Up In The Valley

Every once in a while, I still need to scratch that sports media itch. When the Dallas Cowboys shook up the 2012 NFL Draft by trading up to draft Shreveport's Morris Claiborne, a defensive back from LSU, it felt like I needed a soothing balm. This set of circumstances combined so many elements which get my motor running: home town guy made good, The Cowboys, LSU, and a bunch of people thrilled at the news. So, presented with an opportunity to be a part of the media reception for Claiborne at Valley Ranch the day after the draft, I just had to jump.

I've been down the sports road many times, so I don't get excited very often. The opportunity to spend a day at the Cowboys' sprawling headquarters in Irving, though, got my heart rate up a little. Claiborne brought his family along. His parents were there, so was his grandmother, a couple of his young children, his girlfriend and others. His mother apparently is a New Orleans Saints fan, but as Shreveport people almost everybody else there declared themselves long-time Dallas diehards. You could see the thrill on their faces.

You could tell that Claiborne was happy about all this, too...especially since the Cowboys had not contacted him at any point during the evaluation process and this news came to him like a bolt from the blue. (A blue star on a silver helmet, as it turns out.) As the day wore on, I had an opportunity to walk down a hallway and speak for a time with the Cowboys' defensive coordinator, Rob Ryan. I spoke with head coach Jason Garrett in a group setting, and along the way I dished off a quip that made Living Cowboys Legend Calvin Hill laugh. It was a good day.

I was helping my friend The Local Sportcaster. All of this came up so suddenly, he had made no plans to travel to Dallas on Friday. But, hey, that's the news business. In its modern form, there's simply not a pool of TV cameramen hanging around the TV station waiting to dash out of town for a day. As an experienced hand, I was able to earn my way by shooting interviews and stand-ups for him.

I also snapped photos with the iPhone as we went along and enthusiastically posted to Twitter and Facebook. That included a photo of Claiborne holding his new helmet while standing by his locker.

There was an impressive media throng there to acquaint themselves with the Cowboys' budding defensive star, and it was hard to stay out of their way. So, it should not have come as a surprise that our mugs wound up on a DFW TV newscast...just scratching that itch.

And what do you know, I finally got on TV in Big D!

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Early Afternoon in Arlington

(Arlington, TX) – It’s kind of amazing how easy it is to make it to a noon kickoff for a Cowboys’ game when you’re already in town. So many times over the years, I’ve arrived at the stadium road weary after blowing west on I-20 to Irving or Arlington. Certainly, I’ve done my share of LSU-Saints weekends, but thanks to my recent allegiance to TCU, this is my first college-pro DFW two-day trip. It seems a lot easier. Geography, proximity, whatever you want to say…the Metroplex is just closer and easier to access from home than Baton Rouge and New Orleans are. And while I spent Saturday in the company of all of my female family members, Sunday is boys’ day out.



It consistently amazes me to look at the social networks while at these games and discover the number of people I know who announce their presence. I tracked down some young friends who live in Abilene. I hadn’t seen them in five years; but there they were, big as life in Cowboys Stadium.



Having been in this remarkable facility several times, I nonetheless still marvel at the spectacle on display. The national anthem, for instance, was impressive. Three Cowboys cheerleaders sang. I’m thinking pretty much everybody thought “okay, this is gonna be bad,” but their harmonies were spot on. They didn’t miss a note and looked lovely singing it.



The best news about a noon game: I’ll be home at a reasonable hour. Let’s hope there’s a decent game on in prime time. You can’t get enough football.

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A Big D Afternoon

(Dallas) - The frigid weather of the past week is a memory now and this January afternoon in north Texas was spectacular. With several hours to pass between our hockey-basketball double dip, my buddy Roy and I decided to walk through Dallas' trendy West End.
Did I say walk? Yes! we had a fantastic parking space at the arena, so why give it up?
If you're in this part of Dallas with some time to spend, there are a couple of things you can do: visit a restaurant or a club, or go see where JFK was shot. Well, we did both.
At Roy's insistence, I had a photo taken at the legendary grassy knoll and it felt perfectly silly. I was surprised at the number of people who were there, though. Most had cameras or video cameras. Forty-five years after the fact, the Kennedy assassination endures as one of the most compelling periods in American history.
So, the grassy knoll it is.
We are here for basketball, though. We walked right past the Dallas Mavericks' larger-than-life owner, Mark Cuban. That was a celebrity sighting for me. He's a rich guy and a famous guy. So, I'm pretty sure he qualifies as a celebrity.
I did not ask to pose with him for a photo. He's an owner, after all...not a mascot.

