Posts filed under 'Sports'
Here’s two shots from my iPhone blended together from the Norway / Slovakia game that I got to go to earlier in the week. It was an exciting game, including a goal with .1 seconds left by Norway in the second period to tie the score. However, it was nowhere near as exciting as the USA / Switzerland game that I also got to see, which was easily one of the most exciting sporting events I’ve ever watched in person. It was a zero-zero affair until the third period, with quite a few twists and turns along the way. But fortunately, the States pulled off the victory to proceed into the medal round.
February 27th, 2010
Somehow I found myself watching the ice dancing finals last night at the Pacific Coliseum, sitting next to, of all people, Jon Hamm and his girlfriend (both incredibly nice folks). It was cool to see the Canadians win the gold on their home ice, even if it meant the Americans ended up taking the silver. And I have to say, I’ve got a new-found appreciation for the sport of ice dancing after seeing it in person. Yes, I’ll call it a sport as it’s certainly a hell of a lot more athletic than curling, no offense to my Canadian colleagues. Plus, their outfits are just fabulous!
But that’s not to say that I would ever pay $450 to watch ice dancing, which was the price of my ticket last night. However, if I was offered a free ticket again, I would certainly go, contingent of course that I would be able to sit next to one of my favorite TV actors.
February 23rd, 2010
That’s right, I’m at the Olympics, baby! Just arrived to Vancouver this afternoon; the sun was shining, and it was a balmy 50 something degrees. Seems a little warm for a city that’s hosting the winter olympics, but I’m certainly not complaing. So once I dropped my bags off, I just had to get out on the town and take a nice long walk to get a lay of the land. And of course, I had to make the obligatory stop by the olympic qualdron to check out the flame.
February 21st, 2010
The college football season got underway this weekend, and I can’t help but be reminded of my junior year in college when I followed the Illinois football team for The Daily Illini. I shot nearly all of the games that season, home and away, and you can’t ask for a better seat in the stadium than being on the field in and amongst the gridiron action. It was also a pretty sweet gig getting to take the The DI company car on road trips every other weekend to other schools across the Midwest. Unfortunately though, there was just one drawback – we sucked. The team went 0-11 that year. That’s right, I didn’t photograph a single victory, and believe me, it can get a little tiresome seeing your team get pummeled every f-ing week.
Now I’ll be the first to admit it…I got pretty lucky with the above shot. I could never have predicted that when I clicked the camera, I would capture the football squarely between the kicker’s foot and the outstretched arms of the Illini defender the instant before he blocked the ball. When you’re shooting sporting events, the action can be so fast, especially when looking through a telephoto lens, that sometimes you just have to rely on a little luck. I’ll never forget scanning through my developed negatives on the light table and seeing this shot in the loupe. Holy shit.
And that’s the shame about digital photography. Not only do we no longer have the physical tangibility of our film and pictures, but we’ve also lost that incredible element of surprise. That great ritual of dropping a roll of film off at the photo place, and then coming back to see what you had. And while I love the immediacy of shooting digital (and the price tag), I do miss that ritual.
September 6th, 2009
Here’s another shot I took at the Denver Nuggets game. Man, could that guy fly. Looking at it now, I just can’t help but ask myself…Why did Michael have to come out of retirement and play for the Wizards? It was bad enough that we had to live through the two Jerry’s (Reinsdorf & Krause) dismantling our very own dream team, but when MJ “un-retired” the second time and went to play for Washington, that was it. A part of my childhood soul was crushed, and I was done with basketball.
It’s a shame that these athletes some times just don’t know when to call it quits. I empathize that it must be so difficult to walk away from a sport that you can still dominate, but like any good comedian knows, you should always leave ‘em wanting more. Jordan’s last play with the Bulls was a game-winning shot at the buzzer in the Finals against Utah to win the championship, their 6th in 8 seasons. I don’t think it’s possible to ask for a better curtain call than that.
August 13th, 2009
Growing up in the Chicago suburbs during the ’80s & ’90s, it was impossible not to be a Michael Jordan fan. To be a kid and have this guy playing for your sports team was literally a dream come true. Like so many others, I would spend hours shooting hoops out on the driveway, enacting end-of-the-game MJ heroics. My bedroom was painted red, black & white, and Bulls posters crowded its walls. I cried when we lost to the Pistons, and I celebrated six times over as the dynasty repeated the three-peat.
So when I went to college and eventually became the photo editor for The Daily Illini, I set a goal to get a press pass for a Bulls game. I wanted to get on that floor and see my childhood hero up close and in the flesh. The sports editor at the paper (Ben Berman) and I did our best to convice the Bulls organization that our request to come and cover the game was a legitimate one. We said we were doing a story about former Illini basketball stars playing in the NBA, specifically Kiwane Garris, who was then playing for the Denver Nuggets. They bought it hook, line and sinker (or maybe they didn’t), and granted us the passes.
Ben got to sit in the press box, and I got a seat on the floor for one of the hottest tickets in town. Not only that, but after the game, we ventured into the locker rooms to do some post-game interviews. Of course, we were obligated to talk to Kiwane because of the “story” we were doing (btw. he’s the one guarding Jordan on the left in the photo above), but we soon made our way to the Bulls’ locker room. Unfortunately, Michael was nowhere to be found, so we settled for the giant, Bill Cartwright. As we were leaving and the dream seemed to be coming to a close, we saw #23 talking to someone in the underground tunnel. And as we passed, I couldn’t help but tell him, “Good game, Mike.”
August 12th, 2009
