THE WILD WEIRD WORLD OF SPORTS » by photographer Sol Neelman

Surf City, D.O.G.

Thursday, July 2, 2009 Posted in Weird Sports

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This post is dedicated to Melissa, who told me, “Sol, while in SoCal, you should drive down to San Diego and photograph dog surfing.”

Ok. Done.

And that’s how I found myself hanging 10, er, 20 with “Dude the Dog” et al at the 4th Annual Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog Competition at Imperial Beach.

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The beach was packed with dogs and dog lovers and dog treats. Those who know me well know that I’m not a dog lover (though I do have a special spot for Emma).

I am a lover of weird shit. Confused dogs on surfboards easily qualifies.

Access was great to the event. There were a swarm of photographers, largely the aforementioned dog lovers. Lots and lots of laughing all around – even from me.

Here’s a video from The Today Show. I am a little disappointed not to be in the background somewhere. I really tried.

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I’m officially creating an ongoing challenge: The Toss-Sol-A-Bone-With-A-Weird-Sports-Photo-Op Contest.

How it works: email me about a weird sports events that you’ve heard about and is not already on my grid. (That’ll be harder than you imagine. You should see my bookmarks and Weird Sports calendar.)

If I end up shooting that event, you get a modest token of my sincere appreciation: a $20 iTunes gift certificate.

Melissa is the contest’s first winner. Who’s got next?

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by Sol

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Gringo Libre

Wednesday, July 1, 2009 Posted in Weird Sports

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Bruce and I are wimps.

Back in ‘05, we were in San Diego shooting the Holiday Bowl and had time to kill. We were planning to visit Tijuana, but whenever we told people that, they looked at us like we were completely insane. Too violent, too sketchy we were told more than once.

So, we didn’t go. Instead, we hung around SD, which was kind of boring.

Fast forward to my road trip to SoCal, where once again I found myself in SD. Turned out, Lucha Libre (Mexican pro wrestling) was happening in TJ the night I arrived. I refused to be punked again, regardless of the current violence in Mexico. So I packed my backpack and a bottle of water and made a run to the border.

It was so easy, I laughed. Caught a trolly to the border, went through the lab maze and was spat out in Mexico. Jumped into a cab and there I was, taking photos of all the folks dressed in Lucha Libre masks. My face hurt that night from all the smiling.
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I had a choice to make: buy a ticket for the floor level or hang with the people in the cheap seats. Easy choice. Go where the fans are.

That was one of the reasons why this event was so much fun: it was so cheap, families could go and have a blast. I want to say there were more adults than kids with Lucha Libre masks.

The production level was pretty minimal, no doubt what Portland Wrestling must have been like back in the days. Only thing missing was a TV crew and Tom Peterson’s crew cut.

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I actually can’t wait to go back again and spend a little more time south of the border. Thanks to Sandy for the travel tips. I owe you a Cerveza Sol.

I do regret not having my mask with me for that night. What was I thinking? (Obviously, I wasn’t.) Here’s one of my all-time favorite photos, taken by Melissa during Geekfest PDX.

Long Live Lucha Libre!

ElSol

by Sol

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The Showtime Lakers

Monday, June 29, 2009 Posted in Traditional Sports

I HATE wake-up calls. Hate ‘em. Except when it’s for taking photos. Then life is good.

On the morning of the Lakers championship parade, I dragged my sorry ass out of bed at 5:30 a.m. Got a ride to Staples and watched as the masses slowly formed around Chick Hearn Ct.

This boy’s parents had proudly pimped his ride with Lakers colors and a DVD player. Sweet wheels, kid.

I was happy with my choice to be at Staples, where the parade started. A couple miles away at the LA Coliseum, more than 90,000 folks were fighting for seating at the glorified press conference. Don’t people own TVs?

The parade was scheduled to start at 11 a.m. I had arrived at 7. (Yeah...) But there was great entertainment to fill the time. Easily the best laugh came from the guy with the best gimmick: The Horn Guy (above in the white hard hat). Yeah, he could make the sound of a bike horn. Fucking funny. (Check it out). Every time he did it, I couldn’t help but bust out laughing.

