ChimpersCage

Wow, the holiday tournaments are here and as I write - almost over! There are several good tournaments in central Illinois. Pontiac, Pekin, Monticello and the State Farm Holiday Classic in Bloomington Normal to name a few. I've never covered any of them except the Classic, so let me talk about it. The Classic is billed as the largest holiday basketball tournament in the country and the best basketball this side of March. It schedules 4 days of games for 32 boys and 32 girls team divided into 2 divisions. The divisions are split 1a/2a and 3a/4a along the lines the Illinois State High School Association draws for those schools. The Classic also follows the rules of basketball as stipulated by the IHSA. More on that later. Last night, I did indeed seem some of the best basketball this side of March. The Richwoods ladies were playing the Normal West ladies. What a game. they went toe to toe, shot for shot in a see-sawing battle for the first 32 minutes. A 3 point buzzer shot...

Knocking off the Chippewas of Central Michigan moved the Redbird basketball team to 7 - 0 for the non-conference season. Still to come are Niagra, Ohio, Utah and Grambling before the race for March starts at home against the Shockers of Wichita State the last week of December. I haven't been able to make every game, but so far I would say the Chippewas have been the best challenge the 'birds have seen this season. It also got a bit physical with several players going over shoulders, hitting the floor hard and being rammed into the goal standards. Newbies have certainly been a plus this year. The 'birds have a much deeper bench than I've seen in several seasons. The 6th man on the court - the crowd - also seem ready and able this season. I didn't get the attendance and it isn't listed on the stats, but I believe the number was pretty good considering a non-conference competition. 20091205 Central Michigan v Illinois State - Images by Alan Look The Lady Redb...

I started a rant on Facebook yesterday about the Bears. In the rant, I suggested it was time to Cut Cutler and Free Forte. I'll stand by that as in my view, both are disappointments. I'd like to expand a bit too and play armchair GM for a bit... Really, doesn't everyone enjoy playing GM? Lovie - you need to give back the defensive calling to the defensive coordinator. Your not doing such a good job. I know that your past lends that you are great at it. I have no doubt that your are/could be, but it appears that your mind has too many other things to do to handle that duty as well. Delegate! Now on to the real question - how do we get the Bears to win a game (Lions games exempt - heck maybe we should includ the Lions. I'm not sure the Bears could beat them right now)without the help of Brian Urlacher. Let's think outside the box - please try to follow along, this line of thinking is going to confuse a lot of people. Who knows the offense better than anyone? Y...

Well, for me anyway - Saturday was the 1st game. Yes, I know they played one already at Redbird. I was unable to attend. Seems like a lot of ticket holders didn't show up for the game against North Florida either. You missed out. I know, it's not conference season yet, but watching this team was truly special. Defense seems to have been stepped up with the addition of some of the youth and transfers on this years squad. Watching Osiris, Dinma and Phillips are still fun. Dinma is still a hole filler underneath and Phillips is more confident out front. Osiris has stepped back up hit offensive attack (I thought it was a bit muted last season). The new guys make this a real treat. Johnson, Lewis, and especially Carmichael are filing in nicely. If you come to see nothing else, come to watch Carmichael. He's a blocker and he does it with quite a style. 20091121 North Florida v Illinois State - Images by Alan Look

Well, the Ridgeview Mustangs ended the football season winless losing the final game at home to the Heyworth Hornets 62-38. The game was played in the rain and on a muddy field producing ground campaigns from each team and keep fans to a minimum. Those that did come saw a lot of courage and fortitude by players on both teams.

Friday night was a real mudbowl at Normal Community Ironmen game. The Iron ended up losing by 6 to the Danville Vikings, 12-6. I guess on the positive side, the rain had quit by game time. By the 3rd play of the game, I was left wondering why there were numbers on the jerseys. You couldn't see them. 20091016 Danville v NCHS - Images by Alan Look By Saturday afternoon, the skies had lightened up and there was alternating clouds and sun for Illinois State Univerities Redbirds homecoming football game. They knocked out the Indiana State Sycamores. One just has to wonder when the Sycamores will win a game. I believe they are 1-51 since 2005. I don't want to know who they beat. My game ball goes to Bert Whigham who blocked a punt. 20091017 Indiana State v Illinois State - Images by Alan Look

