And so it just looks like I have been shooting sports and news assignments all summer and fall.  Not so much, but this past Saturday I was back at one of my old stomping grounds… Malosky Stadium on the UMD campus.  Minnesota Duluth football has a completely different vibe this year after they went 15-0 last season and won the Division Two national championship.  They have a swagger and higher expectations with every game and I suppose that comes with being a target everytime you take the field.

On Saturday, I was shooting the game for both the Duluth News Tribune and the Argus Leader in South Dakota.  While Malosky Stadium has a nice new press box, field, scoreboard and more, the lights are still pretty weak when compared to many high schools around the area.  That meant get as many images as you could in the first half and then transmit and that’s what I did.  Because I was shooting for the primary papers of each team, it made the first half pretty busy with me having to pick up 4-6 images that tell the story of each team’s game.  The first quarter was kinda blah for me as I found myself out of position after a series of big plays moved the ball faster than I could keep up, but then things started to click in the second quarter and I was pretty happy with what I ended up getting.

Check out some of the images below from 8th ranked UMD’s 42-21 victory over 25th ranked Augustana College and be sure to check back here soon for some wedding updates and more!

Augustana's Ryan Isaacson (left, 42), Mike Vanasek (right, 17) and Ben Wardell (right, 56) combine to tackle Minnesota Duluth's Brad Foss (center, 5) during the second quarter Saturday evening in Duluth.

Left Image: Augustana's Nick Weber (9) breaks up a pass intended for Minnesota Duluth's D.J. Winfield (10) during the first quarter Saturday evening in Duluth. /// Right Image: Minnesota Duluth's Cody Eich (right, 7) tackles Augustana's Sam Holsen (left, 4) Saturday evening in Duluth.

Minnesota Duluth's Isaac Odim (top, 11) leaps over Augustana's Chris Janisch (center, 41) for a touchdown during the first quarter Saturday evening in Duluth.

Augustana's Nate Mahone (left, 5) just eludes the grasp of Minnesota Duluth's Korey Horn (right, 48) Saturday evening in Duluth.

Minnesota Duluth's Kiel Fechtelkotter (right, 33) looms over Augustana's Joe Clark (bottom, 2) after taking him down for a loss during the first quarter Saturday evening in Duluth. Surrounding Clark is UMD's Korey Horn (left, 48) and Rob Huberty (left, 30).

Well tonight wasn’t like that.  The News Tribune needed someone to shoot a second game and with nothing to do, I took them up on their offer and found myself down at Hermantown chasing the pretty evening light.  I’m not really sure what all the people who hate on the 5D Mark 2′s autofocus are talking about, but the shots I got tonight using that camera were not only tack sharp, but had great color.  It was a fun first night to be out.  Hopefully one of these Fridays, I’ll make my way over to Public Schools Stadiums and have a few of their legendary (at least in my mind) hot dogs.

The Hermantown Hawks football team walks out to the field before the start of their game against Duluth Denfeld Friday evening in Hermantown.

Hermantown's Jeff Paczynski (right, 23) stiff arms Duluth Denfeld's Luke Jazdzewski (center, 12) on his way to a first down in the first quarter Friday evening in Hermantown. Also chasing down Royer is Denfeld's Alex Eskola (left, 45).

Hermantown's Marc Niemi (33) eludes a diving Luke Jazdzewski (left, 12) of Duluth Denfeld Friday evening in Hermantown.

I wouldn’t have come across this hot dog if it wasn’t for the urging of my former co-worker Rick Weegman.  He swore by the awesomeness of this hot dog and how it was significantly better than the Public Schools Stadium dog that I raved about and consumed every Friday night during football season.  Being the hot dog connoisseur that I am, it was necessary to give it a shot.  I was not disappointed.

The lines leading up to the concession stand should have given it away.  That or the regular announcements coming from the press box alerting those watching the game that the hot dogs were almost done.  I worked my way to the front and ordered one.  Immediately it became clear that this was going to be a hot dog like no other.

It was plump.  It was fresh off the grill.  It was steaming.  And it ended up being delicious.  The juices flowing from this dog were unmatched in any other hot dog I’ve tried in my time covering sports and concerts in the Northland.  The sheer size was also a plus.  While some hot dogs struggle to make themselves noticeable beyond the enclosure of  their hot dog bun cavern, it was almost the opposite here.  The hot dog was bursting the bun’s seams, but it was not too small.  The condiments at Marshall were sufficient, but not to the level of a Cloquet Area Recreation Center or the concession stand at Mars Lakeview Arena, but for a man who prefers ketchup and little else, it was all I could ask for.

I meant to take a photo of the dog that day, but I was so hungry and it was so delicious that I downed it quickly.  Assignments later in the evening made it impossible for me to make it back to the concession stand and devour another one.  I didn’t realize that would be the only game at Marshall we’d cover all year so that meant I’d have to wait 12 months before I consumed another one.  It was a sad moment when I realized it, but the wait would be worth it.

