nowadays. The systems have killed the game. I highly recommend the movie 'Red Army' if you haven't seen it. The Russian style of hockey is by far my favorite.....and you can definitely see that employed in those old Red Wing teams. I wish someone could find a way to make puck possession and overlapping routes succesful in the NHL. We ARE seeing more small players the past couple of years and that may improve things....but I haven't seen the evidence for that yet. The game needs more imagination/creativity....they play like robots.

Youtube has the full games for the past few olympics. This might be one of the greatest displays of skill ever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmS-pztANow

One of the things that sticks out is their ability to receive passes at full speed. They use their skates alot in doing so.

I find it interesting to watch previous years of sports too. Can we get a consensus on what sports have improved and what sports have gotten worse?

I'd argue NFL football is the only sport that has gotten significantly better to watch since 1990. The television coverage has alot to do with that. Not sure about baseball. Basketball has definitely gotten worse...too many ticky-tack foul calls. Hockey. Not sure about Soccer....can we say that soccer is probably the game that remains pretty much the same from era to era? Trends come and go in terms of strategy....but there's not a huge difference like hockey or basketball. Men's tennis has declined....I think the role of first serves need to be reigned in. I imagine NASCAR has probably benefitted by tv technology like football.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnGxjw5jQE4

Yah man....it's like night and day. So much slower. Way more enjoyable to watch though.

One the biggest things is the players carry the puck over the blueline. The systems have eliminated being able to do that.

Looks hella unorganized. Players skate where they want. You'd get benched for making those sweeping circles when you're changing direction. Now it's all straight lines....plus you always have to BE somewhere. They follow directions instead of instinct.

You can differentiate the players. They have personalities. I think this mainly goes back to them 'going where they want'.

Way more end-to-end rushes. Check out Robitaille at 5:55. What a play. You barely ever see something like that nowadays if ever. A few minutes later McSorley of all people makes an end-to-end rush (9:05). It was so commonplace back then. Damn...the difference is more pronounced than I thought. Such a shame because it's not like teams have a choice. You'd get destroyed playing like this against a modern day system-team. Efficiencies ruined the game. Shit is soulless.

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/evgeny-kuznetsov-capitals-russia-hockey/

"In my team in KHL, if you dump the puck, coach might put you on bench and you never go out and play hockey again."

...

"My first 10 games in NHL, I don’t understand why guys keep dumping puck. I’m looking at coach like, Is he going to say something? And he’s like, happy about it.

Even Ovi. I see him dump it. I’m looking at him like, What?!"

he made playing in russia sound pretty weird. jagr talked about the fact that you're pretty much on your own and, for him, that was a good thing at that point in his career.

in the nhl you have to get pucks deep. now more than ever the game is played in that tiny ass space behind the net.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

Playing behind the net is one reason Kuzy has become a star almost overnight.

He can do behind the net what a lot of guys couldn't do with 15 ft of open ice.

it made a noticeable difference opening up space for the offensive players

The first thing i noticed was that im really used to watching games on widescreen. It kinda sucks missing a few feet of ice in both directions.

>Those were post-trap years so the quality of hockey as a
>spectator sport had already fallen quite a bit. But did you
>notice anything different in terms of enjoyability?

Enjoyability - not really. The Wings were still running the LWL defensively, but i wasnt one of those people who didnt like it. I am a proponent of the lifted red line, so it was strange not seeing those long breakouts.

>I can't even watch regular season hockey nowadays. The
>systems have killed the game. I highly recommend the movie
>'Red Army' if you haven't seen it. The Russian style of
>hockey is by far my favorite.....and you can definitely see
>that employed in those old Red Wing teams.

Watching Fedorov, Larionov, and Kozlov play together is pretty special. They are just playing a different game and the plodders on the Flyers cant keep up. But the way they played is really familiar to the modern game imo.

I wish someone
>could find a way to make puck possession and overlapping
>routes succesful in the NHL. We ARE seeing more small players
>the past couple of years and that may improve things....but I
>haven't seen the evidence for that yet. The game needs more
>imagination/creativity....they play like robots.