My wife and I got away for a short few days and went to Galena. We'd both been either near or through the area before but hadn't stayed long. My most vivid memory was a day trip with my parents about 40 years ago to the Palisades and an over-night with my new bride about 28 years ago in nearby Dubuque Iowa. Galena is of course the home town of our 18th president, Ulysses S. Grant. His home was not open the day we were there as it is closed on Monday and Tuesday of each week. We were able to walk around the grounds a bit and grab a few photos. Main Street and the riverfront area (both sides) have attractions. The old railroad terminal is down the hill from Grant's home on the south side as is Grant Park. Main Street - full of lots of small shops, restaurants, and Bed and Breakfasts are on the north side. There are levies and flood gates to protect the northside from flooding as the Galena River can grow quite large during melt-off and storm season. We stayed at the St...

This weekend I decided to follow some more Redbird Volleyball. It was early September since I had seen the Redbirds play and The Bradley Braves and Northern Iowa Panthers were in town. Friday night, a larger than I expected crowd filtered into Redbird Arena. Bradley is always a favorite since they are a mere 40 miles away making them a rival at any sport. Their volleyball team has had some challenges the last few years, this year being no exception. A quick scan of the roster shows a lot of their on court staff at 5'5" or less. Not that shorter people can't play great volleyball, but it does leave the front line a bit challenged. Still the Braves managed to at least show that they were on the court. The Redbirds took the match in 3 sets. Kasey Mollerus received an award before play started for breaking the Redbirds record for most digs. She truly is one of the best I've seen. Rarely is she faked out by an opponent or out of position. Congrats Kasey! 20091009 ...

Well, the first really rainy night I've spent shooting football this season. Not really a downpour, more of a nuisance rain. The night went the way of the West Wildcats who left the Tigers with little more than a goose egg by the end with a score of 41-0. There were plenty of touchdowns and great runs, but my highlight of the night goes to the West kicker who put several kickoff out of the end zone and one of them through the uprights. What a trick. I haven't seen anyone at any level do that for a long long time. I'm sure the 15 mph wind didn't hurt, it was mostly at his back but was blowing a little left to right as well. At the other end of the field, he drove it to the 7 yard line. Congrats to the Wildcats. Get ready, the Raiders approach. 20091002 Urbana v West - Images by Alan Look

The weekends have certainly been busy in Bloomington, Normal and McLean County with some classic matchups. Last weekend, Normal Community entertained Normal Community West on the gridiron. It never seems to matter who is ranked where when any of the intercity teams meet one of the others, this game was no different. Most gave NCHS Ironmen the nod, and they did eventually win over the Wildcats of NCWHS. The Cats fought had and kept the score tied till past the halfway point. Not the run away game that some expected. 20090925 NCWHS v NCHS - Images by Alan Look On Saturday there was so much going on something had to be left out. The day started at intercity vollyball. Several good match ups with no clear winner. The torunament ended up with 3 teams 3 and 1. I came away thinking that Central Catholic had some of the best fundamentals, but the worst luck. They seemed to miss the critical poinst when needed the most. Several galleries from the intercity matches. Go here: http://...

What a weekend. I'm ready to sit back and enjoy someone else's work. NFL will be on later. Friday night football took me to Colfax for the Mustangs hosting the Raiders from Iroquois West. It was a better game than the score showed. Each team started the game with no wins on the season. Ridgeview remains winless. One thing I guess I missed last season that I noticed this season is the lack of cheerleaders for Ridgeview football. Come one come all, let's get that tradition restarted. Colfax needs to fill the stands as well. The only downfall last Friday night was the aphids, but surely you can put up with those while supporting your team. Heck, they don't even sting! Saturday, Illinois State honored 2 of the best that ever graced their sports program, Will Robinson and Doug Collins. If your too young to remember their story, check it out. Will was the first black head coach in any NCAA DIV 1 program. Doug of course is now a broadcaster, but he was also a 4 ti...

