Cold Weather Game?

It was 32 degrees at kickoff in today's New England- Baltmore AFC championship game.  That's cold.  You wouldn't know it by looking at the players.   Playing with the same level of skill as on any other day.  Not bundled up - most bare-armed.

Football is a cold weather sport. But Texas is not a cold weather state. At the Outlaws' Saturday practice the temp was in the 40's. Cold. Just for fun, today we'll post some photos showing how the Outlaws dress for cold.

Where are her legs? 

She is tough!  The only sign she's feeling the
cold is a furrowed brow. 

Patriots beat Ravens on a missed field goal with 15 seconds left on the clock.  Good I don't bet on football.  I would have been right; the Pats won.  But I thought they'd win by 14 or better.  I knew Ravens have a good D but I think Brady is a magician.  Didn't think they'd be able to contain him.

Practice - Passing

Back to passing practice from last Saturday, January 14. 

I put a lot of emphasis on the receiver but of course there are passers, too.   I don't shoot the passers so much because that's too easy.  They're always standing in one place, same motion. Easy photography.  But not very interesting.

It is more interesting to focus on the receiver, the moving target.  To time the shot as the receiver runs under the ball.  Trying to trip the shutter at just the right moment, to capture the ball and the receiver's concentration as she wills it into her hands.

So passers don't get much attention during practice.  Unless they do something really really really remarkable.

Like run down the field and catch the pass she has just thrown.  Makes me wish I were shooting video rather than still shots. 



There were a lot of balls in the air Saturday. I'm only posting a couple photos of the passer - the one above and this one.  I include this shot because it shows the normal relationship between passer and receiver. 



Normally they're two different people. 

It always looks easy but it takes lots and lots of practice to get good at throwing a ball to the precise point where your receiver can catch it. 


Most of my photos today are the end of the play, where the receiver is meeting the ball.  Most are successful.  Most were receptions.  And I'm not telling which ones weren't.   I like happy endings and so all of my photo stories here will have presumptive happy endings. 

Okay, the last one doesn't have a ball in the photo.  Every now and then I miss.  Most misses you don't see because I keep them to myself.  I posted this because I love the anticipation, the concentration.  You just know the ball is there, just outside the frame.  And you just know it will be caught.  No way she's letting it get away.

In the last post we talked a little about running and how little I like running.  The passing drill involves lots of running.  Receivers have to run their routes.  Over and over and over.  And have to concentrate on catching that ball.  Practice.  Practice.  Practice. 

This is January.  The first game is when?  In April or May?  Practice is three times each week.  There are something like nine weeks between now and the first game.  Twenty-seven practice sessions.  Making it on the Outlaws is hard work.  I've watched the ladies come out week after week and dedicate themselves to improving skills, learning plays, building strength. 

I can't help but admire them.

Running - Just for the heck of it

Many years ago someone decided that conditioning is achieved by aerobics.  That is,   running.  It gets your heart pumping and lungs working overtime.  Upon hearing this an observer complained that it would be much better if conditioning came with doing something useful like mowing the lawn or hoeing the garden.  Why is something as useless as running the way to get physically fit?

I have theories of my own about this.  I think runners aren't skinny because they run.  They run because they are skinny.   I think the people who prescribed running for fitness are skinny people who run because their anorexic bodies just float around the track.

You may deduce from this that I am not skinny.  A fact I have acknowledged elsewhere in this blog and admit freely.  To describe me as "not skinny" is to understate reality.

Vince Lombardi said that "fatigue makes cowards of us all."  Coaches all over the country have taken his words as gospel and emphasize conditioning.  The theory is that conditioning increases energy and decreases fatigue.  Ergo, well conditioned athletes are brave athletes because they don't suffer fatigue induced cowardice.  And they've all bought into the running theory of conditioning.

My recent and near-future posts are featuring photos from the tryouts and practice held January 14, 2012.  My file photos are sorted according to the drill they depict.  I have quite a few photos of Outlaws running.  Not to get anyplace.  Not to accomplish anything.  Just for the exercise.  Even big Outlaws have to run.  Run.  Run. 

