Team Getty Images

The Super Bowl is a thing of the past.

What used to be just a game and an event or two prior is now a weeklong barrage of press conferences, parties, charity events, planning, lots of late nights working and oh yeah a game. This season’s Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona was no different than year’s past except our team was actually bigger this time around. With a crew of over 40 people (yes, you read that right) Getty/Wire/FilmMagic had every event covered with sometimes as many as 8 photographers, three editors and a four man video crew at one party. Overkill? Who knows, the material seems to sell and the clients are happy.

A team meeting before the game.

I was the first onsite editor to arrive in Arizona and flew in Monday straight from NHL All-Star weekend. I headed directly over to University of Phoenix Stadium (bad name for a pro-team’s stadium) and met with photographer Harry How who was setting up a remote from the catwalk. After a quick dinner, the few of us in town went to bed because we had an early Tuesday morning with media day.

I think the best way to see what media day is all about is to click here and watch this multimedia piece put together by Javier Salinas.

Tuesday night marked the only night that we had off with no events except for one thrown just for the media. The NFL put on a giant media party at Corona Ranch, a giant grass area with a real live rodeo ring. Food drinks and an hour and a half performance by the Gin Blossoms capped a pretty good night overall. With just a few of us in town on Tuesday, we were the lucky ones who actually got to have some fun at night.

The Gin Blossoms on stage.

We actually counted and were shocked to know seven Gin Blossoms songs. “Hey Jealousy” never sounded so good with the band signing to literally 25 of us.

Good times at the media party! From l-r, field editor (me), assignments editor Deborah Dadlani, runner John Salmon and field editor Mike Heiman sitting down.

The rest of my week from noon to four a.m. or so was filled with news conferences and parties that I edited. Celebs were hitting all the parties around Phoenix/Scottsdale/Glendale and Tempe and our large team of entertainment photographers and editors were there to capture all the mayhem. I went onsite to most of the events that I had to work however, our team was so big this year we rented a house in Tempe to act as headquarters where we had 10 editors at a time working on photos and photographers constantly coming in day and night dropping off cards. It seemed to be a good call to get the house, despite everyone battling colds and bronchitis and having to spend all day together listening to everyone coughing.

I think for the majority of the team that works primarily on sport, Sunday couldn’t come fast enough. Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest sporting event of the year in the United States and you can argue that it’s the single biggest one day annual sporting event in the world. So for us there, we were pretty excited to see if the New England Patriots could make history and go undefeated (19-0).

Our team consisted of 16 photographers who shot the game spread between staff, stringers, entertainment and contributors. All in all, we transmitted 1,374 photos that night to gettyimages.com and our editorial clients all over the world. To do this, we had a trailer outside the stadium where we had all the images fed to the nine of us editors through our Getty Images system.

Editors in trailer

The system worked flawlessly as our team of eight runners (thanks again runners) were able to deliver the digital cards to our distribution center located under the stands in the stadium. Mike Heiman and Bob Covington would then send all the images to us editors in the trailer to work on.

The runners

The distribution center

The editing trailer

At times the game was stressful, especially in the final quarter, as the New York Giants were finding a way to hold on to their improbable win against the heavily favored Patriots but all in all the night went great. And now, a year to prepare for Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Florida.

Michael Heiman celebrating the end of the Super Bowl week.

Lawrence Tynes celebrates his game-winning field goal. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

“I just wanted to get out of the cold. I think I was inside before it went through. I knew it was good.”

—NY Giant kicker Lawrence Tynes on his winning field goal in the NFC Championship game in overtime that beat the Green Bay Packers for a trip to the Super Bowl.

Often the NFC and AFC Championship games are some of the best NFL football games of the season. They’re often better games than subsequent Super Bowls. This year, the hype of the game, the quarterbacks, the Giant road wins, the almost unbelievable season the Packers had, all were eclipsed by the hype…of the weather. All week before the game, weather forecasters around the country were talking about the first major Artic Air plunge into the U.S. of the winter, bringing with it single digit highs and barbaric wind chills to the midwest, just in time for the weekend.

Great. Just another day at the office for sports photographers.

The Getty Images crew for the NFC Championship game in Green Bay, photographers Jed Jacobsohn of San Francisco, Jonathan Ferrey of Portland, Jamie Squire of Kansas City and myself of Cheeseland by way of Chicago, and Los Angeles-based editors Christian Peterson and Maxx “Packer Boy” Wolfson, got a taste of what we were in for on Saturday night. We walked two and a half blocks from the hotel in downtown Milwaukee to Mo’s restaurant for dinner. It was 4 degrees and the wind was howling. A less than ten minute walk seemed like ten hours.

