The Week That Was In Sports

This was most likely the last week that I will photograph basketball. It is interesting because in the old days I would have been happy about this. Basketball was a chore to photograph. It was a season that was too long. I have really found ways to make this sport fun to photograph though. I was kind of sad going into the week knowing that I probably would not have any other chances for basketball this year. Who knows? Maybe I can work something out before baseball and softball really get going. For now here are some stories that I really liked this week.

Another Senior Night

Wednesday night I photographed senior day for Madison Layden-Zay for a second time. The first time that I did it was in 2024. It was exciting to hear that Madison was coming back for another season though. This team needed a senior leader, and she would provide that. Along the way she etched herself firmly into the Purdue record books. I think that her decision to come back gave Purdue the shot in the arm that they needed to get a couple of extra wins this year. It was cool to see her honored for that choice. Madison is the last of the players that I photographed while working for Purdue to be playing. For some reason that didn’t hit me until she was giving her speech Wednesday night. It is the end of an era officially for me now.

The End Of The Season

The women’s game Wednesday night was most likely my last Purdue women’s game of the year. As I write this their Big Ten Tournament life is still in doubt. Even if they make it I cannot photograph those games. I don’t know if they would host some sort of a post season tournament. Any extra games would help this young team. I hope that I get a chance to see this team again this year, but if I don’t it has been a fun season. They were tough in the fact that they never gave up. They battled all game long. If you are out there giving it your all I will be your biggest fan all day.

When The Clouds Leave

As I was driving to the stadium on Thursday the clouds were looking amazing for a nice sunset photo. They were already catching a little color. I got to the stadium and quickly dropped my gear off in the media room and ran out to make a photo. In the short time that it took to get through security and swap gear out most of the clouds had moved through. I was desperate to find more clouds to fill the sky. It was then that I came up with this idea to use the reflection in the window to double my clouds. It was a cool way to get more clouds in the sky, and also to make something different before the game.

One Last Time In Mackey

Thursday night was my last time in Mackey this season. I will be working during senior night a week from today. I took a little extra time to take in everything from court level. You never know what is going to happen so I always want to try and take things in. I do that a little more when it is the last game of the year. I love making photos in this place, and I can’t wait to do it again.

Two Cameras, One Moment

This will most likely be the last time this season that I have this feature. I love my two camera setup for basketball. Sometimes I like the tight shot more, and others I like the wide better. Here I kind of like them both. They help me tell the story of the game a little differently. For some reason during this game I seemed to have more wide shots that I liked and sent in than normal. It was one of those kinds of games that really looked good wide.

A Good Final Game

If this was my last basketball game of the year it was a good one to end on. I don’t like having bad games. If I have one I want to photograph again as soon as possible to get that bad taste out of my mouth. When that bad game is the last of a season I always think about it way too much in the offseason. For some reason this game seemed to come to me a little bit, and it was a great game to end on. I even got a few dunks coming right at me which rarely happens.

Finding The Rebounds

This year I have been trying to get better at making photos of rebounds. Every now and then I would luck into a cool rebounding photo, and I realized that they are often more exciting than the shot itself. As the season went on I was getting better and better at finding this photo. By the last couple of games I was on the rebounds pretty good. I need to keep this going next season. This battle makes for some really cool photos.

Having Some Fun Pregame

I had the flash back out for the two games this week having some fun with it during pregame. Here I had the idea to have the players blur by the Purdue logo on the wall. It is an awkward spot to make a photo, but that challenge is what makes it fun.

Rare Air

During the game Braden Smith became one of five players to record 1,000 assists in their college career. At one point this season he was tracking to break the record for all time assists during the final home game of the year. That was a crazy pace that he was on at the time. As of now he could still get the record, but Purdue will have to win some tournament games for that to happen. He has been a lot of fun to watch over the years though. He has a great impact off the court as well. I have seen Braden do some amazing things for kids that come to Mackey. Even leaving this last game a young fan had gone up to him to get a card autographed and Braden did that for him. He also gave him a shoe and signed that too. That is pretty cool, and something that he doesn’t have to do. It is great when players are just as good off the court as they are on the court.

Some Sad News

I like to try and keep this post light, but I feel like I have to talk about this one. A week ago we lost Rondale Moore. He was a bright shining star during his time at Purdue. I don’t know that I have ever seen such an explosive force on the football field. My favorite memory of Rondale though is not what he did on the field. After Purdue beat Ohio State in 2018 he found his mom in the stands to celebrate with her. Memories like that make this really hard for me to write about this. He meant so much to so many people. This week I have been thinking about his family a lot. There really aren’t any good words to explain what happened here. I hope that he is at peace.

Remembering Rondale

With what I just said in mind I went up into the stands before the start of the Purdue men’s game Thursday night. I knew that they were going to honor Rondale so I wanted to show the arena as they did. This is one of those photos that I am not making for the wire. They could care less about something like this. I made this for me to document the night. I heard some sniffles as they talked about Rondale and I understood what they were feeling.

More Photos From The Week

Below are a few bonus photos from this past week. This might be the last time that basketball shows up on this blog for a little while. Because of editing duties this week I may not have a week in sports next Saturday. I will still be working in sports, but just not the normal way.