Sunday, July 26, 2015

Football Is On The Way!

Summer is off-season for wlpearce.com.  We shoot a teacher's schedule.  Believe it or not, we get a little burned out and blurry-eyed by the end of May after shooting a full season of football, basketball, baseball and track.  So, we take the summer off and let the excitement build again for fall.  Yesterday, a cool nor'easter blew (a little weird for July in Florida) and got us in the mood for some football!  We cranked up some of the pre-fall activities... applied for season credentials, performed some maintenance on the web site, booked some travel, and most fun... perused the newly released 2015 FSU Football Media Guide to see what photos of ours made into the guide. 


We thought the 2014 guide was great, but Zach Stipe outdid himself with this year's guide.  And as last year, wlpearce.com is well represented in the photos of the guide.  Like we did with the 2014 guide, we've posted a gallery of all the wlpearce.com photos used in the guide.  In the caption of each photo is a link back to the original wlpearce.com gallery/photo.  We think we got them all, but its certainly possible that we overlooked a few. 

Take a look at the 2015 Media Guide Gallery and open another tab with the actual Media Guide and have fun finding our photos.  Click on links in the photo descriptions to see the original photo in our gallery. 

As always, see more football (and lots of other stuff) at wlpearce.com.   And Enjoy!

Saturday, February 14, 2015

A Floridian’s Guide to Driving the Rockies in February

Having recently spent a little time in the mountains of Colorado, we thought it might be useful for our fellow Floridians to offer up some tips for driving in the Rockies in winter.  You'll find yourself in a foreign world.  It's not flat, and it's not warm.  And these two characteristics combine to create a formidable driving environment for the average native Floridian.  So, hang on tight and absorb some first-hand experience from a first-time winter mountain drive of this Floridian. 


Some of the signs won’t make much sense to Floridans.  Like, “Mandatory Chain Law Ahead”.  What’s that mean?  Are the prisoners working the median?  Don’t know.  On the other hand, seems that the CDOT is quite concerned about us Floridians… signs such as “Icy Road Ahead, Reduced Speed Recommended”,  seem fully intended for us.  Certainly, no one else seems to pays much attention to them.

You know that little button on the side of the stick shift that you’ve never once used in Florida, and don’t really have any idea what it’s for?  Get to know that little button and make it your best friend.



Question… When do windshield wipers not work?  Answer is obvious, right?… during an August afternoon frog-choaker on I-95, which is why all the Yankees pull over with their emergency flashers blinking madly away.   Floridians in Colorado will quickly discover there is a second answer… when the temperature is below 15 degrees and road salt/slush sprays up on the windshield and instantly freezes.  Ugh!   Tip… make double sure your windshield washer fluid is topped up with antifreeze washing fluid.  It's the only way you'll make it down the mountain without stopping every two miles to scrape the windshield clean.

If at all possible, avoid driving directly into the sun.  You think it’s bad driving east on I-10 in the morning?  Try painting the road, the trees, the signs and everything else in front of you bright glossy white and on top of that, smearing a layer of bacon grease on your windshield.  That's about the same effect.



Crossing the mush line in the middle of the highway is somewhat like crossing the boat wake for the first time when you were a kid learning how to water ski.  It’s dadgum scary!  But, hey… other people are doing it, so it must be possible.  Just hold on tight to the steering wheel and don’t get stuck straddling the middle like you did on the boat wake.

Lane markings are absolutely meaningless.  You’ll only catch an occasional glimpse of one anyway.  Even though it’s a highway, just treat it like a dirt road and stay in the ruts.  And if you have an emergency, good luck finding the emergency lane.


The little balls of gray littering the highway are not dead possums and armadillos.  In fact, if you go for the satisfying double squash like back home, you’re in for a rude surprise.  Those are balls of chain thrown from truck tires and they’ll make quite a ruckus if you nail them.

My daughter calls these "Evil Snow Killers", but in reality, they're your best friend.  If it gets really bad, just pull over and wait for one of these guys to wander by with their little blinking lights.  Then tuck in behind him and follow him all the way down.  Sometimes it's the only way.


Well... we hope this has been a useful article for you Floridians considering a trip out west during the winter.  Prepare!  Take your long johns, and bring a friend to pry your white fingers off the steering wheel when you get to the bottom of the mountain.  Have fun!


Sunday, January 11, 2015

2014 Football Season Favorites (Part 3)

This is the final part of a three part series on our favorite pics of the 2014 Football Season.  Hope you've enjoyed the series.  You can see more of our favs in the Football Favorites gallery on wlpearce.com.  And you can click on the game headings in this and the previous two articles to see photos from the individual games.


