Summary of events:
I picked my brother up from the airport yesterday afternoon. While I'm generally loathe to admit it, it is nice to see him from time to time given he lives ten hours away.
Went to Von Blaze for dinner Friday. It was a beautiful night in Morgantown- plenty of fans milling around having a good time. I'm pretty much a regular at Von Blaze, and it's always nice to say hi to the owners/staff. Kind of like Cheers, you know- sometimes you just wanna go where everybody knows your name? Had the pot liquor pork sandwich, which is absolutely amazing (with the caveat that you need to like collard greens to enjoy it).
One nice thing about a night game is you don't have to wake up at the ass crack of dawn to get to the stadium. Slept in Saturday morning, and ended up getting brunch at Table 9 with my wife and brother. One of the best spots in town for outdoor seating. On another note, the Devils on Horseback is one of my favorite appetizers anywhere.
Came back home, watched a little football on TV before heading to the stadium.
Stopped by Almost Heaven Desserts to get a coffee while heading out. I have no idea what I felt the need for a coffee before the game, but I did. Saw they had some pepperoni rolls, so I picked up a couple with peppers and cheese. While I was disappointed they went with sliced instead of stick pepperoni, the rolls were actually really good. The bread itself was great, and the peppers had the right amount of heat.
While listening to the pregame show on the radio, I made the point that John Antonik is pretty awesome. If there's someone out there who has a better knowledge of WVU sports history, I don't know who it would be. He puts out some good columns for the official website, and it's easy to take that for granted. But if you look at other school websites, many of them are pretty barebones with regard to that type of content.
Before I went in the media gate, I took a full lap around the stadium. This is one of my favorite little rituals on gamedays. I love the people watching, seeing people excited about heading to the game. There's really a diverse set of people who make it to games. The best is when you see some young kid who obviously has never been to a game before. On another note, I'm always amazed at the work some people put into their tailgates- it ain't easy, that's for sure.
Went through the media gate and got on the elevator up to the press box. If I ever learned one thing from @Vernon (and let's be honest- there hasn't been much), it's to joke around with the event staff in the elevator, cause that's got to be about the most miserable job you can get, and they need all the help they can to make the day go by. I noticed the dude is watching the Iowa vs Iowa State game on his phone. Interesting choice. I half wonder why they even bother with an event staff to press the button in the elevator itself since there's only Ground, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors, and they're pretty-well labeled. It's not like one of those press boxes with 11 levels. People should be able to figure that out. Then again, sometimes I overestimate people.
While typing this, my brother is passed out on the couch. He's snoring. He just let out a massive fart. It woke up my cat, who is sitting next to me. I'll now return to my narrative.
Get up to the press box and find @Keenan Cummings. As always, it's good to see him and bullshit about WVU football, the message board, etc. a bit. We talk about travel plans for the Pitt game and try to decide which among us is the least irresponsible and thus will keep track of the credentials until next week.
I ran into Greg Hunter. He's always been one of the friendliest dudes I talk to in the media room. He asked me if I got my flights booked for away games yet. I'm a little amused because we had this same conversation at the last practice open to media.
I head down to the field with about 40 minutes left in pregame. One of the first things I do when heading down there is make a note of recruits who are at the game. It's always interesting to see them, their coaches, and their families. Some of these guys are old pros who you can tell have visited 20 campuses in the past year. Then you see some guys making their first trip to Mountaineer Field, and they're just amazed at all the stuff we take for granted. I remember seeing Scotty Fox and his dad down there last year when the Let's Go... Mountaineers... cheer started back and forth, and the dad remarked how awesome that was.
The band starts its pregame show. You will never see a band geek as hyped up as one running on to Mountaineer Field for the pregame show.
On another note, watching the band perform Simple Gifts *never* gets old. That routine is truly something special.
Some guy in the home stands always yells, "Beat the hell out of Pitt!" at the conclusion of the alma mater. It's a beautiful thing.
