"Sometimes the Dog Wins..." 14•Oct.•11

NFA head coach Bill Bianco (right) greets Monroe-Woodbury head coach Pat D'Aliso (left) after their Class AA football game in Central Valley, NY on Friday, October 14, 2011. NFA defeated Monroe-Woodbury 7 - 0 to end Monroe-Woodbury's 63 - game winning streak against Section 9 teams. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record

Rain. Mud. Spit and Blood... Friday night high school football at the playoff tournament level; although it may be a little early yet to be thinking that way just beyond the midway point of the season. Sounds sort of a like a John Madden promo or something. I can almost hear Madden's voice echoing in my ear: "Now you see this kid here, Mikal Myers of NFA (at right). He's got the mud thing going all over his body, a two-way lineman who doesn't wear any protective padding on his arms - now HE'S a football player...!" Ever since I've been at this newspaper, there's been the mystique of Monroe-Woodbury football. (Similar to the plateau and rare air that NFA basketball has lived on for years...) I've been privileged to have photographed some of the best HS football competition in my career up here in the Hudson Valley, and a lot of it has had to do with covering M-W football the last 5 years. Last night was challenging and at times just down right tough. An intermittent rain kept things at a point just below miserable, not to mention my drop-dead deadline, when I needed to have images shipped to the paper. Nerve racking. Nail biting. But beyond the headaches and everyday stresses, it was still fun. And that's what counts probably more than anything...

*Here's the slideshow from the very muddy game... ~cg.

"ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL...?"

Members of the West Point cadet parachute team land on the field prior to the Army - Hawaii game in Michie Stadium at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY on Saturday, September 11, 2010. Hawaii defeated Army 31 - 28. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record

FOOTBALL 2010. Well it's finally here. The football season I mean. After what seemed like about 2 or more months of covering football practice and preseason related stories this summer, the football season has officially begun. (with apologies to last week's HS game up in Kingston under the lights...) Come to think of it, I'd begun covering football stories leading up to the season beginning back in late March / early April during Army's brief Spring practice season and their annual Spring scrimmage. Friday night began a back-to-back schedule of a local HS game here in Newburgh, followed by Army's home opener against Hawaii down at West Point yesterday (above).

*Michie Stadium. *Yankee Stadium. *The New Meadowlands Stadium. *Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia, PA). *M&T BAnk Stadium (Baltimore, MD). *Carrier Dome at Syracuse University. Even Dietz Stadium for HS football up in Kingston, NY and countless high school fields throughout my career. These are all venues where I'll probably find myself working games this season. (actually my season's coverage started two weeks ago at Dietz - see earlier post: "Friday Night Lights..." and this past weekend's game at West Point above.) Michie Stadium (top image) is already a familiar venue, and after three previous years of covering Army football, I "own" the stadium. Used to feel that way about the old Yankee & Shea Stadiums as well as the Meadowlands Arena and of course Madison Square Garden while I was on the NYC pro sports beat for a number of years earlier in my career. I'd been thinking about what this new post would mean here on the blog and what covering football games now mean to me, no matter what level the competition.

Football. F-O-O-T-B-A-L-L. No single sport that I've covered throughout my career carries the immediate stigma of "covering the big game", as much as football does. Football is "America's Game" and all that, so naturally there are a lot of routine picture opportunities to expect, plan for, and anticipate; it's just those unforeseen ones that keep me awake nights, cause an occasional rapid heartbeat and sweaty palms, and oh, the sore knees, back, hips, shoulders and neck the following day or two after more than 8 hours at a given stadium. Football is like no other sport for a photographer to cover correctly. Obviously the game encompasses a large playing field and the potential for good photographs can happen anywhere on the field (OK, soccer, rugby, cricket, and lacrosse photographers & fans, I hear hear your howls on all this...) from all angles, and from literally all over a stadium. And let's not forget those "B-roll" type feature images that can also be game telling and powerful - it's just knowing how and when to put yourself in a position to make those images as well.
All of these picture making scenarios require a lot of different mindsets for me. Short glass. A fisheye (superwide) lens. short and medium telephoto lenses and of course a major requirement for outdoor and most sports I cover, the super-telephoto. (usually a 300mm f/2.8 or longer. add the 1.4x or even 2.x tele-extenders, thank you very much...)