All week before the game, I fielded phone calls and e-mails from friends, family and co-workers about the game and surviving the weather. My good friend Chris Covatta called from Austin, Texas to commiserate. Chris and I had shot many a cold game in the past including a Bears-Packers game in Green Bay in the early 90’s when the temperature at the noon kick-off was 12 degrees. “I’ll thinking of you, buddy. I’ll be watching the game in front of the fireplace, eating a bowl of chili and drinking a beer.” Hey, thanks for that, ya two-bit slop artist.

I also talked to my boss in Los Angeles, Brandon Lopez, and told him I’d be expensing almost $30 worth of hand, body and toe warmers for the photographers. “JD, it’s 70 here today…just beautiful.” As Daffy Duck once said, “Thanks for the sour persimmons, cousin.” (Not what I really said.)

On the drive up to Green Bay the photographers watched the outside temperature gage on the dashboard of my car. It was 5 degrees when we left Milwaukee. Went it got to 0, the boys started taking pictures. Jonathan Ferrey grabbed his camera phone and sent a picture to his wife. At some point during the two hour drive, we all got phone calls from friends and family from around the country, all wondering the same thing. What’s the temperature and how were we going to survive? We all talked at length about it but when we got to the exit at Lombardi Drive in Green Bay, Jed Jacobsohn became obsessed with trying to figure a way out of shooting the game. “Can’t we just turn around and go back?” he lamented. Fat chance.

The temperature gage hits zero on the way to Green Bay. (Photo by Jamie Squire)

We parked and walked about 100 yards to the media will-call window to pick-up our credentials. We hustled back, jumped back into my car and the real cussing began. It was cold. Damn cold. To quote singer Tom Waits, it was “colder than the ticket takers’ smile at the IBar Theatre on a Saturday night.” After sitting there for ten or 15 minutes, I turned to the crew. “Guys, we’ve got to go into the stadium at some point.” There was no putting off the reality of the day.

Jonathan Ferrey, Jonathan Daniel and Jed Jacobsohn prepare to enter the “Frozen Tundra” of Lambeau Field. (Photo by Jamie Squire)

The first order of business was to go out and shoot “fan features.” The fans are completely nuts in Green Bay before, during and after the games. Lambeau Field may have the best tailgating of any stadium in the country. They were out in force, but there were many more tents set up than I had ever seen in the parking lot. Maybe these fans weren’t as nuts as I thought after all. A quick walk proved that…they were.

A tailgater in the Lambeau Field parking lot wears shorts. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

It took us about a half and hour to get completely dressed for the game. I spent a lot of time thinking about Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to reach the summit of Mount Everest, who had just died a week or so before. How in the world did he survive 30 below tempetures at over 27,000 feet in 1953 without proper outwear, Gortex wind and rain breaker clothing and…HAND and TOE WARMERS!? Packer fans are normal. THAT guy was nuts. Believe me, we used up almost all of those warmers too. We put them every place that we could put them to help us stay warm: in our gloves, outer coat pockets, near our spare camera batteries, in our boots on our feet and toes.

Eli Manning of the Giants celebrates winning the NFC Championship. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

Eli Manning does an impression of his brother Peyton as he calls a play against the Packers. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Brett Favre of the Packers blows cold air as he watches the replay screen during the game. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

In one of the few moments they had to celebrate, Brett Favre jumps into the arms of teammate Scott Wells after throwing a pass to Donald Driver for a touchdown. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Crazy Packers fans pose the question: Do these guys have wives? (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

For the record: At kickoff, the temperature was -1 with a -23 wind chill. By the overtime, it was -3 with a -24 wind chill. Felt pretty much the same from beginning to end. Cold. It was the second coldest game ever played at Lambeau Field, the coldest being the 1967 “Ice Bowl” Championship game between the Packers and the Cowboys. (And NO, I WASN’T shooting that game. I was just a kid. Really.) The temperature for that game was -13 and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the wind chill was -46. As we all know, no one even knew what “wind chill” was in those days, much less talked about it. Frankly, I wish they wouldn’t talk about it now, either.

Members of the New York Giants take turns taking pictures of their teammates with the George S. Halas Championship trophy in the locker room. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The game was exciting, especially for the estimated 53.9 million people watching from the comfort of their homes, in front of their fireplaces, eating chili and drinking beer. The Chicago Tribune reported that it was the most-watched title game since Dallas-San Francisco in 1995 and “attracted the most viewers for a non-Super Bowl game since the series final of ‘Seinfeld’ in 1998.” The Packers were doomed by 29 yards of rushing for the entire game, an off-day for Grandpa Brett Favre and a Giant team that didn’t back down from the weather or the Packers. The game was tied 20-20 the entire 4th quarter. Giant kicker Lawrence Tynes missed two field goals in that quarter, the last of which with no time on the clock that sent the game into overtime. Just what we wanted. Over-damn-time in that weather. I almost went from my position on the Packer side of the field to the Giant side of the field to whack that dude in the head with my monopod. He saved himself a beating by hitting the game-winner less than three mintues into the overtime. I was tasked with shooting the trophy ceremony which thankfully was held inside the Giant locker room. Unfortunately, my cameras were completely fogged up once I got inside the heat and party of the locker room. I scraped frost off of my lens and kept shooting and managed to get some nice moments.