When I move to the field to photograph the team entrance, I take a moment to think about how incredibly fortunate I am to get to do all this (something I try to consciously think about every game). There are some incredible Mountaineer fan out there who may never make it to Mountaineer Field once in their life. Tons of other people move away after college and rarely have the chance to visit. Others may visit regularly, but not every game home and away like me. And here I am, with a photo credential down on the field for every freaking game. Through a combination of luck, knowing the right person at the right time, and a little bit of effort to make it happen, Here I am kneeling on the hashmark on the 20 yard line while the Mountaineer runs right by me and leads the team onto the field. I don't know what I did to deserve this, but I try to never take it for granted.
One little thing I like about shooting games at Mountaineer Field is seeing all the other photographers. Many of the guys down there have been doing it for years. Heck, most of them I don't even know their names, but we can always bs with each other, easily picking up where we left off 9 months ago. One guy whose name I do know is Van Slider. We both like shooting from the visitor sideline since it's less crowded. We joked about how that definitely wasn't the case for the Penn State game since they brought so many media. When Van's not shooting WVU sporting events, he's an incredible West Virginia nature photographer. Give his facebook page or website a look. Really, he's that good.
At some point during the game I decide I really like TJ Jackson. Part of it is that he's a bit of an undersized guy with a huge motor- he reminds me of Noble Nwachukwu. And part of it that the dude is emotional and gives great reaction shots.
Side note- one of the toughest things for me to learn when I started shooting WVU football games is to not get so excited after a play that you forget to take reaction shots.
Kole Taylor scores his touchdown. Sometimes when I'm shooting a game, I know I nail a shot the instant I take it. This was one of those shots. I think his huge body makes him an easy target for pictures.
Albany scores their first touchdown in the second quarter, and I'm down by their team bench at the time. I know it's easy to think about these little FCS schools and how nobody really gives a damn about them. But for the people on the team, it really does matter. They are fired up with all the excitement you can imagine for a little school who walked on the field with one of the big boys and, for a moment, took it to them. I'm happy for them, and their boosters (or whoever) that are on the sidelines with them. Of course that's made much easier given I'm never concerned about the actual outcome of the game.
During halftime I swipe some Gatorade and rest on the team bench. Look over and think- hmm, that's interesting. I noticed someone left a placard with a bit of scouting information about Albany on the bench. I don't remember that happening before. There's really not much there (i.e. it's only one piece of the puzzle), but it is interesting to see how they prepared it to be easily digestible.
Toward the end of halftime I pass some guys testing all the helmets with radio communication. Kind of neat- that's a new job that wasn't around last year. The two guys have a great sense of relief when the final helmet checks good. I think about how stressed they must have been when it wasn't working at the start of last week's game.
The offense marches 99 yards down the field for the first touchdown of the half, and I think to myself that it was pretty damn impressive. I wondered when the last time we had a 99 yard drive was, only for Brown to answer in his postgame interview (TCU 2020).
I was very happy that I got a pic of Clement's TD catch, because shooting the QB, finding the WR when the ball is in the air, and getting a shot of the catch is probably the toughest thing to do as a football photographer. A little disappointed, though, since I was a hair late and it's just not that great of a pic. Some are better than others I suppose.
One of the things I was looking forward today was seeing the new lights work their magic at the start of the 4th quarter. I sat at the corner of end zone by the visitor's tunnel and started recording, only to be surprised by a rendition of Sweet Caroline. Perfect! A group sitting in the stands right above me was totally into it, which made things even better. The video they showed after that was especially great- I hope they post it on the official social media channels. Pretty sure everyone is impressed with the new lighting system at that point.
Speaking of the new lights, as a photographer they're great. This won't mean much for those that aren't into photography, but once it was dark I shot at f2.8, 1/1600s exposure, ISO2500. I checked my settings from the Duquesne game last year, and they were at f2.8, 1/1250s, ISO6400. And those were still a touch underexposed. For those who aren't into photography, well- that's a pretty big difference.
I'm not sure what to say about the 4th quarter other than... I really had a lot of fun. The atmosphere in the stadium was great- everyone that stayed seemed to be having a great time and managed to be enthusiastic. Is it a particularly compelling game? No. Has the team played perfectly? No. But it's September football at Mountaineer Field- I love it, and many other people are obviously loving it as well.
I'm happy to see Nicco and some of the second stringers get in for a series. Even better, I'm happy to see them take the ball straight down the field and score. These guys aren't starters, and some of them may never be starters. But Nicco runs for the touchdown right in front of me, and he has a huge smile on his face as he's crossing the goal line. It matters to them, and they are ecstatic.