*to be continued... ~cg.

"Mr. Scalo..." HS Football POY. Dec. 2009

Monroe-Woodbury quarterback Dan Scalo is the Times Herald-Record's 2009 Varsity Football Player of the Year. (Middletown, NY). He's seen photographed in his bedroom of the family's Chester, NY home on Tuesday, December 8, 2009. Scalo ran for 1,569 yards & 20 TD's and threw for 1,143 yards & 13 TD's. Scalo was also the paper's Player of the Year in 2007, and was named NY State's 2009-2010 Gatorade Player of the Year as well. Times Herald-Record/CHET GORDON

Dan Scalo. I can't recall when a HS athlete was such a pleasure to photograph. Both on and off the field. I've seen a lot of them play throughout my career, including athletes who've gone on to play at major colleges and even the pro ranks in various sports. This kid's accomplishments on the football field were something to behold the past three years that I've been photographing him and the rest of the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders. Before joining the staff here at the Times Herald-Record, I had no idea of the "mystique" of MW football and their previous trips to Syracuse for the HS State Championship. I would eventually wind up in the Syracuse Univeristy Dome the last two seasons myself, following MW's consecutive runs at a state championship. All in all, this is a kid who brought it every week. I'm talking about a true "A-Game" player. Throughout last year and this past season he endured the effects of a surgically repaired throwing shoulder, but defenses just couldn't handle his running ability. For the record, he ran for 1,569 yards & 20 TD's and threw for 1,143 yards & 13 TD's. He was also named our paper's Player of the Year (POY) in 2007.

Our portrait session was made in his bedroom (not my idea) as I tried to incorporate a few props; a football, his Gatorade NY State Player of the Year trophy on the bed, and even put a third strobe on the Michael Vick poster in the background. Stripping the image into the 35mm film template held by my fingers was an additional idea I wanted to utilize, otherwise it might've just been a portrait of the kid in his bedroom... -cg.

"All Good Things..." 14•Nov.•09

(You know the rest...) Covered Monroe-Woodbury vs. New Rochelle Class AA State Quarterfinal game at Dietz Satdium up in Kingston, NY on Saturday night. Kingston. Dietz. In the dark. Rain. The state's two top schools in Class AA football squaring off in the mist and on the rain soaked turf. This too was a game about being prepared. Rain pants & a few hand towels were additions to my on-field gear allotment. On the first play from scrimmage, MW running back Trevor Officer ran for a 49-yard touchdown. (right) Shooting from my knees as always and from the far end zone, I had him coming right at me on the diagonal across the field. Sort of guessed right again, as something just told me to head for the end zone after the Monroe's return of the opening kickoff. The game started out with all the excitement and up-tempo we all knew could happen at this level of HS playoff competition. I don't think there was anyone in the ballpark who wasn't into this game. I mean even the bus drivers and EMS crew outside the fences were peering in. Although I was down to only two working cameras (2 older Canon EOS-1D's are still in for repair) I felt like I could adequately cover this game with a EOS-1D and the slower 5D-MKII. Trying to shoot sports with the 5D-MKII presents it's own set of limitations like the slower motor drive and sketchy autofocus, but that's the sacrifice for the camera's capability to shoot at exceptionally high ISO's (easily at ISO 3200 & sometimes even ISO 4000+) which I'd done numerous times with this camera on the street and sporting events. The mist and rain introduce a whole new set of challenges - just as in previous games here in Kingston as well as the Army - Rutgers game at West Point a few weeks ago. I know now it's mandatory that I update my full rain gear after this season's coverage.

