All Day, every Day - Part 1.5 of 2 ;-)

So at the tail end of the first week of the baseball season, the Frozen Four rolled into town and I had the chance to photograph it with my colleagues Jamie and Ryan.  I was really looking forward to this event since hockey is one of my favorite sports and I've only really begun to enjoy photographing it since this was the first year that I've actually shot it on a consistent basis.  Throughout the winter I photographed a few DU games and it served as a nice warmup to such an exciting event.

Despite the lack of a hometown team in the field, Notre Dame, Boston College, Michigan and North Dakota didn't disappoint.  In the first game, BC blew out North Dakota.  Even though it wasn't all that exciting of a game, the goals were pretty...AND A PLENTY!  Good lord, I thought it was raining goals at one point.  BC advanced to the final with a 6-1 win.

In the second semifinal, upstart Notre Dame shocked Michigan in an exciting overtime thriller to get to the finals for the first time in Irish hockey history.  I made one of my favorite images in this game, which is the first image below...If I were to do it all over again and grow up playing hockey, I think I'd be a goalie the second time around.  There's a certain grace to goaltending that I've always appreciated.  If you're a hockey nut like me, you'll really understand what I'm about to say...Nothing in hockey is better than the multiple overtime 0-0 goaltending duel in the playoffs.  There's something about watching two goalies trade magnificent saves into the wee hours of the night.  Every save is bigger than the last one and it just builds and builds and builds until one team has to ruin it and win the darn game...You'd think they would be a little more considerate to the 23 or so hockey junkies like me who want to someday tell their grandkids about watching every minute of the famed 'Three Days Game'.

Anyway, back to the important stuff.  The final was pretty exciting, with Boston College defeating a tentative Notre Dame team.  The refs did make a bogus call in the game, taking back an Irish goal that would have changed the momentum of the contest drastically.  Instead, Boston college came down seconds later and tacked another one on the board, handing Notre Dame a second slap in the face while they were still bummin' from the first.  The better team clearly won the championship, but I always root for the underdog (unless it's the Raiders) since upsets are always fun to shoot.  It was a great tournament and I really enjoyed shooting it.  I can't wait to get to some more DU games next winter and hopefully, they'll get back on top where they belong!

Next up, my trip to Phoenix for another Qwest shoot with Tony Peña of the Arizona Diamondbacks!

Enjoy the pics!

-TSB2

What a save!  If you're looking for the puck, it's in the lower right corner, just above the white underside of the goalie's skate...

This is BC's star player, Nathan Gerbe who is a speedy and shifty little guy who has a great nose for the net...

...And this his him celebrating how sweet his nose for the net really is...

The NCAA will love this strictly because of their sticker on the boards...

I love finding celebration moments like this at championships.  They're on top of the world and you can see the pure joy, not only in their faces, but in their sway...

BC got great goaltending throughout the semis and finals...

Shooting from ice level takes a little getting used to strictly from a speed standpoint, but once I settled down I got some decent stuff...

All day, Every day - Part one of two

First and foremost, the next time you any of you see me, you have my permission to make me buy you a beer. Seriously.  I know I haven't updated since April 1, and I feel AWFUL about it, however, I've been going a million miles an hour with a bunch of assignments.  At this point, there aren't that many of you reading this ridiculously amazing blog yet, so 1) I can safely say that I'll buy you all a beer without going broke and 2) I feel THAT much worse for failing to update somewhat frequently since I know you all personally and one of you has already e-mailed me to tell me that I need to update (you know who you are, and I'll buy you two beers when we see each other next).

Anywhoooo, so what the heck have I been doing since New Orleans?  Hop on board and I'll tell ya!

After making the rounds through the Lower 9th Ward and St. Bernard Parish, I photographed the first of two NCAA Division I Women's Basketball regionals in a two day span. In the first game, LSU defeated North Carolina 56-50 to reach the Final Four for the 5th year in a row.  As you may or may not know (I'll forgive you if you don't), this win put LSU in the Women's Final Four for the fifth straight year...And as you may or may not know, they didn't win the title AGAIN!!!  I feel so badly for this team since they've been through it all (last year they had a coaching scandal) and yet, they overcome it to get back to the Final Four over and over and over again, only to fall short. Regardless, they were super psyched to win the game as you'll see in the celebration pic of them below.

The following morning, I packed my bags and headed for Oklahoma City for the regional final that evening between Tennessee and Texas A&M.  This was a game that I was particularly excited to shoot since it was a chance to photograph Tennessee's Candace Parker who was the first pick in the WNBA draft just a couple weeks ago.  Boy oh boy, she didn't disappoint in the game I shot!  While dropping 26 points on the Aggies, she did it with a separated shoulder...That she seperated TWICE IN THE GAME!!!  It was the one of the craziest things I've ever seen and both times, she winced in pain RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!  It's moments like this that make my job such a blast.  Right then and there, I felt like I had won the photo-lottery that night....TWO TIMES!!!  It was awesome!  Anyway, Tennessee won the game and advanced to face LSU, whome they beat 47-46, then took care of business in the Finals against Stanford to capture their second straight NCAA Championship.  You can click on the following links to see my colleagues' photos of the Men's and Women's Final Fours.

Since I had a few hours to spare in Oklahoma City before the game, I stopped to visit the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial.  If you've ever seen it, you'll agree with what I'm about to say.  It is quite possibly one of the most best designed modern day memorials that I've seen.  I shot a few photos at it that I think you'll enjoy and really look at for a second since tomorrow is the 13th anniversary of the bombing.