There were different kinds of running.  The photo at the top of this post is two skinny ladies running because they are skinny.  Like the cartoon roadrunner, "running down the road is their idea of having fun."  Then there is group running, as in the photo above.  Notice the runners are staying on the infield rather than the asphalt track.  Why?  Because the ground is softer than the tar?  Or because laps are shorter?

Another kind of running is for speed.  A single runner races forty yards  - or is it forty meters?  When I was young we refused to accept the metric system.  Feet and yards and miles were the American way and we weren't about to let foreign influence change the way we measure things.  Younger generations failed to keep up our resolve and you see where the country is heading as a result. 

In running for speed, someone has a stop watch and times the runner to see how fast she gets from the start to finish.  Sometimes they run two athletes together, using two stop watches.  This is efficient because it gets the timed running done twice as fast.

It also introduces competition to the event.  I have to admit that competition has a positive effect on performance.  In the photo to the right, the runner in gray noticed her teammate is moving faster.  Look at the extra effort she is putting out to catch up, to win the race.

Good try.  But I think she still finished second.

We used to end our football practice with wind sprints.  We'd line up in groups of five and race fifty yards as fast as we could.  The one in each group who finished first was allowed to go to the showers while the four "losers" got to do more fifty yard sprints.  I remember looking over the other four in my group and deciding that, in spite of my being a big lineman, I could win my race.  I was motivated by pride.  Not.  I was motivated by the idea of not having to run more sprints.

I went all out as fast as I could go.  It is noteworthy here that we larger players rarely ran as fast as we could go.  We tried to look like it but we held back.  Conserved our energy for subsequent rounds.  But on this particular race I convinced myself I could win and I didn't hold back. 

And finished third. 

And learned an important lesson.  It is good to hold back because if you leave it all on the field in a losing sprint, you have nothing left for subsequent sprints.    Ah... Outlaws, please ignore this particular lesson from my sordid past.  Run all out all the time.  Don't want the coaches to think I'm planting bad ideas...  Remember, I wasn't on the A-Team.

Whether sprinting or jogging laps, running is a part of the game. 

Having fun?  Or wasting time?  Or getting fit?  Your call.



Tryouts - Strength Testing

Saturday, January 14, was the last day to try out for the Outlaws and the first day of practice.  I have dozens of cool photos from both practice and tryout events. 

One of the tryout challenges looks easy.  It isn't. 

It is a strength test.  One based on reps (repetitions) rather than total a single max lift.  Reps are deceptive.  Take a ten pound dumb bell and lift it straight up over your head.  Easy.  Now do it twenty times.  Not easy.

The tryouts used the bench press set-up - you get to lie down while doing it - and the bar with no additional weights attached. 

Now understand the bar by itself is heavy.  Forty pounds.  Benching forty pounds is no problem for the Outlaw players.









But the forty pounds becomes heavier with reps.  Ten reps and you're feeling it.  Twenty and you're straining.



You've seen the theme in many of my posts - I love the way sport brings out the very best in people.   I love the intensity as the athletes exert every bit of strength, energy, and will to do better than...

Well, better than the opponent in a game. 

In tests like the benching challenge, better than themselves.  Better than their last record.

I admire these ladies striving to improve performance.  As a photographer, I want to capture the effort for you.  A few athletes are more expressive than others, giving me some great photos.  As I viewed these facial expressions in my photo editor, I found my own muscles tensing, brow furrowing, trying to lift imaginary weights as the athlete fought with real weight.  Their effort is inspiring. 




Note:   If  you feel a photo I posted isn't complimentary, let me know and I'll remove it.  I'm doing this blog out of admiration for the Outlaws as a team and the players individually.  I never intentionally post anything that might reflect badly on or might embarrass anyone.  If I error, if there's a photo or article that doesn't support the team, let me know and I'll delete it.

I believe her name is Ashley.  In the photo above she's done enough reps that she begins to feel the strain, begins to have to exert a little extra effort.  In the photo to the right, she is nearing her max - and refusing to quit.  She is straining with every bit of will and strength she has to get one more rep. I love the effort.   

