Taking it in Stride

Wildcats go Back to Back!!

2009-12-02T11:13:00.000-07:00

Please follow the link to my other blog site to see a post about the Cassville Wildcats State Championship win!!
See the blog here.

Making Memories

2009-09-18T05:56:00.005-06:00

As published in "Today in Dixie" September 17, 2009

Making memories
By Robert Hoppie
Contributing Writer

My best sports memory is easy to choose. It came courtesy of Luis Gonzalez, outfielder for the Arizona Diamondbacks. You may remember it, as well: He hit a soft little floater over Derek Jeter’s head, and Jay Bell came in to score the 2001 World Series winning run. What an amazing feeling, because we were there. That is where my favorite sports memory happened. It happened because of my dad.

Such memories with Dad have always been a source of power and inspiration to me. I suspect that’s part of the reason he worked so hard to make them happen. I pray these memories and others will sustain him through his remaining time here on Earth. My father, Lynn Hoppie, was diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer, and his time is short.

As this news began to sink in for me, I began thinking about all the wonderful memories my father was a part of in my life, and I realized that sports was a common thread through a lot of them.

“Two hands, Bobby, always with two hands.”
Some of my earliest childhood memories are of my father and me playing catch in a vacant lot across the street from our home. He had this old, four-fingered baseball glove he played softball with in the Army. I recall dodging tall weeds and rocks while trying to get under a pop fly he had thrown, while my ears rang with his coaching advice to use both hands to secure the ball. That was great advice then, and it’s still great advice.

I love sports. My father understood this pretty early on, and we formed strong bonds surrounding sporting events. Some of the events were of our own creation; backyard Wiffleball was a favorite. He and I would play for hours – or until he had had enough of my over-competitive whining.

We also enjoyed playing a little football. He would toss me the ball and I would run patterns, trying not to run into our neighbor’s fence. We would make up games that made playing catch more fun.

As I grew older and began to play organized sports, Dad was there. He was there to cheer for me as I played little league baseball for the Springerville Cubs in Arizona . He would help me with my batting. I had a tendency to drop my back shoulder as the pitch was being delivered, and it caused me to swing late. He and I worked on that, which helped me become a better hitter.

There was the time my grades were such that I had to quit the fifth grade football team. I still recall sitting in my coach’s living room with my helmet and pads, telling him I couldn’t play for him anymore. It was heartbreaking, but a great life lesson in priorities.

My strongest memories include Dad and me watching sports – both on TV and in person. I remember cheering for our Cowboys on a weekly basis during football season. We had our heroes: Danny White, Tony Dorsett, all the greats who brought us to our feet cheering and sometimes brought me to tears as they went down in defeat.

When I was 12, my father surprised me with one of the greatest gifts I have ever received: he bought us tickets to see the Cowboys play in Texas Stadium. I had never been so excited in my life. It was a preseason game, but to me it was the Super Bowl. We made the road trip from Arizona to Dallas and had the most amazing time.

Even in my adult years, my dad has always been intent on making memories. He was able to secure tickets to a Monday Night Football game in Arizona between the Cardinals and the Cowboys on Christmas night, 1995. This was the night Emmitt Smith broke the single season touchdown record. It has since been broken again, but it was quite a night for us Cowboy fans.

I am grateful for the time Dad spent with me, the life lessons he taught and the support and encouragement he showed. I can only hope, as I raise my own children, that I can be as supportive and teach them the lessons they need to get through.

Pssst...those Cassville Soccer 'Cats are pretty good...pass it on

2007-11-07T10:24:00.000-07:00

Going to State! What a great match between the Wildcats of Cassville and the Wildcats of Harrisonville. Cassville came away with a 3-1 victory. I'm not going to give the details of the match here. George will do his usual bang up job in next weeks edition of the Cassville Democrat

For me I was happy to be able to travel and shoot a playoff game. I was not prepared for the emotional excitement that would be present as these boys layed it all on the line. Hustle, grit, determination, fire. Wow, you name it and they had it going last night.

In our first photo here we have a celebration after Ryan Schlichtmans monster goal. It would end up being the game winner. He blasted it past the Harrisonville goalie and I mean blasted it. By the time the goalie reacted, it was in the net behind him. I want to acknowledge our fans. We totally outnumbered the home crowd, we were louder, man were we louder. I could just feel the intensity rising from behind me until the last whistle sounded and then they poured out of the stands in a show of appreciation of what they just witnessed.

