Army players reach to touch the plaque bearing a quote from General George Marshall on the field prior to their game against Stanford in Michie Stadium at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY on Saturday, September 14, 2013. The plaque reads, “I want An Officer For A Secret And Dangerous Mission. I Want A West Point Football Player.” Stanford defeated Army 34 – 20. © Chet Gordon/TIMES HERALD-RECORD
Sometimes the best images of the day aren’t made of the home team or even during game action (above). Covered the much anticipated Army – Stanford football game on Saturday. Talk about having butterflies in preparing for one of the biggest college football games I could remember covering in my career. I mean John Elway made the trip up to watch his school compete against Army at West Point. And this would be my first game of the season, after a few early morning practices, media day and their Spring practice and scrimmage season earlier this year. Although I’ve worked four consecutive Army – Navy games at this newspaper (and if scheduling allows, perhaps this year’s game in December down in Philadelphia again), as well as games at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands, and many years of pro sports & playoffs, this past Saturday’s game at West Point kept me awake the night before, and had me up well before the pre-dawn alarm set on my iPhone. Although I felt a little rusty in the first quarter, it turned out to be a good day for images. One of the most memorable parts of the day was kicking it out around with Sports Illustrated contributing photographer David Bergman and his assistant in the photographer’s workroom for about 2 hours after the game while we were editing our take… ~cg.
Here’s a slideshow of the day:
Chet Gordon resides in the lower Hudson Valley region of New York. A photojournalist for more than 25 years, he recently worked as Westchester Magazine's first photo editor, and previously was a staff photographer at four NYC metro area newspapers. He was also a photo editor at the NY Daily News for 5 years. His work has appeared in The New York Times, International Herald-Tribune, USA Today, MailOnline (UK), Army Times, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and Popular Photography magazines, among others. He is a career member of the National Press Photographer’s Association (NPPA), and a former board member of the NY Press Photographer’s Association (NYPPA). He served honorably as a U.S. Marine in the mid-1980's, including 2+ years stationed on Okinawa, Japan, and throughout Southeast Asia. A longtime volunteer and travel enthusiast, he accompanies several humanitarian aid clients on their international disaster relief and medical missions. Since 1997, he's worked in several African countries, the Middle East, Central and South America, Eastern Europe, as well as Afghanistan, Haiti, the Russian Federation, and Thailand. He routinely mentors young photographers looking to break into the industry and vacations in Bermuda and Kenya.
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