FSU/BC

Wet! Wet! Wet!   Didn't dampen the enthusiasm though.  Here are passer and receiver in the same frame.  Jameis Winston throwing to his favorite target Rashad Greene on the slant.




And 2014 Mackey Award winner Nick O'Leary slogging through the downpour for positive yards.



DeMarcus Walker hails from our home town of Jacksonville, a product of Sandlewood High.  DeMarcus is fixing to plant the BC running back in the soggy turf.



Check out the three-handed monster getting up high to block the field goal attempt. 



FSU/UF

As usual, the Florida / Florida State game was a rich source of great photo opportunities.  It's always encouraging to see the coaches and players from the state that have formed warm relationships through the years, regardless of what colors they happen to be wearing.


2013 Lou Groza award winner (and many say should have been the 2014 winner as well) Roberto Aquayo warms up before the game.  If you pay close attention, that's the Seminole logo that's he's kicking from... you know... mid-field.  That's about the 46 yard line, which means Roberto is bustin' out 56 yard field goals in warm-ups.  He's as automatica as Gramatica, and has a canon as big as FSU alum Janakowski.  He'll go far.



FSU is going to miss Nick O'Leary next year, but some team is going to get a top notch Tight End!



Dalvin Cook continued his impressive roll through the latter half of the schedule against Florida.  Don't forget... true freshman.  Looking forward to seeing what this young man is capable of in the coming years!



We just LOVE this photo.  The play was pretty cool too.  How Quincy Wilson came down with this ball in his hands, I'll never know.  What an interception!



And this is perhaps the best photo of the season for us.  Jalen Ramsey laid out for the pick-off attempt and stole the ball right out of Brandon Powell's hands!  Jalen had a wonderful second half of the year.  He'll be a player next year, and hopefully the year after too.



ACC Championship Game

The ACC Championship Game was played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, the Panther's home base.  If only every stadium had as wonderful lighting as this one!  Wow.

Dalvin Cook continued his crescendo on the season with a peak performance against Georgia Tech.  What a game for Dalvin.  He was easily the MVP.



Earlier in the season, Cameron Erving was moved from his spot at Offensive Tackle to fill the Center position.  FSU was sorely missing Bryan Stork this year after his graduation to the Patriots, and had been searching for a viable replacement.  Cameron stepped up to the plate in a big way (306lbs worth of way). 



Rashad Greene and Nick O'Leary had fun in the last ACC game of their careers.






In the end, Jimbo was able to raise his hands in victory in almost exactly the same pose as last year.  This shot appeared on Seminoles.com with the winning article.



See much more of the 2014 season at wlpearce.com.

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Favorites of the 2014 Football Season (Part 2)

Part two of a three part series on our favorite pics from the 2014 football season.  Part one left off with the Wake Forest game, so we pick up here with the Syracuse game.

FSU/Syracuse

What a great week!  We headed up to Niagara and made a week out of it and capped it all off with the Syracuse game in the Carrier Dome (which, by the way, is not air conditioned... what's up with that Carrier?).  Can we sneak a Niagara photo in here?  If you're more interested in Niagara than football, you can see more in the Niagara Falls Gallery



The game yielded some good pics too.  Jameis Winston and Rashad Greene connected for some impressive passing yardage.  Here's Rashad Greene fighting for a touchdown after the catch.  Rashad had a nice game at Syracuse.



And Jameis on the throwing end of the equation.



The Syracuse game saw the emergence of true freshman Dalvin Cook, who would become a true force later in the season with senior Karlos Williams sidelined by injury. 



And we can't leave the Syracuse game without giving a shout-out to the Orange Man... one of the strangest mascots in college if you think about it.  He's a round orange dot.  But he's good at what he does.




FSU/Notre Dame

The midpoint of the season saw the long awaited match-up of FSU and Notre Dame, who last faced each other in 1993.  And those looking forward to a good game certainly were not disappointed!  The game also served as the third occasion for ESPN College Gameday to visit an FSU game for the season.  This allowed your intrepid wlpearce.com photographers a little behind the scenes look at the GameDay set.



The Irish came in looking pretty intimidating... at least we were intimidated.  We felt like we might get pounded after sneaking this portrait during warm-ups.


The game was a hard-hitting defensive struggle.  





On the final drive, Notre Dame completed this pass to put them two yards from the end-zone and what seemed like a sure comeback victory.  On the next play, they completed a touchdown pass and the air whooshed out of the stadium like a knifed tire.  BUT... the refs called offensive pass interference on the rub route, and on the replay, it looked pretty obvious.  With one opportunity left, Notre Dame threw an interception in the end-zone to end the comeback threat.  So much for the luck of the Irish.



