Through the Lens - Freeze Frame Action

The game gets even more interesting when you stop the action
and zoom in a little.  Not sure who has the ball but I think
it is #34 of the Outlaws.  Dallas #59 is trying to tackle
Lily, a blocker.  Lily is getting abuse from two directions
and pretty soon the whole pile is going to tip over on top
of #59.  I love shots like this because I played in the line.
Football is a lot like a street brawl sometimes.

A few years ago I bought a Nikon D-40 camera with a 55-200mm zoom lens.  I've been awed at the quality of photos this camera produces.  Using my photo process software, Photoshop Elements, I zoom in on the action and notice facial expressions - amazing how often players close their eyes at impact with an opponent.  Or I crop extraneous elements in the photo.  Or just notice the individual battles going on in every play in a football game.

 

In today's post I'm sharing with you some of my favorite action from the Dallas game at the end of the 2011 season. 

Ski isn't going to make this tackle.  The runner has
changed direction and the blocker is in perfect
position to keep Ski at bay.  When I zoomed in on this
action I noticed the muscles in Ski's forearm - she is strong.
And the Outlaw behind who is in a better position to do a
quick reverse and catch the runner going around the blocker.

Tackling is difficult.  When you don't get a perfect angle
on the runner, grab what you can.  Monica has a shirt
in hand and that may be enough.  This was way across
the field from where I was standing.  My 200mm lens was
barely enough - someday I'll buy a 300mm.

I doubt you'd be able to see this from the stands - the Outlaw
is trying to steal the ball, which is perfectly legal if you can
do it.  Another thing about these zoom in shots is something
called depth-of-field.  Only so much of the scene is in perfect
focus.  Which I think is cool.  See #3 in the right background. 
Not in clear focus.  Good.  She's not the subject of the photo. 

Just when you think you have the runner in your grasp, she
makes a sudden left turn.  Your inertia won't let you respond
quickly enough.  I like the shoes.  I did a posting or two
about socks.  Considering doing one about shoes.

Annoying when the runner is just out of reach.  You've escaped the blocker but the speedy
runner is getting away.  And your arm just isn't long enough.  Once again notice
the way the camera leaves the background out of focus so we're not distracted.

Grab shirt, grab ball.  Runners don't have handles so you want to wrap your arms around
her but when that doesn't work you shift to plan B.  Runner's eyes are open, tackler's
eyes are closed.  I like Monica trying help.  Note the arm of a blocker trying to keep
Monica out of the play.

I've zoomed in tight on this one because I like Shadana's expression.  It looks like Monica
has secured the block and it is safe to proceed but Shadana didn't have enough faith and
did a quick change of direction looking for running space to the left.  I once did a posting
about eyes.  Three sets of eyes are intriguing in this close-up.

That's not the way to hold a football.  It looks like the Outlaw being blocked by #89
is trying to pop the ball loose.  A cool technique is have one tackler control the runner,
other tacklers try to get the ball.

This may be a continuation of the play above.  I like it because
the ball is clearly visible and the tackler continues to
fight for it.  From the stands or sidelines, the action is often
too fast for you to see the hand-to-hand combat.

Zooming in gives us the runner's facial expression as she is heading to the ground. 

 

Random Fan Photo

Actually today's fan photo isn't all that random.  I didn't get her name - hafta get better at asking and remembering names - but I got to liking her very quickly.  I asked if she is trying out for the team and she said no.  From this photo,can you guess the reason she gave?  She said I'm too "girlie" for football. 

Girl talk with coach Dee.

Running Backs; Bein' Big

Watching the NFL this weekend I paid special attention to one of my favorite subjects - some people are bigger than others.  I tend to file myself in the bigger class so I'm always interested in the implications of bein' big. 

Big isn't a matter of choice.  People are born with a genetic disposition to be whatever size they become.  Oh, we influence our weight to some extent but height and skeletal frame are pretty much given to us at birth and we have to live with it.  I'm even skeptical about how much we can manage our weight.  I've seen studies that suggest all kinds of genetic influences interfere with our attempts to lose weight.

I've commented in the blog that football is a great sport because is has place for bigger players.  I believe this is especially fortunate for women because society seems to have a negative attitude toward large ladies.  Football teams love them.   

If you have thoughts on this, please share them with me.  Either using the comment option in the blog or my email address:  dstostad@att.net.

A stream in recent posts has been using bigger players as running backs.  A couple posts talked about an experiment a couple years ago where coach Soho used two big strong linewomen in the backfield with a fair amount of success.  More recently the Outlaws have tried linebacker Bridgette Brown in the backfield.  You'll recall I featured Bridgett in some posts because of her outstanding play at linebacker.  At about 220 pounds, Bridgette isn't all that big. She carries her weight really well.  But she is definitely not your classic running back.

One player isn't going to bring Bridgette down.  But help is coming.



I picked up one series of photos of her running and it does a good job of showing why it is tempting to hand the ball to big strong players.

Even when the tacklers come from the side away from her blockers, Bridgette proved difficult to take down.

