Heads Up....

While working a rare Sunday shift (well not so rare these days), I shot Abilene Christian University's soccer game against Southwestern Oklahoma. The game wasn't all that great ACU won the game pretty easy. I usually prefer a closer game, there is a lot more emotion plus both teams are a lot more intense. One thing I hate about shooting soccer, is if a team gets a decent lead, the last 20 minutes of the game the winning team is spent mostly playing defense and killing the clock. Luckily, ACY was doing most of their scoring in the second half and spent most of the half in SWO's side of the field. I ended up getting a few decent header shot, but I almost wish ACU would have lost since I liked the goalie shots the best. Oh well, I guess the goalie wouldn't have had so many saves if she had a decent defense behind her... which is why ACU won.

Going Up Top and Getting a Call From Mom...

Shooting Hardin-Simmons football last weekend I was running a little late getting to the game. I usually go to the press box and grab rosters first, that way if I have to leave early (for these games I usually do, especially if the game is a blowout, like this one was) so I don't have to worry about getting a roster on the way out. At this game I was getting there right during the national anthem because I had an assignment right before it. So, by the time I got my rosters HSU already had the ball and was driving to the end zone. The nice thing about the stadium at HSU is there is a platform at the top of the stands above the seats where people can stand and watch. Most people don't, so it's a great place to shoot from, and a 400mm lens and a 1.4x teleconverter is the perfect size to shoot from. I spent the whole first quarter shooting from up there and was a lot happier with the results then I was with the stuff I got from the sidelines in the second half.

While I was shooting from the top I got a shot of the umpire getting run into near the goal line by one of the HSU running backs. I had actually thought about using the photo but, couldn't find out who the official was, so I left it alone. Now, here's where it gets funny. When I came in on Tuesday, I had a voicemail. When I called the lady she asked, "I was just wondering if you got a picture of the referee getting run over during the game, that was my son." I actually laughed and told her I wanted to use it in the paper but didn't know his name. It's not often that I get calls like this, it was pretty funny and we both had a laugh out of it. She did give me his name and I told her I'd put it online with the story, since I had planned to anyways. She also told me he wasn't hurt but was sore the next couple of days.

High Octane Lions...

Brownwood vs. Snyder was one of those games I had circled on my calender from the start of the season. Brownwood was undefeated and was destroying their opponents every game. Snyder had one of their best teams that they've put on the field in a very long time. Both teams had been racking up the points in the previous weeks, Brownwood had a point where they scored on 26 straight possessions over three games, and Snyder was scoring in the 40's most of its games. This was also one of the games the players were looking to. After talking to some of the Snyder players at the start of the year they were all looking forward to the game and were confident they could win.

At the end of the first half the score was 27-12 and Snyder could have easily tied the game if not for two turnovers. And, that may have changed the way the second half went. However, Brownwood came out and just took over in the third quarter. Snyder made a few more mistakes and ended up turning the ball over four more times in the second half and Brownwood finished the game winning 61-20. And while the score may look bad, this is what the Lions have been doing to every team they've played this year. I have a feeling I'll be watching them play a lot more in late November and December.

Route 77...

Thursday was game #2 of the year on ESPN for Abilene High. This time instead of it being a home game the Eagles were going on the road to Midland to play Midland Lee. AHS and Lee are the last two Little Southwest Conference teams to win state championships, so I'm guessing that why ESPN want to put them on. Well, unlike the Eagles game against Plant last month, this game wasn't and never was close. Abilene High took the opening kickoff and march down the field for a touchdown and never looked back. And while I expected Abilene High to win the game I never expected the final score to be 77-21!

This Midland Lee team had just put up 50+ on Cooper, a team that everyone was expecting to be almost even with Abilene High. So, when the halftime score was 49-7, a lot of folks that thought Abilene High wasn't the same team as it was last year despite it having a lot of the same players, were starting to think that a team that's been hit with injuries the first five games of the year is starting to get healthy and get their swagger back. This was one of those game that can give a down team a big shot of confidence back. Hopefully the rest of the season can start to follow suit.

Ropin the Wind(mills)...

Last week I got a call from one of my reporters telling me that we needed to meet a couple of guys who work on wind turbines at 7am about 30 minutes south of town. I wasn't totally sure about what they were going to be doing, I didn't get that far into it, it was my day off and I figured I'd find out when I got there. The only other time I'd done a story about the maintenance workers I had to climb up with them. It's a really amazing view from the top of the wind turbines but the climb is a 250+ foot ladder that goes straight up. Needless to say it, you're sore the next day. The last time I did it, I was hurting for 3 day afterward! Luckily, when I got there this time I found out these guys did all their work hanging from the wind turbine, most of it is repairing fiberglass. So I didn't have to climb, I could shoot all my photos from the ground. On this one they were fixing lightning damage done to one of the blades. It seems like a really cool job and made for some really nice photos. I am glad I had my 400mm lens with me though, it made some nice photos of them while they were rappelling down the turbine to the damaged blade.

ACU Football...

The funny thing about my job is I often get a lot more time to shoot high school football games than I get for the local colleges. So, when I do get the whole game to shoot it's really nice, especially when it's an afternoon game and the weather is what you would expect on a nice Fall day. Last Saturday was like that, I only had two assignments and the time on the other one was late and pretty flexible, so I got to shoot the whole game. It's even nicer when the photo gods are smiling on you and giving you good pix when the light is right.

It's Been a Year Since This Happened...

Wow, I didn't realize it when I went into the stadium, but it have been almost a full year since Abilene High played a home game at Shotwell Stadium on a Friday night. The Eagles only two home games earlier this year were on a Saturday and a Thursday. It was also a milestone in that AHS was playing its first game in its new (old) district. Two years ago AHS was moved into a district in DFW, breaking up one of the most storied high school football districts in the state. Even the worst teams in this district were sure to pose a bigger challenge to the Eagles than any of the district opponents they had last year. Coming off a loss in their last game and and off week last week they team came out looking like they were ready to get back on the winning side. AHS went up 28-0 in the first half and hiccuped a little in the third quarter, but ended up turning things on at the end of the quarter and beginning of the fourth to win pretty easily 49-21. It's good to see the Little SWC back together and see some actual fans on the visitors side of the stadium again. Next week is Midland Lee in Midland on ESPN2 Thursday night.