In the late 1980’s I was sent to Fenway Park to cover a Red Sox versus the Yankees matinee game. On the way over a call from the office let me know that Yankee’s owner George Steinbrenner was going to be there and we needed a new photo of him for the paper. Wondering just how I was going to pull this off I collected my gear and headed for the press dining room. Before Fenway was renovated, the press and Red Sox brass all shared the room and having a sandwich with Ted Williams bellowing war stories next to you was not uncommon.

Finding a seat to have my coffee I looked up and saw Steinbrenner was sitting two tables over with Haywood Sullivan and other Red Sox executives. A little more inside “baseball” this was before the days when the PR office ran all access to players and execs so I just grabbed my camera walked over to The Boss and introduced myself.

“Hi Mr. Steinbrenner, I’m Jim Mahoney of the Boston Herald and I need a shot of you for tomorrow’s paper, would you pose for a photo?”

Steinbrenner paused for a moment, looked me over, put his coffee down, shrugged and said “sure.”

I had noticed the owners’ box right next to the dining room which overlooked the iconic left field wall and asked him to have a seat in the box. As he started to sit down he wheeled over his shoulder and “what do you want me to do?” I fired the shutter on my Nikon that had a fill flash mounted on it and prayed I had set the shutter and aperature correctly. No automatic TTL then!

I had my shot!

I got four frames off before he announced he thought I had what I needed and headed back to his table. I thanked him and headed for the pit to shoot the game and sweat out 4 hours before I got to see my developed film. Once back at the office I looked over the negatives and saw I had the picture, made an 11 x 14 inch print and we used it on page 1!

I can’t imagine that anyone in a team PR office would let us have this kind access currently but these were much gentler days of baseball when interaction between the press and teams was more common. May they return….

Shortly after the Boston Celtics won game two of the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Herald staff photographer John Wilcox and I were sending our last photos as the final edition deadline approached. John was looking through his images shot from the balcony level while I was looking through images from an overhead remote camera attached to the catwalk 60 feet above one of the baskets at the Staples Center. We were working in a dark area under the first level of seating where coaches, players, and other VIPs walked past gaps in the curtains. I was just about to close my laptop and start packing up when I heard a voice over my shoulder asking something about remotes. As I turned around I was surprised to see Rasheed Wallace looking over my shoulder and smiling at the images on my laptop. He wanted to know more about the use of the remote cameras. The NBA allowed us one floor position for the away games so to bolster our coverage on the other end of the court, we set up two remotes. We attached one camera to the low post of the opposite basket and another to the catwalk above the same hoop. Both remote cameras were fired by a Pocketwizard Multimax transceiver attached to a camera used by the photographer seated on the floor. Nearly a dozen remote cameras were mounted to each backboard and post with the same amount on the catwalks above each hoop. Rasheed said thanks, shrugged his shoulders, and walked out. His visit made our night. The fact that he showed an interest, I think, made all the photographers working in that area feel good. It felt good because to set up those remotes, not only did we have to ship a lot of extra gear across the country, but we had to be at the Staples Center six hours before game time to access the catwalk. It also felt good because Rasheed is such a fun player to watch and his smile certainly lit up that dark work area. So thank you Rasheed for taking an interest in what we do and good luck if you do decide to retire.

Ahhhh!, the difference between rain and sunshine in March is like the difference between a 2 dollar winning lottery scratch ticket and a two thousand dollar one. Picture this….Sunday the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade was a super soaker, with temperatures struggling to reach the 40’s. Yesterday’s bright sunshine helped boost temperature’s into the mid 60’s. I found these Boston University students on and near “BU Beach” along Storrow Drive. I then spotted this gent, Drew Arndt, playing his banjo along the Charles in the Back Bay. And….of course, the rain at Sunday’s parade.

Last week I was sent over to the Garden to cover High School playoffs at the Boston Garden. I arrived early to set up for my games and watch the final moments of the game that was currently being played. There was 30 seconds left to the game between Mansfield and Durfee, so I plopped myself down with my gear to watch the action with all my equipment. As the buzzer sounded, one team went into celebration as the other shuffled off the court in dejection. I happened to have my camera up and got this photo.

the caption is as follows:
Durfee’s Toni Fenn covers her face as Mansfield celebrates their win, as Mansfield beat Durfee 60-50 at the Garden.

Wow!!!! Very cool. Please see my photos from this morning, below. Also, the photo at the very bottom is from yesterday’s arrival.