We survived. And I really don’t think it was the worst game in terms of cold weather that I have ever worked. I can think of 3 or 4 games just within the last few years where I felt worse. My only regret is that Getty friends couldn’t have stayed over for a few days. I would have invited them over to my house, gave them a lesson on how to operate a two-stage, 7 speed snow blower, and had them take turns clearing the 7 inches of snow we got Monday off my driveway, sidewalks and patio…in 10 degree weather, with a wind chill of -14. I, of course, would have stayed by the fireplace, had a bowl of chili and drank a beer while they worked. A winter fantasy, to be sure.

“Oh ya hey dere, my beer froze, fer crimmie sakes!!!” (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

Packers quarterback Brett Favre turns to hand the ball off in the blinding 3rd quarter snow. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

“That was awesome. I’ve been hoping for that for 17 years. I wanted to play where you couldn’t see the field and the snowplow comes out. It just kept getting worse and worse.”

—Green Bay Packer Quarterback Brett Favre on the playoff game against Seattle on January 12, 2008 at the Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field.

Well, Brett, old boy, I’ve got 12 years on you. As my Getty compadres Jamie Squire and Matt Stockman and I were driving to Green Bay this past Saturday, it began to snow. Nothing blizzard-like, just a good sized snow shower. I mentioned to them that this was my 29th season shooting NFL football and I had never shot in a real “snow game.” Oh, I’ve had my moments in bizarre weather during my career. Heat, brutal cold, rain, sleet, light snow, you name it. I had a couple of games in the old Browns stadium in Cleveland that were messy. I was hit by a frozen dog bone in one of them and taken down by a defensive back who hit me at the knees while I was slipping on ice trying to get out of the way in another. Someone from the “Dawg Pound” also once hit a Bengals quarterback right in the back of the helmut with a frozen dog bone as he was calling the signals. In January, 1986 as the Chicago Bears were completing a whipping of the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship game, it began to snow lightly and fans starting cheering…the snow.

(more…)

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

This past weekend I was lucky enough to spend my Saturday as a card runner on the sidelines of Qwest Field for the NFC Wild Card game between the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins. As a Seahawk fan this was a dream come true, as a Getty Images employee I was in for one of the biggest learning experiences in my career.

My job for the day was to be available on the field for the photographers. When they captured major action in the game, or about one quarter’s worth of shots (depending which came first) I would take their cards and bring them to Maxx who would be waiting in the media room. Maxx would then download the images from the cards, choose the stand out images, caption them and then upload them to our site.

We arrived at the stadium about three hours before the game. Plenty of time for the photographers to put together their gear and for Maxx, our photo editor genius, to set up. The weather was threatening rain and high winds and our photographers needed plenty of time to protect their equipment before heading out in such conditions.

Photographer Otto Greule Jr. wraps his gear in protective plastic wrap.

Arriving early also gave us an opportunity to check out the stadium, review our plan of action and of course, enjoy our lunch.

The view from the Seahawk tunnel about two hours before the game. Maxx and Otto discuss who will be shooting where.

The first of three meals served to the media room.

For those of you who watched the game, you would understand why the first half was a great learning opportunity. I had plenty of time to check out the field, watch our photographers in action and learn the ropes.

Getty Images photographer Jed Jacobsohn in action during warm ups.

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images - Typical Seattle weather. Once we prepared for storms, the sun came out.

The third and fourth quarters were another story. As the action picked up on the field, the photographers were busier than ever. The shot below was taken while I was standing right next to Otto. I was stunned at how quickly the action moves, but even more so by how quickly the photographers were able to react. One minute Otto would be giving me cards that he had filled, the next second he was on his knee capturing the shot.

Otto Greule Jr. /Getty Images

The day was exhausting, I can’t imagine how the photographers do it every weekend, carrying all of their equipment as they run around the field. The experience certainly opened my eyes. Here’s a few things I learned along the way:

-I was amazed at the camaraderie among all of the photographers in the media room, especially considering they are each other’s competition. I watched in awe as they discussed settings on their cameras, congratulated each other about shots from previous games and even loaned one another equipment.

