(I Just Want To) Hang Around With You

Saturday was a long day of shooting for our staff.  The day started with a baseball tournament at Hanover, then moved over to the soccer matches at the Valley West turf field.  Once soccer wrapped up, our well-connected staff got word that HR was due up again in the nightcap of the quad-header, so it was back to Hanover for one more set.  One of the baseball parents noticed that it was a long day for our weary shooter, and wondered why anyone would do such a thing- the answer, of course, was that I just want to hang around with you.

Actually, as crazy as it seemed to run back and forth all day taking pictures, one might think it''s even more nutty to stay in one place, watching games on the same patch of grass for the entire day.  But what do I know.  I'm just a bag of bones, with no proper point of view.

Readers of the last post were promised some details on the brief brush with fame that involved Robert Hazard, so sadly for you baseball fans, your post has to relay that bit of FotoFink triva-

Flash back to 1982, University of Delaware.  A much younger FotoFink was struggling to balance the workload of a civil engineering major with a taste for nightlife and parties.  (Note that engineering lost that battle).  Michael Jackson was not only alive, but he wasn't weird yet, and was single-handedly saving the music business.  CD's were new- very new, so mostly we still had scratchy old albums and party tapes instead of IPod playlists.  Robert Hazard had burst out on the Philly music scene, along with bands such as the Hooters, Witness, and Beru Review.  The Robert Hazard and the Heroes EP was pretty much a local phenomena, so when he played U of D, it was a big deal.  Through a friend who had ties to the university newspaper, the FF circle of friends actually got to spend the night of the concert partying with Robert's daughter, Corrina.  Before your mind starts in with any wild, rock-star in the '80's party ideas, let's clarify-  Corrina was maybe 12 at the time.  It was more babysitting than partying.  Nevertheless, I was in the presence of someone related to someone who was modestly famous for a brief period of time.  If that happened today, I could probably leverage that into a "Dancing with the Stars" appearance- or at least "Celebrity Fit Club".  In spite of my awe, I managed to keep my cool long enough to ask her to sign her dad's album for me- which she graciously did.  Silly enough, but the Robert Hazard EP is one of the jewels in my record collection as a result.

In researching all the dates and such, I discovered that Robert passed away in 2008.  My condolences to my old friend Corrina, who, by the way, I have not seen since that night in 1982.

On to baseball, yes?

Once again, our staff made valiant efforts to name everyone, but there are always a few of you who don't look the same in your baseball caps as you do in school.  Feel free to comment to fill in the gaps.

I am no expert, but I am thinking he should have swung at that.

Relax.  Christian has it under control.

He's back in time.

That's a 3 run shot.  Was almost enough to win the game.

In case you are more interested in pictures than my rants-  Here's where you can go-

Game photos

FotoFink Photos

Enjoy!

Change Reaction

Saturday's activities included an early look at the Holy Redeemer Girls' soccer team, who were entered in a round-robin-ish tournament at Wyoming Valley West.  This was our first look since the coaching change- reaction has been positive so far, so hopes are high again for a successful season.

That was one of the more creative references to date, but it had to be.  Really- what was Robert Hazard talking about....  "Change Reaction".....  good song, but does anyone actually say that?  How can that be worked into normal conversation?  How about "You're a domino..."  huh?  The video is funny though- clearly lip-synced, complete with ridiculous hand gestures and an 80's version of the mosh pit.  Notice how when the girl in the crowd sings into the microphone, the vocals don't change.  Plus- there is no way that bouncer doesn't see those 14 year-olds sneaking by him.  Talk about willing suspension of disbelief.....

More to come from Robert Hazard, as he was responsible for one of the few brushes with celebrity in FotoFink history.  But that will have to be in another post.  For now, some comments on the game-

Scores, records, standings all seemed only loosely kept, but HR managed to win the last two varsity showings, so that would seem to be enough to declare them the victors.  By FotoFink standards anyway.

This play, and then later this one, were not the same play, but they were close to each other.  In neither one does that Valley West girl have a chance...

This goal celebration will require some more explaining too- sort of a two-fisted, six-shooter gunfight.  Good stuff!

Girls' soccer has been part of FotoFink for a few years now-  When did this happen?  If you are a fan, you have to like seeing Christine on the pitch, but what about the last few seasons?

Ever wonder why goalies get injured so often?

In case you were wondering, no.  Not yet.

Here's another face, back from an injury shortened season last year.  This is like a Christmas come early.

It's just a penalty kick.  It's supposed to go in.  Still.... this was satisfying.

Alright- before all the photos are given away, here's some linkage-

Tournament shots

Older shots

Enjoy!

