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Video archives provide glimpse of sports' pasts

Sports Illustrated opened its vast repository of content to the Internet through its new Vault website, and tapped Truveo for its video search service.

Ever heard the saying about being spoiled for choice? Being a New York sports fan, the debut of Vault represented that in a big way.

Where to go first? Last month's Super Bowl win for the ages by the Giants? Bill Buckner handing the Mets the '86 World Series by not getting a hand on a Mookie Wilson ground ball?

Nope, even better. New York Islanders run of four Stanley Cup wins, with Mike Bossy, Billy Smith, Trottier, Potvin, Al Arbour, Tonelli, the Sutters, Nassau Coliseum. The days of a hockey dynasty.

We've been Truveo fans for a while, and seeing them show up for Vault should be an encouraging sign for sports fans. The company, part of AOL, does video search and presentation well.

The Islanders glory days ended with the maturation of Wayne Gretzky and the rise of the Edmonton Oilers; by the time I graduated high school the Isles had receded as a championship threat.

In the Vault, Truveo has 994 videos for New York Islanders. Trim that query down to Islanders Stanley Cup, and the tally goes to 72. Make no mistake about it, these aren't digital quality videos, although it may be merciful that this video of the Isles versus Vancouver and the Canucks horrid jerseys isn't crystal clear.

Younger sports fans with more recent memories of their teams should find better video results. Going back a couple of decades, the videos may not look as great. But as a vehicle for seeing into the past, Vault serves its purpose.

One takeaway from Vault and the videos they have: video uploaders need to attach accurate metadata to their content. The Media RSS module created by Yahoo discusses this further.