Im in favor of international ice. Thats the one thing that would make the most difference imo.

>Youtube has the full games for the past few olympics. This
>might be one of the greatest displays of skill ever:
>
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmS-pztANow
>
>One of the things that sticks out is their ability to receive
>passes at full speed. They use their skates alot in doing
>so.

My stepdad coached youth hockey for a long time and he thinks its a North American problem. Coaches emphasize winning over development so they can move up the ladder. Contrast with a recent Players Tribune article i read from some Russian all star who said his youth hockey experience was all skill development all the time. He was talking about youth hockey schools, not youth competition.

>I find it interesting to watch previous years of sports too.
>Can we get a consensus on what sports have improved and what
>sports have gotten worse?

In terms of the NHL Im conflicted. I love the possession game, but I also love modern parity. Plus the playoff format now is amazingly good. NBA games have gotten less enjotable over time, mostly because of the whistles. MLB games suuuuuuuuuuck now because of how long they take. Football...Ill never forgive changing rules to accomodate more ads. The TV production of football is amazing obviously, but my qualms with the game could fill up a brand new post.

>I'd argue NFL football is the only sport that has gotten
>significantly better to watch since 1990. The television
>coverage has alot to do with that. Not sure about baseball.
>Basketball has definitely gotten worse...too many ticky-tack
>foul calls. Hockey. Not sure about Soccer....can we say that
>soccer is probably the game that remains pretty much the same
>from era to era? Trends come and go in terms of
>strategy....but there's not a huge difference like hockey or
>basketball. Men's tennis has declined....I think the role of
>first serves need to be reigned in. I imagine NASCAR has
>probably benefitted by tv technology like football.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/miracle-on-ice-hockey-russia/

This one: http://www.theplayerstribune.com/evgeny-kuznetsov-capitals-russia-hockey/

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

That's why you see a guy like Nathan Robinson win the OHL scoring title and be able to burn anybody out there, but he winds up withering away in the NHL and heading to Europe.

The rule changes in the NHL have been great for small players between taking out the red line essentially and generally reducing the physicality of play, especially outside the offensive zone.

I think the thing that has made the regular season a little cheesy recently was the shootout but the 3on3 OT has made that better. It's entertaining and I also think fewer teams want to go to OT now that it's there. If it's a conference matchup, I see teams going for the win now in regulation more, though inter-conference games it isn't the case (they want to secure the point and don't give a shit if the other team gets it, too).

I wish the league wasn't talking about expansion. Soon the talent level will reach a point where it will be good enough that teams won't have to lean so heavily on systems, but they will ruin that by diluting it with two more teams.

That is obviously why watching the Olympics or the World Cup of Hockey (96, the GOAT tournament), and so forth is so awesome. The quality of the rosters is way higher than what you'd see in the NHL, probably even in the Original Six days. Even though even the worst players are very good, it's a huge gap between the marginal guys and the best. You see nothing but guys who can make plays at high speeds, recover quickly, make you pay for an opening, close a gap, etc. They are so fluid. When you've got one Doughty and one Kane out there, they stand out. When you've got 20 of each, the game becomes the star.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

Bulls season. I think a couple of them finished it but then me and another friend moved to boxing thanks to an OKP who sold boxing career dvd sets. I think I saw all of tysons career in 2 weekends.

---
"People that need positivity around them all the time are weak individuals in my book" - @lilduval

But 82 episodes of 2.5 hrs each...yeah thats a grind lol

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

No fat on the videos pretty efficient viewing

---
"People that need positivity around them all the time are weak individuals in my book" - @lilduval

Shout out to my pops



The most obvious difference is the size of guy's shoulder pads



I don't remember when they started to shrink down and get more form fitting. Maybe with Tony Boselli? Idk



Another difference is in defensive ends. Those guys were huge and obviously slower back in the 80s and early/mid 90s. With guys like Mack and Von Miller wrecking shop I can't see the NFL ever going back to that

>The most obvious difference is the size of guy's shoulder pads
>
>I don't remember when they started to shrink down and get more
>form fitting. Maybe with Tony Boselli? Idk

