The Week That Was In Sports

After a couple of slower weeks this one was action packed. It started with a Valentine’s Day matchup for the Purdue women. It was a big game that might have just made sure that they get to play in Indy in a couple of weeks. Throw a top ten matchup for the men in the middle of the week, and then end it with the Purdue game against Indiana last night. It was a fun week of basketball. There are not many basketball games left on my schedule so I am trying to take it all in.

Starting Things Off On Valentine’s Day

Last Saturday things started off in Mackey with Purdue taking on Rutgers. This was a huge game as a win would almost guarantee Purdue a spot in the Big Ten Tournament. That was a goal to start the season, and they most likely accomplished that goal. The goal came at a cost though as senior Madison Layden-Zay went down with a crazy leg injury with very little time left on the clock. Those are always tough to see. The game was basically over and the senior leader goes down.

Seeing Some Familiar Faces

I always love alumni day. I get to see faces that I watched play when I was in the stands, and now more players that I photographed from the court. I have been doing this since 2013. I have seen a few players come back. It is always cool to see them have success after basketball.

A Top Ten Matchup In Mackey

t Tuesday night was a fun one. You had the #1 team in the country coming in to face Purdue. Purdue had previously been #1 this year and was sitting at #7 for this matchup. Mackey might have been the loudest that it has been all year. There is something going on this year where the stadium just never seemed as loud as it used to be. I started to wonder if I was just getting deaf in my old age. Tuesday night though proved to me that it could be that loud again. It felt like a wall of sound hitting me as Purdue brought the ball down the floor after a stop early in the game. The night was all Michigan, but it was still a fun game to cover.

More With My Dual Cameras

Every week I try to show how having a camera at my fee helps me out during a game. Here you see the wide and the tight version of the same play. There are things that I like about each photo individually, but having the flexibility to change things up really is nice. It also breaks up the gallery.

Robbie Hummel At Center Court

I have said this before, but when I was in the stands watching Purdue games I loved watching Robbie Hummel play. It is crazy to me that I get to photograph him from the court level now. Robbie spoke during halftime of the game to the crowd. It was his bobblehead night so he got to say a few words to the crowd. I made sure to make a few photos of the moment. I never did get a bobblehead though. If anyone out there has an extra that they would like to share it would be appreciated.

Photographing Both Sides

Working for the wire I have to make photos of both teams during the games. For years I resisted working for the wire. I always have felt that they take photos rather than make them. The last couple of years though I have come to the conclusion that being able to photograph new players that come through Mackey helps me as the season goes on. You look for new things to make photos of. Those new things help keep the fire going during a long season.

The End Is Near

Basketball season is quickly coming to a close for me. I have one last women’s game, and either one or two men’s games left. I don’t know if any tournament photography is in the cards. I have been trying to get all my ideas out before the end of the season.

New Letter Jackets

One thing that is still hard for me to get my head around is that UCLA and USC are in the Big Ten. They just seem so far away. During halftime of the Michigan game both Devin Mockobee and Emma Bailey were given special jackets for being Jackie Robinson letter winners. If you follow this blog then you know that I love Jackie. As a very young child I bought a tape of his life story where Jackie played himself. It was a bargain bin find, but I loved the story. It is cool to see him still remembered on campus.

The Pink Game

One of my favorite games of the women’s basketball year is the pink game. I love the way that the jerseys pop. It is also very different during a long season where everything seems to stay the same. Thinking that my galleries have all looked the same lately I decided to find details to photograph for this game. The players were playing for something bigger, and the details of the pink game seem a little more important.

A Tale Of Two Halves

Purdue did not play well in the first half of their game against Iowa. At the half I was just hoping that it wouldn’t get too embarrassing. They were down 26 at one point. They came out firing in the second half and actually got the score into single digits. There are some great pieces on this team. They can play very well when they realize how good they are. I hope that we can see that for the season finale this week.

Remotes For The Win

During The Purdue win over Indiana it seemed like my remotes were doing all of the heavy lifting. The three photos above are far better than what I captured with the camera in my hands. The atmosphere last night was amazing, and the wide angle really lets you see more of the setting of the game. for this game I turned in more photos than normal to my agency. For some reason though I didn’t have any with my handheld that I thought was the photo. It is weird how that works.

A Statement Win

Purdue came out against IU on a mission. You could see it on their faces early on that they were out for blood. They never really let off the gas pedal until the deep bench was brought in late in the game. Even with that it was the largest win over IU since 1969.

Bonus Photos

Here are a few bonus photos from the week. With four games this week the extras get pretty long. If you make it all the way through you can have an extra piece of that leftover Valentine’s Day chocolate.