We had 54 students that came on the pep bus, numerous parents of soccer players and other fans.

The Plea: I am calling out all Cassville sports fans. We have an opportunity to see and support this team as they make a run at the state title. They had great fan support in Harrisonville but we can do better. 2 times better, 5 times better, I think we could do 10 times better. Lets put 500-1000 fans in the stands this Friday and Saturday and let these guys know we are behind them. They thrive on the fan support. As the second half began, the cheering got louder and the 'Cats scored 3 goals in a matter of minutes and the game was for all intents and purposes over. After the game they graciously and sincerely thanked the crowd who inspired them on to victory.

I am calling out all fans to be there Friday and Saturday to cheer them on to a state title. What ever you have going on, put it on hold for a couple of days. Load up your car, van, bus and head to Fenton. Spend a little of that Christmas money you are saving up. I promise you wont be disapointed. This team is inspiring and genuinely fun to watch. This will be one of those experiences that will make you smile. You will remember it your whole life.

I am also calling out all local business' to paint your store front windows, if you have a marquee let the boys know you're behind them.

A run at a state title does not happen often, so get on board and support these guys.

Please pass this on to anyone who enjoys sports or even just has great Wildcat spirit.

Go 'Cats!!!

And by the way. Who Cloned Matt Angel?
He was everywhere last night.
Great defense Matt!

Oh yeah, here's a link to all the action from Tuesday night

Quarterfinal Soccer vs Harrisonville

See you all in Fenton.

Robert Hoppie
Action Sports Photos

1000!!!!

2007-08-13T09:20:00.000-06:00

We did it!

Our first milestone of 1000 photos sold online happened last week. Melissa from Sikeston bought photo number 1000 from our site.

Click here for Photo number 1000

We were so excited to have reached this milestone that we had a family/company party. Action Sports Photos is a family business. Everyone has their part. The older kids help with booths, onsite sales and packaging prints. The younger kids help with printing envelopes and packaging prints. They are a huge help and we couldn't do it without them. I would like to put in a huge thank you to Mrs. Action Sports Photos, Shanna (aka Miss America or "The hot lady"). Truly without her there would be no Action Sports Photos, she does an amazing job.

Also, a big thank you to Melissa and all those who have made our business a success over the short time we've been around. We look forward to many more years of preserving your favorite sports moments.

Meet Okeye (uh-koy-yay)...

2007-07-31T09:30:00.000-06:00

He is the 3rd baseman and pitcher for the Boonville All Star team that played this last weekend in the Missouri Babe Ruth Championship tournament. In this photo he is very happy. Why? Well here's why. First round game against Cassville, the host team. Bottom of the 8th inning (they only play 7 unless tied), Boonville has just put a runner on second base with two outs. Okeye is up next as he walks to the plate he seems a little perplexed.

He knows he needs a hit to win the game, he walks up the 3rd base line to talk to his coach. I later got this quote from his coach. Okeye says "coach I'm a nervous wreck, got any words of advice?". Coach says, "relax, you know your a good hitter, get me a line drive". He walks back to the batters box and BANG! Line drive back up the middle, runner scores from 2nd, game over. Boonville wins, Cassville crowd goes home sad. Nice job Okeye, way to come through for your team.
I have posted the after photo with Okeye being congratulated by his coach and the before photo while he's getting those words of wisdom. What a great experience we had at this tournament. Well done boys. Well done. See Okeye, his teammates and the other players from the tournament HERE

Spring is in the air...

2007-03-29T09:55:00.000-06:00

Welcome to another season of Cassville sports. This one by far is my favorite. I have played baseball in some form since I was 8. I love playing it and I love watching it.

I enjoy watching the type of ball the Wildcats play. Without homerun hitters in the lineup they play a "small ball", station to station type of game. They execute this very well and are very well coached.

Here we have a photo of Michael Baker, starting pitcher in the home opener for the 'Cats. He has a nice easy southpaw delivery and did a great job of keeping the opposing hitters off balance for the first few innings.

He asked me between innings "how am I looking out there?".
I told him he looked great and after further review of the photos, I think his form is excellent.

See more of Mr. Baker and his teammates here.

Good luck the rest of the way guys.

Focus

2007-02-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

Howdy all, sorry for the hiatus. Things have been busy and I haven't had anything too exciting to post lately.

