OU Men’s Road Comes To An End
Oklahoma's Blake Griffin walks to a post game interview after the 72-60 loss to North Carolina in the Elite Eight game of NCAA Men's Basketball Regional between the University of North Carolina and the University of Oklahoma at the FedEx Forum on Sunday, March 29, 2009, in Memphis, Tenn. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
Well, with the help of Blake Griffin the University of Oklahoma men’s basketball team had a great run to the NCAA Elite 8. I missed out on covering them in Kansas City, but was able to pick up with them in regional action played in Memphis. The Sooners had an impressive win over Syracuse, but just did not have the fire power to keep up with a North Carolina team with weapons that could score at will.
Below are a few of my favorite photos from the week in Memphis.
To see a gallery of photos from the loss to North Carolina, click here.
To see the win over Syracuse, click here.
Oklahoma's Blake Griffin (23) looses the ball under the defensive pressuer of North Carolina's Ed Davis (32) and Wayne Ellington (22) during the first half in the Elite Eight game of NCAA Men's Basketball Regional between the University of North Carolina and the University of Oklahoma at the FedEx Forum on Sunday, March 29, 2009, in Memphis, Tenn. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
Oklahoma's Blake Griffin (23) drives past the defense of North Carolina's Deon Thompson (21) during the first half in the Elite Eight game of NCAA Men's Basketball Regional between the University of North Carolina and the University of Oklahoma at the FedEx Forum on Sunday, March 29, 2009, in Memphis, Tenn. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
Oklahoma's Austin Johnson (20) reacts during a time out against Syracuse during the second half of the NCAA Men's Basketball Regional at the FedEx Forum on Friday, March 27, 2009, in Memphis, Tenn. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
Oklahoma's Blake Griffin (23) trips over Syracuse's Rautins (1) during the second half of the NCAA Men's Basketball Regional at the FedEx Forum on Friday, March 27, 2009, in Memphis, Tenn. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
-Chris Landsberger
Spring Snow
From left, David Kenyon and Kelli Kenyon with their children Katie Kenyon, 5, and Kieran Kenyon, 6, all of Edmond, Okla., take a walk as snow falls at Hafer Park in Edmond, Okla., Saturday, March 28, 2009. PHOTO BY NATE BILLINGS, THE OKLAHOMAN
All week the weather forecasters have been telling everybody to stay inside Saturday because of the snow.
People seem to have listened.
Sarah Phipps, Paul Hellstern and I spent the day looking for folks out in the snow in the Oklahoma City metro area and didn’t find many. Truthfully, we didn’t find a whole lot of snow either. The metro area was spared the blizzard that buried much of the north and western part of Oklahoma for the past two days.
For a gallery of some of what we did find, click here.
A dog walker uses the trails in the snow at Hafer Park, Saturday, March, 28, 2009, in Edmond, Okla. PHOTO BY SARAH PHIPPS, THE OKLAHOMAN
This blooming Redbud tree is coated with a frosting of snow in north Oklahoma City, Saturday, March 28, 2009. PHOTO BY PAUL HELLSTERN, THE OKLAHOMAN
-Nate Billings
Iron Thistle Scottish Heritage Festival
Tom Hendrix plays the drums for the Pipes and Drums of the Highlanders of Oklahoma at the Iron Thistle Scottish Heritage Festival and Highland Games at the Kirkpatrick Family Farm in Yukon Saturday March 21, 2009. Photo by Doug Hoke, The Oklahoman
Every now and then Doug Hoke, our director of photography, will leave the office to take photos because we are short-handed or he just wants to remind all of us that he’s not just our boss, but a pretty darn good shooter as well.
Last Saturday, Doug photographed the Iron Thistle Scottish Heritage Festival and Highland Games in Yukon, Okla. We were short on photographers that day, however, I think he just did it for fun.
If you’d like to see a gallery of even more photos by Doug from the event, click here.
Benny Hughes, drum major for the Oklahoma Scottish Pipe and Drums, bows his head during the prayer at the opening ceremony at the Iron Thistle Scottish Heritage Festival and Highland Games at the Kirkpatrick Family Farm in Yukon Saturday March 21, 2009. Photo by Doug Hoke, The Oklahoman
Chad Justin, Lawrence, Kansas, competes in the weight for distance at the Iron Thistle Scottish Heritage Festival and Highland Games at the Kirkpatrick Family Farm in Yukon Saturday March 21, 2009. Photo by Doug Hoke, The Oklahoman
Christopher Jones, Beggs, Okla. competes in the stone put for distance at the Iron Thistle Scottish Heritage Festival and Highland Games at the Kirkpatrick Family Farm in Yukon Saturday March 21, 2009. Photo by Doug Hoke, The Oklahoman
Members of the Pipes and Drums of the Highlander's of Oklahoma play after the opening ceremonies at the Iron Thistle Scottish Heritage Festival and Highland Games at the Kirkpatrick Family Farm in Yukon Saturday March 21, 2009. Photo by Doug Hoke, The Oklahoman
-Nate Billings
Cpl. Gary L. Moore
A relative of Cpl. Gary Moore hugs his casket as services for Moore begin at Southwest Baptist Church in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, March 24, 2009. Moore, of Del City, died March 16 when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Iraq. He was 25. PHOTO BY JOHN CLANTON, THE OKLAHOMAN
As photographers, we have very little control over what happens to our pictures after we turn them into the newspaper. Often they are cropped or not even run at all for a variety of reasons, some reasonable, some not. What I like about this blog is that we can show you the photo as we think it should be seen.
