Customer Reviews

The 2006 Rose Bowl National Championship

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

After waiting 5+ weeks for this dvd after I ordered it, and 3+ months after the game itself, I am saddened to report that the picture quality on this dvd horrible. I bought this dvd because I failed to record the game on my dvr (through user error). I assumed that an officially licensed dvd of the game would be better quality than I could have recorded, but I was wrong. I can record and burn dvds of better quality than this on my dvr. The picture on this dvd looks like VHS. This is, by far, the worst dvd picture I have ever seen. Shame on ABC/ESPN for ever licensing this bootleg-quality product.

This is the greatest game of the year, and one of the greatest of all time. It deserves better. If there is another dvd available, buy it instead of this one. If you can get a copy from a friend who recorded it on his dvr at home, get that one instead of this. Whatever you do, DO NOT BUY THIS DVD!

I got this as soon as I could from Amazon, but I'm disappointed to report that this was a poor recording of the 2006 Rose Bowl game.

First of all, it's in 4:3 fullscreen standard definition, which was hugely disappointing since I originally saw it in beautiful HD. I can't believe ABC couldn't spend enough to record this in widescreen.

Even worse, it's a flaky standard definition recording. There are several instances of snow and blurry patches in the playback.

Overall, I'm hugely disappointed that the game didn't get the first class DVD treatment it deserved.

This is one of the greatest games that i missed, 3 quarters anyway. I only saw the 4th qtr and wished i had seen the entire game. Now i can see this entertainingly high-scoring, last-minute affair with many future NFL stars on this dvd. As a previous reviewer stated though, the video/image quality is somewhat poor(the audio isn't great either). During some replays or image transitions, you can see some pixellated images. The closer you are to the screen, the more noticeable the flaws will be of course and overall it's definitely not up to quality dvd standards. Having said that, it still is watchable and the visuals are usually good enough for the most part as the color is vivid and if you watch it in its natural 4:3 mode, it looks really good and sharp at times. (note: i was watching the dvd on a 52" rca hdtv-compatible big-screen and a philips 60" hd-built in tv. it looks better if you view it in fullscreen mode, but i like to watch it in panoramic/16:9 view on my big-screen, which unfortunately stretches the images a little and hence the extra pixellation).

As for the content, it delivers in this area.
* A handful of brief featurettes concerning the University of Texas football team, with an emphasis on Vince Young.
* The game in its entirety, including a pre-game bit with Will Ferrel/USC vs Matt McCounaghy(sp)/Texas.
* AND GET THIS...two condensed, bonus highlights of the great game between Texas and Ohio State, and the blowout between Texas and OU! I was not expecting this and was pleasantly surprised they were on there(esp the classic with THE Ohio State). (note: these highlights have terrible bootleg-looking image quality, but still watchable)

This is how i would rate this release:
5 stars, if you loved the game or love college football, you've got to have it in your collection.
5 stars, if you're a Texas fan. A national championship you won, plus bonus features including 2 other game highlights.
3 stars, if you loved the game or the Texas Longhorns and demand only the best picture quality available because of it. This dvd will let you down in that case.

Personally, i thought the game was great enough to offset the the not-so-great image quality(which is still very watchable imo and comparable to other releases of this type). Overall, highly recommended; but i do wish they would do a better job putting these dvd's together concerning quality control.

For those of us who were eyewitnesses of this game, this DVD is a must. I am a USC alum, but this was still probably the greatest game in college football history. It reminded me of what Pete Rose said after losing game six of the 1975 World Series: "It was a privilege just to play in this game."

Well, being at the Rose Bowl on January 4, 2006 was a privilege, win or lose. I experienced it with my daughter, and it was a treasured memory, never to be forgotten. . . again, even in defeat!

That said, the DVD does what watching the game in person does not: reveal USC's many miscalculations, mistakes, mental errors, decisions gone awry, and agonizingly, barely-by-inches calls and plays that cost them. . . any one of which would have assured victory instead of losing that 12-point lead with five minutes left.