This basketball season I took the opportunity to shoot some angles that I haven't shot before. The one type of shot that I really enjoyed the results from is a player getting ready to take a free throw. I like getting a shot of him in focus on the line and the other players lined up out of focus. To me the photo epitomizes what is going on in the players head as he prepares for the free throw. All other things must be out of focus, only he and the ball and the hoop are his concern. The other players, fans, refs and that crazy photographer are there but only apparitions of his mind. Anyway, I have always admired atheletes who can block out all that is going on around them and control themselves not only physically but mentally to do what they need to do. I told my son this week that free throw shooting is mostly mental, once you figure out the physical part, practice will create muscle memory and from there you have to overcome your own mental process.

In this photo we have Chris Smith of the newly crowned 8th Grade Conference Champions deep in focus. See some photos from their season here . Nice job guys, congrats!

Thats it for now,

Later

Just Missed...

2006-12-27T11:23:00.000-07:00

I just missed, Brian Elkins nailed it! I had been hoping to get a shot of a blocked punt this year, so I had been positioning myself to get this particular angle when the opposing team would punt. But we never broke though for a block. Until, on this night against Seneca everything came together. Almost. I got set up and watched through my lens as Brian came around the end untouched. In my head I was telling myself "wait for it, wait for it". I didn't want to shoot too soon or too late. Well, as you can plainly see I got too anxious and shot just a fraction of a second too soon. Brian did his job and blocked the punt, but I missed my opportunity to immortalize his great effort.
Maybe next time.

It's Hoopin' time

2006-12-15T08:33:00.000-07:00

Its time to move indoors and enjoy the warmth and comfort of the hardwood haven. I had a chance to see the Wildcats play Blue Eye the other night. (see photos here). It was a very exciting game, see the recap by George Ulmer here. BTW, George is an excellent local sports writer, I highly recommend checking him out in the Cassville Democrat sports pages and online at the link provided.

Shooting basketball is a little challenging at times. I generally have floor access so I can sit near the baseline at either end of the court. I love shooting from down low because, as you can see in the above photo, it makes for better angles. This shot has Junior Guard Kelby Haynes flying in to make a spectacular layup against the Bulldogs. Sitting on the floor creates a lot of opportunities for me to get stepped on and get really cool photos of referees "best side"(you wouldn't believe how many of those I have to delete). Any way I love shooting from there and it gives me the best seat in the house to see these guys do their thing.

One more point before I move on, in the above photo the crowd in the background is a little thin. This is my invitation for you to come see these guys play. We don't have any tall giants on the team so they run alot and it makes for some very exciting basketball. Come on out!

Later

Eye on the ball

2006-12-04T13:44:00.000-07:00

Normally I don't spend much time shooting opposing teams. This was taken during a Mighty Mite football game at Aurora. I was shooting the Wildcat defenders and looked toward the endzone and this guy was so wide open that I couldn't help but swing my camera his way. Sometimes the timing of a shot is just luck. (More on that in later posts).

The real story of this photo evolved three weeks later. Feeling that this was a photo that a mother needed to have, I printed a 4x6 and put a copy of it on a cd and waited. When Aurora came to town to play I searched the visiting fans for someone who might be his mother. I had worried for 3 weeks that I may not be able to find her. Sure enough a lady wearing a #80 jersey was spotted. My wife and I walked around the track and I presented it to her. Her emotion caught me off guard. She began to tear up and then I started to tear up and my wife started sniffling. She was very happy to have recieved it.

The moment magnified part of my reasoning for doing what I do. I didn't get or want any money for this photo, I just wanted her and her son to be able to remember that amazing catch for years to come. A lot of times in business there are more important things than money.

Bring it on...

2006-11-24T14:15:00.000-07:00

There are times when a photo just seems to come together. This one was taken during the Monett game, I had set myself up in the endzone hoping for an Elkins sweep around my side. After the snap here came Guard Nick Pianalto (50), RB Jared Bouzek (29), Fullback Danny Naugle (33), followed by Brian Elkins.

I love this shot because to me it shows perfect execution of the pulling guard and 2 blocking backs just looking for someone to plow over. The result of this play was about a 10 yard walk into the endzone for Elkins. These 3 had blown away anyone in the path. As you can see the Monett defender is less than excited about the prospect of 3 huge blockers coming his way.

This was one of my favorites this season, I really liked the way the composition of it turned out, also the way the white jerseys "pop" off the black background.

More photos from the Monett vs Cassville game can be seen here.