The game ends, and Country Roads blares over the speakers. That's another tradition that never gets old. I love mingling through the players after the game, seeing them happy. Wasn't quite the case this time, but seeing them sprint to the student section after a big win is even better. Sometimes a family or old teammates will ask me to take a picture and email it to them- that's one of my absolute favorite things to do. I jog toward the center of the field to snap a pic of the Mountaineer shooting his musket off when the song ends, and he nails it.
35 point win against a pretty good FCS team. The offense did pretty much whatever it wanted. Special teams were fine, run defense was good. Pass defense wasn't, but I'm happy with the game.
I putz around on the field for a while longer and head up through the stands to my car. When I get up to the concourse I hear someone say, "Hey Scott!" Look over, and it's STAFFEER! Chris and Mike aren't on the board these days, but I will forever have great memories of the board tailgates they hosted in the early-mid 2000s. They were always especially good to me, just a broke-ass college student at the time, and often sent me home with leftover food (obviously a godsend). I say goodbye to Chris and make my way up to my car.
For road games I edit my pics at the stadium, but for home games well... I just head straight home and edit them. I mentioned earlier that sometimes I know when I nail shot, but when editing pics there are inevitably some surprises I didn't see coming. This reaction shot of the defense is one of my favorite for the day.
Somewhere in the midst of editing my photos, I decide to take a glance at the board. I figured people would be generally happy with the game, and they would have obvious concern for the secondary. I realize I significantly overestimated the mood. I read a few posts and replied to one with snark. Usually I don't want to do that. People have a right to their opinions, and it's okay to be frustrated, even if I not. Something stung me, though, and I snapped. Snark is good for getting likes from people who may already agree with you, but it also just makes those who don't agree dig in even further. So then I'm frustrated with myself for posting that. Instead of doubling down, I decide to make this post detailing why I've had a great weekend of Mountaineer football. A form of making amends? For something few people likely noticed and even fewer cared about? I don't know- maybe.
But I decided to do it, and it took a while. It's 3:30am. Night all- see you next week for the Brawl.
I picked my brother up from the airport yesterday afternoon. While I'm generally loathe to admit it, it is nice to see him from time to time given he lives ten hours away.
Went to Von Blaze for dinner Friday. It was a beautiful night in Morgantown- plenty of fans milling around having a good time. I'm pretty much a regular at Von Blaze, and it's always nice to say hi to the owners/staff. Kind of like Cheers, you know- sometimes you just wanna go where everybody knows your name? Had the pot liquor pork sandwich, which is absolutely amazing (with the caveat that you need to like collard greens to enjoy it).
One nice thing about a night game is you don't have to wake up at the ass crack of dawn to get to the stadium. Slept in Saturday morning, and ended up getting brunch at Table 9 with my wife and brother. One of the best spots in town for outdoor seating. On another note, the Devils on Horseback is one of my favorite appetizers anywhere.
Came back home, watched a little football on TV before heading to the stadium.
Stopped by Almost Heaven Desserts to get a coffee while heading out. I have no idea what I felt the need for a coffee before the game, but I did. Saw they had some pepperoni rolls, so I picked up a couple with peppers and cheese. While I was disappointed they went with sliced instead of stick pepperoni, the rolls were actually really good. The bread itself was great, and the peppers had the right amount of heat.
While listening to the pregame show on the radio, I made the point that John Antonik is pretty awesome. If there's someone out there who has a better knowledge of WVU sports history, I don't know who it would be. He puts out some good columns for the official website, and it's easy to take that for granted. But if you look at other school websites, many of them are pretty barebones with regard to that type of content.
Before I went in the media gate, I took a full lap around the stadium. This is one of my favorite little rituals on gamedays. I love the people watching, seeing people excited about heading to the game. There's really a diverse set of people who make it to games. The best is when you see some young kid who obviously has never been to a game before. On another note, I'm always amazed at the work some people put into their tailgates- it ain't easy, that's for sure.
