Never let them see you cry

This years Alabama State High School basketball Final Four is a difficult and special time for folks in our area. 2A White Plains High School lost it's heart and soul last week when senior baseball / basketball / football player and team captain Bradey Munroe passed away from soft tissue sarcoma, a form of cancer.

It also brought back a lot of memories for me. Bradey played on a AA Little League baseball team I coached about ten or eleven years ago. I know it sounds cliche, but Bradey always gave 110% on each and every play. He also had a smile on his face while he gave 110% on each play.

I can recall at an early practice, just after he started playing for me, that I had asked the boys if anyone wanted to play catcher. Bradey raised his hand and volunteered. His dad told me last night the main reason that Bradey wanted to play catcher was so he could touch the ball on every play. Bradey played that position all of his career and was one of the best catchers in this area.

I also remember during one game early in his career, Bradey got hit or knocked down by another player and was squatting against the backstop. I knew he had been hurt, so I ran out to where he was to check on him. When I got there, he had these big ol' alligator tears running down his cheeks, but he seemed to be fine otherwise. I told him to be tough and wipe his face dry, stand up, and never let the other team see you cry. It's OK to cry in the dugout or in a private place, but not on the playing field.

Bradey carried this lesson with him until the end. He was the heart and soul of this team and even wrote each player a personalized letter of encouragement before the state district tournament began. Bradey left for M D Anderson Hospital in Houston Texas last weekend and told his parents if his team made it to the Final four in Birmingham, that he wanted to stop treatments and fly back to Birmingham so he could be with his team.

He lost his fight with cancer Wednesday, but if you ask any of his teammates, Bradey was here with them.

Never let them see you cry.




Parents and students wore Team Bradey t-shirts to the game.


Bradey's parents, Jeff and Dawn attended the game. Bradey's mother is holding a cousin of Bradey's.


Bradey's parents, Jeff and Dawn receive a runner-up medal from White Plains head coach Chris Randall.

RACECAR spelled backward is RACECAR

Well, if I can't be at the first NASCAR event of the year to shoot it, I guess I will have to shoot it from my other favorite viewing position, stretched out on the couch in front of my big screen TV. I hope to shoot eight or ten NASCAR races this year, so I'll just hafta watch the rest of them from this position, besides, I'll get to sleep in my own bed every night after the race (see, there are some advantages to staying home).



See, you can shoot from many different vantage points while watching the race from the comfort of your couch. You can be riding in the car with Mikey, like in the first image, or from the pit road tower, like image number two, or even a Tony Stewart pit stop like this image.


You can even shoot from the flag stand.


Or, even in the car of the eventual winner, like I was here with Junior. How sweet is that, Junior winning his first race out with the Hendrick's team.

Man, I was like Santa Claus, I was everywhere. And I didn't even break a sweat. So you too, can shoot every NASCAR event. All it takes is some good camera equipment, a big screen TV, and a comfortable couch. It don't get any better than this, unless you are shooting it live and in person, with the smell of burnt rubber and racing fuel burning your nose, the sun burning your face and arms, or the wind so cold it nearly cuts you in half, minimum wage security guards who don't know the rules and only know that their supervisor told them not to let any fans in that area (hello, I have credentials and a photo vest / flag letting you know I'm a member of the media and not a fan).

Maybe one day, I'll get the hang of it. And security will too.

What's in your Mexican Suitcase?

(a photo of my dad and me taken in 1958, taken by my dad with the camera set to 'timer')

In a recent article on Sportsshooter.com,http://www.sportsshooter.com/news/1908, photographer Matt Mendelsohn wrote about photojournalist Robert Capa and his image of 'Falling Soldier'. The jist of the article is about how after printing his award winning image of a Spanish soldier being shot, and at the moment of death, Capa left his negatives in a Paris darkroom as he was fleeing Europe for America in 1939. After more than a half a century, the negatives were discovered in Mexico City after not being seen in many, many years.

I've recently been going through and scanning hundreds of slides my dad shot in the early 1950's and 1960's. Kinda like his Mexican suitcase. He really didn't shoot a lot of images, but when you shoot a roll here and a roll there, after a few years they begin to add up. And every image he took was shot on transparency film, with most of it being shot on good ol' Kodachrome. I cannot remember him ever shooting anything on negative film, only slides.

So get out your Mexican suitcase and revisit your old images. Don't leave them stacked in an old cardboard box or in a dresser drawer. You may be suprised at what you find.



my dad at the end of the Korean war in Tokyo Harbor.


a picture of my mom taken in our spacious house trailer taken in 1957


For some strange reason, back in the deep, dark recesses of my mind, I remember taking this image at my grandmothers house of my cousins playing basketball. It is dated 1962 and is quite possibly the first image ever taken by me. A sports image of all things.