this guy played hoops at Duke, then got into coaching, then got a head coaching job real young and did really well with it. so well that after only three years, oklahoma sought him out to take over their program.
the school that gave him his start didn't want to stand in his way, but they didn't want to just let him go. so they said, "ok, jeff, you can go, but you've got to give us a home-and-away series with OU." everybody thought that was a good idea, so Jeff Capel left VCU to go coach at OU, and he's done pretty well with it. and VCU has done pretty well, also.
now last year, VCU went out to OU. it was a big deal, the Rams gave it their best, but came up short. this year, it was the Sooners's turn to make the trip east, and they came to town to play tonight.
in the world of college sports, from a photography standpoint, everything revolves are the Sports Information Directors (SIDs); they are the ones who hire photographers that provide the athletic departments their editorial imagery. they are a fairly close-knit group and they work together to help each other out. so, when the OU SID called VCU's SID to inquire about a photographer, my name was passed along and i ended up shooting tonight's game for OU.
it was a challenge, in that i was focusing on the visiting team as opposed to the team i normally shoot. it didn't help that this was the first time in 10 years that a nationally ranked team has played on VCU's home floor. talk about an electrified atmosphere...the place was sold out! over 7,500 people were in that joint! VCU struck first and the crowd went wild! and this little mid-major team never looked back, leading the entire way, stunningly upsetting #17 Oklahoma 82-69. that's what made it even more of a challenge for me, making a team look good even when they're looking bad.
here's the OU hoops gallery that i delivered tonight. even though the score isn't what they were expecting, at least they'll now have a nice inventory of images with their players wearing their travel jerseys. |
