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| Image © 2006 Eileen Blass, USA TODAY || Football players from Phillipsburg High School in Phillipsburg, NJ (left) and Easton Area High School in Easton, PA (rt) meet on the Northampton Street Bridge over the Delaware River that separates the two towns. Phillipsburg's head coach Bob Stem is foreground left. Easton's head coach Steve Shiffert is foreground right. The two teams will play each other for the 100th time on Thanksgiving Day 2006 at Lafayette College in Easton, PA. The two schools in neighboring Easton, PA and Phillipsburg, NJ share a state border, the Delaware River and a strong rivalry. |
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Eileen Blass: Staff Photographer: USA TODAY
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xxxxx, xx xxxxx, USA |
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| Eileen Blass's Message: |
In November I was assigned to cover the communities of Easton, PA and Phillipsburg, NJ as they approached a milestone 100th annual Thanksgiving Day football game between the neighboring cities’ high schools. Easton and Phillipsburg are separated by the Delaware River and a long-standing, passionate rivalry with lots of great characters to boot. In addition to photographing specific people featured in the story, my editor, Michael Madrid floated the idea of getting the two teams on the bridge spanning the Delaware River. It was a pie in the sky idea, but no idea is too far fetched. What’s the worst thing someone could say…..no? I approached the principal of Phillipsburg High School, and she was immediately on board. She made a few calls. It was not too long before an official from the bridge commission called me with words that were music to my ears.....”yes, we’ll close the bridge for 30 minutes.”
The morning of November 21st was the most beautiful sunny day. But, I prayed for overcast. I begged for it. The angle I wanted would be horribly backlit if sunny. A test photo in full sunlight a few days before put fear in my heart. The shadows were hideous. It was my birthday, I wanted overcast. So, of course, it was sunny. It was my problem and it had to be solved. I arrived with my dynalites, and a rented dynalite power inverter battery pack. I also had several hundred feet of power cord to plug into the tiny guard station at the end of the bridge in case the battery back died. Greg L’Heureux from our Virginia office drove up to Pennsylvania to assist. At 9am, the bridge was closed to traffic between the two states. Unbelievable! The teams arrived and started their walk to the center of the bridge. I had major goose bumps. Members of both communities came out in force to witness the event, as did members of the media there to cover related ceremonies already scheduled. It took Greg and I a while to get the teams in the right position on the bridge, but the biggest challenge was getting spectators far enough back to be out of the picture. The lights worked like a charm and solved the backlight issue. When it was over, Greg and I retreated to a little sandwich shop nearby to transmit.
The next day, the team photo ran on page one of USA TODAY with other pictures inside and an online photo gallery. I went back on Thanksgiving Day to cover the big game, and even though it was a rainy day from the dark side, I was loving it. It reminded me how much I miss covering high school football in the early days of my career at the Lansing State Journal in Michigan. There was nothing like covering the first part of a high school football game on Friday night, driving like mad to catch the last half of a football game in another community, and racing back to the newspaper to soup the film in hot Acufine. Friday night lights. It’s America. But some things change. "Soup” isn’t part of our vocab anymore, is it?
If you would like to read the story, please visit our online presentation at:
http://tinyurl.com/yhdfou
The followup after the big game is here :
http://tinyurl.com/yjkdvg
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Eileen Blass has been a staff photographer at USA TODAY for 18 years
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| Last Update: |
775 days ago |
| Member Since: |
8.3.2004 (Senior Member) |
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The images below are from the
portfolio of Eileen Blass. They are presented here for your viewing pleasure. These images may not be used elsewhere and are protected by copyright. To see these images, click on the icon and you will see a much larger image.
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"teams"
Football players from Phillipsburg High School in Phillipsburg, NJ (left) and Easton Area High Sch... |
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"PBurg Fan"
Toot McNally, 73, sits in her "Phillipsburg Room", a converted closet in her home. A dev... |
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"Former Player"
Harrison Fisher, 93, played football in 1931 for the Easton Area High School football team. He was ... |
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"Easton Team"
The Easton Area High School football team huddles at the start of team practice at Easton's football... |
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"The first girl"
Seventeen year old Easton Area High School place kicker Brittany Ryan practices her kicks during tea... |
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"PBurg Coach"
Phillipsburg High School varsity football coach Bob Stem, in action during practice in Phillipsburg. |
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"Students"
Phillipsburg High School students get into the mood before the start of the 100th Thanksgiving Day g... |
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"Action"
Phillipsburg High School's quarterback #11, Justin Viscomi, feels the pressure from Easton's #42, ... |
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"Mascot"
"Pete", a 2 year old English Bulldog, the mascot for the Easton Red Rovers, stands on the ... |
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"Joy"
Easton High School coach Steve Shiffert (rt) enjoys the moment as he holds the "Battle For The ... |
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