An image I shot with a remote camera mounted above the tunnel the players come out of in Jacksonville - Doug Benc/Getty Images

“Hey Doug, need someone to carry your lenses or bag on the sidelines?” asks my neighbor as I am leaving my driveway. This question strikes me with humor and intrigue. Here is a former professional baseball pitcher, that won a World Series ring with the Yankees not long ago, and he thinks I have the greatest job in the world.

I have an unusual week ahead - I am covering three football games in a three day period. It’s late Friday night and I have to get to Miami and get some sleep for an early game the next day between Georgia Tech and Miami. Then immediately following that game, I have to drive to Jacksonville and stay the night to cover the Houston Texans and Jaguars game the following morning. From there it is another long drive home, get some sleep and catch an early flight to Atlanta for the Monday Night Football game between the New York Giants and the Atlanta Falcons.

Saturday morning comes quickly, and with the Miami fans, I know that I need to arrive even earlier than I do at most stadiums. Three to three-and-a-half hours before kick-off is the minimum. In Coral Gables, you better make it closer to four plus hours. The parking fills up fast and paying for a spot in the local neighborhood can become very costly.

Seeing the workroom brings chills to the back of your neck. It’s damp, hot with tall counters for which there are no stools unless you have brought one from home. The smell hits you as soon as you walk through the damp corridor leading to the photo work room. You pass buckets set up to catch water dripping from the stands above you as if the rain is draining through holes in the ceiling. Of course that would be an assumption since it hasn’t rained in two days. It’s clear to me why this will be the last year of football played in the Orange Bowl, and the University of Miami will be moving to play their home games at Dolphin Stadium beginning next year.

Here I am working in the work room in the bowels of the Orange Bowl.

I break out the computer and get all me gear set up greet fellow photographers that I work with quite a bit throughout the year. Al and Walt from the Miami Herald are in another one of the small rooms located nearby. Shortly after that, more photographers begin to filter in. The Sun-Sentinel and Reuters share a space in the room I am working out of.

As the players enter the field, photographers are allowed to stand in a area so we can all capture the team’s running out of the tunnel. Once in a while you can make a nice frame of the moment. During the National Anthem, I look up and see why I was able to park so close to the stadium, the stands are as empty as I have ever seen them. It seems that Hurricane fans are not as rabid as I had thought, when their team is not very good.

I send a few frames at half-time and then the rest of my take at the end of the game. It is a fairly uneventful game with no upset and no real story line, other than two teams that are in rebuilding years facing each other. The media meal was not very appetizing and is usually avoided. But after the ESPN camera crews eat, there are leftovers for those that have the stomach. Al and Walt from the Herald do their best with the cold sandwich. I pack my gear and get on the road for a six hour drive to northern Florida for the Jaguars game the following day.

A sandwhich that sits between two Miami Herald photographers

Again the following morning, I find myself going through the same ritual as the day before. With more on the line in this game, you can sense the arriving home crowd is very excited. Walking through all the tail-gaiters, on my way to the gate, I hear those familiar words, “Hey mister photographer, I will carry your lenses if you get me a ticket to the game.” I smile and nod, without them knowing, that I would gladly take them up on the offer if it was possible. I am still a bit sore from the game yesterday. The knees ache a little, your muscles are bit sluggish, but the anticipation of another football game has me excited. I arrived early enough to do a second edit on my images from the day before.

There is a different feel to an NFL game. You can tell by the professional attitude that the NFL staff, Jaguars personnel and other sidelines officials show. This is a big game for the Jaguars, as they have only lost once and have the Colts coming to town the following week. A win today and a win next week would propel the Jaguars into first place in their division and most likely a strong contender in the AFC.

The Jaguars prevail and I transmit my images to reflect the win. By the time I leave the stadium, most fans have left and I have an easy drive out of town. I stop a couple of hours outside of town to get something to eat and rest up for my drive home. I arrive at home around 10 PM, enough time for me to fill out my weekly expenses and get them sent to my boss. Set the alarm for 4:30 AM and get some sleep.

I arrive in Atlanta in mid morning and get checked into my hotel. I avoided renting a car this time and decided to try staying near the airport and take the train into the game tonight. I get to my room and begin my second edit from the Jaguars game. I call down and get some dinner sent up and charge the batteries for my cameras.

Taking the train in has proved to be a bit more challenging than I thought it might be, but not impossible. I have to take a shuttle from the hotel, then I change trains downtown and take it one stop to the Georgia Dome. It’s nice to not have to negotiate the traffic and just step of the train and walk about 200 yards to the entrance.

The worn muscles are little sorer today than the day before. The Falcons have a very nice coffee bar set up for the media near the field, a perfect drink to begin a big game, such as this one. I picked a bad week to give up caffeine. But the roar of the crowd and the energy on the field more than gets your blood pumping and again the excitement creeps in and has me ready to go.

Like the three days prior I find myself transmitting at half-time. Only this time I need to send a few more than I normally might. With the late start, more newspapers will be on deadline and can’t wait till the end of the game for images before they go to press. The rest are sent as the game ends and again, the photographers are the last to leave. We file out of the photo work room one by one, saying good bye to each other until next game.

I touchdown in West Palm and call my wife to let her know I am safely on the ground and that I will be home soon. She tells me that my two boys can’t wait to see me, since they haven’t’ seen me since Friday night. I drive into my neighborhood and my friend spots me and waves me down. He asks how my weekend went and if I got some good photos. I tell him it went well. Before I drive away, he smiles and reminds me that if I ever need someone to help on the sidelines, he is ready and willing.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 19th, 2007 at 11:59 pm and is filed under College football, Football, NFL, Sidelines, photos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.