"Back from the Dance..." Glens Falls, NY 18 - 19•March•11

Brendan Miller (#21) of Burke hangs on the rim after dunking in the fourth quarter of their NYSPHSAA Class B Championship game against Potsdam at the Glens Falls Civic Center in Glens Falls, NY on Saturday, March 19, 2011. Miller had 19 pts. and 9 rebounds as Burke defeated Potsdam 62 - 52. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record

Returned to Glens Falls, NY this past weekend for the NYSPHSAA Boys Basketball Championship Tournament. Four games in a little over 24 hours. My packing list of gear again included 5 camera bodies, lenses ranging from the 10.5mm fisheye (which unfortunately went unused) to the 300mm f/2.8AF, and a few other focal lengths in between. Four Dyna-Lite Uni-Jr. monolight strobe kits. Numerous Pocket-Wizard radio transmitters & receivers. Two complete sets of Manfrotto Magic-Arms, and enough Super Clamps to securely install all the lighting hardware, as well as a remote camera (left) up in the rafters for Saturday's Finals games. This would be the third remote camera I'd installed in three different venues in the last three weeks as well. The assortment of tools, gaffer's tape, black cine-foil and all the other odds and ends like a quick trip to a drug store on Saturday morning to purchase more AA batteries, and the usual various gizmos I need to have close by for this type of coverage. One game on Friday night went into double overtime.
It was the third year in a row on this early Spring weekend I'd trekked to the ancient arena in the Adirondacks for multiple game coverage of our local boys HS basketball teams that have progressed to the tournament. Not as hectic and demanding as last year's game coverage where I had five teams in the mix; although this year's preparation, installation of arena strobes and a remote camera, editing and transmitting of images on extremely tight deadlines for two nights in a row, and then breaking everything down on Saturday night after midnight proved to be just as challenging. Not to mention leaving the arena after 1AM Saturday night and arriving home at 6AM Sunday morning.


It was also good to see one of our local school's win their first championship game, as last year they came up short in a real heart-breaker. Here's a broad take on my weekend's coverage of the four games: