Madness: Round Two

As promised, here is an update from the second round action of the Men's NCAA basketball tournament in Boise. As hoped, the action from Sunday afternoon was quite exciting, with both games decently dramatic down the stretch.




The second game between Marquette and Missouri turned out to be very exciting after what was a less than exciting first half. Marquette stormed back to be within a shot with only five seconds left in the game until a player from Marquette stepped on the baseline while inbounding the ball, thus ruining any attempt at a last minute buzzer beater.



Even though the action from these games trumps any action I typically see while working the Sunday shift I have to say that I was left feeling a little disappointed as I was unable to find the time to take in the media taco bar which looked spectacular. As they say all work and no, well, eating? Wait I don't think that's what they say.

Anyways, if you'd like to see some more photos check out this quick slideshow I threw together.

Oh and one more thing... My Sunday actually started much earlier than usual as I rolled out of bed and headed down to the fairgrounds in Boise to cover the Idaho Cat Fanciers Cat Show. Yes, that's right, a cat show. After all, you're not a true community journalist until you've had the opportunity to cover a cat show. Check out the slideshow here.

Madness

As many of you are most likely aware, a few of the first and second round games of the Men's NCAA basketball tournament are being played in Boise this year. On Friday I had the opportunity to cover a couple of games, the most notable of which was the 61-59 overtime thriller between Wisconsin and Florida State.




It was a ton of fun (and a little unusual) to cover a game between two high flying athletic teams in an area not typically known for its basketball.

Fortunately for me the fun isn't over quite yet. On Sunday the four winning teams will advance to play in a pair of afternoon games. Check back Monday for updates from the second round...

A Bowler Says, What?

I don't think I could consider myself a bowler. I mean, I'm not in a bowling league, I don't own my own ball or my own shoes and although I do own a sharp retro bowling shirt, I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a bowler.

I do, however, thoroughly enjoy a game every now and again.

On Saturday, March 14th I traveled over to the Caldwell bowling alley to cover the first-annual Bowl Down Drugs community event. More than 60 children and their families came to the event, which focused on raising awareness about drug abuse prevention in the home.

As I watched these children and their families laugh and cheer as pins hit the hardwood I couldn't help but feel a small sense of jealousy swell up from within. Watching people have fun has always been a part of my job but for some reason this particular assignment drove me to action.

After clocking out later that evening I coerced a couple friends into heading down to the bowling alley to play a few games of our own. I came out playing some inspired bowling as I was able to string together a set of 5 strikes in a row in the first game, beating my personal record of 178ish with a score of 195.

My second game, however, did not go so well.

While photographing the children bowling earlier in the day I caught a little guy reacting to a missed spare attempt. As it would turn out, this image captured quite well the feeling I experienced that night when I bowled my best game ever and then turned around and posted my worst score in recent memory the very next game.


A 65. Yes, 65.

To add insult to the matter, we were bowling next to a group of high school girls who all were able to score higher than I and then made it abundantly clear to me just how pathetic the game had been. Feeling as though my own personal sense of dignity had been damaged I came back with vengeance, bowling a 188 in the third and final game.

So to those of you who may now be skeptical, I would like to make one thing abundantly clear. It has been said that the shoes make the man (or in this case the bowler). I roll in rental shoes so I, my friend, am no bowler. Just a dude in a tacky retro bowling shirt.

The Boys (and Girls) of Summer Are Back

As March Madness swings into full effect this week there is plenty to be excited about, however, the sport of baseball will likely be an afterthought at best for most sports fans.

The greatness that is the NCAA Men's basketball tournament has been well documented so I won't waste time to pander to those of you who are in agreement with this fact. Instead I want to remind you that as the days get longer and the landscape grows greener the passage from winter to spring and summer sports is something to get excited about.

This week I bought a bag of sunflower seeds and ventured out to the ball park to cover my first game of the season; an NAIA matchup between the College of Idaho and Concordia University at the newly constructed Wolfe Field in Caldwell. The weather was less than cooperative as a cool wind steadily blew through the ball park all afternoon and although it wasn't the true sunny spring Saturday I had hoped for on Friday night, it was still enjoyable.



So as your glued to the television praying for your 12 seed to upset that number 5 this week, take a minute to tune in to see what your favorite ball club is up to. Whether it be to a local high school, a minor league club or even an MLB squad, get out and catch a game. Who knows, you may even forget about that heartbreaking loss your number 5 seed dropped to that 12 seed.

Dogs Behind Bars

I'm a dog person. I said it. It's not that I dislike cats. I just love dogs.

For pretty much as long as I can remember I have wanted a dog and throughout much of my college years the famous phrase from my mother: "you can have one when you move out" reverberated through my head.

Well, in December I decided that the time was right to adopt a dog. As previously mentioned, this whole process was something that I had been anticipating for much of my adolescent years and so when the time came to adopt a dog I had it pretty well planned out.

The dog that I got was from the Humane Society in Boise and was enrolled in a program called the Inmate Dog Alliance Project of Idaho. I will admit, when I first read the line in the dog's description that said "This dog is currently training in the Inmate Dog Alliance Project of Idaho," I didn't think much of it.

To my surprise the dog was very well trained, knowing all the basic commands including sit, lay down, roll over and stay. It wasn't until this week that I put two and two together for why my dog came equipped with such an uncanny array of talents.

On Monday, March 9, I ventured out to the Idaho Correctional Center south of Boise to photograph the 12 dogs that are currently enrolled in this IDAPI Program. Very quickly I came to realize that at one time my dog, Buddy, was one of these puppies in cell block B.


It was an incredible experience to be able to step inside the heavily fortified walls of the ICC and see these offenders letting little puppies lick them in the face. The general sentiment from the inmates who I spoke with was that these dogs were changing their lives.

"I've seen everything from a garden variety burglar to a murderer, down on the floor with a dog licking his face," said one inmate. "That's what we live for, because there isn't that much to live for in here."

Check out a slideshow I produced by directing your mouse here.

Two Years in Review

On March 1, 2007 I began work as a full time Photojournalist here at the Idaho Press-Tribune. Two years have now passed in what seems to have been the proverbial blink of an eye. For most, two years is not considered a great deal of time to be working in one place and I would generally agree, however, in two years I have seen so much that it almost seems unbelievable to me that it hasn't been longer.

In this position I have had the opportunity to witness the very best and the very worst in people - occasionally in the same day - as well as many moments that fall somewhere in between.

There have been rodeos and carnivals, parades and high school, college and semi-pro sporting events. There have been hectic days that seem to go on forever and slow days with nothing but a ball game on a sunny Saturday afternoon that seem to go by far to fast. I've watched as sprint boats race around waist deep water and I have seen rodeo cowboys hang on for dear life in a battle between man and beast. Along the way have gotten to know many people both young and old who, under normal everyday circumstances I may never have met.

Everyday has been different and as I look forward to my third year and beyond I can only hope that the daily routine continues to be anything but routine.

Exciting Times at the IPT

On Sunday, March 1, 2009 my paper, The Idaho Press-Tribune, began a 20-year Joint Operating Agreement with the competing local newspaper The Idaho Statesman. The agreement requires the IPT to print the Statesman daily newspaper product on our newly expanded printing press. As you can imagine this is a pretty big deal for us at the IPT.

The Statesman prints roughly 56,000 copies in their daily edition compared to around 20,000 by the IPT so as you can probably imagine, this working relationship is somewhat unique in that our largest competitor has now become our largest customer.

I covered the initial press run last night and made a slideshow as well as a video and they can be found HERE.

In addition to my coverage you may want to take a look at what the local NBC news affiliate did. Watch till the end and see if you recognize anyone... Check it out HERE.