A deep dive

 

Is Dropbox the answer?

I'm in the process of trying to figure out the best way to archive old digital files.

You might recall I had a bit of a scare when I couldn't access files on an old external hard drive. Well, I finally bought a device to help me and, today, got around to emptying the hard drive off (thanks, Marc Ducret!).

Now it's a question of where and how I store all of these old game broadcasts and other files. Sure, Dropbox is nice but it's also not cheap. But is another external drive the answer? Or some other service?

As always, I've been reading and researching and overwhelming my brain.

But this process meant diving into the rabbit hole of broadcasts from the Gades, HAN, WGCH, Local Live, and more.

Remember the Georgian Court basketball games I called in a snowstorm and wound up stranded at Post University? Those broadcasts are there.

The long, hot summer baseball tourneys? Got 'em.

The first lacrosse game I called -- back in 2005? Yes.

And all kinds of wacky Hersam Acorn audio when I was literally the only person who knew what we were doing (thus...Robcasting). 

Some of the files might be bad or weren't complete for one reason or another. That highlights a huge bummer for me. When HAN went primarily to video, we initially talked about keeping the audio element.

Then, we didn't and the audio came to an end so it was on me to create an audio recording if I wanted one.

Eventually, HAN made a business decision to put many of the game broadcasts -- including games that I called -- behind a paywall.

So, at this point, I don't have access to them and that's a shame. I recorded the audio of some but not all.

There are certainly a few I'm quite proud of, such as the 50th FCIAC Championship football game. Chris Erway and I were on fire for that one. I mean, there are so many others.

Hopefully, I'll get that audio one day (even if it's video).

Of course in those files are stories -- good and bad. There's blood and sweat and tears. There are a lot of long nights and exhausting drives home. There are a lot of late-night conversations to give me the energy to make those exhausting drives home.

This is true of every stop I've made along the way.

There are a lot of great memories.

And yet...

My eye drifted to Sep 11, 2015. John Jay of Cross River at Yorktown football. The internet was terrible. We struggled all night. The broadcast felt like a complete disaster on multiple levels. I had to go to the athletic director's office to sign a waiver for us to broadcast the game.

The next day we held our breath at Notre Dame of West Haven for football as we lost power a few times and nerves were raw.

Those are just a couple of the horror stories.

But the triumphs. That 2015 FCIAC Championship. The Cooperstown game between McMahon and Norwalk. The long stretches of hockey and basketball championship runs.

Broadcasting at Webster Bank Arena and Ingalls Rink and Mohegan Sun.

I could go on but I sense you're getting the idea.

These are files that are important to me so I have to find the right place to keep them safe. With those files comes even more memories.

It really could be a book but I don't know that anyone would ever care to read it.