I may be wrong but i think this is more of a materials science thing than anything else. Some portion of it involves the speed of the game increasing, but i think the same things can just be accomplished with less plastic nowadays.
>
>Another difference is in defensive ends. Those guys were huge
>and obviously slower back in the 80s and early/mid 90s. With
>guys like Mack and Von Miller wrecking shop I can't see the
>NFL ever going back to that

Not while the league is so tilted towards passing anyways. The league makes passing so easy that the cost benefit analysis of beefing up and running at Von Miller (a truly terrible run defender) is still not worth it. So teams know that everyone wants to pass and they play to defend that. And now every DE in the league is really just an OLB with his hand down.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

>The most obvious difference is the size of guy's shoulder pads
>
>
>
>
>I don't remember when they started to shrink down and get more
>form fitting. Maybe with Tony Boselli? Idk

___________________

Mar-A-Lago delenda est

I was struck by how similar the game was. I was expecting to be really different from the game now but it really wasn't to me and the guys I was watching with.

By far the biggest difference was that they didn't used to call hooking so that was a legitimate form of defense. It actually slowed the game down and meant less big hits because you just interfere with or slow down a guy going for a big hit or whatever.

But the play itself seemed like common North American hockey.

The other huge thing I noticed is how short the glass used to be. It was only a few feet tall! And behind the benches there was *NO* glass! No wonder player have gone into the stands to fight.

My dad hated Tony for some reason and thought that players sandbagged against him when he got old.

Well one time when he came to town, dad went down to the olympia and sat right behind the bench so he could let him know how he felt. After two periods of yelling "GET THE GERITOL!!" every time Esposito went on the ice, ol Tony had finally had enough. He turned around, put the blad of his stick between my dad's eyes, and goes "SHUT. THE FUCK. UP!"

He did



The goalie thing tho really blows my mind. So upright and stiff.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

And yeah, the goalie play is a huge difference. The butterfly changed everything.

seeing goalies with no helmets bugs me the fuck out, and to think there were guys doing it as recently as like 40 years ago. i remember some old-time goalie said something like your first mission to stop the puck, your second mission is to stay alive.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

people today don't know how to behave and more importantly bad behavior is punished more severely (especially in civil court). this is why we can no longer have nice things.

the shifts tended to be longer then. i think the passing was a little more daring in certain areas. there was a lot more room behind the net but only a few guys used it, and more distinctly there wasn't as much emphasis on getting the puck there. i think more was done off the rush and i can't exactly figure out why. now a breakaway or odd man rush means there was a turnover, and the guys are so fast that they usually recover unless it was a huge fuckup. seems like there is a bit less time/space to be had today, despite the enforcement of certain rules that were almost like traveling in the NBA back then.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

If they're on ESPN Classic, or I come across them on YouTube.

College hoops was such a different game in the 80s with no 3 point line at all until 87.

There's a YouTube user named Stephen Barnett who posts a ton of old college basketball and football games. I recently watched Syracuse-Michigan from 1988. So much NBA talent on the court - Derrick Coleman, Rony Seikaly, Sherman Douglas, Glen Rice, Gary Grant, Rumeal Robinson, Terry Mills, Loy Vaught. Many of them upperclassmen. You don't get that now.

Also recently watched much of an old Giants-Cowboys game from '93 on YouTube ....the stadium atmospheres used to come across so much better on TV. Now it's like the mics block out the crowd noise so you can't even tell when it's loud.

>College hoops was such a different game in the 80s with no 3
>point line at all until 87.

Total night and day change strategically

>There's a YouTube user named Stephen Barnett who posts a ton
>of old college basketball and football games. I recently
>watched Syracuse-Michigan from 1988. So much NBA talent on
>the court - Derrick Coleman, Rony Seikaly, Sherman Douglas,
>Glen Rice, Gary Grant, Rumeal Robinson, Terry Mills, Loy
>Vaught. Many of them upperclassmen. You don't get that now.

What was your assessment of skill development then vs now for college aged players?