This photo by John Clanton ran on today’s front page with a very different crop that cut off the bottom half of the photograph. I think the uncropped version, shown above, is a more powerful image. Since we cannot see the subject’s face, the picture relies on body language to add to the emotion. If his legs are cut off, as in the photo on the front page, we lose the subtle lean and the raised foot of the subject. The crop also weakens the composition of the picture.
I hope photographs like the one above will make people pause for a moment to consider the loss of Cpl. Moore and the other soldiers who have died in Iraq.
-Nate Billings
Going bald
On an average assignment, I’ll usually turn in 3-4 pictures to our archive system, called Merlin. Rarely is there room in the paper for that many pictures. Here’s a picture that I took this Sunday that didn’t make it into the paper, but I thought it was a nice moment.
Clifford James (right) and his sister Delores Maxwell hold hands as their heads are shaved during the 7th annual St. Baldrick's event outside VZD's in Oklahoma City on Sunday, March 22, 2008. Clifford and Delores shaved their heads in honor of their grandmother and grandfather who both died of cancer.
-John Clanton
OU men in Kansas City
Bryan Terry has been covering the OU men’s basketball team during the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament in Kansas City. Here’s some photos from the team’s win over Michigan to make it to the Sweet Sixteen. Both of our regular readers should note the new caption box feature on our photos here.
OU's Willie Warren, left, and Taylor Griffin fight with Michigan's Jevohn Sheperd for the ball as C.J. Lee watches during a second-round men's NCAA college basketball tournament game between Oklahoma and Michigan in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday, March 21, 2009. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
OU's Blake Griffin lands on Michigan's Manny Harris during a second-round men's NCAA college basketball tournament game between Oklahoma and Michigan in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday, March 21, 2009. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
OU's Willie Warren shoots the ball over Michigan's DeShawn Sims, left, and Manny Harris during a second-round men's NCAA college basketball tournament game between Oklahoma and Michigan in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday, March 21, 2009. Oklahoma won 73-63. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
OU's Blake Griffin dunks the ball over Michigan's Zack Novak during a second-round men's NCAA college basketball tournament game between Oklahoma and Michigan in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday, March 21, 2009. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
To see a gallery with more photo from the game, click here.
-Nate Billings
Take My Picture
I’ve gotten a little bit behind on the “Hey, take my picture!” posts. To update new readers, photographers hear that phrase a lot. So when we started the Alternate Crop blog site, we started taking pictures when people asked. This one I took in Moore when the members of Westboro Baptist church were protesting Moore High School. Nate Billings took the picture below by request at the Oklahoma Youth Expo junior livestock show.
It’s funny, I think most of the time people don’t think we really took the picture.
-John Clanton
Up late with Big 12 basketball
Texas Tech’s Mike Singletary (32), middle, and Darko Cohadarevic (31) react after a play in front of Bryan Davis (0) of Texas A&M in the second half of the opening round game between Texas Tech and Texas A&M during the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, March 11, 2009. Texas Tech won, 88-83. PHOTO BY NATE BILLINGS, THE OKLAHOMAN
The days with four games in a row at the Big 12 Basketball Championship can take a lot out of you. When the tournament is in our town, we photograph every game. If the tournament were in Kansas City or Dallas, we would only photograph Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, our teams. By the time the fourth game rolls around on the first day, it can be hard to keep focused if neither OU or OSU are playing. Mike Singletary and Texas Tech, however, kept my attention in the second half with an amazing performance and made it worth sticking around last night.
Singletary scored 43 points, including 29 in a row, off the bench to lead Texas Tech to the biggest comeback in Big 12 tournament history. As the game was starting, I was still in the media workroom. I looked up at the score as I was editing photos from the Oklahoma State game against Iowa State. Texas A&M was up 15-2 early. At that point I didn’t feel too excited about rushing back out to the court to photograph a blowout. I’m glad I stuck around. Singletary’s reaction during Tech’s rally, seen above, made the best picture I took all day.
We’ve got two photo galleries from yesterday, divided into the two tournament sessions.
For the first session with Baylor vs. Nebraska and Colorado vs. Texas, click here.
