They Misunderestimated Me

Took a simple self portrait tonight at an assignment. Nothing to special... It's late right now so I won't get into details... but notice the very nice and even light made by me.

fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again.

525 and a broken pen.

I celebrated Kansas Day this evening with three games of bowling at the local ally. To be honest, Misty bowls in a Monday night league and I hang out until she's done, then we bowl some more. But since it's Kansas day, I feel like I should at least say I celebrated it.

And I have to brag a little bit tonight because I had one of my best evenings of bowling in a while... probably ever.

I opened the night with a 185... only left two frames open.

Then the bowling gods of east Houma helped me out a little by helping me bowl a 203. I started with three strikes and again, only left two frames open. I had my game printed out and I showed my roommates when I got home. Will was quick to point out that I also bowled a No-Tap 300. (No-Tap bowling means you're credited with a strike if you bowl a nine on your first roll of a frame) Because I ether had a strike or a nine.

I finished the night with a 137... still well above my average.

That gave me a 525 for my three games. Misty had a night like this a while back, and because she was in a league, she got patches and pins for a 200 game and a 500+ 3-game series. I got a "My Little Pony" sticker from Taylor. (I think I got the better of the deal there)

During league nights, the girl at the counter will read the names of bowlers who get over a 200. I begged to have my name read but no luck. She said because it was league night and everybody knows everybody that she'd get in trouble if she announced a name that nobody knew. Ahh well.

........................................

I thought I'd also pass along a recent "Matt Stamey" I pulled last week. Just to refresh your memory... a "Matt Stamey" is something that happens to me (or anybody for that matter) that would be embarrassing to most, but because they happen so often, I can just laugh them off.

Anyway, last weekend, I was photographing a group of Army National Guard members training how to enter and exit a Black Hawk Helicopter while it was running.

The Army guys broke into groups of about ten and waited for the chopper to start. Once the blades were turning at full speed, the guys ran in a single file line chanting "HutHut Hut Hut HutHut" like you see in the movies. Once on the chopper, it took off, flew around for a few minutes, and landed in the grass where the soldiers filed out and laid on the ground "securing the perimeter"

It was pretty intense.

First, I photographed the guys unloading from the helicopter. They all jumped out, flopped on the ground and pointed their guns in all directions.

Then I went to where the guys were trotting onto the chopper. I would run backwards along side the soldiers photographing them as they ran towards the chopper. I'd stop about 10 feet from the Black Hawk, get on my knees, and photograph the dudes running past me and up into the helicopter. Then get up and run back a little ways as the chopper took off.

Pretty exciting... and windy.

On the last group, I thought I had it down. I knew what angle I wanted to get, I knew where to stop and get on my knees and I guess I got a little full of myself.

I ran backwards shooting the dudes running.

I stopped, dropped to my knees and got some great shots of the guys running past me and into the Black Hawk.

I started to stand up and back-pedal away from the chopper before it took off. But the force of the wind from the propellers and me being a little off balance knocked me smack on my butt.

So there I am, with all my camera gear, on my back with my feet up in the air, 10 feet from this HUGE helicopter about to take off. I hurry and get up thinking to myself... "it wasn't that bad, maybe nobody saw me."

Nope... when I got back to where the rest of the guys were standing, they all started clapping and cheering. I waved and nodded and I'm sure my face was a little red too.

The only injury suffered from the fall was by my pen. It had been in my back pocket and absorbed most of my impact with the cement. It has a nice little scar and it cracked in the middle. But I've patched it up and am still using it today.

Lesson Learned: Helicopters are friggen windy.

Chew Dat! Chew Dat! Chew dat say him not had a chew in 13 months!

That's right folks, today, Friday the 19th makes one year + one month that I haven't had a chew. I cold turkeyed that stuff and haven't had any problems. Sure, I'll think about it... pretty much daily. But it's not a craving, it's a thought. I used to post each month after quitting but fell behind and just kind of forgot about it. My first goal was to make it a year, but I forgot what month I started. So I went back in my archives and saw that it was Dec. 19 2005 that I stopped the Skoal Longcut Straight (Always there in a pinch).










Anyway, onto more important things... like the Saints. Good luck finding anything other than XXL white Aaron Brooks Jerseys in Houma. They've sold out of everything. It's amazing what the success of a football team will do to people. Misty and I were at a sporting good store Thursday watching a huge line of people wait for a shipment of Saints shirts.

And another thing I just want to throw out there really quick. I don't think the cold will have any effect on the outcome of the game. These are professional athletes who have played in pretty much every weather condition.... and most aren't from the South anyway. If it sleets or snows then maybe we can blame the weather. But if it's 22 degrees... home field is the only advantage Chicago has. (And maybe the Sports Illustrated cover jinx if you believe in that)

Speaking of Sports Illustrated, I've been subscribed since 1999. I choose to only get the one year deal instead of saving a bunch of money buy getting the three year deal. Because each time you renew your subscription, they give you a free gift. I've got a blanket, two gym bags, two sweatshirts, the Tampa Bay Bucks Super Bowl package and a long sleeve shirt.