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Daddy D is Published

Redskins Run Over Cowboys
Originally uploaded by Darrell

I've been having some fun with my camera, mixing my hobby with my former profession. I've earned a little legitimacy, it seems. This photo was published on the front page of the local newspaper's sports section this morning, accompanying a story crafted by my friend Roy Lang III, the sportswriter. They even gave me credit.
It's good that the image is in focus.
On the heels of a trip to Auburn for an LSU game, the opportunity to be back on the sidelines at Texas Stadium was simply a thrill. When I broke into broadcasting (in the 70's, my God), I had the great fortune to routinely cover the Cowboys. It was one of those circumstances that led a young man to give no consideration whatsoever to the paltriness of his paycheck. The rewards were so great that as long as the rent got paid, nothing else mattered much. Trips to Texas Stadium dwindled and ultimately stopped, much to my disappointment. I had not been on that field in years.
The Cowboys are moving into a new facility in 2009, and I told my wife over the summer that I felt a desire to get to Irving for one more game in the stadium. I had no notion that it would happen for me with such style. Roy was assigned to cover the Cowboys-Redskins game. When he called and asked if I would be willing to tag along and shoot some photos for him, I practically jumped through the phone saying yes.
Walking down the tunnel past the visitors' locker room toward the field, I was transported back in time. As my senses came alive, I was awash in nostalgia. I had been there many times before, but as a much younger version of me. I had a still camera instead of a TV camera, but the setting was the same. I didn't close my eyes, but instead opened them a little wider. For a moment, I had a full head of hair, was 25 pounds lighter and there was a little dream of being a big-time sportscaster.
The moment of self indulgence passed and it was time to work on a freelance photo assignment. I just needed one decent image to justify my sideline pass and I think I got it. The work was comfortably familiar. I was shooting images of Romo and T.O. instead of Roger and Drew, but the uniforms looked the same.
The only real difference I felt was how I reacted to the cheerleaders. On the sidelines, you stand within inches of them and occasionally pass a word or two. When I was doing this with regularity, I was typically dreaming of making those conversations more substantive. I still noticed them and acknowledged that they are beautiful women, but my brain registered, "some guy's daughter." I realize they might have looked at me and if they thought anything at all, it was "harmless old man." There's some comfort in that.
I walked away from a career in sports broadcasting five years ago because it aggravated me more than excited me. It was great, at least for an afternoon, to be reminded what it was I loved so long ago.
Thanks to Roy and Scott and everybody at the paper!

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We Can Breathe Again

The first full weekend of football in 2008 has been reasonably entertaining despite the hurricane-induced absence of the LSU Tigers. In the off-season, I upgraded my High Definition package with DirecTV and it's worth every penny.
I spent more time today watching the NFL than I did in a month last year. The Cowboys looked New England Patriot-like in their imposing win over the Cleveland Browns. Felix Jones, the rookie running back from Arkansas, gives Cowboys fans reason for high hopes in the years ahead and quarterback Tony Romo was virtually flawless in the first half. In the second half, the Cowboys seemed to go through the motions against a hapless Cleveland defense.
I know I should have been riveted to the Saints' game against Tampa Bay. I turned the TV on and watched a lot of the game, which they won. But I simply could not stop myself from changing channels to watch the New York Favres in Miami. The drama of quarterback Chad Pennington playing his first game for the Dolphins against the team that released him to make room for Favre was too compelling. The presence of the unretired living legend in a Jets' uniform was reality TV at its best. Favre and the Jets won, but barely. I'm looking forward to seeing how Favre's season develops. It could be legendary.
I'm surprising myself by watching so much pro football. I'm planning to watch JaMarcus Russell and the Raiders Monday night. I'm not sure if it's the sport or the HD, but I need to shut things down and get out of the house.

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