History

It's late, so no story, but here are two pics from the historic Patriots/Giants game tonight... I (might) add more at another time...

Randy Moss (top) catches a historic TD pass against the Giants. Not only did this catch give Moss the NFL record for the most TD receptions in a season (33) but it also gave his QB, Tom Brady (bottom) the NFL record for most TD passes in a season (50). The bottom pic is Brady's reaction. Someone needs to teach the Golden Boy how to celebrate....

The Pats' 38-35 win also gave them a perfect 16-0 record for the regular season, something that's never been done before. (The 1972 Dolphins went 14-0 in the regular season, but that was before teams played 16 game seasons.)

Jon Bon Jovi

From a charity concert at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank tonight that raised over $500,000 for the Valerie Fund Children's Center at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch. A great time was had by many.

Over Before it Even Began

Today I was looking forward to shooting a high school swim meet between Marlboro and Manalapan at the YMCA in Freehold. Unfortunately, due to a glitch in the scheduling system, neither team made arrangements to have officials in attendance. You see, each team was listed on its own schedule as being the "visiting" team, and since it's the home team's responsibility to procure the officiating crew for the meet, officials were never enlisted. It's a shame, too. I love shooting at this pool, especially during winter afternoons. This time of year, the sun, which is lower in the sky than it is the rest of the year, creates a really neat shaft of light through the skylight, glass doors, and into the pool. I love how this light reacts with the water, so I stuck around for a few minutes as Manalapan turned the cancelled meet into a team practice. Hopefully, I will be able to shoot at least once more at the Freehold Y during this season, so I can really work the light during competition.

Just a Quick Photo

From a Santa-arrives-on-a-train-and-scares-all-the-little-children event in Freehold... (Honestly, I think I'd react the same way if I was forcibly placed on the knee of a jolly fat man who'd just pulled up on a train after waiting in line for over an hour in 40-degree weather...)



I must have 10 or 12 images like this, with kids ranging from four-months-old to five or six-years-old either screaming their heads off, about to scream their heads off, or refusing to sit still for their photo. Funny stuff. Until next time... Brad.

Just One, Today

It's late and I'm tired, so here's a very depressing photo for ya... and keep in mind, her team took second place! These girls play to win.




Until next time, when maybe I won't be so tired... Brad.

Getting Emotional

More images from the Pop Warner Cheer and Dance National Championships, this time with some themes...

Anticipation:




Happy:







And, unfortunately, sad:

Orlando: Day 1

I'm in Orlando, covering the Pop Warner Cheer and Dance National Championships. Here are a bunch of images from day 1.

Champions!

Shot a state championship football game tonight. I just love it when my teams (the teams I'm covering, I should say) win. So much better than having to shoot dejection... Here are a whole bunch of pics from tonight. The first game I wasn't shooting for work, but I arrived at the stadium early and decided to take some chances since I wasn't on the hook for these pics... I shot from up high for a lot of the game to see what it would look like. The first photo's of a pass that was caught at midfield and then run roughly 53 yards for a touchdown. The second one's a holding penalty... I think the flag looks pretty cool from this angle...




This one's just a fun one I shot of our reporter watching the game from the press box. I love that he's still got his hat on even though he's inside. It was actually quite warm in the press box, now that I think about it...



Then came my game, and it was a blowout. 46-13. So my photos ended up being less about the action than about the celebration. Here they are, in no particular order...

It was so cold tonight, that of the "REBELS" guys in the above photo, only "B" and "L" were still shirtless (below) by the end of the game. Now those guys are fans...

I shouldn't like this next image, because #21 ran right between me and the action, but for some reason, he doesn't bother me as much as I thought he would when it first happened...







One last thing, on an unrelated note. It's now the first of December, and that can mean only one thing: SportsShooter.com's monthly clip contest's winners were announced today. I'm proud to say that I placed. First place, as a matter of fact, in the sports action category. You can see the image here. Talk about a good "day at the office..."

Anyway, I'm beat... it is almost 2:30AM as I post this, so I'll say goodnight. Thanks for reading... Oh, and be sure to stay tuned, my next post will most likely be from Florida, where I'll be covering the roughly forty Shore area teams competing in the Pop Warner Cheer and Dance National Championships at the Wide World of Sports complex at Walt Disney World in Orlando.

Brad.