Basketball Diaries

Every so often, a nice photo falls in your lap.

This photo, from the Arkansas/Alabama game I shot yesterday, was a little too literal for me.

Lucky for him (and me, but mostly him) he managed to hit the ground and miss the 300mm lens I had sitting on the floor. The video cameraman to my right (his shoe is in the bottom of the frame) had a closer call then me. He had to scurry up into the bleachers to get out of the way.

I really didn't get anything else exciting from the game, but there is something cool about the trip worth mentioning.

The Bama game was a jet trip. We got to take the phat corporate jet and fly in and out the same day, rock-star style. We do it for every away football game, but it is kind of unusual for basketball.

The inside of these planes are nice. Here, columnist Harry King relaxes as a fellow staffer reads a column by Harry King. Its super awesome, with the comfortable seating, free snacks and a mini bar (which we are unfortunately banned from using). And apparently if you use your cell phone while the plane is landing or taking off, the plane won't come crashing down.

They even roll out the red carpet when we arrive. There's no security checks getting on or off the plane, and sometimes they even have the rental car parked outside the plane when we arrive. Its seriously unfair that anybody gets to fly like this, especially a group of scrappy journalists.

Aside from the game, the Alabama fans provided some nice distractions. I loved this sign about Arkansas player Steven Hill. I don't know where the caveman reference came from. I guess because he has long hair.

Although now that I think about it, he does look a little neanderthal on the court:

"ME GET BAALL!"
Unfortunately for Bama fans, the caveman had a really good game last night.

The elephant man was not amused.

And just for fun:
Remind Me.mp3 by Röyksopp