The Wide Angle: A cheeky story of working around referees
Published 10:59 am Saturday, February 24, 2018
As photographers — the cowboys of the Wild West that is journalism — we have a near running list of things that get in the way when trying to do our jobs.
Okay, it’s really not as bad as all of that, but when you compare yourself to a cowboy from the Wild West, then you should probably be dramatic.
Things we often have to get around are obstacles — of course — those who simply do not want their pictures taken, dogs, cats, rain and snow.
However, one of the things we have to deal with the most in terms of sports, is the referee.
I would imagine the referee has been the bane of photographers since the beginning of sports recording time. There was probably some scribe at the first Olympic games who was irritably trying to scribble a likeness of the wrestling match before him while some toga-clad official stood in front of him.
At the outset, it should probably be admitted that there isn’t much we can do. Like ourselves, the referees have a job to do and they certainly aren’t going to adjust their jobs for some bearded, long-haired, irate photographer trying to do his job.
It’s just the reality of the situation and requires myself and others in the profession to simply work around this.
But that generally becomes the first issue. You know those times when you’re at the supermarket with a cart filled to the brim with your biweekly groceries? It’s busy and you’re attempting to find a lane, ultimately deciding that the one you choose is your best bet.
As you stand there waiting for the person in front of you to figure out the best way to delicately place their items on the conveyor belt like some jigsaw puzzle, you slowly begin to feel your temperature rise.
You inch forward, only to see the person in front of you get into a lengthy debate with the cashier about the validity of some obscure coupon they really, REALLY want to use. Then you notice the lane next to you is moving faster than your lane.
You begin to think and then decided that it’s not worth sticking around to find out if the Coupon Champion gets the 50 cents off or not. You pull out of the lane and swing over to the lane going faster, feeling good that you will soon be exiting the store.
Only to find that the person there has a coupon issue as well and the person you were behind is now wheeling out of the store.
It’s unknown if they got the 50 cents off.
You see the issue don’t you? I can simply switch spots, but then somehow the referee will still always end up in front of me. It’s fate I tell you.
Basketball is one of the worst sports in terms of shooting around referees. A colleague and friend of mine once started a website based around pictures of referee butts she collected over time. Not out of effort, but always from the referee gliding into her shots — random images.
I always found this funny — a collection of blurred butts of referees. However, the difference is she was a lot more patient than I am.
I have no patience, at least in regard to that, and I understand that. I’ve come to terms with it or at least tried.
Still, on those days when you’re shooting two or three games in a day at some tournament, it gets a little bothersome, sitting on the baseline as I do, shifting from one cheek to the other just trying to see around his or her cheeks.
It’s the eye level that I don’t need in my life.
Not to mention occasionally being stepped on or kicked by a referee who despite knowing where I am for the entire game will still take large steps backward to where I’m sitting off the baseline.
Now, granted, I’ve never really been yelled at by a referee and they usually handle our continued presence pretty well, but that could be because they don’t have to look at our butts throughout the game as we are sitting on our butts.
It’s hard to be truly angry with the referees as most everyone I’ve encountered understands our jobs as well. It’s a symbiotic relationship. From time to time they they may ask me to back up and I’m more than happy to do so.
Maybe what I need to do is talk with them beforehand. Talk about ways we can make each other’s jobs easier.
I doubt it, though. The baseline is the best place to view and shoot the game and given they probably won’t let me run the court with them and the teams, I suppose I had better just take my seat and prepare for more pictures of their seats.