>Also recently watched much of an old Giants-Cowboys game from
>'93 on YouTube ....the stadium atmospheres used to come across
>so much better on TV. Now it's like the mics block out the
>crowd noise so you can't even tell when it's loud.

Yeah im pretty sure the TV productions have a limiter on the channel with crowd noise. I miss that too. Added a level of intensity.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

>>College hoops was such a different game in the 80s with no
>3
>>point line at all until 87.
>
>Total night and day change strategically

Yup. You watch teams in a 2-3 zone back then, with the guards playing at the elbows.

>>There's a YouTube user named Stephen Barnett who posts a ton
>>of old college basketball and football games. I recently
>>watched Syracuse-Michigan from 1988. So much NBA talent on
>>the court - Derrick Coleman, Rony Seikaly, Sherman Douglas,
>>Glen Rice, Gary Grant, Rumeal Robinson, Terry Mills, Loy
>>Vaught. Many of them upperclassmen. You don't get that
>now.
>
>What was your assessment of skill development then vs now for
>college aged players?

Certainly much more developed low post players back then. In that particular game, Rony Seikaly(a SR.) dominated in the low post. A guy like him wouldn't make it beyond his soph. year now even if he's not that good yet, simply because he's big, athletic, and has some semblance of skill. You never get to see the polished, senior year versions of players like that now. Same with Coleman, he was a Junior in that game, he'd be gone after 1 year now. Michigan's whole starting lineup was NBA players, and none of them were freshmen.

A lot more cohesiveness too, as team's best players had been playing together for years.


>>Also recently watched much of an old Giants-Cowboys game
>from
>>'93 on YouTube ....the stadium atmospheres used to come
>across
>>so much better on TV. Now it's like the mics block out the
>>crowd noise so you can't even tell when it's loud.
>
>Yeah im pretty sure the TV productions have a limiter on the
>channel with crowd noise. I miss that too. Added a level of
>intensity.

Yup, it helped you get a better feel for the atmosphere at the game. Now you really can't even tell which stadiums and arenas are loud, unless you're actually there.

I go back and watch old Big East games and Memphis State games that Penny played in. And every once in a while I'll look at the 1991 UNLV/Arkanas game in full.

----------------------------------
www.maxptah.com
"you gotta be real white to hate on a nxgga for eating." (c) okp infin8

<--- Big Baller World Order

AAU changed all that. Hard to hate guys that youve been having orange slices with for 10 years.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

.

<---
Fuck a sig, my presence is enough.

even into the 90's it looked like some shit off the Atari 2600.

___________________

Mar-A-Lago delenda est

Sorta weird to think that all my memories of my favorite athletes growing up were pretty much in blurs and blobs. I was watching a rerun of a Lakers/Mavs game from 05 or 06 (which wasn't even that long ago!) that was in SD and it was weird not being able to see every detail on Kobe and Dirk and Jet. Let alone the time before Youtube where if something cool happened you couldn't just search up the clip and find it within half an hour!

was really interesting to see how far its come

even thestuff from like the early to mid 00s looks super dated now

CBC didnt have too many frills but i notoced the clock at the end of the period

Its was like a little box with the arena clock in it lol. No graphic at all.

And these fuckin commercials...lmao

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

sometimes while I'm waiting for the game to start.

Or lately with the Bulls, when the game is clearly over.

Watched Jordan's Shrug Game a while back.

https://digife.com

I love seeing the openness of the NBA, the intricacies of the game without a three-point line and weird things like the 3-for-2 free throw rule.

In hockey, obviously the violence and incredible toughness of the players stands out above all. It was less a sport and more a war up through the 90s, and even then it was rougher than it is now. Goaltending has changed drastically, especially if you go way back. It was all about balls, agility and reflexes, much more creative and entertaining than it is today. You don't have to go back that far to when the goalies were basically coaching each other and the staff stayed the fuck out of their way. Now it is all very technical with specialists and a goalie coach. You have so many guys playing a blocking style with a ton of butterfly mixed in and big-ass equipment. The position has changed more than any other in sports, I think.