FSU/Virginia

We missed the Louisville game... the Thursday night slot not being compatible with our travel schedule.  So, next up was Virginia.  This game was a good defensive effort for FSU, which kept them in the game while the offense sputtered to a slow start.  Here's Derrick Mitchell showing the ref what he found on the ground... with the wrong logo on it.



And you gotta love it when the big man gets the ball and rumbles into the end-zone.  Here's defensive lineman Eddie Goldman on his way after collecting an errant lateral.  Unfortunately, the play was called back as the turnover was ruled not advancable.



The Glitter Guys and Renegade were caught up in the spirit of the game.  I wonder how many trips to the eye doctor these guys make each season?




FSU/Miami

The fierce in-state rivalry with Miami took place at Sun Life Stadium this year and it was a close one!  Fortunately, no wide right this year (not that it would ever happen with Roberto Aquayo kicking).  With senior Karlos Williams out due to injury, true freshman Dalvin Cook picked up the slack as he would for the remainder of the year.



Travis Rudolph also started coming into his own at Miami and would be a factor the rest of the season.



Once again, Eddie Goldman made his presence known in the backfield, contributing to a defensive effort that held Miami to three less points than FSU's offense managed to muster.



The Miami defense put a lot of pressure on Jameis Winston, forcing him from the pocket on several occasions, into scrambles for his life.  Jameis is an athlete though... he is rarely sacked, more often scrambling for positive yardage.



Watch for the final installment of this three part series coming soon.

See more football (and lots of other things) at wlpearce.com.

Friday, January 2, 2015

Favorites of the 2014 Football Season (Part 1)

It's time for the 2014 Football season wrap-up.  FSU had another remarkable season, going undefeated in the regular season for the second consecutive year.  Even the Rose Bowl was remarkable, albeit for different reasons.  Here's the wlpearce.com season capper with our favorite football pics for 2014.


Cowboys Classic - FSU/OSU

The season kicked off with a neutral site game, the Cowboys Classic at Jerry World in Dallas.  ESPN College Gameday was there for its inaugural 2014 broadcast and we got a little behind the scenes peek.



AT&T Stadium is by a fair stretch the most luxurious stadium we've been in since our start covering major college football.  Hats off to Jerry... he really did it up right!



The game itself started a season long motif of close shaves, with FSU besting OSU by less than a touchdown.  It was also the start of another excellent season for the quiet-spoken receiver Rashad Greene.



As usual, by the time we finished editing and uploading pics, we closed the place down at about 2AM, which allowed for a nice empty late-night shot of the amazing AT&T Stadium.



FSU/Citadel

Next up on the plate was the home opener against The Citadel.  Jimbo Fisher wore his usual stern look during pregame warmups, although this game would provide one of only two lopsided wins on the year.

 

Senior Karlos Williams stood out in his running attack in this game.  Karlos would go on to a mixed year, suffering injury and losing playing time to some of the younger backs in the line-up.



FSU/Clemson

Clemson provided another excuse for the ESPN College Gameday folks to show up, this time in Tallahassee.  The Coke Zero Section was at it full bore.



Lee Corso (wisely) picked FSU and donned FSU Band headgear, along with Jimbo and Candi's son Ethan Fisher.  It was a big year for Ethan and the Fisher's Kidz1st Fund, which funds research into Faconi Anemia, a very rare life-threatening disorder that afflicts Ethan.



The game was a squeaker, with the Seminoles again winning by less than a touchdown.  Here's senior tight-end and 2014 Mackey Award winner Nick O'Leary running for one of only two touchdowns on the day.  He'll move on to the next level!   And kids... if you want an object lesson in how to run the ball without fumbling... here it is.



Sean Maquire took on quarterback duties for the suspended Jameis Winston.  It was a tough game for Sean, but in the end, he pulled it out for FSU and got his post-game face time with Heather Storm and ESPN.  Great job Sean!



FSU/Wake Forest

Next up was NC State, but we didn't make the trip, so no pics from that game.  After that was the only other lop-sided win for FSU when Wake Forest came to town.  The biggest highlight of the game was the retirement of Renegade V, who suffers from an eye problem.  Renegade V was a highly reliable horse, and will be sorely missed.  Here is his last buck for the crowd.



This photo from the 2012 Florida/Florida State game is our best Chief Osceola/Renegade V shot, and still accounts for a significant portion of traffic to our site.



The Wake Forest game was a big one for Jameis... the biggest of the year numbers-wise, and perhaps the last big numbers game of his college career.



Ermon Lane had a nice game against Wake.  That #1 jersey was pretty hard to fill this year after Kelvin Benjamin's departure to the Panthers last year.



More coming on the 2014 season.  Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3.

See more football at wlpearce.com.