Lutheran South Academy vs. St. John XXIII Football

Ahhhh yessssss. Early September marks my first football game of the season. This year, the Lutheran South Academy Pioneers took on the St. John XXIII Lions. Two years ago, St. John XXIII was known as Pope John XXIII but I was completely unaware of the late pope's transition to sainthood. But I am now aware, as are all of you. The good thing about last Friday's game and most games in September is that the Earth takes it's sweet time rotating away from the sun so I was able to partake in some pretty good light during the race to nightfall. The bad thing about last Friday's game was that Lutheran South got a good amount of rain throughout the day so every step I took on the sideline mid-way through the first quarter, was a rain soaked mess. The Pioneers ran away with a 49-7 victory en route to a 2-0 record on the season. #FootballBack

2nd Annual Kick & Roll Classic

Hoops and sneakers. Two things I really, really, really like. They were merged earlier this summer at the 2nd Annual Kick & Roll Classic. The Classic, started by George Kiel III and his wife LaTashia, is a sneaker themed 3 on 3 basketball tournament organized to raise money for colon cancer research and awareness. So not only do you have to show up ready to win, you have to show up ready to do so in your flyest basketball sneakers! Until next year...

Houston Texans Training Camp 2015

Almost fresh off the plane from Guatemala, I headed to the Houston Texans training camp to photograph the team's practice for the Houston Press. Around the perimeter of the field were hundreds of screaming fans who used their voices the loudest when 99 came running around the corner. Fan favorite is an understatement. I've never shot at a training camp before so I was surprised to find out the rules of engagement. During certain portions of the practice, there was no shooting allowed. No stills, no video, no shitty flip phones. Except Hard Knocks, of course. They can do whatever they want. There were one on one drills, passing drills, blocking drills, red zone drills and any other kind of drill you could imagine. And accompanying those drills were screaming coaches. Shout out to morning practices, the heat is a lot less official then.

BallUp Houston - The Game

Last week, I showed a few highlights from the BallUp open tryout held across the street from the Houston Rockets' Toyota Center. Today, I'll show you some highlights from the game. If you remember from the previous blog post, ten lucky, local hoopers competed for the chance to play the BallUp team. Well, those ten nine lucky local hoopers got destroyed by Team BallUp. Team Houston started with ten players but one got unceremoniously benched after accidentally injuring a BallUp player, The Bone Collector. 

Hofheinz Pavilion, once home to Phi Slama Jama, was jumping and ready for the on court 5th of July fireworks. It was not disappointed. Team BallUp opened the game with back to back backdoor alley-oops and they never looked back. Despite being coached by the swag legend, Nick Young, Team Houston would never take the lead. Streetball favorites The Professor, Air Up There, Sik Wit It and AO put on a show. Bone Collector got hurt after a guy from Team Houston slipped on a floor decal and into him. Bone Collector then watched the replay on an iPad in the locker room.

Shout out to Tracy Murray and his 50 point game. If you've ever wondered what Tracy Murray is up to these days, he's coaching Team BallUp!