I updated my gallery of some of my favorite lacrosse photos.  This gallery is a work on progress and I’ve really neglected updating it.

I deleted a good number of the photos as well.  I was posting some photos because they contained some of the greats of lacrosse like Brodie Merrill, and less because the photos were good.  So I had a “Come to Jesus” meeting with myself, and hit the delete key a few times.  Here is my updated gallery of lacrosse favorites.

Vote for Fletch (photo by Jeff Camarati/UNC)

Show some love for the ACC or your favorite school by voting for seniors for the 2008 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. Below are the contestants, and where they stand as of 1pm ET on 4/16.  You get 3 votes and can vote once per day.  I obviously voted for Fletcher Gregory at UNC for my first pick.  I was showing some love for Brad Ross but now that he is ahead, I have to be a UNC partisan and not vote for Duke.  My 2nd pick was for the man, the legend, Paul Rabil at Hopkins.  After that, I was neutral for my third vote.

—>> VOTE HERE for Fletcher <<—

UNC head football coach Butch Davis

I worked for the good folks at Inside Carolina for the Spring Football game.  The head photographer for Inside Carolina, Jim Hawkins, was stuck in San Antonio still after photographing the Final Four, so I got tried to be Jim for day (I didn’t have the bluetooth earpiece so I couldn’t pull it off.)

Linked are some photos from the game posted on Inside Carolina. [Gallery 1]  [Gallery 2]

Interesting note from after the game.  I had to photograph the post-game press conference in the football facility (which is amazing for those who have not been lucky enough to go in there).  When I left, I was only only the 2nd floor but had to go to 1st to get out.  I was lost and had no idea how to get to the first floor without taking the elevator.  So I hit the down button and prayed that no one would be on the elevator going doing, lest I feel like a lazy oaf.  I hear the elevator slow down to 2nd, the doors fly open, and no one is there but head UNC football coach Butch Davis himself.  ”Crap!” I thought, but he quickly said in a friendly tone “You going down?  Well come on man”.  So whew, embarassment avoided.  In the 10 seconds I was with him in the elevator, plus what I heard of him on the field and in the post-game press conference, I can see why this guy is so well respected.  He’s the kind of coach that players would run through walls for.  They love him, you can tell.

BTW, I’ve lately had close encounters with all three local football coaches in the last two months.  In February, I was in Duke football coach David Cutcliffe’s office photographing him and the Manning brothers.  Last month, I was at the residence of NC State head football coach Tom O’Brien, photographing him and his family for NC State.  Then this encounter with coach Davis.

“Forget the Big Ten, we share the same dry cleaners… There is no other area like this. It produces things, situations, feelings that you can’t talk to other people about. Because they have no understanding of it.” — Duke Basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski

With their proximity, and the high-caliber athletics program found at both schools, the rivalry between the schools is so intense, that those who did not graduate from either school, or is a fan of either school, will never be able to understand

exactly what the rivalry is about, just as Coach Krzyzewski said. Fans love to hate schools that are good. But when two schools are next door to each other, and both are so good, the hate comes easy. Just how good are the schools athletically? The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Cup (formerly the “Sears Cup”) ranks schools based on athletic performance, specifically national rankings in the individual sports. In 2006-2007, North Carolina was ranked #3 and Duke #11 nationally in those rankings. Recently, Stack Magazine created their “Elite 50” rankings that ranked schools on a formula based on athletic and academic performance. In that ranking, UNC was #1 and Duke #5. Obviously, these are two high-quality schools sharing the same dry cleaners. Read the rest of this entry »

Art Chase at Duke University sent me an ominous instant message of just “call my cell”. I thought at first I was in trouble, but Art asked me if I could photograph some “guests” that would be with the new Duke Football coach, David Cutcliffe. I wasn’t jumping at the chance to do it, because the shoot was going to be at 8pm Saturday, just one hour before the 9pm tip-off for the Duke vs. North Carolina basketball game that I was also photographing. Usually its a stressful game to set-up for and shoot, and I thought I would be a basket case around 8pm. But Art has helped me a lot in the past so I said “sure”. As for who the “guests” were, I assumed it was rich alumni and donors and didn’t give it a second thought.