A few weeks ago, I renewed my subscription for another year and choose to receive another sweatshirt. (I wear the other two on a regular basis and the new one is a different style). Today I get a big package from S.I. and I assume it's my sweatshirt. There's a sticker on the outside that says they had to sub my sweatshirt for a product of equal or grater value. So I ended up with a grey t-shirt and a black wind breaker. I haven't decided if I'm happy with that or not. I don't wear wind breakers that much but I might start now.

Speaking of free Sports Illustrated sweatshirts, I wore one of mine to the Saints Playoff game last Saturday. Before the game, I was walking around the dome looking for the bathroom. I wondered onto the field just for the heck of it. A security guy stops me and says "Ah... Sports Illustrated, one of your guys is looking for you. He went that way." and pointed some way. He then went on to describe the guy to me and never really gave me a chance to say anything. I just nodded and listened. The last thing he said was "He looked like a pretty important person." So I replied "Well, I'm pretty important myself, I'll go see what he wanted. Thanks." And went back on my search for the bathroom. I walked past that guy at least a dozen times during the game. Each time giving him a "what's up" nod.

Oh when the saints go marching in

One win away from the super bowl. Hard to believe.

I couldn't really relate to how big of a deal this is until I talked with my roommate Will... a lifelong Saints fan. He couldn't speak about it because he couldn't think of any words to describe how he feels. It's that big of a deal. The diehards can't grasp that their team is playing for the NFC championship.... and a trip to the Super Bowl. The only thing I can compare it to is when KSU beat Oklahoma to win the Big 12 title. I couldn't believe that we had done that.

Also, the folks who aren't football fans... now are. People are wearing Saints gear, every body's talking about it. Until now, when you started up casual conversations with people, the conversation would drift to hurricane talk. "You get any damage?" "How are things now after the storms?" ... etc.

But now, the talk everywhere is "Can you believe the Saints?"

The words "Saints" and "Super Bowl" are now in the same sentence and it's not the punchline of some lame football joke.

And it's not just about a football team having a great season, it's SOOO much more than that. It's the rebirth of a way of life, a culture. Sure, people have moved back, rebuilt and started life again down here. But the Saints have brought the fun, relaxed and amazing way of life back to this area. Events like Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest have helped, but those were annual, expected events that have happened for years. This is the Saints' first trip EVER to the NFC championship.

And it's cool to be in the thick of it all.

Anyway... I thought I'd pass along a few more photos from the game.

1. Reggie Bush jumping over a tackle... with QB Drew Brees making a block. Misty and I are in contact with Reggie Bushes personal photographer. She's making a book of his Rookie season and needs photos. How cool would it be to be published in a book that only Reggie Bush has?



2. Drew Brees celebrating after the final snap on Saturday. The photo agency I shoot for during the games picked up this photo... and Sports Illustrated often picks up images from that agency. So here's my dream... This photo on the cover of this weeks Sports Illustrated. It's ideal. Plenty of room for a headline and teases. A nice spot in the corner of the photo for the mailing label. "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED" would look great going behind the players. It's perfect. But that's just me dreaming.



3. Eagles quarterback Jeff Garcia walks off the field after shaking hands with Drew Brees. I think this is about the time I was on TV. I've been told by a few people that they saw me on TV after the game. Also, this shows how crazy it is on the field after the game. I didn't get in there close, so I took a "look at how much media is on the field after the game" photo.



4. It's a must... last game in the dome this season. Funny Story: When we checked in at the media table to get our passes, the guy said "lets see, the Houma Courier, two writers and one Photographer. Is that right?" and we said it was. Then he asked of the three of us, who was in charge. The two writers looked me and said "I guess Matt's in charge." I nodded and agreed thinking I'd have to sign something or that we were in trouble. But he tossed a black Saints hat at me. It had the Saints logo on the front and says 2007 NFC divisional playoffs on the back. It's good to be in charge sometimes.

27-24

The Saints are in the NFC championship game! Everybody cheer for the Seahawks to beat the Bears on Sunday so next weeks game can be in New Orleans.

anyway, I'm still at the Dome... I'm tired... I'm hungry... and I'm ready to go home. But if you want to see more photos from the game, check out the gallery I posted on the Couriers website.

WHO DAT!

Pour Some Sugar On Me

(Pretty easy title to use on this post, but it was the best I could come up with)

I just finished up a slideshow from the Sugar Bowl. Check it out here if you get the chance.

Not much else new to report, Carnival season is underway, and I've started my shopping for stuff to throw off the float. Hopfully by the end of the week, I'll have my bouncy balls ordered.

So here's a shot from the game that didn't make the cut into the slideshow. Brady Quinn getting sacked by some LSU dude.