Learn Your Lessons Well

FotoFink faithful will recall a time when this was mostly a soccer photo site.  Here at the cozy mountain retreat, we are a soccer household, so that was naturally the first place my hobby took me.  Gradually, other sports have entered the mix, as our Editor-in-Chief learned his lesson well- This week, the fold expands to include track as well, and hopefully, we are all better for it.

Godspell was dissed a bit in the last post, and in retrospect, that may have been harsh.  (Mrs FotoFink claims there was music from Godspell in our wedding...  I should have paid more attention, I guess.)  This post will be a shameless attempt to correct that oversight.  Buckle up.

The spring schedule here at FotoFink is tighter than ever.  Events are mapped out day by day until the end of the school year at this point. Still, our staff gets requests- "We beseech thee, Fotofink- come shoot our domino tournament? It's next Monday night, out on the willows".  Alas for you, time is precious, and we can't cover every event.  It would be one thing if there were a huge staff of photographers by my side, but there is not.  It is a great pleasure though, to document all good gifts that our children share by competing.  I'll do what I can, until I am told to turn back, o man.

On to track-

Some apologies first- our staff did an admirable job identifying the competitors, but there are still a few untagged athletes.  Feel free to comment somewhere to help us out- keywords can still be added or changed, and with over 37,000 photos on the site, tags are important to keep things organized.

There are over 500 pictures from the day, but undoubtedly, the camera missed some of you.  Don't take it personally- this is the first track meet on the site, the next one will surely be more thorough as I adjust to the "flow" of the events.

Next one?  Oh yes.  There are too many good photo ops to not return.  This event (Triple jump?  Long jump?  Still not sure how many times they left the earth) resulted in some great shots.  I don't know if this is good technique or not, but it's good photo material.  Even the running events provided some interesting shots.

Many of you may be new to the site, I encourage you to browse around- there are many of you that are on here for other sports as well.  Read the FAQ section if you have questions, feel free to press the "BUY" button early and often.

Here's what you came for-

Game photos

All the FotoFink photos

Enjoy!

I Need A Miracle

Spring sports got underway this week, and here are at FotoFink, we are spreading our wings like a robin returning from winter vacation.  (Sorry about the disco there. It won't happen again) Softball  is a new undertaking here at FotoFink, which means we will be further clogging up the webpage with a new category. Our IT people are working on a solution there, but the last time we cleaned things up, there were actually complaints.  Unlike Facebook, FotoFink responds.  More importantly though, this game provided an exciting afternoon of competition for all six of us that came out to watch.

To preface the recap, let's be clear- shooting a game usually makes it hard to watch a game. More specifically, it makes it hard to follow a game. So the assumptions here may be very very wrong, but as always- just go with it. HR seemed down by a few runs, and also down to the final out. If you are pulling for the home team, you are thinking- I Need a Miracle. Backs against the wall though, the Royals managed a several run comeback, as Lehman struggled to get an out at first base and finish the game. In the end, whether they won or lost, the Lady Royals put up a few late runs to make the game interesting.

A few notes from the world of FotoFink-

Considering the direction of the sun, and the number of right-handed hitters (all but one? come on....), we are destined to see lots of batters from the posterior side. Let's hope for a cloudy day, or an away game with a south-facing field.

Thanks to Mary G for her help with identifying a few of the girls in the shots. If not for the late hour when the editing occurred, surely she would have been able to stay awake long enough to help name this, as-of-yet-unidentified player. Feel free to leave a comment to if you can help with this issue.  (Edit- More thanks to Mary, who let us know that our mystery player was Kelly Z)

Regarding the title today- If you are one of those jobless, hippie, tye-dyed, long-haired, unshowered folk that took every summer of the 70's & 80's off to "tour with the Dead, man..."- don't be too excited. Shakedown Street is hardly considered to be one of the Dead's masterpieces, and it is the only album of theirs in the lifelong project. It's actually a small cheat in that it is a step ahead of the current recording, but really- there was NOTHING on the Godspell soundtrack that was at all fitting.

As softball is new to the site, word of mouth will surely be appreciated. Feel free to spread these links around like the $3,000,000.00 Kenyan prince email.

Without further ado...

Game photos

FotoFink

Enjoy!

Get Up And Go

Get up and go.  Here's a phrase that had several ties to Friday night's game.  First off, Redeemer seemed to have little of it, as they fell to Abington Heights in the district finals.  It's easy to say that, of course, from a comfy position on the sideline.  Perhaps ABHEHI was just that good.  Regardless, there is little sense in dwelling on the matter.  As a result of the loss, the Royals will need to "get up and go" to the first game of States next week- traveling somewhere into the depths of District 3 for a matchup with Steelton-Highspire.  Sounds like a roadtrip to Hershey is in the works...

