Bam!

It was the first football game I shot all year. Glenbrook vs. Claiborne out in Minden. Maybe it was because I was a little rusty. Maybe it was because of a carelessly placed garden hose. Regardless, I got tackled. I don't mean bumped, I don't mean grazed. I mean crowd-silencing tackled.

It was quite possibly the first drive of the game. The quarterback dropped back with the ball, but he couldn't find a receiver and he headed to his left. Then he started running up the sideline in my direction. I knew he was close, but I figured he was going to pass me. Too late I realized two guys were about to tackle him and I started to jump out of the way. But there is nowhere to go at that stadium - there is maybe six feet between the sideline and a chain link fence. And I was in one of the player areas where there was a metal bench taking up some of that space. Next thing I knew I tripped over a garden hose that was laying on the ground, and before I could recover from that the players were upon me.

Bam! I was thrown into the bench, and it took a couple seconds for me to realize I was okay. Before I even stood up I checked out my equipment. The 300mm appeared to survive the hit, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Our gear is bad enough as it is - no need to add to the problems. But the monopod, on the other hand, was suddenly shaped like a candy cane. Some folks helped me up and somebody else ran over and asked if I needed a doctor. I've shot plenty of college and NFL football games before, and though I've had some close calls I'm pretty good at avoiding the players. It was a nasty fall. But I made it...

I didn't feel a thing at the time, but now, two days later, I have a huge rather unique-looking bruise on my side and my hip is killing me. But if it hadn't been for that monopod...