Of course, he made me think of The Honk Gal, Amelia Phillips, below in a green wig during Geekfest PDX. Super cute photographer with an infectious laugh. (Do yourself a favor and listen up.) What’s great about Amelia is that she makes herself laugh. As you can tell by her audio file, she’s got a wonderful sense of humor.

The Horn Guy is good, but he’s no Amelia.

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LAPD once again did a great job with the Lakers fans, handing out cookies and water and simply being engaging and funny. A very impressive performance.

The show, of course, couldn’t start soon enough. Folks distracted themselves with smacking around a beach ball. The cops even returned fire if a stray ball flew the coop.

I wasn’t credentialed for the parade and I did not get a neon wrist band that said I was legit.

One advantage of showing up early was that I got to befriend the police before the barricades were even built. At around 9 a.m., they decided to fence folks out – which was totally unnecessary. Anyway, I just wandered around with the press corps and acted like I belonged – which I did. Just like in NYC with the Giants parade, I was able to move around as much as anyone simply by playing it cool.

Finally, they loaded up the buses and the show got on the road.

And if you blinked, you might have missed them. They simply gunned the vehicles, blowing past fans (and photographers) that had waited literally hours for this moment.

I was honestly stunned at how fast they went past. Photographers had to sprint to keep up. I felt really bad for the fans. Not that they were complaining. They got to see Kobe – and that’s all they wanted. Me? I would have asked for a refund.

As is almost always the case, I think my best images came before and after the event. The parade was just a reason for everyone to gather and have their photo taken.

Next time, I’m bringing a pimped-out lawn chair in Blazers colors for a nappy nap before Showtime.

by Sol

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A Tale Of Two Cities

Monday, June 29, 2009 Posted in Traditional Sports

1977.

That was the first and last year my Portland Trail Blazers won an NBA title.

I was 6.

Six is also a magic number for the Lakers, who had to wait 6 years for another title, the franchise’s 15. God, these past few years must have been brutal to suffer through…

Last year, I was in NYC when the Giants “shocked the world” – and the Patriots – for the Super Bowl. After the game, I ventured down to Times Square to witness the celebration. A couple days later I shot the parade.

This year, I was in LA when the Lakers broke the back of the Magic and clinched another championship. I wandered down to Staples Center to look for trouble. I wasn’t alone.

I felt like I was back in college, because there was so much weed in the air. I got a little baked just by second-hand smoke alone.

Only in LA would an Uncle Fester clone not seem out of place. He was a popular dude during the jube.

The atmosphere in LA was different than in New York. More folks trying to stir up trouble in LA. And even more trying to be there to watch it. Anytime someone would light something on fire, the swarm of fans would advance. When the cops finally arrived, they moved towards them.

They took their sweet ass time, but the LAPD riot police finally arrived to the party – and in grand style.

Another big difference between the two cities: folks in NYC – especially after 9/11 – they respect the police. In LA, well, there’s more animosity. A lot more.

A small handful of people tried to provoke the cops by throwing fire works in their direction and beer bottles over their heads. I was really impressed with the constraint and discipline they displayed. Because things could have gotten really nasty.

Everything today seems to be a photo op. Not too long ago, civilians seldom carried a camera. Now, EVERYONE does. And if they don’t, the use their cell phone camera. I seem to have an ever-expanding library of images of people taking their own pictures at sports events.

The police did a great job of breaking up the swarm of people. I know the news reported riot conditions and there were a few arrests, injured cops and damaged property. But my feeling on the street was that it was always on the verge of getting out of control. That no one died – to me – was a small miracle. Just a little too much anger mixed in with a swarm of wildly happy and intoxicated fans.

A lot of people were cut off from their friends as the police directed folks away from Staples. The reported violence happened in the other direction from where I ended up. I was fortunate that my car was a block in front of the police barricades and not a block behind, otherwise I might have spent the entire night on the streets of LA.

by Sol

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