NCAA Track

Today I was all about some NCAA track.

Arkansas hosted the NCAA Track & Field Mideast Regional yesterday and today and I was picked to shoot today's events. First of all, it's been quite a while since I've shot outdoor track (at the college level). And I've never shot a meet of this caliber. But all in all, I had fun and I don't think I TOTALLY screwed up. I wasn't thrilled with the results, but I wasn't pissed about 'em either.

Field Day!

Started off the day inside Benton County Circuit Court for a pre-trial hearing for a pair charged with murder. Unfortunately, it was not a public hearing, so I was only able to shoot some while the defendants (one of which is posted) talking with their attorneys following the hearing.

Afterwards, I went to shoot an advance story. And then, I went to Westside Elementary in Rogers. This is definitely one of those days where I honestly feel like I have one of the most fun jobs possible. How many other jobs get to go hang out with kids on their field day?

Sunday = Spot News Day, again

I started off the day at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Fayetteville.

Sister Helen Prejean, author of "Dead Man Walking" and an opponent of the death penalty, spoke to an audience about her experiences and reasons for opposing the death penalty.

Later, after some busy work, I took off a little early to get home to watch the end of the Indianapolis 500. RIGHT before the end, I heard a call over the scanner for a fully-involved structure fire just west of Tontitown. So I quickly headed out there to shoot. Fortunately, no one was home at the time and the neighbor who saw the blaze first was able to save two dogs from the home. Unfortunately, a third was still in the house.

The shot posted is of the homeowner and his daughter.

Exploding Silos and Portraits

Not a lot to post today as I only had two Profiles section portraits and prior to that I went to the A.E.R.T. plant in Springdale after hearing about an explosion there.

The A.E.R.T. (Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies, Inc.) plant had an explosion this morning in one of the silos injuring one employee. While I was at the scene, I was told AT LEAST 12 times that if I was on their property, I would be arrested for criminal trespassing. So, needless to say, I had a lot of fun there.

And the rest of my day consisted of a couple portraits for the Profiles section.

Fantasy Fishing?!

As the title suggests, yes, there is now Fantasy Fishing.

I spent most of the day at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers for the FLW Outdoors Tour Wal-Mart Open fishing tournament (and the extravaganza provided by).

Before the final weigh-in, they had the Family Fun Zone outside and in with multiple activities and booths set up by various vendors. So I made some wild art out there as shown by the first two frames in this post.

Afterwards, came the NASCAR-style display for the final weigh-in of the top 10 anglers in the tournament. The first-place prize was a $200,000 payout to Mark Pack of Mineola, Texas (last frame). Third place went to Greg Bohannan, the local boy out of Rogers (next to last frame). And I threw in the fifth-place finisher, Matt Arey, just for nostalgic reasons. He's from my hometown of Shelby, N.C.

All in all, I'd say I had fun covering this as it was my first time seeing something like this in person. It's a pretty elaborate production and it'll air on FSN on July 13 and 20, I believe.

Softball, softball, softball and, yes, more softball

I spent over nine hours today covering four high school state championship softball games.

And through it all, I was very disappointed with the lack of emotion (first game aside) from each team. There was very little celebration or dejection from three of the four games. Now, granted, the first game DESERVED emotion as they went to an extra inning with the score tied 0-0 and one hit between the two teams. Also, on a side note, I now know what is involved in the "international tie-break" system. When the teams go into extra innings, they automatically get a runner on second. Pretty interesting.

Anywho, I'm worn out. So this is all I'm posting for the day.

Ice Skating and Softball

I started off the day (Friday) doing some wild art hunting. I hadn't been to the Jones Center in quite a while so I just headed there. And there I found this group from an elementary school Tahlequa, Okla., there on a field trip. Got some shots of the teacher taking some shots of her students.

And afterwards, I spent the rest of my day with the high school softball state championships - two today and four tomorrow.

We Getted Our Edumacation

Today I spent all of my time at UA graduation.

I started off with the overall graduation at Bud Walton Arena and had two school ceremonies at Barnhill Arena for two separate stories.

As hurried as I felt, everything actually worked out in the end and I was at least satisfied with what I came away with.

The Donald Comes To Town

I began the day at one of the 16,526 Wal-Mart's in the area. We won't be allowed to take photos in Wal-Mart for the next couple weeks, so I had to go today to stock up on some images to run with future business section stories about the Walton Empire.

Afterwards, I had to make quick of an assignment with an international business speaker as my main assignment was soon thereafter. So I got a quick shot of him talking with someone before his speech and I tried to incorporate the buildings through the window next to them.

And then came The Donald. The Trumpster came to town to speak at a fund-raiser luncheon for Economics Arkansas. This guy was actually pretty darn entertaining. He had some pretty funny anecdotes. The gentleman sitting next to him in the last frame is H. Lee Scott, president and CEO of Wal-Mart.

It's Beakman's World...

...the rest of us are just trying to find our place.

I started off the day with a baseball portrait. Chase Leavitt is the lead-off batter for the Hogs and he's a really cool kid. He's got a great personality and was easy to shoot. Unfortunately, the rain forced us under some cover so I had to go with the old "top of the seats" shot. I had a much better idea in mind but I guess I'll have to save that one for a latter portrait.

Afterwards, I had a little down time and I knew we needed some wild art, so in my driving around Fayetteville, I saw a BUNCH of school buses outside the Walton Arts Center so I went on in to check it out. Turns out there were about 1000 local students there to see "Beakman Live!" Apparently, "Beakman's World" is a popular kid's television show and the star, Paul Zaloom was performing a live show. I have to admit, this guy was actually a good entertainer. I equated him to a funnier modern Mr. Wizard.

And lastly, I had to cover a Bobby Petrino (UA football head coach) press conference. There's pretty much never anything interesting in press conferences. Today was no different.

Motorcycles and Baseball

I started off the day up in Bella Vista at Blowing Springs Park for the Ozark Vintage Motorcycles Association show.

Afterwards, I headed back down south to Baum Stadium for the last game of the weekend series between Arkansas and Alabama. The Hogs finally pulled one out today.

Before the game, I shot a ceremony memorializing the late Larry Shank, the former public address announcer for Razorback baseball.

As for the last photo on this post, I know I complain about shooting baseball, but I want to make one thing clear. If I've gotta shoot baseball, I'd rather be at Baum Stadium than with the Naturals. Main reason? Simple, RBI Girls.

More Soccer and Some Baseball

Not a whole lot to write about today.

I shot two more HS soccer state championships and then quickly headed over to Baum Stadium to cover UA and Alabama in baseball.

I hear the Hogs lost after I left.