Eli Manning, me (the shorter Peyton), Peyton Manning (photo by Art Chase/Duke Athletics)

Before every game there is a press meal, and during the meal, Bob Rosato from sports illustrated mentioned that both Eli and Peyton Manning played for coach Cutcliff and that one of them had been spotted. I may not have gone to Duke, but I can put two and two together. So I walk over to Art and ask him, “Does one of the guests that I’m photographing tonight happen to have the same first name as I do?” He laughed, said “yes”, and I said I was now an even bigger basket case now.In the end, it was fine. I was even able to slip to the other side of the lens and get a picture of me with the Manning brothers. They are pretty nice guys. It was a room full of only a few people, so it wasn’t like they had to put on a show. I think it reflected who they really are — pretty down to earth.Also walking around was a guy whose voice seemed very familiar, but I could not place it. I turned around to see that Matthew McConaughey was also there in the coach’s office. So man, I never thought I would be meeting the Manning brothers and Matthew McConaughey before this game. Crazy how things happen. (btw, Matthew, also a very nice guy)

Side note, if you are a photographer, and sports information director asks you to take a photo of an event, but is vague about who will be there, take the assignment. Two years ago Bruce Winkworth at NC State asked me to photograph an event at a NC State baseball game. He said there would be a special guest there, but could not say who it would be. I couldn’t do the event though as I was booked for another assignment. I found out later that the guest was none other than Alex Rodriguez.

I’ve been truly overwhelmed by my workload and have not yet had a chance to post the photos from the games I photographed recently.  The following are on the way:

• Duke W Lacrosse vs. Maryland (not posting unless special request)
• Duke M Lacrosse vs. Maryland
• North Carolina M Lacrosse v. Cornell
• UNC M Basketball v. Wake Forest
• UNC M Basketball v. FSU

UNC fans paint themselves blue for the annual Duke vs. UNC game

I finally have posted photos from the Duke vs. UNC basketball game. This is a game full of emotions and, as you can see above, body paint!That turned out to be a long night for me, as is typical when Duke and UNC clash in either in Chapel Hill or Durham. The game was at 9pm, but I arrived at 5pm to start setting up remote cameras, laying out various cords that I would need and other set-up. I left the Smith Center around 2am. So it turned out to be about a 8-9 hour day for me and many other photographers.

After the game, Bob Rosato (Sports Illustrated), Jeffery Camaratti (UNC) and Kevin Cox (Getty Images) went for a late night snack at Hector’s just off Franklin Street in Chapel Hill. The UNC vs. Duke game is always a huge basketball game in America. It was of course broadcasted live on ESPN nationwide. Steve Kirshner, athletic communications contact for UNC basketball, said that there were 64 photographers covering the game! That is an amazing number, even if we were talking about the National Championships, and reflects the great interest in this match-up. I’m a pretty lucky guy to be able to sit on the floor for that game.

Booyah baby. The ACC put posted 3 of the top 5 preseason rankings for men’s lacrosse according to Inside Lacrosse Magazine.They are as follows:

• #1    Johns Hopkins
• #2    Duke
• #3    Virginia
• #4    Georgetown
• #5    North Carolina

Maryland wrapped up the list at #6.

Duke and UNC Lacrosse

Now that Brackman is gone and drafted by the NY damn Yankees, I am itching for a new photo project. Since last year, I knew my next project was going to involve lacrosse. By far, lacrosse is my favorite sport to photograph and I enjoy everything about it: From watching the game to knowing the players. My original plan was to follow the UNC men’s team behind the scene. Starting from the first practice in August to the NCAA tournament and all the moments in between. Then the NCAA announced that Duke lacrosse members from the 2006 team would gain another year of eligibility, bringing back seniors from this year. Four we know of are returning. This has me drifting towards the Duke camp due to their enormous potential in the national championship. Now I can’t decide. Here are some of the pros of each:UNC

• My alma mater.
• Know many of the players and some of the coaches.
• UNC is an incredible team on the rise. If UNC was a stock, I would put every last penny into them.

Duke

• Geographically closer for me. I can get to Duke in about 10 min from my house vs 20 min for UNC.
• Know the head coach and a few of the players.
• Very legitimate shot of going to the NCAA Final Four in Boston.

So I’m not sure what I’m going to do. Possibly I could do a little bit of both and highlight the rivalry between the two teams? In any case, I’m going to need to decide soon. I think in August the teams will typically have tryouts for walk-ons. So they start soon.

“You can’t do justice in sound bites. The way to arrive at a determination of the facts is to hear in a fair and open proceeding all of the evidence … then to determine what the facts are, and we’ve done that this week. That did not happen and was not going to happen, apparently, in the Duke lacrosse case.” - NC State Bar Chairman Lane Williamson 6/16/07

The now former Durham County district attorney Mike Nifong was disbarred yesterday by the NC State Bar. The ironies of course are glaring and voluminous in the Duke Lacrosse case. To note any earns one an instant nomination as “Master of the Obvious”. Today, I get my nomination. Nifong took the case as a instrument to champion his cause to win election in November 2006. It was meant to give him credibility, respect and fame. In the end, the case shredded his credibility and destroyed all respect the public has of him. To be fair he has kept he fame; albeit the more pejorative ‘notoriety’ kind. The three wrongly accused players never found themselves on trial due to Nifong’s case; but Nifong would find himself on trial for his actions. I relent. This is just too easy. Pointing out the ironies is as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. Read the rest of this entry »