For the second session with OSU vs. Iowa State and Texas Tech vs. Texas A&M, click here.
-Nate Billings
Class A & B basketball finals are in the books
Red Oak celebrates their win over Garber in the Class B State Basketball finals, Saturday, March 7, 2009, at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City . PHOTO BY SARAH PHIPPS, THE OKLAHOMAN
The Class A & B teams played their championship games in the state basketball tournament on Saturday at the Big House. Now it is time for the longest week of the year as we prepare to cover the 2A through 6A championships along with the men’s and women’s Big 12 basketball tournaments. It’s going to be all basketball all the time for much of staff. I’ll try to keep this updated throughout the week with photos and some behind the scenes looks at all the tournaments.
Here’s some photos from the A & B finals by Sarah Phipps and Brenda O’Brian. For gallery of even more photos from the games, click here.
Preston’s Maylisa Johnson kisses the championship trophy following the girls Class A State Basketball finals between Preston and Crowder, Saturday, March 7, 2009, at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City . PHOTO BY SARAH PHIPPS, THE OKLAHOMAN
Varnum’s Jordan Hamilton, left, and Devin Satawake celebrate their Class B State Basketball championship win over Cyril, Saturday, March 7, 2009, at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City . PHOTO BY SARAH PHIPPS, THE OKLAHOMAN
Garber’s Dylan Postier (5) and Red Oak’s Stuart Sullivan (23) jump for a rebound during the boys Class B State Basketball finals between Red Oak and Garber, Saturday, March 7, 2009, at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City . PHOTO BY BRENDA O’BRIAN, THE OKLAHOMAN
Cash Overton (3) reacts to Texhoma’s loss to Preston during the boys Class A State Basketball, Saturday, March 7, 2009, at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City . PHOTO BY SARAH PHIPPS, THE OKLAHOMAN
Cyril’s Shelbi Stallings and Chelsea Reynolds (20) react to Cyril’s loss after the girls’ Class B State Basketball finals, Saturday, March 7, 2009, at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City . PHOTO BY BRENDA O’BRIAN, THE OKLAHOMAN
Preston’s John Paul Yeager kiss the champion trophy following the boys Class A State Basketball finals between Preston and Texhoma, Saturday, March 7, 2009, at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City . PHOTO BY BRENDA O’BRIAN, THE OKLAHOMAN
Check out more photos from the games in this photo gallery.
-Nate Billings
Class A & B are through the semis
Hillary Konsure of Crowder celebrates beside Okarche’s Macy Kunneman, left, and Katie Beebe after Crowder’s win in the Class A girls basketball state tournament semifinal game at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City, Friday, March 6, 2009. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
The finals of the Class A & B state basketball tournament are today at State Fair Arena (aka the Big House). Sarah Phipps and Brenda O’Brian, our intern, will be down there all day covering the action and emotion.
Here’s a gallery of photos from Thursday’s first-round games. And to see a gallery from the semifinals on Friday, click here.
Below are some photos from Friday.
Chattanooga fans Payton Howell and Corey Garza, from left, cheer on the Lady Warriors as they take on Varnum during the semifinals of the Class B girls Oklahoma State Basketball Championships at the State Fair Arena on Friday, March 6, 2009, in Oklahoma City, Okla. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
Cyril’s Emily Horn and Chelsea Reynolds (20) react to the overtime win against Lomega during the semifinals of the Class B girls Oklahoma State Basketball Championships at the State Fair Arena on Friday, March 6, 2009, in Oklahoma City, Okla. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
The Okarche girls huddle up at center court before the semifinals of the Class A girls Oklahoma State Basketball Championships against Crowder at the State Fair Arena on Friday, March 6, 2009, in Oklahoma City, Okla. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
Big Pasture’s Dillon McGill, left, and Red Oak’s Jordan Booth dive for the ball during the Class B boys basketball state tournament semifinal game between Red Oak and Big Pasture at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City, Friday, March 6, 2009. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
Preston’s Willie Huffman (10) reacts after hitting the game-winning shot in the final second of overtime against Ripley during the semifinals of the Class A boys Oklahoma State Basketball Championships at the State Fair Arena on Friday, March 6, 2009, in Oklahoma City, Okla. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER , THE OKLAHOMAN
Cashion coach Chad Tichenor consoles Alycia Cavazos during the Class A girls basketball state tournament semifinal game between Preston and Cashion at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City, Friday, March 6, 2009. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
Red Oak’s Lane Adams scores a basket between Big Pasture’s Briton Groves, left, Tyler Waggoner, Trace King, and Dillon McGill during the Class B boys basketball state tournament semifinal game between Red Oak and Big Pasture at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City, Friday, March 6, 2009. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
Check out more pictures in our galleries from Thursday and Friday.
We’ll have more after the championships
-Nate Billings