-Out of 4,000 images taken between our two photographers on Saturday, 73 made it up to www.gettyimages.com before the game had ended.

-Thanks to the uploading speed of editor Maxx Wolfsson, our images appeared on four major sport websites minutes after the game ended.

-Shooting a game is a sport in itself, it takes speed, endurance, agility and patience. One glance off the field and you could miss “the shot” of the game.

-While we all work for the same boss,  who happens to be in the third picture below, our experiences at Getty Images could not be more different. It was an honor to escape my cubicle and be part of a team that was much closer to our customers.

Maxx edits the final images of the game.

Jed and Otto check out ESPN.com and MSNBC.com to find their images on the front page.

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images - Getty Images Co-founder and CEO Jonathan Klein watches the Seahawks defeat the Washington Red Skins.

After the game, while relaxing with Maxx, Jed and Otto, Maxx asked when I would be posting this blog. “Monday morning,” I said without hesitation. Maxx gave me a hard time about turning it around more quickly, “you have it get it up before the excitement wears off,” he said.

Trust me Maxx, it’s going to take a lot more than two days for this excitement to burn off. In fact, my ears are still ringing.

Doug Benc/Getty Images

Growing up in Central California, you were either a Raider fan or a Rams fan, with an occasional closet 49er fan scattered in there. Being a Dolphin fan was tough from 2,500 miles away, but I always had the 1972 undefeated season to fall back on. No other team could stake a claim quite like it in any of the major sports leagues.

When I made the decision to move to South Florida from California, the Dolphins were not part of the equation. But deep down, the idea of standing on the sidelines while the Miami Dolphins made another run at the Super Bowl and made history in front of my eyes was very appealing.

In the past two years the Dolphins have gone through so much turmoil, from changing coaches, quarterbacks andto having a top running back suspended for failing a drug test. Even a high first round draft pick could not separate them from the controversy that has ensued, since Ted Ginn Jr. has so far not lived up to first round talent. It seems that the Dolphins are destined for mediocrity for years to come.

But, even with all of the team’s swelling issues, no fan could ever imagine that a team that once went undefeated could fall so far that they could go an entire season without winning a game. My first Dolphins’ game of the year was a game against the Buffalo Bills. The Bills came into the game winners of three straight, and quickly recovering from a very poor start. As a fan, I felt like this could be the first win for the Dolphins on the year. As a journalist, I wanted to document that win.

As I walked out of the tunnel for warm-ups, I looked up into the stands and could not believe my eyes. I really expected there to be far fewer fans in the stands. With a team on a losing streak like the Dolphins, you would expect a half-empty stadium. It felt very good to be a ‘Fins fan, and the feeling was that this would be the day our team would get it’s first win.

From the beginning of the game, the defense played like a championship defense, shutting down quarterback J.P. Losman and rookie running back Marshawn Lynch. The Dolphins appeared to be in control the entire game. I was looking for images that were going to show a Dolphins win and a Bills loss. The Bills’ players were hanging their heads and Dolphins were celebrating. Telling the story of the game was going to be fairly easy as the mood of the game dictated my images.

Doug Benc/Getty Images

As the fourth quarter started, the ‘Fins held a 10-2 lead. A victory was looking all but assured with the way defense was playing. The crowd was into the game as were photographers on the sidelines that could sense this would be the beginning of a turnaround to the Dolphins’ season.

Doug Benc/Getty Images

Not long after though, the Bills scored a touchdown and then went for a two-point conversion. And just like that, a game that was seemingly one sided was suddenly tied. Some were whispering overtime on the sidelines as the crowd continued to roar on every play. The Bills got the ball back, with a couple of minutes left in the game and drive down into field goal range with less than a minute to play. A look into the stands and you could see the deflation of spirit. More hands were together in prayer than were pointing or antagonizing the other team now. As the kick went up through the up-rights, some fans started filing out of their seats, and others just sat there and wondered if this would be a season for the record books.

Doug Benc/Getty Images

As a journalist, I was desperately looking for images that would show the jubilation of the Bills game-winning kick and the Dolphins hard luck loss. The jubilation from the Bills team was slightly less than might be expected. Although, they had got a win, they had several injuries in a game that they were held in check for most of the afternoon.

Doug Benc/Getty Images

Back in the photography trailer, where most of the local media transmits from, there was more silence. Most of the local journalist, no matter how un-biased they are while working, are lifelong Dolphin fans. Most that still cover the team, were here for much of the glory years with Dan Marino and other Hall of Famers. Seeing the team through this year will be tough, but we will always have an undefeated 1972 to fall back on. For now we will have to live in the past to forget the present.

Doug Benc/Getty Images