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20140105 Southern Illinois at Illinois State men's basketball photos - Images by Alan Look In the middle of a good old fashioned blizzard, Redbird Arena opened up for a Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball game between the Southern Illinois Salukis and the Illinois State Redbirds.  The crowd was sparse. The Redbirds led by as much as 18 points and ended up on top at the final buzzer 66-48. An errant scoreboard caused several minutes delay.

In their 1st conference game this season, the Illinois State Redbird women secured their 2nd win of the year giving them a 2-9 overall and 1-0 Missouri Valley Conference record.  The first half was highlighted by several 3 point nothing but net shots by Alexis Foley.  Foley led the Redbirds with 20 points in 33 minutes of play, followed by Octavia Crump with 17 points.  Drake's Kyndal Clark was the best in the game with 23 points in 34 minute of court time.  Final score was 80-71 20140103 Drake at Illinois State Women's Basketball photos - Images by Alan Look

I get it, but maybe not..., my tongue is in my cheek, but maybe not... If you are a NCAA basketball follower, you have undoubtedly seen the clip of Barry Hinson throwing was is being called a tirade after his Southern Illinois Salukis lost big to the Murray State Racers.  If you haven't seen the clip, snap over to Bing and google it.  I'm sure you will be able to find a couple hundred pagefuls of references. Not so fast.  I watched the clip and other than a bunch of sound bites that would be fun to edit into something even more meaningful, I didn't think it held a candle.  Considering some of my more favorite tiraders - Bobby Cox, Don Zimmer, and that guy from Indiana - o yeah, Bobby Knight, Barry was really pretty relaxed and witful (yeah, I know it isn't a real word) enough to come up with some pretty well thought out colorful PG rated language.  Besides, who ever mentions their wife once, let alone 2 or three times in a tirade about a men's basketball te...

Seems like most years the basketball season in Bloomington Normal for me starts with the Intercity Tournament.  This year it was a little bit different.  The ISU Men got my attention first, then the IWU Men.  Intercity Girls were third and then the Intercity Boys.  ISU and IWU Women have thus far eluded my schedule even though both have had home games.  Some weekends just don't seem to have enough days!  I'm sure everyone feels that. ISU had one in town Exhibition game at Redbird against Quincy.  It was a good opening.  The first IWU game I arrived at was against Aurora.  I believe I've seen all the intercity teams ( Bloomington Raiders, Normal Ironmen, Normal West Wildcats, UHigh Pioneers and Central Catholic Saints) for both genders.  I also got to cover a Bloomington Thunder ice hockey game against the Southern Professional Hockey League leaders, the Louisiana Ice Gators. It's only going to get busier, so watch for the galleries to...

This blog gets viewed by a lot of people world wide.  Most just stumble across it looking for, believe it or not, examples of how to make a Do It Yourself bandelero camera strap or a fresnel magnifier for a flash .  Some come here to take a look to see what sporting and other events I've recently shot.  All that is great, but how many of you have clicked on the link to my archive website and read my bio ?  I haven't looked at the stats for that page, but I'm guessing that it isn't high.  Really, who really cares?  I'm the same way.  Unless I'm find something really interesting on a website, I'm not going to just click on a bio link to find out about the person.  Our world just works that way these days. Let me bring you in closer a little.  Part of my bio explains that I like photography because I like to show things that we see every day, but really don't take the time to look at.  This post will explore a little of that. Nature i...

If you aren't from near here or been around very long, Normal Illinois has it's very own football Bowl game.  It's held every season when Normal Community Ironmen play the Normal Community West Wildcats.  The game travels each year to the school that didn't have it the year before.  It's the one game that can really fill the stands.  Seems all the students and a good number of other followers of each team arrive to see who will take home the chili! Chili Bowl Photo Gallery This weekend was also the Intercity Volleyball tournament held at Normal West.  Central Catholic and Normal West share the title this year.  It's 3/4's of a day of volleyball and usually in September.  Put it on you calendar for next year. Intercity Volleyball Photo Gallery Football opened for the season in Tucci Stadium on Wilder Field for the Illinois Wesleyan Titans.  The trumped the Flying Dutchmen of Hope College.  Wilder Field is one of the oldest stadiums i...

Some weeks just don't seem to have enough days and the days, not enough hours. It's the 4th week of football season.  On the high school side, Normal Community West remains undefeated as does University High.  The University High v Prairie Central Hawks was pretty much a blow out.  I can't remember ever seeing a score of 57-6 at the half mark.  It's too bad for the Hawks, a couple less misqueues would have cut about 14 points off that figure.  It's just a matter of polish.  For the Pioneers, it's take care of the second half of the season and the results are limitless. On the 21st of September, the Redbirds finally opened at home in the renovated Hancock Stadium.  Even if you don't plan on attending a game there, drive by and take a look at the complex.  It really compliments that campus and town.  My favorite view and I need to stop there and grab a picture is from the parking lot by the renovated Duffy Bass baseball field. The Barker Cl...