Technical problems

"Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos argues a call during the first half against Saint Peter's at Reitz Arena, Thursday, Feb.7. Although Patsos was ejected following his second technical foul during the first half, Loyola was still victorious, winning 81-69."

On Thursday night I shot the Loyola Greyhounds men's basketball team. The squad is getting a lot of attention with hopes of getting into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 14 years. Last time I checked, The Greyhounds were tied for second in their conference. Not too shabby.

Knowing the arena, I got there a bit late and setup my laptop in a empty seat on press row. Sitting in press row at a basketball game is usually not a normal thing for photographers. We tend to transmit images from our cars or on the sidelines.

Last time at Loyola I found an outlet at the top of the stands and had no problems moving images using the free wireless Internet in the warm arena.

With a tight deadline, I was happy to have a nice padded seat away from the screaming fans. Figures with a positive comes a negative. First I couldn't get Photoshop to open without crashing. Once fixed, I then ran into a problem with the Internet. I had trouble connecting to the wireless.

So after editing two images and trying repeatedly to move the images onto the FTP during halftime, I had to speed drive up Charles street to get my images in before deadline. It was a close call, but the images in.

I wasn't the only one that had technical problems, as Loyola head coach Jimmy Patsos was ejected following his second technical foul during the first half. As said by writer of the Examiner story, Dave Carey, "Patsos is known for his firery demeanor."

And that's what I love about the coach. He has so much flavor and attitude, it makes watching basketball entertaining, even at a low-scoring, boring game. He screams at bad calls, jumps up and down at good ones, all while his tie and suit flail into the air.

What a cool project it would be to make a season full of images of him reacting to game action on the sidelines.

He loves his players and shows just as much respect for the loyal Loyola fans. It makes me wish my university coach was the same way.

I guess you take what you can get.