Any sports fans on this forum? Hopefully!

Shooting for the athletics department of my university allowed me the opportunity recently to photograph the “magicJack St. Petersburg College Bowl Game” for USF.

When I was told that it was going to be held at Tropicana Field – home of the Devil Rays, I couldn’t say no! What a crazier setup than that?

I don’t follow baseball too seriously but anything that involves football inside of a baseball stadium sounds AWESOME.

I am very happy I went and made a very good friend in the process. I was in luck this day as I was aimlessly walking around the stadium trying to get things sorted as to where I could and could not photograph and all of the obligatory precautionary items. I ran into a gentleman on the sidelines that was wearing a nice Rolex Submariner that quickly caught my attention and being a fellow watch enthusiast I couldn’t help but say something to him.

As luck would have it he shoots for the city of St. Pete and quickly took me under his wing. He introduced me to the marketing and media relations group for the city of St. Pete. I also ended up chatting with the mayor and didn’t have a clue until after the fact, go figure.

The game itself was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I taped the game at home and watched it the day after. Seeing myself running on the sidelines on ESPN2 with full gear intact is a pretty cool sight to see.

Thanks to the new friend that I made at the football game and him being extremely amiable it looks like I may be helping photograph for St. Pete when the Honda Grand Prix rolls around in a few months. I’m excited and heavily looking forward to it.

Final Score: USF: 41 – Memphis: 14

All of the photos from the game can be located here:

Chris Grosser Photography


Now onto the game!

Not a bad view, right? Taken 6 stories up from the announcers’ box in the Press box / media only area.








Right about when I was nearly run over. It’s entertaining that I become so concerned with “getting the photo” during plays that I quickly forget that those 300lb players in my camera’s viewfinder running at me at full speed actually do exist. I have almost taken some really good hits this season all to get that epic photo while everyone else runs away like wild fire.

 

Sometimes standing where security doesn’t allow makes for the best photos:


2 hours pregame:


Jim Leavitt, our head coach taking home the trophy:


The players’ reaction to the coach getting soaked by a fountain of Gatorade after winning:




Silent confidence:

 

Soaking in the glory:





As always, thanks for viewing and enjoy!

- Chris

 

Very nice work, Chris. Being that close to the action must be a blast.