Marin Catholic Football Streaks over San Marin in the Rain

Marin County | California

Here’s a quick selection of photos from Saturday’s Marin Catholic game against visiting San Marin High School. MC won with a score of 40-0. Our local paper noted that the Wildcats’ defense extended its scoreless streak to 18 quarters. The Wildcats are in first place in the Marin County Athletic League, and will close the regular season against Drake and Justin-Siena, two teams I expect they’ll trounce.

It poured off and on during the game, although this isn’t evident from the photos. What is evident is that again I picked files where faces are featured. To me, this makes the whole enterprise more interesting.

The rest of my photos are at: http://varsitypix.photoshelter.com/gallery/MC-vs-San-Marin-Ron-Greene/G0000JYXFV4uv_N4/C0000zqL5LlKEU4k

VarsityPix is a great site for people interested in youth sports.

Now back to CNN and this dreadful election season, gratefully coming to an end soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marin Catholic Swamps Novato High School

Marin County | California

Marin Catholic won Saturday by a score of 56-0. It would have been much higher if Marin Catholic hadn’t let up in the second half and if the coaches hadn’t agreed to a “running clock.”

Here’s a glimpse of the sidelines at Saturday’s game.

I don’t know these boys or what will become of them. I’m so unCatholic except for the social justice part. I wonder how many of the players are religious, and would they care if they knew I was a nonbeliever.

Last week I found myself wondering about Trump. This week I wondered about these young men and the Catholic religion. Do they really believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth? Do they really believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he’s certainly Divine? All my life I’ve marveled at how people could hold beliefs so different from mine. It seems an obvious fact of life, but still. Back to Trump.

Would I take better photos if I stayed in the moment? I don’t know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marin Catholic Football Defeats Tam 56-0 in the Heat

Marin County | California

This was my first Marin Catholic football game this season, and it was hot, I think 91 degrees. I suppose this is what I’ll remember most about the game because I almost fainted, and had to be propped up in the sideline shelter by Bill Schneider, where a kindly injury specialist mixed me her electrolyte brew. I’ve since found the stuff on Amazon and have ordered an emergency supply.

Because of the heat, I didn’t move up and down the field as often as I wanted, so I concentrated on casual sideline portraits. The truth is I sometimes get bored with action shots that all begin to look alike after I’ve examined a few hundred, but I never get bored with the varied young faces of players. Oddly, in the middle of the football game, I wondered what the future holds for them in a world where a person like Trump has a realistic shot at becoming president of the United States of America. Unbelievable. Maybe I’m still suffering from the heat and things will be better in six weeks.

 

Marin Catholic Defeats Fort Bragg

The Marin Catholic Wildcats defeated (49-0) Fort Bragg in the North Coast Section Division IV quarterfinals last Saturday.

As usual, the Wildcats were outstanding. Fort Bragg coach Roy Perkins complained that playoff officials unfairly forced his team to play Marin Catholic, a team that according to him should have been assigned to a different and stronger playoff group. “We’ve got a kid with a broken leg and a kid with a knee injury because we are on the field with a team that we should have never been on the field with.” (Marin IJ, Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015) I found it interesting that a high school coach would be so openly critical of another team, even blaming Marin Catholic for a broken leg.

These are some of the photos of the game, taken with an Olympus OM-D E-M1, using an Olympus Dot Sight. I had never heard of this gadget until a couple of weeks ago. It allows a much wider view of the playing field. A second advantage is that the photographer has an uninterrupted view of the action, unaffected by blackout (flicker) when shooting at 10 frames per second.

The Wildcats will host Moreau Catholic in the semifinals this Saturday.

Many more photos are at VarsityPix.

 

More Marin Catholic Football Photos

The Marin Catholic football team won its last two games by large scores: 40-0 against Drake and 55-7 against Tamalpais high school. Here are some of the photos, again shot with an Olympus OM-D E-M1 camera and Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 lens.

I only mention this because pundits never recommend this combination for sports photography. But as you see, it can work. I only wish I had better sun.

More game photos are at VarsityPix.

