Friday night I was in Elgin covering the Elgin v. Georgetown high school football game for the Statesman.
Elgin is pretty far from me, so I allowed myself an hour and a half of driving time. I arrived in Elgin about 6:30 p.m. for a 7:30 p.m. game, plenty of time. Or at least it would have been, but as I neared the stadium, I noticed high school students walking around with mums. No one told me it was homecoming.
Homecoming means a lot of extra things going on and a packed stadium. I finally pulled in to a parking spot at 7 p.m., when I received a text from reporter Danny Davis: “Just a warning, the press box is a cluster****.” I gathered my gear and headed toward the press box as quick as possible.
It wasn’t as bad as I expected, though we did have to share a 10’x6′ room with 3 radio guys, a video guy and 2 reporters, but I found a spot to set up my computer, and I still had time to spare before the game….so I thought.
I peeked outside at the scoreboard and I had about 16 min. before kickoff, so I took a breath and got myself a bottle of water. Danny and I were talking and I said, “I didn’t know it was homecoming, I would have left earlier.” Then he mentioned that there would be skydivers. Skydivers? Really? Yep, they’re delivering the game ball.
Back to panic mode.
I grabbed my gear and ran outside, not knowing if I even had time to get to the field. I saw a plane circling and I pointed my 200-400 up to the sky (which is harder to do than it sounds with a monopod attached). At the last minute I decided the field was a better viewpoint, so I ran down the bleachers.
I didn’t know where they would land, other than somewhere on the field, but it was too late to think about strategy because the first of three skydivers was already feet from the ground. I just stopped where I was on the 40 yard line on the home side line and aimed. It might have been the worst spot to stand.
The first skydiver landed, then the second came and I didn’t have a shot. Then the third was announced as the home-town guy from Elgin, the one with the ball. I got him in my cross hairs and clicked, hoping that I got something.
He landed and handed the principal the ball.
I frantically looked at the back of my camera, saw those four shots and breathed a sigh of relief. Whew, okay, no more surprises….right?
Wrong.
The football team had gathered in the press box and would be entering through the stands. Fortunately for me, the crowd didn’t go as crazy as expected, so the moment really wasn’t there.
I thought the shot of the team entering the field turned out better. That’s the image at the top of the post.
Okay really, we can start the game now, right? Right!
Unfortunately, Elgin did not continue the show through the game. They lost to Georgetown 31-8.
Here are a few game photos.
When the game was over and my photos were transmitted, I walked to my car, which is usually in an empty parking lot. Not this time. There were so many people at the game that it took me about 30 min. to exit the parking lot. By then my job was over, and I was a lot more patient.
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