Track and field season is here and I have lost a step

But taking photos of hurdles and sprints is a lot like a game of chicken.

You want to hold out getting that one last photo before you have to dart off the track.

Each year the first meet is a tell-tale sign if you still have the mobility to get out of the way of runners coming right at you.

Sometimes you wait just a little bit too long and a short hop and skip becomes a full out dive, dash or whatever method it takes to get out of the way.

The past two days I have photographed indoor track and field at Doane on Thursday and at Concordia both Thursday and Friday.

What I have learned is this; I have lost a step.

When you stand in lane five and there are three lanes to the left and four to the right, it’s obvious the best route of escape would be to the left.

Not necessarily.

I had a difficult time moving to my left as not all the necessary body parts were cooperating. So I adjusted and moved to my right instead and a few times nearly was in a full-out sprint to get out of the way.

One guy said, “You still move pretty good there.” What he didn’t realize was that I wasn’t moving anywhere for a while as I had hurt something.

Indoor meets are a lot more confined, so when we get outdoors I won’t put myself in those types of positions. I will use the long lens and move a lot sooner than I do indoors.

Outdoors, however, the risk is you might freeze to death covering a track meet.

NCAA Tournament

I started to fill out a bracket, but then it wanted my password to verify my account and I just lost interest.

Probably a good thing anyway, because I’ll admit it, I had Arizona going the distance and they lose to Princeton as the No. 2 seed in the first round.

Every year I tell myself that I need to pick upsets and while I throw in a few, I always seem to pick the wrong No. 5 vs. No. 12, No. 4 vs. No. 13 and so on.

With Arizona out I am leaning toward a darkhorse team that blew Kansas out of Allen Field House earlier this year in the TCU Horned Frogs. Any team that can do what they did to Kansas in one of the most famous basketball arenas is very much capable of beating anyone in the tournament.

The football team couldn’t get it done, maybe the basketball team will.

I probably just put a hex on the Horned Frogs, but only time will tell.

Mother Nature

It didn’t take long for Mother Nature to disrupt the high school spring season. York’s soccer on Thursday and the tournament scheduled for today in York were cancelled due to the projected frigid temperatures. Thursday’s game with Kearney Catholic was rerouted to March 25th.

It’s pretty much a guarantee that while it was the first postponement and cancellation, it won’t be the last.

Have a great weekend and if you are traveling be sure to use care and be safe.