Yeah, I know. The game was like a month ago and I just now have them up. Am I lazy? No, not so much. I traveled up with Duke and after they lost, I was in a funk and didn’t want to even look at the pictures for the longest time. Then, I have been traveling fairly heavly for my “real job”. So my time was really limited.
But now, you can find for your viewing pleasure, photos from the NCAA semifinals.
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.
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 <<—
| Craig Massie (Army) | 27% |
| Ben Rubeor (University of Virginia) | 23% |
| Pat Grimm (Yale University) | 16% |
| Brad Ross (Duke University) | 16% |
| Mike Leveille (Syracuse University) | 7% |
| Fletcher Gregory (University of North Carolina) | 3% |
| Michael Corbolotti (Cornell University) | 2% |
| Paul Rabil (Johns Hopkins) | 2% |
| Tommy Scherr (University of Delaware) | 2% |
| Danny Nathan (Cornell University) | 1% |
The North Carolina Tar Heels beat Johns Hopkins on Hops’ home field, only after generations of Tar Heel teams have been dispatched by the Blue Jays with an “L” since 1994. The win was an important one to help the team build some confidence, and to break the Homewood hex that has vexed the Heels for so long.
Homewood Field is turf, and I have to say that for photography, it stinks. The field emits radiant heat, even when ambient temperature is relatively cool. These heat waves made so many of my photos look soft. I had to delete countless photos that were afflicted with this softness. I feel bad for my photography brethren who constantly work at that field. That said, being a lacrosse fan, I have always wanted to go to Johns Hopkins for a lacrosse game, so this was a great treat. I also wanted to get some photos of the man, the legend Paul Rabil before he graduates.
I guess you came here to see the photos right? Well, here they are: Johns Hopkins Lacrosse v. North Carolina photos.
I will be riding the bus up with the team tomorrow as they head to take on Johns Hopkins for a Saturday match-up. My hope is to post some photos Friday night (if I have Internet access) after our trip up there.
Mostly likely I will post on the blogs on Inside Lacrosse.
Wanted to link to a post by James Schaffer, art director at Inside Lacrosse Magazine. On it, he describes some of the post-production necessary to prep a photo for cover on their in the most recent issue. Pictured is Paul Rabil of Hopkins and Ben Rubeor of UVA.
I post the link for two reasons: One, I think it’s pretty interesting from both the photographer and fan perspective. But two, I freelance for Inside Lacrosse and it’s always great to suck up to the boss by linking to his work. Click here to view the post.
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:
Maryland wrapped up the list at #6.
Tuesday of last week, I emailed Art Chase, sports information director for Duke men’s Lacrosse, to explore the feasibility of going with the Duke men’s lacrosse team last weekend for the Final Four in Baltimore, MD. Originally the plan for me was to go for Inside Lacrosse. But, after reviewing their budget, it was apparent they would not be able to afford flying and housing me up there. Looking at my budget, I couldn’t afford the trip either. Between hotels, gas and food, it was going to be at least $1,000. The email to Art was a shot in the dark to see if he had a photographer going up with him to Baltimore with the team. Ever since James Schaffer from Inside Lacrosse did a photo story on the team for their “Two Days In Durham” article, I wanted to something with the team also. But I thought the chances of Art saying, “Sure come on up with us”, were about as high as me emailing head coach John Danowski, asking if I could play and him saying “Yes”.
North Carolina Men’s Lacrosse beats John Hopkins 13-10
Butch Davis, head coach of the UNC football team, may be getting a call shortly from UNC men’s lacrosse head coach John Haus. Typically the men’s lacrosse team plays on Fetzer Field, but it seems that Kenan Stadium holds some mojo for the team. After Saturday’s win, I’m betting the lacrosse team is going to want to play some more games at Kenan where it is thus far undefeated (not for the season, but in entire history of the school).
For the first time since 1994, the UNC Men’s Lacrosse team beat John Hopkins. I fell in love with lacrosse when I first saw the game as a freshman at UNC. It was the first sport I photographed and ever since I have been a fan of and emotionally vested in the men’s team. It’s been tough going for UNC lacrosse fans, but last Saturday was repayment for all the tough times. The win was just [insert your favorite expletive here] amazing.
The game started with a 0-3 John Hopkins scoring run that surely made the Tar Heel faithful think this was going to a thrashing of the Heels. It wasn’t until 12:23 left the second quarter that Nick Tintle threw one between the pipes on an EMO to get the Tar Heels on the scoreboard. The Heels then scored the next two to notch the score at 3. The game then proceeded in bipolar fashion that had fans reaching for the Lithium. The teams traded goals back and forth and tied six more times. The seventh tie was at 12:10 left in the fourth quarter when John Hopkins answered being down 1 with a goal by Jake Byrne. But that Blue Jay tying goal would be their last. North Carolina sent three unanswered balls to the back of the net, including one in the closing seconds by Ben Hunt, to win the game 13-10.
With about 60 seconds left on the clock, I positioned myself behind the team’s bench to get ready for the impending celebration. When the clock hit zero, I ran full speed out to the center of the field with the players to photograph the celebration. It was probably one of the most exuberant celebrations I have photographed in a long time. And as huge fan of the team myself, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face when photographing them. Their energy was just too contagious not to make anyone smile ear-to-ear.
Here is a link to photos of UNC Lacrosse v. John Hopkins.
(p.s. I can’t take credit for the title of the post. It was overheard at the game. The players will understand its significance.)