Last night was more volleyball. The Cougars of SIU-E were sent packing in 3 sets by the local ISU Redbirds. Some of the action is captured below. 20090915 SIU-E v Illinois State - Images by Alan Look

20090911 Decatur MacArthur v Normal West - Images by Alan Look Seems like I get to shoot this match up every year, same this season. Shooting all the time, it's often hard to get a real feel for the game. This one was no different, but I did get a sense of lots of missed opportunities for each team. The offense on each side got over 30 points, and the defense of the wildcats seemed to have a lot of highlight, but they were also spotty enough to let the Generals past them one too many times as the Generals came out on top this game.

Friday night the action at Hancock began at 4pm with intercity foes Uhigh and Bloomington Central Catholic at odds on the gridiron. The Saints of CCHS came out on top at the end of the 4 quarters 33-7. The defense of the Pioneers of UHS looked good getting a number of sacks, stops and blocked passes but they just couldn't outlast the toughness of the Saints. Then it was on to the half of Intercity played under the lights, the Normal Community Ironmen matching up with the Raiders of Bloomington High. The Iron heated up and struck first high stepping into the north endzone and following up with a PAT. In the 2nd half, the Raiders botched a field goal attempt by not getting the ball down. THe handler picked it up and the Raider scored a TD instead. The score at the end was 21-14. Between games the athletic directors awarded a participation plaque to Sandy Adams of YouNameItSports. A big thanks to the weather Gods, temp and sky were wonderful. 20090904 Intercity Football - Image...

Volleyball season has started. I spent most of my time this weekend shooting the Redbird Classic - a 3 session (6 matches) affair between the Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts, the Runnin' Bulldogs of Gardner Webb, the Mavericks of University of Texas - Arlington, and the host school Redbirds of Illinois State. It's always difficult for me to tell who exactly won, especially this year since I only made it to the Friday and Saturday evening Redbird games. Fridays was a little lopsided with the Redbirds sweeping the Runnin' Bulldogs in 3 sets and in fairly handy fashion. The Saturday afternoon game I heard most online and the Redbirds and Mavericks went 4 sets and the Redbirds came away on top. Saturday evening the 'birds fell to the Golden Eagles in 4 sets. The birds took the 1st set on Saturday evening before falling flat on their feet the last 3, often passing on in bound balls they thought were out thus giving the points to the GE's. 2009 Redbird Volleyball Clas...

LeBron James stopped at the Corporate Headquarters of State Farm Insurance today for a stop on his United Way tour. Kids from one of the local community centers were there to shoot some hoops with him. The 4 story atrium was a packed house with a make shift basketball court taped off on the floors. Baskets were compliments of a local university. No, I didn't switch from still images to video, but I am expanding! Be kind, I don't have any video software editing capabilities, this is the raw stuff. LeBron at State Farm for United Way - Images by Alan Look

August a month that is normally one of the most hated in central Illinois for it's terribly hot and humid weather has finally arrived. But wait! There is some redeeming qualities for the month. School starts. After the hustle and bustle the first 2 weeks, it's off to the books and classrooms for the anxious and sometimes frustrating tots, leaving the stay at home moms time to meet at the local coffee shops to muse about the upcoming school year, summers vacation, and the start of the holiday season (maybe a little early to mention that)without the whining and crying of all the teens and little ones. For all the working class, it's time to concentrate on those upcoming projects and other items that have been neglected during the summer when family vacations, a few rounds of golf or tennis matches were sprinkled in between the days taken off for home repairs and lawn work. My student is back to college. It's been good to have him home, but it's always good to ge...

In today's economy it really amazes me how little people pay attention to the details that keep one in business. On Thursday, I dropped off my pickup truck at a local tire shop with instructions to do a front end alignment and rotate and balance all the tires. I have to say that when I called for an appointment on Wednesday I was impressed when they said they could get it in the next day. I don't think that had ever happened to me before. When I picked it up on Thursday evening, I paid the bill, just short of $100 and was told that it was good I had come in as the alignment was so far out that it was almost not recordable. Having driven vehicles for 35 years, worked in 3 dealerships and a couple of other automotive oriented establishments, I found that kind of odd because the vehicle was still tracking almost dead on when driving and removing the hands from the wheel for a short time. But, I was happy and in a bit of a hurry so I didn't question it. On Friday, I finally ...

