"The Moment" - Reality TV & Sports Photography

Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal Inc

Last night I watched the premier episode of USA Network's "The Moment", former NFL QB Kurt Warner's reality TV show in which he gives people a second chance to live their dreams. Warner knows what it's like to fail and then get a second chance in life, going from getting cut from an NFL team to bagging groceries to eventually getting a second chance to play in the NFL. Making the most of the second chance, Warner was a two-time Player of the Year and won a Super Bowl.

Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal Inc

Last night's episode involved an Alabama woman who had a photography business once upon a time but after a divorce left her with kids to raise she was forced to give it up to put food on the table for her family. Sports photography is what really spun this woman's wheels and she dabbled in it way back when. Along came Warner with a chance for her to live her dream - landing a job with Sports Illustrated as a sports photographer. 

Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal Inc

Tracie Marcum, the erstwhile photographer in question, is whisked off to L.A. for a two week crash course in how to shoot sports for a high profile entity like SI. She "trains" under the tutelage of Lou Jones, one of the best sports photographers in the business. Lou is firm, honest, critical when necessary, and patient with Tracie. The training reminds me of scenes from the first Karate Kid but instead of wax on-wax off , Tracie is forced to run  around with 4 camera bodies around her neck and 4 different lenses ranging from wide angle to long, fixed telephoto as she shoots gymnastics at a training facility and some playground basketball.

Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal Inc

At one point, Lou has her shooting (as in photographing) clay pigeons at a skeet range as a shooter (with a shotgun) blasts away. The goal for Tracie is to follow the pigeons with the camera upon release and capture them exploding to develop critical hand eye coordination. 

Eventually, Tracie meets with SI and is given the assignment which will determine whether she will land a job with SI - shooting two stunt pilots and their planes for a story that SI intends to run. Tracie is told to take some portrait shots of the pilots and then jump into a chopper to shoot the planes as they are flown. Afterwards, she is to pick a few images, meet with SI, and show her stuff, which she does.

Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal Inc

Tracie's portraits are maligned by the SI guys but she pleasantly surprises them with a couple of aerial shots that they liked (and I thought were really good). In the end, she gets the job offer from SI, accepts, and has to leave her family behind in Alabama and relocate to New York City (she had remarried, so new hubbie had the home front covered). In doing some checking after the show, I learned that Tracie has since moved back to Alabama and is no longer on the staff of SI. She now freelances for SI in the Southeast.

It would be so easy to let the green eyed monster get the better of me by maligning the show, the episode, Tracie, and everything that goes with it. No doubt some "pro" sports photographers will do just that, resentful of somebody getting what they perceive to be an unfair, undeserved opportunity that they haven't gotten, or will never get, to hit the big time.

Not me. Don't misunderstand. Being published in SI has long been a dream of mine and I've come oh-so-close a couple of times but no cigar; working for SI is something I have never dared to dream. I've always wanted to win the lottery, too, but I don't grumble and snarl every week because somebody else gets lucky. 

No one ever promised any of us that life would be fair or that only the truly deserving would receive opportunities commensurate with our perceived skill, talent, or hard work. My dad taught me long ago that the trick in life is not to begrudge somebody else's good fortune but to do the best you can with whatever opportunities come your way. While he was alive, when life would throw me a curve, Papi would always say, "Viejo (his term of affection for me), never envy people who have more than you. Always look behind you at the people who have less than you and be grateful for what you have". Oh yes, he was a wise man.

Will it do me any good to chafe at the bit because Tracie was given an opportunity I would covet? Will that make my life any better? Will it bring me happiness or change anything in my life? No, no and no. So what will it accomplish to resent her or her good fortune? Instead of wasting emotional energy resenting Tracie, I prefer to be happy for her, that she was given a wonderful opportunity, and that she lived the dream.

It's a safe bet that I will never join the staff of SI, but you know what? That's OK. My wife still loves me, my kids still love me, and the dog still greets me every evening with a tail wag when I come home from work. I wake up in the morning thankful for all the blessings I have received in life and for the chance to live one more day doing what I love to do.

Hat's off to you, Tracie. You lived your dream. You go, girl.