Back to the game: New Rochelle clearly brought their "A-Game." Not that Monroe-Woodbury wasn't ready - it's just that I'm probably a little jaded in covering them the last three years. The Hugenots of New Rochelle were quicker, stronger, and hit harder. I remember a few coaches from another school on the sidelines comment, "They (NR) want it more..." In fact, during his post game interview, MW quarterback Dan Scalo (left) even said, "They hit hard..." I've seen Scalo take some horrendous, bone crushing hits and get right back up and run for positive yardage. For the year he had something like 1,400+ yards rushing and threw for 20 touchdowns I believe.

*(more to come on this game recap and the end of Monroe-Woodbury's season.)

Click this link to view a slideshow on my take from the game. -cg.

HS Football Championship - The Road to Syracuse. (starts now...) 7•Nov.•09

It sometimes starts a week earlier for me. The continual over-thinking on how I'd cover a game like this past Saturday's Section 9 Class AA Championship matchup between undefeated Monroe-Woodbury and Warwick High Schools. It was a repeat of their game a few weeks ago at Monroe-Woodbury HS, when both teams were 6-0. This time the game was to be played in Middletown's new million dollar-plus Faller Field, complete with a pro synthetic turf playing surface (similar to West Point's Michie Stadium), the best stadium lighting of any school at this level I've ever seen, and a real live working press box with blazing internet connectivity - which proved to come in handy at halftime. By week's end I was excited and hoping again for the the opportunity to install my customary remote camera atop the stadium press box (at right), as this was also my first game shooting in the new stadium. This is again an image (top) that can be used as a file picture for any future stories that crop up from the sports guys as well. No matter how routine or insignificant it all may seem to the casual observer, there's still something quite special about arriving a few hours early for a game of this magnitude. Shoot, I still look to get to little league & pee-wee games earlier if scheduling allows. Particularly if I'm going to be pushing right up on deadline for a championship game at night, and am hauling in four camera bodies. Count 'em - four! I guess installing the overhead remote 2 hours or so before game time doesn't really count, as I typically only mount a remote for this specific view of the pre-game coin toss with all the players on the field, halftime show, etc. (Come to think of it, when's the last time you've seen a photo published from the half-time show of a high school game? Better yet, have I ever fired the remote to make an image from this angle of a halftime show...?) Remember what I mentioned about fast internet connectivity in the press box.

Once the remote was securely installed, I was ready to put on my "game face" and begin the night's work: There were a few disruptions to the expected routine of the game. Kickoff time was pushed back a half-hour to 7:30PM as there was a fire alarm activation down at Monroe-Woodbury HS and their star quarterback, Dan Scalo actually forgot his helmet in the commotion in leaving the school for the busride up to Middletown. Other media types and myself included were silently wondering if they'd have to start the game with another kid at QB if the helmet didn't arrive by driver or courier, if you will. It was actually odd to see this kid warming up sans headgear, knowing that he's the type of player who's been running over defenders like a cross between an Earl Campbell and Larry Csonka freight train from my old days as a player / fan in the '70's. What a back story that would've been if they didn't get the hard hat to him on time. We already sensed that a lot of the MW players were out of sync by arriving late to the ballpark. Made sure to shoot frames of QB Scalo during warmups without the helmet just in case. Note to self: these are good file images of the star QB for stories later in the week if needed.

As the coin toss at midfield was choreographed, I was able to make three separate views of the Monroe players in line with their hands clasped together: the #1 image from the roof top stadium remote, and two quick subsequent images were I sort of crept up behind the line of players and photographed them with two different cameras, one wide (at right) and a detail image of any two players' gloved hands, which to me is a decent picture (below) that can be used to illustrate teamwork, the MW team itself, their season, or even an athletic equipment advert, as sort of a "b-roll" image of you will.