Game analysis is really not the strong suit here at FotoFink, so let's get to what we do best- Sarcasm and wittiness-

While the game may not have gone Redeemer's way, the fans and the cheering certainly did.  Apparently, it was "Anything Goes" night for the Red Sea/Tide/Storm/Whatever, and as always- they did not disappoint.

This was great.  Good luck tagging yourselves if that makes it to the facebook page.

Here's a better shot of the group- a gorilla, a couple of kings, tight red suit man, a pirate, Nacho Libre, Darth lifeguard Vader and all four teletubbies.  Anything Goes.

Russel from Survivor was also in attendance- There may be a "separated at birth" shot in there....
(edit- Here it is.)

Give some credit to our cheeleaders as well.  Well outnumbered by the amateurs, cheering in a losing cause, they still managed to execute some difficult maneuvers without dropping anyone.

There was, of course, a game as well.  Which was not without a few uncomfortable moments...

Mike Z seems to be concerned that his opponent showered today...

Apparently, the AH player passed the hygiene test, as they were able to get a little closer later in the game.

Ok- enough teasing- here's what you came for-

Game photos

FotoFink

Enjoy!

Sledgehammer

For the second time in recent weeks, Wyoming Area's girls visited Holy Redeeemer for some basketball.  Although more was at stake this time, the result was similar- HR came down like a.......  you guessed it..... Sledgehammer.

A little experimenting there- If that worked out, that opened in a new window.  If you want, you can continue to enjoy Peter Gabriel while you read.  I am always thinking of you....

Some Wyoming Area parents have expressed some interest in photos, so may plan was to shoot this game with both teams in mind- and save all that work of walking down the the other end of the court.  There ended up being a few hurdles to get past (more on that in a moment), and the end result was a pretty small set of some pretty average pictures, in my opinion anyway.

The first issue that I had was that I knew I was leaving a little early- 7:05 hockey game, that I resigned myself to be a little late for, but did not want to miss.  Apologies to the boys, who played right after this game, since I missed all of that.  Hopefully, there will be a few more games from here for them as well.

In addition, for the first time ever, I had a complaint about the lights that I set up for the pictures.  First and foremost, I do not ever want to affect a game, so of course, the lights went off, and the pictures were.... less good.  Here's an example- This shot was without the flashes, this is a similar shot with them.  I know that the flashed shot has kind of an odd look to the background, but the colors are so much more vivid, and the detail is so much greater- it's hard to settle.  The games, of course, are not about me, or the pictures, but since this is my platform...

Let's put it out to you- first off- does anyone else have strong feelings about the pictures?  Flashed better than non-flashed?  Other way around?

Second, and more importantly- for the athletes- Is the flash distracting?  When I have asked before, I've been told no- for the most part, the players don't notice it going off at all.  If it is a distraction- please let me know!  My guess it that in this case, it bothered the bench more than the players.  If I am wrong, I truly want to know.  Feel free to drop a comment here (which you can do anonymously) or at my email- sfinkernagel@hotmail.com.

Enough- let's enjoy the shots I got, shall we?

The game

The site

Enjoy!

Los Endos

In an eerily familiar finish to the season, the young Redeemer girls met Crestwood to decide the champion of the season, but this time it was on the basketball court. (Don't spoil it by pointing out that the field hockey game was the Jr High- just go with it....)  Again in familiar fashion, Crestwood escaped with a hard-fought victory, once again in round one of what is surely  going to be a rivalry that will last for at least the next few years.

Los Endos is fitting for several reasons- first, this was the final game of the season- from here, girls will move on to track, softball, fishing, or whatever their spring activity is.  In addition (drum roll please.......) The lifelong project has passed the "wall of Genesis" and can now begin the alphabetical assault on the rest of the collection.  Spring sports fans can look forward to some Go-Go's, Heart, Robert Hazard and the Heroes, Ian Hunter etc. etc.  Like it or not, (threw in a bonus there) it will be refreshing on my end to have some change.

Interestingly, Los Endos doesn't actually mean "the end" in spanish.  Or so I'm told.  Once again-  just go with it....

Time always seems to be short while blogging- tonight is no exception-  some thoughts-

Once again- some good shots in warm-ups, but I have to find a way to deal with the stray balls....

Artsy?  Or just a mistake?  I'll never tell.....

As a Redeemer supporter, this kind of thing is repulsive.  But in truth, it was kind of cool how this Crestwood girl started to feel it towards the end of the game.

To wrap up, let me thank the parents on this team for the great support you've shown all season.  There is a reason that your team is so frequently featured on the site-it's because my efforts seem appreciated.  Hopefully, you are now aware that the appreciation is very mutual.  As a reminder, if there is any interest in posters, send me an email- sfinkernagel@hotmail.com.  If you have athletes in spring sports, feel free to let me know what/where- I'll do what I can to get to any event.

Game Photos

FotoFink Photos

Enjoy!