Sports: October 2004 Archives

This week's Photo Friday topic is "Still Life." I was thinking of taking a new shot, but when looking back through what I took this week, I found this shot from Monday night's trip to the climbing gym and liked the colors. Someone had taken off their harness and left it lying in the foam.

We went back to the climbing gym on Monday for the first time in a while. I was messing around with my camera settings just to experiment. The gym is so dim and I wasn't liking the harshness of the flash, so I finally just put the camera in no-flash mode, propped it on my knee, and aimed it at the wall. (Image stabilization is nice to have.)

I ended up with this cool shot of Melanie working her way quickly across the wall in a flash of white t-shirt and black shorts.

Update: Submitted for Moody Monday, Dangerous. The rock gym, of course, is relatively safe because everyone wears a harness, but you're allowed to boulder on the lower half of the walls harness-free.

The US Women's National Soccer Team was in Houston on Saturday night as part of their "yay we won the Olympic gold medal, and four of our biggest stars are retiring" celebration/farewell tour. They played Ireland and won 5-0. Here, the team celebrates one of Abby Wambach's goals (she scored all five of them).

(Also check out Vs. Ireland I, II, and III.)

The US Women's National Soccer Team was in Houston on Saturday night as part of their "yay we won the Olympic gold medal, and four of our biggest stars are retiring" celebration/farewell tour. They played Ireland and won 5-0. This shot shows Ireland defending their goal.

(Also check out Vs. Ireland I, II, and IV.)

The US Women's National Soccer Team was in Houston on Saturday night as part of their "yay we won the Olympic gold medal, and four of our biggest stars are retiring" celebration/farewell tour. They played Ireland and won 5-0. This shot shows Kristine Lilly dribbling the ball.

(Also check out Vs. Ireland I, III, and IV.)

The US Women's National Soccer Team was in Houston on Saturday night as part of their "yay we won the Olympic gold medal, and four of our biggest stars are retiring" celebration/farewell tour. They played Ireland and won 5-0. This shot shows Mia Hamm on the attack.

(Also check out Vs. Ireland II, III, and IV.)

The US Women's National Soccer Team was in Houston on Saturday night as part of their "yay we won the Olympic gold medal, and four of our biggest stars are retiring" celebration/farewell tour. (That's my name for it, anyway.) They played Ireland and won 5-0. Here, the team lines up for the national anthems.

(Also see Warm-up I and II.)

The US Women's National Soccer Team was in Houston on Saturday night as part of their "yay we won the Olympic gold medal, and four of our biggest stars are retiring" celebration/farewell tour. (That's my name for it, anyway.) They played Ireland and won 5-0. This shot was taken before the start of the match as the team did sprints.

(Also see Warm-up I and III.)

The US Women's National Soccer Team was in Houston on Saturday night as part of their "yay we won the Olympic gold medal, and four of our biggest stars are retiring" celebration/farewell tour. (That's my name for it, anyway.) They played Ireland and won 5-0. This shot was taken before the start of the match as the team took off sprinting from the 18-yard line during warmups.

(Also see Warmups II and III.)

The Astros played like champions in 2004, even if they fell a game short of the World Series. This sign was one of many statements being made at the ballpark last Monday in support of pitcher Brandon Backe.

Thanks, Astros, for taking us on an exhilirating ride!

(This is my first try at the Photo Friday challenge, but won't be the last.)

Roger Clemens walks to the dugout at Minute Maid Park after warming up for Game 3 of the NLCS last Saturday. He went 6 innings and the Astros got the win. He pitches again tonight in St. Louis the crucial Game 7. He wins, and the Astros go to the World Series for the first time in franchise history.

Earlier tonight. NLCS Game 5. Brandon Backe, a 26-year-old kid who grew up a mere hour's drive away from the ballpark, pitched 8 innings of one-hit baseball and five minutes before I got this shot, Jeff Kent had won the game for the 'Stros on a home run in the bottom of the ninth. As they showed the replays on the matrix board, a majority of the crowd was still screaming.

The Astros take a 3-2 series lead into Game 6 on Wednesday. The sign says it all, baby.

Sometime in the last few months of the season, Minute Maid Park installed a row of large baseballs along the curb next to the stadium. Yesterday while waiting for Chris to meet us before Game 3 of the NLCS, I snapped this photo. It was my second day as a dSLR owner!