I returned to Denver on April 2nd, just in time for Rockies opening day at Coors Field on the 4th.  Every year, Rockies opening day and the Final Fours present a scheduling nightmare since they're always at the same time.  Over the past couple of years, I've stayed back here to man opening day since we need someone from our staff to be there for the Rockies. While I'm bummed I didn't get to shoot either of the Final Fours with my colleagues, it is nice to stay home for a little while (I'm petitioning to have the month of March renamed 'Chaos') and shoot some baseball.

Ahhhhhhhh opening day!  What a day!  The sun is always out with a few clouds here and there and it seems like the Rockies ALWAYS find a way to make it an exciting game...EXCEPT THIS YEAR.  Man, Arizona handed it to them...  For 3 straight games!  They watched the Rox raise the pennant and get their rings, but came out and handed it to them for their entire stay. I think the Rox are turning it around, but it will be interesting to see what happens after last night's 22 inning marathon that sports nuts like me stayed up watching while idiotically resigning myself to the inevitable (falling asleep on the couch).

Anyway, sprinkled in this series of pics is some stuff from the hoops, the OK City memorial, and a few of my favorite from a week's worth of baseball.  I'll be back soon with part two of the last couple weeks.

Until then, I'll always have a few bucks in my wallet in case I run across you and need to buy you that beer I owe ya.

Enjoy the pics.

-TSB2

I also got to shoot a portrait of Matt Holliday with his NL Batting title before one of the games against the Braves...

Tulo breaking his bat...

Mark Redman of the Rox.  I love getting the ball just on their fingertips.

I've shot from this position a few times before but never thought to make this simple stock image, focused on the net...

A rare bobble by Tulo...

A young fan leaning on the Rockies dugout during pregame...

The NCAA loves stuff like this...

An overall from Oklahoma City.  It was a nice arena to shoot at...

Candace after she seperated her shoulder the first time...Look at that pointy bone coming out of her shoulder!  Think her teammate knows it's bad???

I had some great light at the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial...

There are entrances like this at either end of the reflecting pool (as you'll see in the next pic). One has 9:01 on it, the other 9:03, symbolizing the minutes before and after the bombing...

The memorial is open 24 hours a day and has a park ranger on duty at all times...

Look at these girls!  How pumped are they???

New Orleans

Yesterday, I flew to New Orleans to photograph the NCAA Women's Basketball Regional Final between LSU and North Carolina.  This was a trip that I had been longing to make since the only prior connections I had to N.O. were a few nights there with my brother during Mardi Gras that left me broke (I was in college) and with a headache (too many hurricanes at Pat O'Briens) the next day, and the disturbing non-stop coverage of Hurricane Katrina, the latter being the precise reason I was looking forward to this trip.

Just like you, I watched Katrina unfold from the comfort of my home and office.  Throughout the course of that week, I watched in horror as New Orleans descended into chaos as the levees broke and flooded the city.  We all know how bad it truly was, however, seeing it on television, the internet, in newspapers and magazines kept us so far removed from the tragedy that it felt like I was watching some twisted social experiment in which the people of New Orleans were left to fend for themselves in a lawless, crippled city from which they couldn't escape.  I constantly found myself yearning to watch MORE of the coverage despite the fact that I felt increasingly depressed and helpless with each passing minute of it.  But I couldn't stop.  I asked Why? How? and more importantly This is happening in America?  Even though I was never quite able to answer these questions at the time, they never faded from my conscience and I hoped my trip to New Orleans would help me better understand what happened.

I landed at about noon, quickly gathered my bags and headed over to grab my rental car.  It was a beautiful spring day in Louisiana and the lady behind the counter was nice enough to give me a convertible...Sweet success!  I drove to downtown and took a quick tour through a couple blocks of the French Quarter before I made my way over to the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish.  If you recall, these are two areas in which thousands of New Orleanians were stranded on their rooftops and rescued by helicopter.  As I passed through the neighborhoods, I couldn't believe my eyes.  All of the questions, emotions and sadness that I had experienced while watching it unfold on TV came rushing back.  I couldn't wrap my thoughts around the entire blocks of abandoned houses that are set for 'involuntary demolition.'  For every house whose owner has come back to repair it, there are a dozen around it that are crumbling, being used by squatters, or filled with waterlogged housewares and furniture.  Seeing destruction on such a massive scale is overwhelming, and I could not help but think about all of the life, energy and vitality these neighborhoods once contained.  Now it is a wasteland of shoddy construction that Katrina chewed up and spat out.

I managed to find a couple of people and spoke with them at length about how the recovery is going and most of them agreed that it will take at least five, if not seven to ten more years before the city is back to 'normal.'  However, in facing this challenge, these people were some of the happiest I've come across in quite some time which can only be attributed to the fact that they've been to hell and back and ANYTHING is better than what they experienced three years ago.

I hope you can look at these photos and see there is still a ton of work to be done in New Orleans.  Yes, I'm sure you know already know that.  But if you find yourself down there at some point, take some time to leave the comforts of the French Quarter to see with your very own eyes what happened to these people and their homes.  It's the only way you'll get a firm grasp on the magnitude of work that needs to be done.  While you, nor I will ever be able to answer the How? or Why? questions we've all had regarding this horrible event, visiting the place where it all happened will bring you a sense of clarity that the TV, internet, magazines and newspapers don't provide.

Enjoy the pics, 

-TSB2

(I'll add some commentary to the pics later...I've got to catch a flight!)