The San Francisco Zoo

Rica and I visited the San Francisco Zoo Tuesday, and I thought this was a good place to try my new Olympus 40-150mm telephoto lens with a 1.4 teleconverter. This combination provides a maximum focal length equivalent of 420mm, a good reach for sports photography. The Marin Catholic High School football season begins soon, and my thinking is that if this combination can reasonably compete with my usual Nikon D4 setup, I’ll have much less weight to lug around of the sidelines.

The results seem promising as you can judge from these photos. My only concern now is whether my little camera’s continuous focus can satisfactorily track football action. From what I’ve read, this Olympus combination won’t come close to my Nikon D4’s performance, but we’ll soon find out. Marin Catholic opens its season against Cosumnes Oaks on August 29th.

Marin Catholic’s Darius Peterson

The Seattle Seahawks meet the New England Patriots in the NFL Super Bowl XLIX on February 1. I’m rooting for the Seahawks because I like their name better. Besides, Seattle managed to pull off a gutsy last-minute win last Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. I had turned the TV off, assuming the Packers had the game wrapped up, when my iPhone flashed the final score. Thank goodness for TIVO. I sat back down and watched the final four minutes in amazement. The Seahawks never gave up on themselves even when all seemed lost. How could anyone who likes storybook endings not root for them?

And then there is Deflategate, calling into question the integrity of the Patriots football machine and its golden boy quarterback, Tom Brady.

But this post isn’t about professional football or its quarterbacks. If you’ve been following my posts you know I photograph Marin Catholic football games. Marin Catholic is just a few blocks down Sir Francis Drake Blvd. from my home, so even though I’m definitely not Catholic, I’ve come to think of it as my school.

Lately, I’ve wanted to summarize the MC season with a collection of photos picked at random. But then I read a piece in our local newspaper, the Marin IJ, which changed my mind. The paper named Marin Catholic’s junior quarterback, Darius Peterson (7), the paper’s offensive player of 2014.

According to the Marin IJ, Peterson piled up 3,000 yards at the helm of the league’s (MCAL) most prolific offense. He accounted for 40 touchdowns. Twenty-one through the air and 18 on the ground. And if that wasn’t enough, Peterson also scored on a kickoff return.

So I decided to change course and go back through my files looking for shots of Peterson in action.

Darius Peterson will be back at Marin Catholic next fall for his senior year as quarterback. He deserves some attention. I’ll be there, along with the college scouts.

Marin Catholic Wildcats Roll Over Alhambra

Marin County | California

The Marin Catholic Wildcats rolled over Alhambra (48-9) last Saturday and will be facing Rancho Cotate tomorrow as they advance to the sectional semifinals. My weather app forecasts rain, so that complicates everyone’s game plans. I’ve got my new rain gear out, prepared for the worst.

Here are some of the Alhambra game photos. These and many more are for sale on VarsityPix.com. I donate my share of profits to homeless programs in Marin County.

Marin Catholic defeats Tam in Postseason Opener

Marin County | California

Marin Catholic football opened its first game of the postseason with a 50-6 home victory over Tam last Saturday. The weather was bright and sunny, which is fine except that Rica bought me $200 worth of rain gear. Now I’m wondering if it will go to waste. There’s been little rain this season as California is in the midst of a three-year drought. On the plus side, Marin County has avoided the terrible weather that seems to be plaguing the rest of the country.

The entire team played well, but I was stuck on one player. Joe Kelly (85) had five catches for 129 yards, including a 61 yard touchdown. I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to Joe, but I mention this because Rica worked for many years with his uncle, Andy Kelly, also a physical therapist, at the Asher Clinic. So there’s a connection, although a little tenuous.

The MC Wildcats will host Alhambra in the D-III quarterfinals this Saturday.

You’ll find more game photos at VarsityPix.

Marin Catholic Downs Terra Linda

Marin County | California

The Marin Catholic football team beat Terra Linda (40-14) last Saturday, creating a three-way tie for MCAL first place with Justin-Siena and Novato. This Saturday Marin Catholic will enter the North Coast Section Division III tournament with a game against Tamalpais. Earlier this year the Wildcats defeated Tam 54-14.

Here are some quick picks from photos I took Saturday. Many more are at VarsityPix.com.