Another Week In Sports Photography

This is one of those times when this post feels a little late. I made some of the photos in it over a week ago, and most of them about a week ago. In the sports world that is a long time to sit on photos. This year when college football starts I might have to rethink how I do this post. It worked well in the spring and summer, but fall might be a different story. This is that crazy time of year when things start to come around that I haven’t photographed in a while. Football and basketball on the same day let me kind of get my feet wet with both sports. I felt really rusty at both, but hey that is what it is all about. Getting practice in whenever you can. Hopefully by week one of football I will be ready for it.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

I hope you were because I was not. I had no plans to photograph the game. I was coming down for basketball, but I thought a few photos of the fan day stuff would be cool. The practice was running behind so I got to photograph some of the action. Right aways I realized that I was a little slow. After a few plays I started to catch up. It showed me real quick that if I want to be sharp on the first game day I had better get out and get some practice in.

Fan Day Fun

It was fun watching the fans interact with the players. Normally football is a sport where the athletes are so far away from you. You rarely get a chance to see them up close. Days like last Saturday are a day to get to meet the heroes of the gridiron up close and personal.

The New Coach

I have learned over the years to be leary of making predictions of how a new coach will do. What I have noticed over the years though is that the flashy coaches don’t seem to work. The guys who just come in and do the work seem to work out. Barry Odom has that working feel to him. We will find out quickly if my hunch about him is right. I really hope so. I am ready to watch and photograph some winning football at Purdue.

Photographing Jajuan Johnson

Back in the day I had a ton of fun making photos of Robbie Hummel, E’Twaun Moore, and Jajuan Johnson from that stands. I followed the team all over the country watching them play. A few years ago I got to photograph Robbie in this game, and last Saturday I got my chance to photograph Johnson from the floor. I didn’t waste that chance. I never take what I do for granted, but at times like this it really reminds me of how far I have come from my seat in the upper deck.

Robbie Has A Day

It is no secret that I used to love to watch Robbie Hummel play basketball. It is always cool to photograph him. Last week he had a game. He scored 34 points grabbed seven boards, and hit eight three pointers. He gave the fans something to cheer about.

Having Fun

The players didn’t want to lose this game, but they were also having a lot of fun playing. I spent most of my day trying to find those moments of fun. These players have given us so many great memories that it was fun watching them make some more for themselves.

Family

Purdue talks about this program creating family. You could take that as something that makes for a good tweet or post. It is a real thing though. Seeing the players from all generations come home and feel loved is really amazing. I don’t know anywhere else where this happens. In cases like the photo above you have generations from the same family that continue to choose Purdue.

For The Fans

I have been around teams and sports where the players are not the best people. They do great things on the playing field, but I would not want them around my kids. These Purdue players really have always seemed like great guys. Watching them interact with the fans has always shown me that. The fans give that love back. After the game was over and more players were to be introduced not many fans had left their seats. It is amazing how many fans a game like this will draw.