Camryn Quinn is finally getting what she wants...sort of. Moving into a dorm and away from her not so supportive father is a good first step, but like everything with him-it comes with strings. She must attend the college of his choosing for at leas...
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I'm packing up the rest of the hotel room when I hear a knock on the door. It could be Alyssa, considering her things are still strewn throughout the room and our flight leaves in four hours. I called her six times attempting to get her to come pack, but she and Anderson have been on an all out celebration bender since the game two nights ago.
The Bulldogs pulled it off after barely winning their first playoff game, when they only slid by with a field goal. But the Championship game was different. Everyone came ready to play their best game of football. From the beginning, my brother and his offense ran the field. And when they didn't, the team's defense quickly recovered the ball to bring it back into Cal's hands. He and Taylor combined practically scored all of the team's forty two points, which made it that much harder to stand on the sidelines and capture their reactions for the newspaper. Not because I wasn't happy for them, but because I wanted to be right there celebrating with them instead of watching it through my lens.
I took my assignment seriously though and persevered and focused on the game. I fed off the atmosphere surrounding me. I've never found myself particularly excited to see Grey's face, but I've allowed myself to the moment when I show him this particular game through my eyes. An abundance of fans traveled to Houston for the game and their roars can practically be heard through the pixels of the images I captured. Alyssa's byline will no doubt mention that State pulled off a win in more ways than one, starting with fans that came to dominate the stands. I however, feel like I pulled off a victory of my own. The pictures from this game are the perfect final additions to my portfolio.
After the game however, is when I began taking L after L. The post game celebration was a must see event, especially from my camera's standpoint. But it quickly became a game of who could pretend to not care more between Taylor and I. I didn't try to hide myself though, as he slipped the black championship t-shirt over his pads and took the trophy from my brother. Our eyes threatened to connect as we both took turns stealing glances at the other from across the room. We were both doing a poor job of pretending that it didn't hurt, but the internal hemorrhaging could be seen in our eyes. But what hurt worse was knowing that a solution was within reach. All we had to do was reach out for one another, it would have been so easy. But I think we both know it would have been a quick fix fueled by the adrenaline of the moment.
So we stood surrounded, but alone, as the confetti fell like rain around us. Taylor's face embodied exactly what I was trying to capture. Tears of joy told the story of triumph as he held the gold statue proudly in his hands. He planted a large kiss to the side of it, leaving his mark on it forever.
What he couldn't have realized though, was that he was creating the picture that would probably make it on the cover of The Daily Scoops issue next week. It was sent out on the newspaper social media accounts after the game and has since gone viral. My name was mentioned in the original post, but as far as I know, no other media accounts have credited the person behind the lens. It didn't stop me from hoping that Taylor would see it, and somehow know it was mine. I need the picture to tell him that I was there for him, even when I couldn't.