The only one I think may have changed more is the fullback in football. Watching really old football, when possible, is crazy. If they played today by the old-time rules, people would be getting killed. The strategy isn't as interesting because I think you can still see a lot of it on lower levels today, but it is somewhat cool to see how the game has evolved.

The only I don't see a big difference in and maybe it's because I didn't play it that much is baseball. Obviously the relievers and specialists in general play a larger role today, but that is about all I see in any given old-school game.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

A guy goes into butterfly now and his leg pads are a foot tall.

Seems like there was a lot more arm action in these games. Blocker and glove work i mean.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

keeping track of the score in basketball, since they only showed it every few possessions. and knowing where the first down was in football before that yellow line appeared.

reminds me of playing casino poker and realizing all the automated shit i took for granted playing online. like i couldn't move a slider to '75% of the pot', i actually had to count up the pot, calculate it, and then count my chips. technology, mayne

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

overall i would trade all the clutter and bullshit of today for that, but it just seems weird that they didn't think of a little box with the score for many years.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

i didn't really understand the technical stuff, but back then they didn't have the technology to make the graphics that small with the necessary detail. so if you kept the score on there, it would be some big ass thing on the screen all game

yellow print, which i thought was an odd choice

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

only found microfiche.

*shrug*

____________________________________________________


Steph: I was just fooling about

Kyrie: I wasn't.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8OWNspU_yE

Did you have access to a viewer?

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

i saw some unc games from the 60s. weird how big the swings in pace were, especially with them.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

also a lot of college football games from the 90s and early 00s in general. back then, having cable meant 40 channels *total*, so a lot of big games were only seen by me in highlights.

--------

94: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03JLFqFvtkA
03: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR3d255pDhs

The dude who posted the '94 game seems like he uploaded about the whole damn tournament that year.

Old soccer games are a trip, too. It was so different compared to now. Slower paced, guys got away with a lot more nasty stuff, everything seems less weighed down by tactics.

made for an anxious viewing experience, looking back. forgot what it was like to turn on the tv and not automatically have context of the game.

"who's winning?

"shit, what yard line do they have to get to for a first down?"

- i was watching the '83 nfc championship a few months back. as brilliant as bill walsh was, it's pretty funny seeing the wideouts lined up in a three-point stance before the snap. and the vaunted Hogs o-line? joe jacoby was the only 300-pounder. LOL

- a guy losing his helmet after a collision seemed like a rarity

- neckrolls

- steve wallace/mark kelso mushroom helmet pad appreciation

as an aside, watching the old NFL primetime episodes on youtube is fun as hell. shit seemed so revolutionary for broadcasting at the time. berman (back when he was relevant) did a phenomenal job building tension for the finish. music overlay was hella dramatic too.. http://tinyurl.com/zn7vycp

That was a Sunday institution for me growing up....me and the family friends would play ball during the afternoon and then I'd come back to watch Primetime with my oldest brother (I'll never forget the music and how even though it was scheduled at 10, you never actually knew when it would start because ESPN's lineup was usually: live programming- SC for an hour - then Primetime...so if the live programming went short or long, it threw the Primetime scheduling....so I'd basically be sitting at the TV at 9:30 JIC).

---------------------------------
<--The drought is over

"have fun reveling in your pettiness tho" (C) Dula summing up 98% of OKS

"I didnt finish a damn thing...matter of fact I jerked off after she left."
-Kobe speaking to investigators

L D E A

>as an aside, watching the old NFL primetime episodes on
>youtube is fun as hell. shit seemed so revolutionary for
>broadcasting at the time. berman (back when he was relevant)
>did a phenomenal job building tension for the finish. music
>overlay was hella dramatic too.. http://tinyurl.com/zn7vycp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCC3RQsGitg

WHAT'S GOOD *****? What's REALLY good?!?!????!!! Ha HA!
http://40.media.tumblr.com/d8e2daf9f3f37244cd05436bcdf05973/tumblr_mt4qibKq4c1rgam01o1_1280.png

_____________
if racism is a cancer, black thought is the answer.

Rjcc is code for "bitch-ass troll"

DROkayplayer™

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.