3/26/11

Randoms of a Traveling Lacrosse Mom

ITpin

I got up at the crack of dawn on Friday to catch a 6am flight to Ft Wayne, IN to attend Parents Weekend at Indiana Tech and get me some WARRIOR LACROSSE in. I was worried about the whole trip as Prince Jordan has not had much luck in traveling to & fro from school in the past couple of months.

 

The trip was uneventful. I even got the opportunity to “volunteer” to give up my seat and catch the next flight out of Detroit to Ft.Wayne. Since I didn’t have to be there until 7pm for the game, I volunteered and scored a $400 travel voucher on Delta.

 

Our Memorial Day vacation is going to be that much better when our flights (The FireMarshall has a free ticket as well from another trip) are taken care of. And NO, I don’t have a problem traveling on a different airline than the FM. We will arrive at the same destination and have a rip roaring time.

 

Do I take this Warrior Lacrosse Mom business seriously? YEP. I’ve got my colors on, my bling on & even my nails are painted orange. I also go a tad overboard with capturing pictures of my Warriors.

cannonlens

I did some research on great sport telephoto lenses and came up with the Canon EF 400 mm/ F2.8 L IS. (“The Canon EF 400mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens is the ultimate Canon professional field/track sports lens.”) Of course I went back to www.borrowlenses.com to rent the lens for the weekend. I rented from them before, but this time I was asked to verify my identity by sending over various scanned copies of my id & the CC I used to prove the it was IN FACT me that ordered it. Then I got an email asking all kinds of questions (was I a professional photographer, did I have a website, business EIN – if so, do I have any references, etc). I was taken aback a bit…at first…and then I went to look at how much this sucker costs.

 

$7-$8000 DOLLARS. GTFOOH. No wonder they wanted me to verify and put up a kid as collateral. I finally satisfied all their questions and they sent me the lens. It arrived in a friggin suitcase.

 

I got skerred. DA HELL DID I ORDER?

 

I am lugging all my camera equipment around in a piece of luggage on wheels.

 

NO! I am not from ESPN. Warrior Fans – stop asking me – I’m just an overzealous Warrior Lax Mom/Fan.

   cameramom   cannonlens2

Let me tell you what I’ve learned after the first night game:

  • I still suck at night photo’s even under lights & with a $8k SUPER LENS
  • I have to take LOTS (like a gazillion) to get some great shots, especially at night. I SUCK.
  • That lens is HEAVY even using on a monopod. Also, you just do jump up and move locations. Did I say that sucker is HEAVY!
  • Have back up batteries. For some reason this lens sucked the life out of two batteries in two hours.
  • Use that hood. They sent it to me for a reason…I think.

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No, I am not a professional photographer. STOP ASKING. Why did I rent it? CAUSE I DO WHAT DA HELL I WANT TO DO. Yeah, sure. I’ll take your picture…IF YOU GO STAND ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FIELD.

 

I am having a wonderful time hanging with some of the other Warrior Lacrosse Mom’s. They now know that I only need a nudge to act out a complete LAX COUGAR MOM fool. Diana – yeah, you! And as for “Doris Day” – once she took off that apron, it was on & poppin. I’m still working on a comeback after she threw me under the bus last night over the “bathroom” incident.

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I haven’t laughed so hard and cut up so much with these ladies, their husbands & our Warrior Lax Men in ages. I think I punctured my spleen.

 

Another game is up late this afternoon with a SLAMMIN’ TAILGATE! I’m Girding My Loins for when the INDIANA TECH WARRIOR LACROSSE TEAM releases THE CRACKEN!

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