Fast forward to 2008 and we were back at the Marshall School football field for the same matchup–Duluth Marshall and Moose Lake/Willow River.  Weegman was there too and even went so far as to mention the hot dogs in his photo request.  They were that significant.  I got there early, but the grill was not fired up meaning I would have to wait until halftime.  I did and though I was extremely hungry and anxious to satsify my Marshall Dog Mania, I waited until my time came and remembered to capture the event with my camera.

As you can see, they are delicious and they are plentiful.  In fact, they were so good, I could not wait until I photographed the hot dog to take a bite out of it so that’s why the hot dog appears with a piece missing.

The price for the “Hilltopper Dog” as it’s officially called is $3.  This is a deal compared to the size of the dogs at Public Schools Stadium ($2) and the way in which they are prepared (microwave).  While the PSS dog is delicious, the Marshall dog just makes you feel so much better after eating it.  Maybe because it’s made closer to the way early man made their meals–over an open fire.

The Marshall Dog sets the standard in my book for size, taste and price.  All are excellent.  As such it receives a 9.0 out of 10.  I’m not about to declare it the perfect hot dog, but in the Northland, it’s about as good as it gets.

The "Hilltopper Dog" or "Marshall Dog" await the mouths of hungry fans. Pure deliciousness.

The dogs are delivered.

Ya... it was too tempting to not eat a piece of it before I photographed it. I'm sure I didn't raise any brows when I was photographing this hot dog on the ground with my 580EX flash. Nothing weird about that.

This last year was a fun one for me when it came to shooting sports. With a full year covering teams in the Northland, I had a pretty good idea of who the good athletes were, which ones were really emotional, which teams made for good rivalries and what venues had the best hot dogs.

So check out the gallery below to see 52 of my favorite images from 2008. Below the gallery are my three favorite images from the year. I’ll talk a little about why I liked each photo, how I captured that image and what it means too me. But first enjoy the gallery!

Favorite Sports Images of 2008 – Images by Derek Montgomery

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The Top Three

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This was one of the instances of knowing who the key players were and then following them as the action unfolded. It was also a lot of luck. This sectional soccer final had everything you could ask for. Back and forth play. These two teams were rivals. It went to overtime and still the game was tied. So a shootout ensued. A few kicks in, Hermantown was on the edge of winning the shootout. It was the kind of game that photographers dream about. Here, Hermantown’s Hannah Buchite awaits the kick of Cloquet’s Hannah Roy. If Roy’s kick missed its mark then the Hawks of Hermantown would advance to state. You can see the nerves pouring out as she could barely watch. It was better than any shot from the shootout and you can just see how nervous and attentive she was. Two seconds after this photo was taken, Buchite launched herself about 10 feet into the air and the Hawks were on their way to the state tournament.

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Here is a photo with a number of layers to it. The basic information goes like this… Duluth Denfeld's Jimmy Waller (2nd from right) beats Hermantown's Steve Bockovich (right, #40) to put the Hunters up 13-0 against Hermantown Friday evening at Public Schools Stadium in Duluth. On the left celebrating Waller's touchdown is Denfeld's Jordan Verry (#71). What’s fun about this photo is the contrasting emotions. On the far right is a guy agonizing because he blew his coverage while on the far left is a player celebrating the touchdown with his hands raised to the sky. The fact that it was captured at twilight added to the photo with the sky and the contrast of the dark hillside only accentuated the twilight. I was a little bummed they were not able to run this photo right away because it needs to run big to have proper impact, but it ran as a Blink column photo a few weeks later. Blink was a photo column we submitted photos for once a month where we wrote a little about the photo and what it meant to us. When it ran as my Blink photo, it ran large and was probably one of my favorite images I submitted for that column.

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Here, Ryan Braun celebrates his two-run homerun that proved to be the difference in the Brewers’ 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs in the last game of the year. About an hour after the game ended, the New York Mets lost and the Brewers won the wild card and advanced to the postseason for the first time in 26 years. I had my camera with a 70-200mm lens and a 1.4x extender on just in case something like this happened. Right when the ball left Braun’s bat it was apparent it was leaving the park. The crowd erupted and Braun began his celebration. I fired off some shots and three seconds after this picture was taken, I began freaking out myself. I had followed the Brewers throughout all their games and I called my friend Dan Fuhrmann more times than I’d like to admit asking for updates to games that I could not listen too or watch. To top it off, I was wearing a Braun jersey I had purchased the year before. It was surreal and the crowd was going absolutely nuts. To see what I mean click on the photo above to download an MP3 file of Bob Uecker calling the homerun. Listen to the noise of the crowd and you’ll understand.

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Shooting sports was by far my favorite thing to do at the News Tribune.  I’d often get there as early as I could and stay as late as I could because good action can happen at any point in the game.  It was also fun eating all kinds of hot dogs, concession foods and it was literally reality entertainment at its best.  Screw Survivor and the Amazing Race (the latter is a great show though so no offense) but watching high school and college sports was the best entertainment I could ask for.  You have an idea in those reality television shows about what’s going to happen and you do to some degree when it comes to sports, but I’d take a soccer game at Public Schools Stadium in Duluth over Survivor anyday.

And here goes for my favorite sports images from 2007.  Enjoy!

Favorite Sports Images of 2007 – Images by Derek Montgomery