Another Away Game - Kentucky...
posted by Gameshots, 10/16/2008 03:43:00 PM
What a beautiful time of the year to make the trip up the Interstate system to Lexington! The weather was beautiful all the way and we had no traffic problems. From Clinton, SC to Lexington took around six hours and the return trip was under six hours as the traffic was much lighter than the Friday traffic.
Lexington...
Each city has it's own personality, so to speak. Lexington is in the middle of 'horse country'. Our motel was on Man o' War Boulevard, one of the major arteries of Lexington. Named after a famous race horse, this road was completed during the 1980's. Absolutely an abundance of shopping malls, restaurants and motels in a suburban environment.
We arrived in time to go into the downtown area for the evening. This Friday the night found the city to be in an excitement mode of operation. Big football game tomorrow right? Wrong. Anticipation was all surrounding the Midnight Madness introduction of the Men's and Women's basketball teams at Rupp Arena. Elsewhere (away from Lexington and a handful of other schools) this type of event was causing a furor.
That the NCAA gave permission to several schools (Illinois, Kentucky, Marshall and West Virginia ) to hold public events a week ahead of the official start of practices angered many. The National Association of Basketball Coaches said a jump start may give programs a significant recruiting advantage since it can lure recruits a weekend ahead of the other Division I teams. Because of the uproar over these events, the NCAA is expected to ban future public preseason events, like Saturday's practice at Illinois and Midnight Madness at Kentucky, through emergency legislation on Oct. 29.
Tailgating atmosphere...
The stadium and grounds are beautiful. Not a warehouse in sight. Rolling hills, grassy knolls, and sidewalks introduce you to Commonwealth Stadium. Unlike other Venues in the SEC. Tailgating is setup wherever one parks and it could be on, or beside, a paved parking lot or it could be in the grassy areas adjoining the paved ones. The color of the day, to be expected, is BLUE. Very little white although , yes, the Gamecocks were setup as always with the traditional Garnet and Black.
As I mentioned last week, each stadium is different. This stadium was very photographer friendly! Unlike last week, there were zero (0) steps (either up or down) to get to and from the field. The photographer area was near the field (in the opposite corner from our band and fan section), as was the room for the Visitor press conference (post game) and the Visitor locker room. Although the photographer's room was tight (space-wise) , we had everything conveniently located in the vicinity.
Game on...
It was a beautiful clear day with a temperature beginning in the 70's and moving to the mid-80's. As last week, the photographers can shoot from the end lines (and the sidelines were not crowded at all). When Weslye lined up prior to his touchdown catch, I was able to move about fifteen feet from where I had been and stand right between two of the UK Dance Team members and was ready as he came directly toward me. Of all the plays that could have been run to score the touchdown, THAT was the perfect play for me at that time.
This week, LSU comes to town...
Game's at 8PM on ESPN, the State Fair is setup 'next door', the weather forecast currently appears cool but rain chance minimal. My prediction: it'll be a late night (or Early Morning) leaving Williams-Brice. My goal is to be out of there before 2 a.m. after having sent the first of our various Game Galleries to the site, for all of those who are up at that time of the morning anxiously awaiting them!
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Another SEC 'road trip'!
What a beautiful time of the year to make the trip up the Interstate system to Lexington! The weather was beautiful all the way and we had no traffic problems. From Clinton, SC to Lexington took around six hours and the return trip was under six hours as the traffic was much lighter than the Friday traffic.
Lexington...
Each city has it's own personality, so to speak. Lexington is in the middle of 'horse country'. Our motel was on Man o' War Boulevard, one of the major arteries of Lexington. Named after a famous race horse, this road was completed during the 1980's. Absolutely an abundance of shopping malls, restaurants and motels in a suburban environment.
We arrived in time to go into the downtown area for the evening. This Friday the night found the city to be in an excitement mode of operation. Big football game tomorrow right? Wrong. Anticipation was all surrounding the Midnight Madness introduction of the Men's and Women's basketball teams at Rupp Arena. Elsewhere (away from Lexington and a handful of other schools) this type of event was causing a furor.
That the NCAA gave permission to several schools (Illinois, Kentucky, Marshall and West Virginia ) to hold public events a week ahead of the official start of practices angered many. The National Association of Basketball Coaches said a jump start may give programs a significant recruiting advantage since it can lure recruits a weekend ahead of the other Division I teams. Because of the uproar over these events, the NCAA is expected to ban future public preseason events, like Saturday's practice at Illinois and Midnight Madness at Kentucky, through emergency legislation on Oct. 29.
Tailgating atmosphere...
The stadium and grounds are beautiful. Not a warehouse in sight. Rolling hills, grassy knolls, and sidewalks introduce you to Commonwealth Stadium. Unlike other Venues in the SEC. Tailgating is setup wherever one parks and it could be on, or beside, a paved parking lot or it could be in the grassy areas adjoining the paved ones. The color of the day, to be expected, is BLUE. Very little white although , yes, the Gamecocks were setup as always with the traditional Garnet and Black.
As I mentioned last week, each stadium is different. This stadium was very photographer friendly! Unlike last week, there were zero (0) steps (either up or down) to get to and from the field. The photographer area was near the field (in the opposite corner from our band and fan section), as was the room for the Visitor press conference (post game) and the Visitor locker room. Although the photographer's room was tight (space-wise) , we had everything conveniently located in the vicinity.
Game on...
It was a beautiful clear day with a temperature beginning in the 70's and moving to the mid-80's. As last week, the photographers can shoot from the end lines (and the sidelines were not crowded at all). When Weslye lined up prior to his touchdown catch, I was able to move about fifteen feet from where I had been and stand right between two of the UK Dance Team members and was ready as he came directly toward me. Of all the plays that could have been run to score the touchdown, THAT was the perfect play for me at that time.
This week, LSU comes to town...
Game's at 8PM on ESPN, the State Fair is setup 'next door', the weather forecast currently appears cool but rain chance minimal. My prediction: it'll be a late night (or Early Morning) leaving Williams-Brice. My goal is to be out of there before 2 a.m. after having sent the first of our various Game Galleries to the site, for all of those who are up at that time of the morning anxiously awaiting them!
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Paul Collins. Paul has been a GamecockCentral photographer since 2005, with a focus on Gamecock football, men's basketball and baseball. He may be reached by email at paul(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.