Went through the media gate and got on the elevator up to the press box. If I ever learned one thing from @Vernon (and let's be honest- there hasn't been much), it's to joke around with the event staff in the elevator, cause that's got to be about the most miserable job you can get, and they need all the help they can to make the day go by. I noticed the dude is watching the Iowa vs Iowa State game on his phone. Interesting choice. I half wonder why they even bother with an event staff to press the button in the elevator itself since there's only Ground, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors, and they're pretty-well labeled. It's not like one of those press boxes with 11 levels. People should be able to figure that out. Then again, sometimes I overestimate people.
While typing this, my brother is passed out on the couch. He's snoring. He just let out a massive fart. It woke up my cat, who is sitting next to me. I'll now return to my narrative.
Get up to the press box and find @Keenan Cummings. As always, it's good to see him and bullshit about WVU football, the message board, etc. a bit. We talk about travel plans for the Pitt game and try to decide which among us is the least irresponsible and thus will keep track of the credentials until next week.
I ran into Greg Hunter. He's always been one of the friendliest dudes I talk to in the media room. He asked me if I got my flights booked for away games yet. I'm a little amused because we had this same conversation at the last practice open to media.
I head down to the field with about 40 minutes left in pregame. One of the first things I do when heading down there is make a note of recruits who are at the game. It's always interesting to see them, their coaches, and their families. Some of these guys are old pros who you can tell have visited 20 campuses in the past year. Then you see some guys making their first trip to Mountaineer Field, and they're just amazed at all the stuff we take for granted. I remember seeing Scotty Fox and his dad down there last year when the Let's Go... Mountaineers... cheer started back and forth, and the dad remarked how awesome that was.
The band starts its pregame show. You will never see a band geek as hyped up as one running on to Mountaineer Field for the pregame show.
On another note, watching the band perform Simple Gifts *never* gets old. That routine is truly something special.
Some guy in the home stands always yells, "Beat the hell out of Pitt!" at the conclusion of the alma mater. It's a beautiful thing.
When I move to the field to photograph the team entrance, I take a moment to think about how incredibly fortunate I am to get to do all this (something I try to consciously think about every game). There are some incredible Mountaineer fan out there who may never make it to Mountaineer Field once in their life. Tons of other people move away after college and rarely have the chance to visit. Others may visit regularly, but not every game home and away like me. And here I am, with a photo credential down on the field for every freaking game. Through a combination of luck, knowing the right person at the right time, and a little bit of effort to make it happen, Here I am kneeling on the hashmark on the 20 yard line while the Mountaineer runs right by me and leads the team onto the field. I don't know what I did to deserve this, but I try to never take it for granted.
One little thing I like about shooting games at Mountaineer Field is seeing all the other photographers. Many of the guys down there have been doing it for years. Heck, most of them I don't even know their names, but we can always bs with each other, easily picking up where we left off 9 months ago. One guy whose name I do know is Van Slider. We both like shooting from the visitor sideline since it's less crowded. We joked about how that definitely wasn't the case for the Penn State game since they brought so many media. When Van's not shooting WVU sporting events, he's an incredible West Virginia nature photographer. Give his facebook page or website a look. Really, he's that good.
At some point during the game I decide I really like TJ Jackson. Part of it is that he's a bit of an undersized guy with a huge motor- he reminds me of Noble Nwachukwu. And part of it that the dude is emotional and gives great reaction shots.
Side note- one of the toughest things for me to learn when I started shooting WVU football games is to not get so excited after a play that you forget to take reaction shots.
Kole Taylor scores his touchdown. Sometimes when I'm shooting a game, I know I nail a shot the instant I take it. This was one of those shots. I think his huge body makes him an easy target for pictures.
Albany scores their first touchdown in the second quarter, and I'm down by their team bench at the time. I know it's easy to think about these little FCS schools and how nobody really gives a damn about them. But for the people on the team, it really does matter. They are fired up with all the excitement you can imagine for a little school who walked on the field with one of the big boys and, for a moment, took it to them. I'm happy for them, and their boosters (or whoever) that are on the sidelines with them. Of course that's made much easier given I'm never concerned about the actual outcome of the game.
During halftime I swipe some Gatorade and rest on the team bench. Look over and think- hmm, that's interesting. I noticed someone left a placard with a bit of scouting information about Albany on the bench. I don't remember that happening before. There's really not much there (i.e. it's only one piece of the puzzle), but it is interesting to see how they prepared it to be easily digestible.