I don't know this Outlaw's name.  She is just starting in the photo to the left.  I suspect she has lifted weights before.  Her facial expression suggests she's focused on the bar, managing her breathing.  In the photo below, she has been pumping the iron awhile and is nearing her max.  As with Ashley she is summoning all her strength and will, refusing to quit until she records one more rep.

This is Ski.  If  you've visited this blog or Outlaw games, you've heard of her.  After the rest of the Outlaw candidates completed their bench press test, Ski decided to try to improve on her last effort.  I have intentionally not reported the number of reps various players achieved in this test.  I'm more interested in the effort - and I'm confident future numbers will be higher.  However I can say the norm was well below 100.  Most below 50.  Try it sometime - benching 40 pounds many times is a bear.

Ski did 141.  Setting a new record.  The old record was 121.  Held by Ski.

She is called grandma because she is a grandma.  There is no one I admire more than Ski.  She works hard, harder than anyone I know.  She plays over pain. Plagued with injuries over the years she kept on trucking.  And wow is she strong!

Something else about the Outlaws in general and Ski in particular.  They support each other.  Ski started benching for a personal record after other players had finished and gone on to other business.  When they noticed what she was doing they gathered round, shouting words of encouragement, cheering each additional rep.  In the photo at the right, they're celebrating Ski's amazing record.

The Outlaws is a team of talented individuals striving to accomplish personal bests.  And the Outlaws is a "team" in the way they encourage and support each other.  I've cropped my bench press photos to give you the facial expression of the one doing the drill.  What you can't see is her teammates surrounding the bench and cheering every additional rep, calling out "you can do it.  Go girl." 

In the book, The Three Musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis lived by the motto:  "All for one, one for all."  The Outlaws remind me of that credo.

Practice - Passing

What do they do at practice?  You're about to find out. 

I love doing photography at practice because I can stand wherever I want to get the best angle for the shot.  In games, I have to stay on the sidelines.  In practice, I stand where I want.  And in practice I know where the action will be because I listen in as the coach explains the drill, unlike in games where I don't know until it happens.

My most recent posts were about fighting in football.  Unfortunately, they don't practice fighting. 

The posts before that were about passing the ball.  In those posts I opined that women's football doesn't have much passing because it takes more practice than girls/women get to do. 

Well maybe someone on the Outlaws is reading my blog.  Saturday there was a lot of practice throwing and catching and defending.   

You'll be happy to know I've bought a new 300mm Nikkor zoom lens.  For photography, Saturday was a perfect storm.  New lens, lots of sunshine, lots of passes so I get lots of shots,  everyone running a similar route so I knew where to stand to get the photos. 

Today I'll post a few of my favorite shots from Saturday.  Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Fights - 2

Football pits strength against strength, will against will.  One team is determined to move down the field and will push you aside if you try to stop them.  The other team says nope and will knock people down to keep them from scoring. 

Sometimes things get a little heated out there.  Sometimes tempers flare.  Sometimes there are fights.

#91 Dikibo breaking through the line of blockers
to make the tackle.

If you've been to an Outlaws game recently you've heard of Dikibo, #91.  Her name is often called by the public address announcer - "Tackle by Dikibo!"


When you're making  a lot of tackles, the opposing team begins to consider you a problem.  They may assign two people to block you.  The person assigned to keep you away from the ball carrier may just resort to tactics not allowed in the rules. 

Double-teaming Dikibo.  Doesn't seem fair, does it?
It is a compliment when you're viewed as so
dangerous they send two to stop you.

I haven't yet interviewed Sotonye Dikibo for a blog profile but I did visit with her during the Outlaws tryouts and practice Saturday.  She is average height and weight - I didn't ask but I'd estimate 5' 8" and under 200 pounds.  She struck me as a quiet but intense person.

She doesn't look like the player whose name keeps coming up when opposing runners go down.  Well, maybe she does.  That's a serious look.

Dikibo stirs things up out there. 

There's a cliche in football - the retaliator is the one who get's caught by the official.  Someone stretches the rules, maybe even, in the heat of the moment, hits you.  You reply in kind.  The official sees you, didn't see the one who started the trouble.  Dikibo did tell me the skirmishes I've caught on film were instigated by the other player taking liberties with the rules.  I had earlier asked Soho, Outlaws coach, and she said the same thing. 

The picture above of Dikibo being double teamed, and the series of photos that follow were taken at the last game of the 2011 season, at home against Dallas.  The Dallas player assigned to block Dikibo was much bigger, over 6 feet tall, over 200 pounds.  When she didn't have a teammate to help her block #91, she used her height and did a little holding.  Holding is illegal in football, but only if the official sees it happening.

You aren't allowed to grab the opponent's shoulder pads and pull
her down.

Quick, let go before the official sees your hold.

Dikibo looks to the action and see someone else has made the
tackle. 

So she decides to discuss the rules with the Dallas blocker.

How shall I say it - pounding the point home?  Dikibo
is not intimidated by the size of the blocker. 

Fortunately the official was otherwise occupied and didn't see the little skirmish going on just to the right of the where the tackle was being made.  Neither did he see the hold that started it all.  So there were no penalties.  And the tall blocker did get the message.

In the photo below, the official did see the skirmish. 

This photo is one of my all time favorites and stars Dikibo.  Houston had a player who was twisting the rules, ignoring the rules.  Someone had to put a stop to it.  Dikibo rose to the challenge.



I don't think I need to explain the shot to you.  I like to tell about my discovering it as I browsed my Houston photos looking for good action shots.  I like the Houston uniforms, bright colors that reflect lots of light for my camera (imagine my dismay when the Outlaws went to all black uniforms - very difficult to photograph).  I first noted the ball carrier on the ground.  Not very exciting.  Then I scanned up and noticed the Outlaw #91 throwing a punch at Houston #82.  And I wondered if she got away with it.  And then I scanned up to see the official tossing the flag. 

Fights happen in football.  At all levels of the game.  I did a blog post awhile back about cheating.  Cheating happens, too.  At all levels.  Sometimes the cheating leads to the fighting. 

People attracted to football tend to be competitive.  And assertive.  If wronged, they tend to retaliate. They don't just sit there passively waiting for someone else to handle it.  They take care of business.  I like that.    

I admire people who play football.  I admire people with the strength to assert their will even if it involves physical force.  

The Book

The book is published.  Looks really good!

I don't know if anyone would pay for the book when the blog is free.  Consider this a market test. 

Blogger, host of this blog, offered a blog-to-book service.  I accepted.  Then published the resulting book through Lulu.com.  Lulu.com is a Print-on-Demand (POD) publisher.  They print only when someone orders a copy of the book. 

The benefit of POD is it permits publication of books where there is a limited market.  Mass publishers expect to sell thousands of copies of their books; PODs may sell under a hundred. 

The downside of POD is the cost per book - our book is close to $60 - and that's with an author's discount.

But it is cool!   Full color, hundreds of photos.  Size 8 1/2 x 11, slick cover and high quality paper.  It is a compilation of selected posts from this blog.  I omitted non-football posts and the "Random Fan Photo" posts.  I had to do some editing to make the content fit the book format.  But it is very close to what you've seen in the blog.

Another benefit of POD is it costs nothing for initial production.  I haven't had to invest money in this project so if nobody buys, I'm not out any cash.  There was a lot of work involved but that was a labor of love.

It is published in paperback (as pictured here) and PDF format.  The PDF is a form of eBook but does not support Kindle or certain other eBook devices.  The PDF is intended for display on your computer using Adobe's digital edition (available for free download at the book publisher).  If there's a lot of interest, I'll learn to do the total ebook thing. 

You can see the listings at http://www.lulu.com/.  Just search the site for "Austin Outlaws."

Or here are links directly to the listings:  Paperback Edition,   or PDF version.

If you see me at any Outlaws events I'll have a copy of the book with me for show.