I've lived within 20 miles of Bloomington Normal since I was 3 and in Central Illinois all my 50 years. Seems like there is always something new to see. Growing up I remember seeing the hawks, vultures and other raptors when driving through the country. By the time I was in my late teens, DDT had cut their numbers to the point that they were a rare sight. Eagle in Illinois during that period were limited to the northwest edge of the state along the Mississippi River. Today, the raptors are back and I almost always see one a week somewhere - even when I don't get out of town. Eagles are as close as Starved Rock State Park or the Illinois River at Peoria and Pekin. Once in a while one will even spend time at one our our county parks. Yesterday it was a moth that appeared on the brick siding of my home. Turned out to be a female Imperial. What a beautiful creature. It hung there for a few hours, then disappeared as mysteriously as it had come. Imperials - Images by Alan ...

On Saturday (June 20), the Kellars of Ridgeview got together at what may have been their last family basketball event. Rodney, Teri, Michael, and Lauren have been a basketball family for a long time. Rodney is the 23 year coach of the Ridgeview Mustangs. Teri, his wife plays many roles at the school in addition to a full time position at a local corporation and mom to Michael and Lauren. Michael graduated about 4 years ago and has one semester of student teaching left before getting his degree. That student teaching will take place at Ridgeview Jr. High. Michael has also played baseball during college. He pitches. While attending Ridgeview, Michael was a multi sport student playing basketball and baseball. He's currently being scouted for some major league and independent leagues to continue with the small round ball. Lauren just graduated from Ridgeview. While there, she was also a multi sport athlete. She practically grew up on the basketball coach, often seen after ga...

Well, the late spring and summer are generally down time for sports action photography in Bloomington Normal, at least for me. In late June, I normally cover the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association All Star games, but other than that I get to work on personal projects. Those could be anything from home repairs, car updates to photo shoots. One photo project I work on when I get time and some good weather and light is my collection of landmarks in the Bloomington Normal area. See the slideshow below. Recently added were some shots from downtown. The old McLean County Courthouse, now the Mclean County Museum of History and the State Farm Downtown building and a few others in that vicinity were my recent takes. Also some stitched panoramics of Miller Park on Bloomington's west side. Downtown is of real interest. It's been dying an agonizing death for years. I'm sure there are people that have moved in to town a dozen years ago that have never been down there!. The old buil...

Just east of Bloomington Normal is the Twin Grove Wind Farm. This electricty producing farm is the largest in the nation and has just started the paces of getting larger. It's also the subject of many people with cameras. I don't go out there very often that I don't run into someone else stopped along side on of the blacktops taking photos. I first went out there a few years back when they were still installing the turbines. they basically are built using 3 components - 3 prop blades, the turbine housing and a multi-part stand. All is trucked in from a rail yard. The trucks are so long that they had to build very large corners on all the roads so the trucks wouldn't be dragging the back end through the ditch. There are so many mills in this field it's really hard to figure out what to shoot and also pretty hard to not get at least one good shot if you stick around for a hour or so. Last night, there were some scattered clouds and I got there a couple hours be...

Yesterday (May 27) was one of those weird days. I spent a couple of hours in the dental chair getting a tooth ready for a crown. Normally I would say that was a bad thing, but in this case it gave me a rare opportunity to see a day time Cubs game. Yes, the dentist has a TV within viewing site of the chair. Carlos Zambrano (Big Z) was attempting his 100th career win for the 2nd time. No, he didn't get it - he got tossed in the top of the 7th instead, leaving the game with a 2 - 2 tie agains the Pirates. Here's the deal: The Pirates had one on third. Carlos threw a wild pitch which sent Giovanni Soto chasing. Z covered the plate, placing his right foot between the plate and the base runner. Soto corralled the ball and tossed it to Z, who applied the tag as the player bellf-flopped a slide in. The camera angle and zoom weren't sufficient for me to tell if the runner was safe or out. The umpire called him safe setting off Z. Now for the real tricky part. Z got tossed for making...

