Technology Doesn't Always Cooperate

It would have been the most awesome film clip. The vantage point was perfect -- could not have been better. The match was great, and the outcome -- a belt.

I was tasked with the job of videotaping my friend Ra'am Dante's wrestling match tonight. I filmed his walk through the back of the hotel to the curtain. Then I filmed his entrance into the ring. I moved over to a seat right outside the ring where the lighting was good and the wrestlers were practically on top of me, and that's when the camera crapped out.

We missed all the good stuff. Pretty much the whole bout, the signature move, the belt presentation, and the lead-in to the next grudge match when another wrestler grabbed the microphone and called Ra'am out.

Stuff happens, and instead of preparing for it, I left my backup camera at home.

Unfortunately, this happens all the time.

I remember a conversation with my friend Peter Maher for my first book (Inside the NHL Dream), where he talked about the perfect interview with a goaltender on game day -- a rarity in the NHL. After finishing up the interview, he realized his tape recorder didn't record. It's not like you can do the interview all over again. Even if you could, the subject would never be as candid or answer the questions the same way.

Funny, I did the same thing with a goaltender. It was Curtis Joseph, actually. He was awesome, and after I realized I had hit the play button instead of the record button.

Then there's the tape record over the perfect interview you haven't had the chance to transcribe or download yet.

I'm sure everyone at one time or another has experienced a technology outage at the most inopportune time when you can't get that moment back and you missed documenting a piece of your history.

Beat yourself up all you want, but it happens to the best of us. And it will probably happen again. It's like karma. It's how technology rolls.