Three tacklers.  Bridgette is big and strong.  It took three to get her down.

Soft landing?

She was much too strong to be brought down by a single tackler.  But when a second and then a third joined the contest, she finally went down. I've commented that I couldn't be a coach and I'm reluctant to offer coaching advice.  But I believe Bridgett belongs at the linebacker spot.  She was formidable as a runner but she was born to be a linebacker.

 

I thought of her as I watched the NFL linemen.  I thought we're born to be what we are.  NFL linemen were born for the line.  When they occasionally are given the ball for a short-yardage situation, it is a fluke.  Not natural.

I have believed the line players earn substantially less than backs and receivers.  Big body, little paycheck.  Little body, big paycheck.  Well, I was kind of right and kind of wrong.  I did a little googling and discovered on average linemen aren't all that short-changed.  One source revealed some linemen actually are paid more than some so-called "skill" players - the average for defensive ends is $1,583,784 while wide receivers average a measly $1,054,437.  The average for quarterbacks ($1,970,982) is only $389,198 more than for defensive ends.  But the really serious money goes to the glamour players, not the big guys.  The glory goes to the glamour players, runners, QBs, receivers.  Not to the draft horses doing battle on the line. 

Doesn't seem fair, does it? 

Life isn't fair. 

An underlying theme in this blog is "bein' big" in a small world.  Big isn't in.  Not for men or women.   In this blog from time to time we'll comment the problems we big folks have. 

Random Fan Photo

Serious People

A recent post was titled "Happy People" and featured smiling faces from the recent tryout session.  I explained that I had intended to feature serious people but was captivated by a particular smiling face and decided to look for more.  Today's post is a return to the original plan, a series of photos of serious competitors.  

I love the way sports get people reaching deep within themselves in an all-out effort to do faster, farther, better, more.  Facial expressions often reflect the effort.  Capturing those expressions is the intent of this post.  Note:  If I've posted a photo of you that you consider less than flattering, just let me know and I'll delete it (dstostad@att.net). 

If you'll recall the "Happy People" post, you know I started with a candidate name-tagged  "Q.T." - someone I've never met,  It was her happy expression that inspired the "Happy People" post.  I wondered if QT are her initials - but doubt it because I can't thing of any female name starting with Q (there's the male Quincy but no female name comes to mind).  Then I decided the initials are probably text-message shorthand for Cutie?  Fits. 

Can you call a football player "cute"?

That's QT, as if you needed me to tell you, wearing
#7.  I didn't get the name of her running mate.
This wasn't a race, rather a timed exercise, but I
suspect QT finished second - but had fun doing it.

It seemed fitting to include QT in my serious photos.  Not being serious.  To show the contrast. 

Running-for-time photos gave me several serious expressions.   As in the photo here, QT's running mate is serious, focused on getting down that track.  But QT isn't serious.  Rather being...Cute?  (I suspect she'll call and ask me to remove this photo.)


Running does bring out the  "serious" in most people. 

This is Ski.   More about her at the end of this post.

The sit-ups gave me some expressions I'd call serious.  You might have another term - like pained?  I suspect the ones I've included were close to the time limit when the sitter-upper was straining to get just one more rep.

The jumping drill called for yet another form of serious.  With one exception, the shots that follow were made as the jumper toed the line and prepared to launch.  I'm a big person (BIG) and jumping isn't part of my skill-set.  I can't relate with these jumpers because they actually expect to go airborne.  Wow.

This is quarterback Marisa Rivas.  We'll post a player
profile on her in the future - hopefully near future. 

The following (and last) serious photo is of Ski Tejeda.  I include it here not because Ski's facial expression reflects serious effort.  Actually the whole photo does.  Ski was in the line of jumpers earlier and she just wasn't satisfied with her distance.  So when the drill was over she returned and launched herself again.  With enough effort that she hit the ground and rolled.  I don't know for certain but I'll bet she bested her earlier jump distance.

Ski Tejeda, one of my favorite Outlaws because of her all-out blue-collar style of play.

If you've visited my blog posts you've seen lots of shots of Ski.  She is one of the players I admire most because of her all-out effort.  I have posted her making a tackle where the runner is hoisted high on Ski's shoulder from the force of Ski's hit.  I posted a shot of Ski flat on the ground grabbing the foot of the runner and holding her until other Outlaws arrived to finish the tackle.  I've seen Ski cover the entire field from her center linebacker post making tackles at the distant sideline.  Last season she intercepted a pass and ran it back to the end zone for a pick-six.  I've seen her get on the ground with another player who was running out of steam during tryouts and doing push-ups with the teammate, saying "you can do it, you can do it."  Inspiring the player.

Seeing Ski go back on her own to the broad jump sand and go all-out to improve over an earlier attempt inspires me.  She is serious about her performance.  She is inspiring.

I know she's an inspiration to the whole team.

Note:  An article about Ski published in the Hill Country News (Cedar Park) is linked in the links section of this blog.  Please check it out.

Random Fan Photo

Happy Thanksgiving

Lots of Football today