Storming the field

With victory in hand, fans, mostly from the student section, storm the field in celebration of the big victory over our in-state rivals. The sea of humanity includes both fans, players and coaches and you can even see some Scum...er... Sun Devil players trying to get out of the way on the upper left. I was surprised at how well behaved the fans were this time - no one was climbing on the goal posts and they seemed relatively orderly compared to some past "storming of the field" events after big victories, for example over Washington and Cal several seasons ago. Unlike those victories, this one was not unexpected as the Wildcats were favored for a change. This image was taken with my 24mm lens at 1/100 seconds at f/5, ISO 800.

The final moments....

As the clock counts down the final moments of the game, the student section starts to leave their seats to prepare to storm the field. Tuugii wanted to know the final score - there it is on the scoreboard - 31-10, Wildcats win and head for the Las Vegas Bowl on December 20. This image was taken at 24mm focal length with an exposure of 1/80 seconds at f/4, ISO 800.

UA-ASU, first play from scrimmage

Wildcat quarterback, Willie Tuitama takes the first snap of the game. This image was taken at 55mm focal length with an exposure of 1/100 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 800.

UA-ASU Wildcats storm the field

Amidst exploding fireworks, the UofA Wildcats storm the field minutes before the opening kickoff of the annual UA-ASU rivalry game. Tonight, a trip to the Las Vegas Bowl is at stake. For the Scum...er...Sun Devils, a loss means the end of their season and no bowl game. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/100 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 800.

UA-ASU - pregrame Pride of Arizona

The Pride of Arizona takes the field before the annual "Duel in the Desert" in state rivalry between the Arizona State Scum....er...Sun Devils and the UofA Wildcats. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/100 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 800.

The Pride of Arizona

The Pride of Arizona takes the field. Hmmm, lots of pretty girls out there! Frank should like this one. This image was taken at 214mm focal length with an exposure of 1/400 seconds at f/8, ISO 400.

Coach Stoops - 4th and 14

UofA coach Mike Stoops directs his special teams players on 4th down and 14 yards to go for Washington. It's often entertaining to watch the coach on the sidelines during plays. It's almost like he wants to jump onto the field and make a play. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/250 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400.

Kickoff!

I always love catching the moment of contact, be it bat on ball in a baseball game or the kick of a football. Here, it was so windy that they used a holder to keep the ball from blowing over and the ball has just left the kickers foot. With the wind behind him, the ball sailed through the end zone. This image was taken at 190mm focal length with an exposure of 1/400 seconds at f/8, ISO 400.

Speaking of Celebrities...

Or is that "speaking of 'Davids'?" David Hasselhoff (star of the original Knightrider TV show and Ba[y/be]watch) has a daughter attending the UofA and he seems to like football. A minor ruckus drew my attention to this section of the "Zona Zoo" where Mr. Hasselhoff (aka: "The Hoff") was drawing fans like a cow pie draws flies. Everyone seemed to be having fun trying to get pictures and autographs and it looks like the Pom Line was no exception. A stadium video crew is at left and "The Hoff" is at the bottom of the stands just above the "A" placqard on the front of the stands in case you are one of the 3 people on the planet who don't know who "The Hoff" is....

Do you recognize this photog?

I have some pix from the UofA-Washington Huskie game last weekend that I didn't get a chance to post before going observing for the last week.

Before (and sometimes during) a game, I sometimes scan the sidelines looking at the equipment of some of the photographers down there and when I got to this one, my first thought was - "nice lens!". My second thought was - hey, I know that guy & he's one of my good buddies! Check out the link to my friend Dave's blog on the right to see some of his work.

One man to beat

Wildcat Nick Grigsby has one man to beat (he did) in the first quarter of last Saturday night's football game between the UofA Wildcats and Washington State Cougers. The Wildcats went on to win, 48-20. This image was taken at 70mm focal length with an exposure of 1/200 seconds at f/4, ISO 800.