Saluting Shelley

TigerBlog starts today with a picture that had him smiling most of yesterday.

It came courtesy of Erica Denhoff, who has taken quite a few pictures for Princeton Athletics the last few years. This time, she was in the picture.

Erica shares an alma mater with TigerBlog, though she seemingly got more out of her education than TB did. In fact, if you go to her photography webpage, which you can HERE, you'll see that her bio includes this: "As a clinical researcher at a pediatric hospital for over 15 years ..."

Erica is also a huge Boston sports fan. The photo she sent yesterday was taken after the Celtics put away Dallas to win their 18th NBA Championship. It seemed Erica was pretty pleased by the outcome. The picture is outstanding.

It is not easy to be a great sports photographer. TigerBlog has tried it enough to know. He's taken exactly one great action shot, and that was last fall at the Princeton-Yale field hockey game in New Haven.

It also came with a huge asterisk. Princeton and Yale had gone to overtime, and the Princeton had scored. The officials were reviewing the play on video, so TB knew that the team would be celebrating if the call stood.

As such, it became the closest thing to a posed celebration shot, which is the only way TB could have taken something this good:

Not bad, right? 

That picture is labeled "Yale Jubo" on TB's computer. Pictures that have the "Jubo" distinction are the best kinds of shots, since the "Jubo," as TB has written many times before, is short for "Jubilation."

If you're looking for Jubo, you can find it in the picture of Erica Denhoff. 

Sometimes you have no idea that a great Jubo moment is going to arise. Other times you do.

For instance, you might not realize that something that almost never happens is about to happen, like a goal from a goalie in lacrosse. 

And hey, Princeton had just such an occasion this past year, when Michael Gianforcaro scored in a 15-10 win over Penn, on his Senior Day no less. 

Princeton photographer Shelley Szwast was at the game. For most of the day, it was just another game — one with some important stuff riding on the outcome but from a photographer's standpoint, just another game.

And then the goalie scored. You have to be ready for anything when you're snapping pictures. And Shelley certainly was:

In fact, Shelley had about 25 great shots in the immediate aftermath of Gianforcaro's goal. TB? He wouldnt' have had any.

TigerBlog has mentioned Shelley many times. She is seemingly everywhere at Princeton Athletics, camera at the ready. 

If you read TB's entry yesterday, you read the part about how athletics have an innate way of transcending so many of the issues that are tearing at the fabric of contemporary society. Shelley texted this to TB yesterday morning:

Your blog timing today is wild. I just had the same conversation this morning about why Athletics is so different to be around, and why it’s so refreshing to spend time there. I feel lucky every day that I get to experience it, even in my role.

TB wishes he had a way of figuring out how many words he's written about Princeton Athletics in his career. He also wishes he had a way of figuring out how many pictures Shelley has taken. 

The answer to both is of course "a lot." The final product of a game that Shelley shoots has several hundred pictures, but she's already deleted several thousand before she sends them over. 

Anyone who has met Shelley at Princeton instantly loves her and realizes that, as she says, "it's so refreshing to spend time there." She is just joyful about her role, and she sells herself short when she says "even in my role."

Her role is a huge part of Princeton Athletics. Her role captures the spirit and the joy and the love of the games, the competitions and especially the competitors. 

Also, she never really gets any credit for what she does. Like Erica, it's a rare moment when the camera is pointing to her as opposed to away from her. Also like Erica, this is a sidelight for her in addition to her full-time work in IT.

And so, if you wondering who she is, TigerBlog figured that after all of the shots of hers that he has used, he might as well offer up one of her:

That is Shelley across the front, with the women's hockey team in Ireland this past winter. 

Thanks, Shelley, for all you do. 

Princeton Athletics wouldn't be the same without your role in it.