Another Night in the Historic Fieldhouse

After having a visit to Hinkle on my list of things to do for a long time I made my second trip there in two days. It is funny how things work sometimes. This time it was to cover the women’s basketball game for the Chattanooga Mocs. Things were a lot different the second time around. I left at the same time as I did to cover the men’s game giving myself plenty of time in case of traffic. With no mix ups with the parking I pulled right into the lot. In fact there was nobody at the lot to let people in. The stadium was actually locked when I got there about an hour and a half before game time, but of course someone let me in. I used my extra time to make a few photos of the historic fieldhouse. One of those that I posted on Twitter went viral last night during the game. I was just trying to show off this stadium, but it must have hit at the right time as it really was well received.

A Night and Day Difference

Things were amazingly different covering a men’s and women’s game at Hinkle. The media room which had been very nice the night before looked much different. I did not know why until I realized that I was the only member of the media there. There were plenty of people in the room when the pizza came, but when I edited at the half and at the end of the game I was the only one in the room. Another huge difference was the access. I went to pick up my media credential at will call, and was given a ticket with the stub torn off. Apparently that was my ket to court side access. I kept expecting someone to ask where my credential was while I shot the game, but it never happened. The one big difference for me from the night before was the lack of extra chairs on the baseline. For the men’s game I could not shoot by the hoop like I like to do. About half of the baseline is filled with folding chairs for VIP’s. For the women’s game there was no chairs on the line. I set up a camera under the hoop on the floor, and then took a spot that I liked a couple of feet away from the hoop. Being the only person on the baseline is kind of nice as well. Being the only photographer at the game I can say that I made the best image of the night.

On To the Game

This game was really in the hands of Chattanooga from the start. They jumped out to a big lead early, and then kept the pressure on the entire game. This worked for me as I was able to make a lot of photos at the hoop. I also was able to make some photos of a few more of the bench players as the bench cleared late in the game. The 76-47 final score really does tell the story of this game. It will be very interesting to see what happens Friday night as the same Moc team travels to South Bend to play Notre Dame. Notre Dame is ranked #2 in the country and is very good. I will be there photographing the game as well so expect some photos to follow.

Seeing Jim Foster Again

I really did not do my homework on this game apparently. As the first half was going on I made a few shots of the coach of the Mocs. He looked really familiar to me. I kept wondering if it was Jim Foster. A quick look at the website of the Mocs confirmed that it was the former Ohio State coach. I kept thinking as I watched the game that this team looked like one of those Ohio State squads. Looking at the roster most of the players that impacted the game were young, and must have been recruited by Foster. It will be fun to watch this team play again Friday night.

Bonus Photos

Here are a few bonus photos from the game. I had fun playing with the light in the stadium. I also had three cameras going in the first half. I used the lack of people on the baseline to my advantage to try and capture something nice. A few extra shots can be found on my website pinolaphotography.com here.