This DVD does definitely bring back the sights, sounds and smells of that perfect, sunny winter day in the Arroyo Seco, the pre-game festivities, hours of hob-nobbing with old and new friends, and of course magical performances by Matt Leinart and Vince Young. This will go down with the 1979 Indiana State-Michigan State Final Four game between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson as a groundbreaking, seminal sports event. Young, Leinart, Reggie Bush and others will battle each other over the next decade for NFL supremacy, and this game will mark the beginning of the rivalry! Pete Carroll always said a team would have to play great to end his winning streak, and indeed I can only think of one other college performance to rival Young's: Joe Montana, bringing Notre Dame back vs. USC in a 1978 loss at the Coliseum. Young was greatness personified, just like Joe.

We will never see another team like USC. They were the greatest team of all time, which is just a way of expresing admiration that the only team that could have beaten them was the 2005 Longhorns with Young at QB.

One last note: It was a bitter loss for USC, but assuaged by the wonderful sportsmanship of the Texas faithful. They were loud and boisterous, but polite, respectful, and knew the traditions of not just Texas but USC, too. It was a pleasure to speak with them, and if we had to lose they were better than some of the foul-mouths who often express jealousy at Trojan greatness. Their women were beautiful, their children respectful, even in celebration. Hook 'em Horns!

STEVEN TRAVERS, author of

THE USC TROJANS: COLLEGE FOOTBALL'S ALL-TIME GREATEST DYNASTY

BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN

USCSTEVE1@aol.com

This was probably the greatest game of all time, with the greatest individual preformance of all time. However that wasn't enough to keep them from presenting it with low-quality picture. Also, if you're a USC fan the commentary should seem just fine. But, if you're a Texas Fan or indifferent, get ready for the most biased broadcast I have ever seen or heard. The same biased anouncer constantly makes the wrong calls of whats happening on the field and his co-anouncer carries him through the game. However this was not the makers of the DVD's fault, just the wrong choice of anouncer by ABC.

I didn't buy this DVD. I watched it though when a friend of mine bought it. This was probably the best college football game I have ever seen! This DVD does this beautiful game a huge injustice with the video quality. I can't understand WHY this all time classic game was not respected enough to produce a quality DVD recording of the game. This game I guarantee will become legendary... things we tell our grandchildren about. Yet we wouldn't be able to show our grandchildren because they wouldn't be able to handle all the pixelation! If you just want to relive the memories... (which are probably more clear than this dvd), then go ahead and buy this dvd. But if you want to collect this game and give it the respect it deserves with a quality recording, then find someone who recorded it with their dvr, or some other recording that actually appreciated this wonderful game. It was a wonderful college football season, an outstanding college postseason, a super-hyped up matchup, and a legendary and unforgettable championship game... oh yeah, and a poor recording to show for it. And all I can ask is WHY? They should fire the whole media department would put this DVD on the market!

Amazing. Absolutly amazing. Vince young baby!

I bought this because I was wantinga copy of the game and something to bring back memories of a great season for UT. What I got was dissapointment.

If you just want a copy of the ABC TV broadcast, a few extras that are so poorly done they aren't worth having, and resolution that is so crude that you see pixelation that appears to be composed of Legos, this is the DVD for you.

This looks like someone took a VHS copy of the game, captured it at LOW resolution, and burned it to a disk. Really, really bad, but it's what's available. I guess they thought the fans would buy ANYTHING and, sadly, they are probably correct. So if you HAVE to have a copy (UT grads), buy it. Otherwise, don't support this kind of shoddy, thrown together junk.

Oh, Vince Young is a GOD. Just watch the last 6 minutes and you'll see why.

I bought this video for $9.99 at the checkout line of our local grocery store. The previous reviewers comments were right, the video quality is on par with an old VHS. I'm going to have to shell out a bit more money for the other DVD videos that are out there. Looks like they have more stars, probably an indication of the quality.

I read the other reviews here about the poor quality of the DVD, but decided to buy it anyway because I'm a fan, and watching that game live was such an amazing experience. I returned the DVD. The picture quality truly is horrible. It is not hi-def, it is not even regular-def. It is, as someone else here said, a poor copy of a poor recording on a VHS tape. It's so bad the picture is actually pixelated. Don't waste your time or money.