Tomorrow is the Friday before Memorial Day. Memorial Day was originally created to pay tribute to and remember those who put their lives on the line so we can all enjoy the freedoms we have in the United States of America. Let's all stop to remember that on Monday. Memorial Day in the last generation or two has become more of the unoffical start of summer - 3 weeks shy of the summer solstice which really makes that beginning. The Friday before, brings lots of people out after the long winter and dreary wet spring to begin that early start to summer even earlier. The beginning of summer also marks the start of camping, hiking, climbing, barbque, vacation and a host of other "seasons" we hold precious in the times of good and warm weather. Many of those activities take us to the many state and national parks for picnics and day activities with family and friend - in addition to those listed above. Starved Rock State Park in Illinois is about an hour to the north of my r...

As much as I love to be out taking pictures, it is always more special when you are shooting something you care about or believe in. Today was one of those times. I was blessed with an invitation to another Troop 3 Eagle Court of Honor. This time around it was for #144 of Troop 3 - Wesley Humphrey. I've been fortunate to have been hanging around Troop 3 since my son joined the troop in 2003 (or so). He is #142. Troop 3 has been Chartered since 1919 and is one of the longest running troops in Central Illinois. The first time I remember meeting Wesley was in the parking lot getting ready to go on a camping trip. Wesley was still a Webelos scout and was attending the campout as a visitor. Troop 3 holds one of these campouts every year so that Webelos and their parents can attend and see if they would like to join Troop 3 after crossover. Wesley and his dad - Chuck - both attended. I think we went cabin camping (it was December) at an old scout camp on the outskirts of Peoria....

Baseball in the spring seem tenuous at best. It's been raining all spring. Between my day job and all the weather, it has been pretty hard to get out to any baseball or softball games. Well, I finally made one on Saturday morning. The rain came early dumping about a quarter of an inch on the Twin Cities. The games originally scheduled for 10 am, got started around 11. I knew they would be late so I didn't even arrive at the field until about 10 minutes till 11. The games were at Normal Community West (NCWHS), a double header between the Green Wave of Mattoon and the Wildcats of Normal West. It was a bit of a treat in seeing a pitcher from West that normally doesn't pitch a lot. Blake Brown, a Missouri recruit was on the mound and pitched a wonderful 5 and 2/3's innings. He walked away with the win with some great hitting and base running of his own and a lot of team support. Now, the rain - I'm really glad we had that 1.4 inch. It wet the field down and with a 40 mi...

It's not a very pretty device, but it does get the light where you need it when taking a macro shot. For less than $40, a mere 1/10th of what you would spend on any type of macro light from a large manufacture, you could have this one. It's to simple a 5th grader could make one. Be sure to check it out if you like to make your own accessories and take macro shots. It's at http://www.alanlook.com/gear along with the other contraptions I've concocted. They aren't all pretty, but the do work and cost less than manufactured units. I don't generally talk about my dreams. I'm not a person that really takes a lot of stock in them. The other night I had a dream that ended up with me at a Taylor Swift concert. (Get your mind out of the gutter). Funny the evening started out with me at the Shirk Center shooting some kind of event. As I was leaving, I saw the Tri-Valley roller derby team on the track in Wilder Field. Strange, roller derby isn't a high school sport....

I'm speechless. the AP this morning reported that Football Hall of Famer John Madden is retiring from the broadcast booth. Sunday night football won't be the same. John is 73 and has a list of credentials too long to mention. Needless to say, he was one of the few broadcasters last season to really respect and listen to. John, we'll miss you but remember the chalk drawings and lessons you taught.

This morning I wast thumbing through the ever decreasing pages in the weekly newspaper I get and found an article about the Masters Golf Tournament that plays this weekend. It seems that all the players are complaining the course is too tough. Too tough? That should make it more challenging for them No more expecting to break par on every hole. I kind of like it. I occasionally take a heavy bag of 14 clubs to the manicured grass at some of the local places. What I do isn't considered golf, but it entertaining and does one good to get out in the open air away from the office and relax. It would really do wonders for those of us who shoot in the 90's or 100's to see the pro's look a little more human, have to reconsider their strategy from each tee, and really have to work for 4 rounds to take home that chump change. (yes, I expect many who read this figure I just don't know what I'm talking about. Let's compare to baseball. The long ball used to be...