By the time the game finally got going, I could officially start worrying about my first 10:30PM deadline, and I remember thinking that I'd have to really hunker down on this one, as these were two excellent teams, capable of making big plays at anytime, literally anywhere on the field for that matter. Both QB's could throw it and throw it deep & with 'touch', and I already knew they could both run. The Warwick QB, Rian White scored early on sweet run off tackle where he actually dove over a MW defensive back (left) - and I was on him clean from the back of the end zone only a few yards away. I remember reminding myself to 'lay on the button' when I saw how this play was developing right in front of me. I didn't know how good the series of images was until I started chimping in the end zone and let the cable TV guys have a peek at the back of the camera too. "That's one," I thought quietly to myself while trotting out of the end zone and to the sidelines to get ready for the kickoff / and return. Soon after, MW back Trevor Officer (right) plowed over a Warwick defensive back from the two yard line or so, and I knew I had two "gamers" already before halftime. Now as the clock ran down, I made the decision to run up through the stands to the press box and that fast, reliable internet connection. I figured I'd give up some of the third quarter shooting time, to be able to move these two images to the paper way ahead of the 10:30PM deadline. I was back on the field by the middle of the third quarter and was fortunate enough to make a few more game telling big play images, including touchdown passes & catches (left) from both QB's and good runs from their star players as well. By sending those two early images at halftime, I was able to stay on the field to make the post game trophy presentation to the coach and players' jubilation. Those images were sent after the second edit and one eventually made the back page as well.


All in all it was an exceptionally good night. The weather was good, saw a lot of familiar faces, and as mentioned earlier - the light was nearly as good as a pro or college stadium for a night game. The hot chocolate was decent too.
Click HERE to see a photo gallery on the paper's website on my take of the game. Again, thanks for reading - see you at the next big game. -cg.

*(More) Friday Night Lights... 16•Oct.•09

Worked the big game Friday night between two undefeated teams, Monroe-Woodbury and Warwick High Schools. Monroe (MW) has won something like 47 straight games against sectional opponents, and they're the team I've followed through the playoffs and ultimately to the Syracuse University Dome for state finals championship games the past two years. They're ranked again as the top Class AA team in the state and the way they've been playing, it's looks like they'll be up in Syracuse again late next month. It was good to work the whole game from my knees, making precisely the type of game images I was after with long glass - the 300mm f/2.8AF, especially on touchdown runs (top & below) & big plays, (like the QB sack at upper right). What also made this is good night was informally meeting with the MWHS administrators, and a few parents, including the father of their star QB, Dan Scalo. (top image) It's kind of another reason why I still like to arrive at the ballpark early (when scheduling allows) as I needed to insure that the school's wi-fi network was up and running. So I was at the school before 5PM for the 7PM kickoff time. This early preparation allowed me to sit in the school's gym, fire up the Mac PowerBook, and send test emails before the game. This eliminated the headache of having to leave the game - possibly in the thrird quarter - to make the nearly 30 minute drive home to edit & transmit my game photos on deadline. I also informed the sportswriter about this, so we both were able to sit in the school's empty hallways and files our story & photos on deadline. Fortunately the weather cooperated too. No rain. Big plus to game coverage on that one.
It was good to be able to work the whole game - I remember purposely looking for any "Jubo" or "Jubee" (Jubilation) by Monroe-Woodbury players. There weren't any celebrations at all and I'd pushed myself right up against the 10PM deadline to start getting my pictures sent in to the office. I guess the kids from MW will save all that for the sectional & state playoffs and hopefully another trip back to the Dome. They're a class act, that's for sure. -cg.

Click here to view a slideshow & text of my coverage of their state championship game in Syracuse last year.

