Superbowl Pictures

I could hardly wait to see the papers today and review their art from the Superbowl. The Fargo Forum ran a full page of pictures on the back page of the sports section. It was well laid out and told the story from ex-Presidents Bush and Clinton interacting with fans before game, to the game, to halftime, to the post game celebrations.

Then I picked up a copy of USA Today to read during lunch. Robert Deutsch has a front page picture of Donvan McNabb looking out of the side of his helmet as Tedy Bruschi tries to bring him down on the first quarter sack that ended up in instant replay . The picture fills the area above the fold. Maybe it is just me, but I love pictures that show the facial reactions of contact. Tedy Bruschi grimices in determination; Donovan's face shows the desire to slip the tackle along with the pain of having his head ripped off. In the original play on the field, the officials rules that Donovan slipped Bruschi's tackle, but then was immediately stripped of the ball with the Pats recovering. Philly coach Andy Reid threw the challenge flag and the review clearly showed that McNabb's knee was down and Bruschi was awarded the sack, but Philly retained the ball. This was probably the most important play in the first half and Robert had a strong shot.

Now I am waiting for the Sports Illustrated and Sporting News to arrive so I can see more shots.

But lets think about this another way: was Robert Deutsch's shot the best football shot of the year? Nope. No way. There are shots that Deutsch has made this year that are better. There are shots that hundreds of other photographers have made this year that are better. But I am impressed by Robert's shot because he made a very good shot of a key point of a big game under crowded conditions. It told an important part of the story and was visually attention grabbing.

I like baseball. But one of my pet peeves that you hear around this time of year was Team XXXX had the best record in baseball in September (even though they finished 20 games out of first place). You also hear similar statistics about pitchers and hitters. But I would really like to see how they play when the games are important before I am going to project future success off past action.

When there are three total photographers covering a game in September, it is easier to get lucky and get a good shot. The difference between the top pros and the posers is that the top pros consistently get good shots and perform under pressure.

One thing I noticed in the game was Donovan McNabb had a horrible first half throwing the ball. His throws were over the head or at their feet. Analysts including Troy Akiman talked about getting on the field of a Superbowl and things moving much faster. McNabb's throws indicated how “tight” he was.

The same pressure affects coaches, cheerleaders, officials, and photographers. The best professionals, in spite of the crowding, the 20 extra TV Cameras, and the pressure make very good solid pictures. Just like Robert's that made my lunch enjoyable. Thanks Robert and all the photogs that worked the game!