Toward the end of halftime I pass some guys testing all the helmets with radio communication. Kind of neat- that's a new job that wasn't around last year. The two guys have a great sense of relief when the final helmet checks good. I think about how stressed they must have been when it wasn't working at the start of last week's game.
The offense marches 99 yards down the field for the first touchdown of the half, and I think to myself that it was pretty damn impressive. I wondered when the last time we had a 99 yard drive was, only for Brown to answer in his postgame interview (TCU 2020).
I was very happy that I got a pic of Clement's TD catch, because shooting the QB, finding the WR when the ball is in the air, and getting a shot of the catch is probably the toughest thing to do as a football photographer. A little disappointed, though, since I was a hair late and it's just not that great of a pic. Some are better than others I suppose.
One of the things I was looking forward today was seeing the new lights work their magic at the start of the 4th quarter. I sat at the corner of end zone by the visitor's tunnel and started recording, only to be surprised by a rendition of Sweet Caroline. Perfect! A group sitting in the stands right above me was totally into it, which made things even better. The video they showed after that was especially great- I hope they post it on the official social media channels. Pretty sure everyone is impressed with the new lighting system at that point.
Speaking of the new lights, as a photographer they're great. This won't mean much for those that aren't into photography, but once it was dark I shot at f2.8, 1/1600s exposure, ISO2500. I checked my settings from the Duquesne game last year, and they were at f2.8, 1/1250s, ISO6400. And those were still a touch underexposed. For those who aren't into photography, well- that's a pretty big difference.
I'm not sure what to say about the 4th quarter other than... I really had a lot of fun. The atmosphere in the stadium was great- everyone that stayed seemed to be having a great time and managed to be enthusiastic. Is it a particularly compelling game? No. Has the team played perfectly? No. But it's September football at Mountaineer Field- I love it, and many other people are obviously loving it as well.
I'm happy to see Nicco and some of the second stringers get in for a series. Even better, I'm happy to see them take the ball straight down the field and score. These guys aren't starters, and some of them may never be starters. But Nicco runs for the touchdown right in front of me, and he has a huge smile on his face as he's crossing the goal line. It matters to them, and they are ecstatic.
The game ends, and Country Roads blares over the speakers. That's another tradition that never gets old. I love mingling through the players after the game, seeing them happy. Wasn't quite the case this time, but seeing them sprint to the student section after a big win is even better. Sometimes a family or old teammates will ask me to take a picture and email it to them- that's one of my absolute favorite things to do. I jog toward the center of the field to snap a pic of the Mountaineer shooting his musket off when the song ends, and he nails it.
35 point win against a pretty good FCS team. The offense did pretty much whatever it wanted. Special teams were fine, run defense was good. Pass defense wasn't, but I'm happy with the game.
I putz around on the field for a while longer and head up through the stands to my car. When I get up to the concourse I hear someone say, "Hey Scott!" Look over, and it's STAFFEER! Chris and Mike aren't on the board these days, but I will forever have great memories of the board tailgates they hosted in the early-mid 2000s. They were always especially good to me, just a broke-ass college student at the time, and often sent me home with leftover food (obviously a godsend). I say goodbye to Chris and make my way up to my car.
For road games I edit my pics at the stadium, but for home games well... I just head straight home and edit them. I mentioned earlier that sometimes I know when I nail shot, but when editing pics there are inevitably some surprises I didn't see coming. This reaction shot of the defense is one of my favorite for the day.
Somewhere in the midst of editing my photos, I decide to take a glance at the board. I figured people would be generally happy with the game, and they would have obvious concern for the secondary. I realize I significantly overestimated the mood. I read a few posts and replied to one with snark. Usually I don't want to do that. People have a right to their opinions, and it's okay to be frustrated, even if I not. Something stung me, though, and I snapped. Snark is good for getting likes from people who may already agree with you, but it also just makes those who don't agree dig in even further. So then I'm frustrated with myself for posting that. Instead of doubling down, I decide to make this post detailing why I've had a great weekend of Mountaineer football. A form of making amends? For something few people likely noticed and even fewer cared about? I don't know- maybe.
But I decided to do it, and it took a while. It's 3:30am. Night all- see you next week for the Brawl.
