Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
from Photographers Blog:
Covering the U.S. Open (and Tiger)
By Jeff Haynes
The U.S. Open is always one of the toughest events of the year to work. As photographers working a golf tournament we have to deal with more challenges during a week of golf than we might during the whole rest of the year. Weather, Tiger, blisters, Tiger, hills, Tiger, tight leader boards, Tiger, long days, Tiger, a sore body, Tiger, fog, Tiger, marshalls, Tiger and 155 other golfers not named Tiger.
REUTERS/Robert Galbraith
Working with three outstanding Reuters’ photographers - Robert Galbraith, covering what he figures is around his 80th Major Golf Tournament dating back to the 1982 U.S. Open where Watson and Nicklaus battled at Pebble Beach, Matt Sullivan and Danny Moloshok - made this a very enjoyable week. Each day these guys came up with amazing photographs telling the story of the day.
REUTERS/Danny Moloshok
During the week leading up to the actual tournament our days start with 4:55 am wake-up calls, bus rides to the course and greeting Tiger Woods. Tiger is always the first golfer off in the morning on either the 1st or 9th tee before 7 am as we take pictures of his practice round and then try to find interesting and meaningful pictures of other golfers in the news. Casey Martin made news early on in the week, with him qualifying for a U.S. Open and being able to use a golf cart to help him around the course, because of a rare blood disorder he has had since birth. He sued and won a law suit more the 8 years ago granting him the right to use a golf cart during his round. Defending champion Rory McIlroy came in with high hopes of defending his title along with the number 1 ranked player in the world, Luke Donald. These three players would need to be photographed along the way, along with many other well deserving golfers, and the beautiful course itself.
REUTERS/Jeff Haynes
The toughest day in golf for everyone working the tournament is Thursday of the U.S. Open. It is one brutal day of work from start to finish. From the first tee time of 7am to following the last golfers off the course at 7 pm. If you can survive Thursday at a major you can probably survive just about anything. Not only the photographers have to deal with the obstacles it takes to make an outstanding picture but there are those behind us too. We photographers relied on the picture editing skills of Joe Skipper and Mike Fiala to look through thousands of images a day to choose the top 300 or so. These were then all processed by Beck Diefenbach and posted to the Reuters newswire as fast as possible to meet all of our clients’ needs.
from Photographers Blog:
To my friend Vladimir Lenin
By Charles Platiau
When I arrived in Donetsk, southern Ukraine, two weeks ago I didn't think you would be one of the best friends I made during my stay. Nobody speaks English here, even if my hotel is called "the Liverpool hotel" and plays Beatles music all day long everywhere except, thoughtfully, in my room. I don’t speak Russian either, but I soon learned Vladimir Ilyich is how locals fondly refer to you, Mr Lenin. Your statue dominates the landscape of this city's downtown. You remain in full view in contrast to the advertising you stand opposite; maybe people even remember what you stand for.
It's hard to judge a place in such a short time but I wonder what Donetsk looks like when there isn't such a big event in town. The city is quiet, very clean and there are more advertising boards than in most western countries. All the ugliest buildings are now covered with banners to advertise Japanese goods or to hide the worst aspects of the city.
from India Insight:
Defying Hitler and jostling for Goering’s autograph
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The Dutch broke his stick hoping to find a hidden magnet
The Japanese suspected his stick was coated with glue
Cricket legend Don Bradman gushed -- "He scores goals like runs in cricket"
Adolf Hitler was so impressed with him that he offered him German citizenship and a post in the army
If an athlete's greatness is measured by the number of apocryphal stories about him or her, hockey wizard Dhyan Chand is in a league of his own.
Before every Olympic Games, India indulges in nostalgia about its hockey heyday and revisits the folklore around arguably the greatest hockey player ever.
from Photographers Blog:
A pitch-side soaking
By Yves Herman
Picture five photographers and one technician traveling together between the cities of Kharkiv and Donetsk in Ukraine, at an average of 38 degrees C (100 degrees Fahrenheit) with air humidity of more than 50%. Eastern Ukraine is definitely not a fresh or cool place to stay during this EURO 2012 soccer championships. Nevertheless, it is our job to be there and it is a pure pleasure to be sitting alongside the pitch and taking photos of Europe's best soccer teams. On that journey a cooling rain would have been most appreciated.
Alessandro from Italy, Felix from Spain, Michael from Switzerland, Vasily from Belarus, our technician Rod from Washington DC and myself, based in Belgium, hit the road early on June 15 on our way to Donetsk. An eagerly anticipated match between Ukraine and France was to take place that day at the famous Donbass Arena in front of more than 40,000 fans.
Swedes must match England’s fighting spirit – Hysen
By Phil O’Connor
Former Sweden defender Glenn Hysen is at Euro 2012 as a fan and he told Left Field that his nation will have to “show some balls” if they are to match England’s fighting spirit in their Group D clash in Kiev on Friday.
“It’ll be tough, but if the players show that they have balls we can do it,” said Hysen, whose son Tobias is part of Erik Hamren’s Sweden squad.
from Photographers Blog:
It’s been a hard day’s night… and I’ve been working like a ‘tog
By Darren Staples
You off again?" people say. "Ukraine? The Euros? You've got the best job in the world haven't you?"
So here I am, the man with 'the best job in the world', about to have a needle stuck in my backside by one half of the Mario brothers.
from Photographers Blog:
Shooting practice
By Petr Josek
Yeah, yeah, yeah 4-1 loss for the Czechs against Russia in Wroclaw. The Russian fans left the city for Warsaw after that and ended up fighting Polish supporters. Wroclaw is calm and quiet. Here the fans like each other and the city center is calm and full of friendly faces. The spotlight moves on, but there is still work to be done.
After the next round the Czechs became a decisive opponent for Poland in advancing from Group A. Its a championship and the teams need to keep sharp, away from the headlines, and for photographers there are images to be made that tell the story. Eyes on the prize.
Twitter tells Sweden’s Lustig to “hold the post”
By Phil O’Connor
Sweden defender Mikael Lustig will have no excuse for forgetting to hold his position against England in Euro 2012 - his mistake on the post for Ukraine’s second goal in Kiev has sparked a tactical Twitter meme that will take a long time to live down.
With the scores level at 1-1, Ukraine won a corner and Lustig took his place on the goal-line defending the near post.
Gred Rusedski: Nadal the best record breaker of them all
This year’s French Open was all about making history and breaking records. Roger Federer broke Jimmy Connors’ previous record of most Grand Slam match wins, which was 233 wins. Federer broke Connors’ record when he won his 2nd round match and will continue to extend this record.
Novak Djokovic was trying to be the first man in The Open era to hold all four majors at the same time and win his first French Open title; the last man to do this was the great Rod Laver in 1969.
from Photographers Blog:
A different approach to Euro 2012
By Kai Pfaffenbach
Being a Reuters photographer means you travel a lot. War zones, disasters or political visits are on your list. By far the most exiting events - for me - are still the big sports events. 2012 offers a nice variety and the Euro 2012 soccer tournament will be an excellent warm up for the Olympic games to follow shortly in London.
Although I've followed the German team in previous tournaments this time it's a different approach for me to cover the tournament. With my colleagues Pascal Lauener from Switzerland, Austria's chief photographer Leo Foeger and our technician Gilles de Queiros from France I'm covering the games in Warsaw and Gdansk. With the complicated history of Poland's and Germany's relationship in mind I started this trip with different expectations and was wondering if our Polish hosts had any prejudices against Germans. Let's not forget the first shots of World War II were fired at Gdansk (then Danzig) in September, 1939.
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Resident Left Field Expert
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