Olympic Experience

Here is an article I wrote for the current SportsShooter newsletter. Be sure to read all of the other interesting articles by Olympic photographers HERE

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For me, the Beijing Olympic Games was the assignment of a lifetime. I was part of the MediaNews team, working with photographers Nhat Meyer from San Jose and Helen Richardson from Denver. One of the most memorable days for me was the very last day of competition.

I was assigned to cover the gold medal games for both men's volleyball and basketball. Volleyball was scheduled to begin at noon and basketball was at 2:30 p.m. With the start times being so close together, I planned to shoot the entire volleyball game then catch a cab to basketball, in hopes to be there before medal ceremony began.



At volleyball, USA played Brazil and lost the first set 20-25. They quickly regained their composure and came back to win the next three sets (25-22, 25-21, 25-23) to earn the gold medal. Our local athletes Ryan Millar and Richard Lambourne, who both went to Brigham Young University, were instrumental in the win. It was great to photograph them as they celebrated with their teammates on the court.



By the time the medal ceremony was finished and I had all of my gear packed up, it was already 3:15 pm Tribune reporter Michael Lewis and I hailed a cab and after many frustrating attempts to communicate with the Chinese driver where we needed to go, we were on the way. During the 30-minute ride to the Olympic Basketball Gymnasium, I began to edit volleyball pictures on the back of my camera.

I arrived at the basketball game late in the third quarter and USA was only leading Spain by five points. Being such a high profile game, I did not even attempt to find a photo position on the baseline and began searching for an elevated position on the concourse level. This proved to be harder that I thought as thousands of Chinese fans crowded all of the walkways and aisles, literally leaving no where to shoot from. Luckily, I ran into friend Sol Neelman who was shooting from a handicap section and was able to spare a few extra inches for me to shoot from.

Team USA won the game 118-107 and it was amazing to watch how these NBA players reacted to their victory. Every player seemed genuinely ecstatic to have won the gold medal, thus completing the mission of the "Redeem Team."



I remained in an elevated position to photograph the medal ceremony. It was an okay angle, but things started getting crazy when the players began putting their gold medals around Coach K's neck.

Two photographers, who I believe were either working for the team or were friends of Coach K's, began making pictures. But they made the mistake of standing in front of the hundreds of other photographers, blocking their view of this iconic moment.

There were not enough volunteers in China to hold back the pack of photographers that stormed the court, in hopes to make the picture. While watching this unfold, I had a decision to make: do I remain in the stands and keep shooting with the 400mm, or do I ditch the long glass and join the party on the court with my wide-angle?

After bypassing several security guards and hopping over the barrier that separated the stands from the floor, I found myself in a whirlwind of photographers, athletes, volunteers and other fans that also made it onto the court. My main goal was to find Utah's Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams.

I spotted Boozer about ten feet away near center court as he was being mobbed by a group of foreign photographers. We made brief eye contact and he saw I was trying to get to him. Having worked with Carlos many times in the past, we have a pretty good relationship. But it was still very surprising when he acted like Moses parting the Red Sea and in one quick motion, used his arms to clear away the other photographers and came to give me a hug.



I congratulated him on his gold medal, made a couple of pictures, and then continued photographing the chaos on the floor. I never did find Williams, but on my way out, I saw about two-dozen Chinese volunteers posing for pictures on the medal podium. One guy was even 'biting' his credential like he was a gold medal winner. So naturally, I made a self-portrait with the energetic volunteers. It is one of my favorite pictures from the Olympics and pretty much sums up my Olympic experience.

Morris Almond

A few weeks ago, Tribune reporter Ross Siler and I hit the road with Utah Jazz rookie Morris Almond as he traveled to small towns across Utah to teach mini Jazz basketball camps. The Jazz have continued this tradition every summer for the past 24 years in order to put, in the words of team president Randy Rigby, "the Utah in the Utah Jazz."

Ross and I hung out with Almond and Jr. Jazz Coordinator Nate Martinez for two days and visited six different communities from Tabiona to Castle Dale. The first two towns had populations of less than 200 people. Almond joked that the last time he'd seen a town this small was in the movie "Napoleon Dynamite."

The routine was the same at each stop. Almond would talk about his background and what it was like to play for the Jazz. He then had the kids practice their dribbling and free throw skills while demonstrating the proper technique for both.

I think the kids were most excited when Morris attempted to make a half-court shot. He had three chances to make it and the kids split up into two groups -- those who thought he would make it and those who thought he would miss them all. Whichever side was wrong had to do push-ups or run laps around the gym. In the six schools we visited, he made the half-court shot three times.

The final big event of the camp was when Almond played one-on-one with five different kids. In order to be chosen, the kids had to correctly answer trivia questions about Almond and the Jazz. Morris would usually take it easy on the kids to start, then wow them with a fadeaway, crossover, pump-fake, or even a reverse dunk. The kids seemed to have a great time and Morris finished the camp signing autographs and taking pictures with all of the kids.

In terms of access, Morris was great to work with. There was never a time when I felt he was annoyed with us being there and of me taking pictures. If anything, I think he was a little sad to see us go after two days. (He still had two more days and four schools to go.) We also had some common ground for conversations because both he and my older brother went to Rice University in Houston, Tx.

One of the highlights for me was after the clinic in Duchesne. When all of the kids had left, Morris took some time to shoot around with Nate rebounding the ball. It was amazing to watch as he swished basket after basket, rarely missing a shot. At one point, there was an invitation to play some 2 on 2, which Ross and I politely declined. I am pretty sure we would have been destroyed by Almond, who last season, tied the D-League record for most points scored in a single game at 51.

I am looking forward to see Almond play next season with the Jazz. I think he will be a big contributor and help the Jazz make another strong showing in the play-offs.

If you are interested in reading Ross's story on the Tribune's website, click HERE.

This is the piece I produced for the paper: