More Sun and More Firsts

April 18, 2010

What a beautiful weekend to live in Missoula.  With clear skies and temperatures in the 70s, the conditions were extremely inviting for all of the outdoor sporting events I was involved with over the weekend.

However, the story I shot with Kayla on Friday actually took place indoors… but was still the hottest story I’ve ever had to cover.  I shot  a 90 minute session of Bikram Yoga which Kayla was participating in.  The story is the first of a series of news packages she is putting together to inform viewers on various ways to workout and get in shape.  The catch about Bikram Yoga is that it takes place in a room heated at over 100 degrees… I can honestly say I’m not sure I’ve ever sweated more than I did while I was shooting that story.  My shirt was entirely soaked through and I had drops dripping from my face every few seconds… and  I didn’t even do the workout like Kayla did.  I will say that after the class was over AND we shot our interviews AND I had a chance to shower AND I was convined the torture was over, I did feel very accomplished and my body felt the cleanest it’s felt in a long time.

Work on Saturday did take place outdoors as we shot a high school track meet, a softball game between Sentinel High and Hellgate High (Sentinel won the pitching battle by a final of 3-1), and an American Legion baseball game between the Missoula Mavericks and Belgrade (Mavs prevailed 14-4).  Ben Roberts (known as a football and basketball start for the Sentinel Spartans) is possibly the number one prospect out of the state of Montana and it was easy to see why as he hit a home run in each game of the days double-header.  Although it was a first for me in covering both track and baseball, I enjoyed both and look forward to more of the same the rest of this spring season.

Beautiful Day for Sports

April 10, 2010

Spring weather in Montana is as indecisive as it gets.  Whereas it was freezing cold and snowing yesterday, today was perfectly sunny and warm all day.  Thank goodness it was too since I shot outside for five hours this afternoon.

My first stop was at Loyola’s softball field to catch a couple innings of the Breakers facing Eureka/Troy.  This was actually my first time ever shooting softball… it’s harder than I thought.  It’s tough to follow the ball cleanly off of the bat looking through lens that is in black and white.  I can only hope I get much better before baseball season rolls in.  I left after the second inning as Loyola jumped out to a 8-0 lead.  It wasn’t so much that Loyola was knocking the crap out of the ball, but they were making consistent contact and Eureka’s fielders had all sorts of throwing errors that were leading to runs for the Breakers.  Loyola ended up winning the game 10-3.

After that, I headed to Washington Grizzly Stadium to join Kayla at the Grizzly football scrimmage.  The team looked good, especially offensively.  Coach Pflugrad has definitely changed up the offensive scheme as we knew he would.  There was a lot of no huddle and the play ratio was very pass-heavy.  There were quite a few end around and reverse type plays when we did run the ball.  Jabin Sambrano looked sharp and should be quite the playmaker for us next season.  Bryce Carver also looked like a bright spot in my opinion.  For a little guy, he made a number of athletic plays as wide receiver and I can see him getting a lot of snaps next year.  The only conundrum I saw was that Chase Reynolds didn’t get any action.  It appears Pflugrad didn’t want to play him today as he tests out players at new positions… then again I suppose Reynolds won’t need as many repetitions when we’ll be running a spread offense aerial attack with some draws, screens and reverses.

After the scrimmage we interviewed Dodson, Sambrano, Selle, and Coach Pflugrad.   It was nice to hear each of the players being honest and optimistic about the transitions of coaching staff and play-book structure that they’ve dealt with so far this off-season.  It truly appears that the team is coming together and finding its new identity.

After the scrimmage I shot an actual football game in Washington Grizzly… the Missoula Phoenix taking on the Glacier Knights in Rocky Mountain Football League (RMFL) action.  I could only stay for the first half.  While I was there, the Phoenix jumped out to a 12-0 lead as a result of a pair of deep touchdown passes.  The Phoenix ended up winning the game by a final of 18-13, improving their record to 1-1 on the season.

After all that fun in the sun, I finally returned to the station just after six o’clock to edit my footage for the 10 o’clock news.  All in all a very productive day in shooting new sports and watching our football team evolve before my eyes.

Spring is in the Air

March 24, 2010

This week of work has definitely been causing my mindset to transition into the swing of spring.