HS Football Championship Game. Carrier Dome - Syracuse University. 11•30•08

"Road trip...." In the previous post below this one, I kind of laid out everything I packed for the Monroe-Woodbury vs. Orchard Park Class AA State Championship game in the Carrier Dome at Syracuse University on Sunday. Let's just say it was a lot of gear and support items. No need to list it all here. I try to anticipate any sort of shooting challenges that I might encounter, especially on the road, so I tend to "pack heavy..." I've known for a few weeks that I'd be making the trip to cover this game if our team continued to win, and as of last weekend when they beat a powerhouse team from across the Hudson River in the frozen semi-final game, I knew it'd be a long weekend. Driving up to Syracuse again, this time with our web-video guy, I figured that we should hustle and get thru the 3+ hour drive and stop at the team's hotel, about 40 minutes south of Syracuse. That guess and/or gamble if you will, paid off, as the team bus was pulling into their hotel promptly at 5PM. I was pumping gas across the street when I spotted their bus pull in. Making those few images of players getting off the bus, and then being around in the hotel lobby with our sports writers allowed me to become a familiar face with the coaches, players, etc. the night before their game. This was a perfect time to wish the head coach good luck, offer my business card, and again make sure he recognized me. We had previously corresponded by email, as I'd asked for permission to photograph and record audio in their pre-game locker room. This game is a good example on how all the pre-planning in covering an event like this comes into place and allows the photographer to make intimate photographs, particularly behind the scenes of a game of this magnitude for these kids. This was their fourth trip in a row to the state championship game by the way; so you could really feel the tension when they arrived at the stadium two hours before game time. I knew this was all going to be special, so all I had to do was stay on top of my game, and make game-telling images.By the time I'd put up two remote cameras, and hustled back to the locker room with the team for their final talk & prayer with their head coach, I had to abandon the audio recording. I knew this game was going to take a lot out of me physically, not to mention worrying about running four cameras, editing a couple of hundred frames, and transmitting nearly 20 images before making the 3+ hour drive back to the office & home that night. Fortunately I had two days off to look forward to. This week it's a similar routine in preparing for the ARMY - NAVY Game this coming weekend in Philadelphia. Ah, the road beckons once again. Thanks for looking. Stay tuned. -cg.

Here's a slideshow of my take from the game:

*(Use the arrows at the bottom of the player or click the image to scroll forward through the slideshow. Enable full screen viewing by clicking the 4-way arrow icon above the credits button at lower right of the player. )

Syracuse, NY. HS State Championship Football. Nov. 2008.

My gear layout at home on Saturday, November 29, 2008, packing for the Monroe - Woodbury vs. Orchard Park Class AA High School State Championship game in the Carrier Dome at Syracuse University in Syracuse tomorrow afternoon.




Spent the morning packing up gear for tomorrow's big game in Syracuse, NY. Stopped on the way up to make a few frames of the players arriving at their hotel a few miles down the road from the Carrier Dome. It's fourth trip in a row to this game for Monroe - Woodbury High School, so some of us here at my paper are secretly rooting for them. More after the game tomorrow. -cg.

*Syracuse University's Carrier Dome for High School Football State Championship game. Nov. 24-25, 2007.

Putting up one of my remote Nikon D-1X camera bodies 1.5 hours before the start of the Monroe-Woodbury vs. West Genesee HS State Championship Game in Syracuse University's Carrier Dome on Sunday, November 25, 2007. (Photograph by Mike Rice.)
This was an emotional game as the school from our coverage area lost 42-21. I'd photographed them in three other games this season, and took a liking to watching their star players, which is a plus in covering sports to actually know who the key & talented players are. Sent back 24 images (six at halftime for immediate web posting by our sports editor back in the office) of the game and made the front and back pages, and also had 7 images inside to go with the game stories our two sportswriters filed. All in all, it was a good work weekend, and again, even down on the field, kept thinking to myself,
"Go early. Stay late. Get the uniform dirty..."


Hustled up to Syracuse, NY Saturday night after work for the Sunday afternoon state high school championship between Monroe-Woodbury v. West Genesee game. Syracuse is a bear to get to from this part of the state, about a four hour drive. (almost 500 miles of roundtrip driving). Worked in "the Dome" a few times covering HS championship games about 10 years ago when I was a staff photographer over in White Plains at The Journal News. Those were in the 'old days' of shooting film, processing, scanning, and transmitting images from the press workroom in the bowels of the stadium. I've been putting up a remote body all season for football, including Michie Stadium at West Point. I always like this overall view from the stands, and the third camera is usefull for after the game jubilation on the field, etc., after I take it down at halftime. Considering using multiple remotes for the upcoming basketball season, and varying the lens choice and camera placement.
More later. Stay tuned.