Monday I covered the first day of full pads for the Montana Grizzly football team’s “spring ball”.  Shooting football in March certainly felt confusing… the weather didn’t help at all either.  Every five minutes went from borderline blizzard to eye-blindingly sunny.  As difficult as it is to dress and cope with such conditions physically, shooting video in this kind of weather is equally draining.  Every time the sun disappeared and it would start raining, I’d have to turn the camera’s filter down from two to one or none.  I’d also have to re-iris the shot for lighting and re-white balance for crisp color.  Not to mention I shielded the camera with my coat to prevent any water damage.  Of course  minutes later the sun would come out and I’d reverse all of these steps again in order to get a usable picture.   After about three hours of shooting B-roll of various drills and scrimmaging, I finally got to interview defensive tackle Tyler Hobbs and newly appointed head coach Robin Pflugrad.  Today was my first time meeting and interviewing the coach… I’m sure it will be far from my last.  Coach Pflugrad wasn’t in a particularly chatty mood as he articulated that the day hadn’t been the best practice session he’s seen out of his players.  Hobbs emphasized that the team is still finding its way.  Besides the rust of winter, the players are facing many changes in coaching staff and thus changes in specific expectations of the players.  Although it felt exciting to be shooting Montana football again in Washington Grizzly Stadium… I had to remind myself that this was just a tease.  After all it is just March, competitive collegiate football is almost half a year away.

What isn’t far away in the world of sports is softball season.  Kayla and I attended two high school softball practices today to gear up for high school softball season which is less than a couple weeks away.  We got footage and interviews at both Missoula Loyola’s pratice and Missoula Hellgate’s.  The weather today was consistently warm, sunny and great for a change.  It really felt like spring outside and seeing softball practice reinforced the transition into the spring sporting season that is upon us.  I’m nervous/anxious/excited for trying my hand at filming a new batch of sports as the season approaches.  It’s becoming apparent that spring has arrived.

Pursuing Gridiron Glory

March 10, 2010

This morning I had the pleasure of shooting a story with Kayla on three exceptional Grizzly football players pursuing their dreams to play at a professional level.  We attended the workout session of Griz stars Marc Mariani (wide receiver), Shann Schillinger (safety), and Shawn Lebsock (linebacker).

The trio was working out for Pro Day, which is just days away.  Throughout talking to the guys, in both formal interviews as well as off-the-record chatting, the guys made it clear that the specific training they’ve done for Pro Day is annoyingly different than the drills they’re used to for gamedays.  It’s more of a focus on specific athletic feats rather than the broader and perhaps more telling spectrum of what the guys are capable of seeing and reacting to out on the actual field.  With just one day of specific drills and precise measurements, Mariani said that it’s a lot of pressure to perform without error.  With that in mind, this morning’s routine consisted of drills to improve/maintain the players’ vertical jump, broad jump, bench press and 40 yard dash.

However, the drills of sprints, ladders, weights and jumps was helpful for shooting the story.  Tight shots of struggling during repetitions of weight lifting, legs exploding into nine-foot boadjumps, and bursts of sprinting speed make for perfect pops of natural sound in packages as well as cutaway transitions.

Aside from these players’ raw athelticizm, Missoula residents can’t help but wish them the best in their football endeavours as upstanding football players and people.  The three of them had nothing but respect and humbleness in regards to their coaches and teammates.

Pro Day will take place here in Missoula this coming Monday, March 15.  After that the prospects will have to wait until the NFL Draft, which starts April 22nd, to figure out their next step in their pursuits of gridiron glory.

Grizzlies Advance to Semifinals

March 6, 2010

Last night was a change in shooting scenery (I’d like to remind you that I use this term in relation to video cameras, not guns).  I had the opportunity to film the Montana Grizzlies Big Sky Tournament quarterfinal game against Northern Arizona.

First off, it was such a nice change in athleticism, as it’s much easier to shoot higher levels of basketball because the game is played much more fluid.  The play develops properly and thus it’s easier to follow the action within it.  Secondly, it was a pleasant change to be able to shoot the entirety of a game and not just pieces of it.  It’s easier to tell the story of a game with just a short highlight sequence when you’re able to see the whole game.  Thirdly, it was the largest magnitude of a basketball game I’ve shot as it was collegiate playoff action.  Finally, it was great because for the third time this season we kicked the crap out of NAU, winning 81-60.

The game was well in hand the whole way as Montana took an early double digit lead and never looked back.  Although Anthony Johnson was by-far the most prolific scorer in the game, registering 22 points on 8 of 12 shooting, the team was firing on all cylinders.  Freshman guard Will Cherry was just one board shy of a double-double with 11 points and 9 rebounds.  Raason Young hit double digits as well, dropping in 11 points after shooting 5-8 from the field.

Editing the highlights for the Griz games is always way more enjoyable.  A) Because there are always way more plays worthy of making the highlight sequence than in high school ball and B) because I get a full minute of highlights to show, making the process less restricting and allowing me to get in nearly every bucket I deem important and/or thrilling.

Following the victory, the Griz will face off against Northern Colorado on Tuesday, March 9th, in a Big Sky Tournament semifinal game.