Michael Hickey Photographer

NBA-Indiana Pacers vs Golden State Warriors-Indianapolis

NBA-Indiana Pacers vs Golden State Warriors-Indianapolis, IN - Images by Michael Hickey

 

The Pacers ruined Brandon Rush's return to Indianapolis by blowing out the Warriors at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The guys in blue in gold are on a hot streak right now here's hoping they can keep it up.

Daytona 500

No way in hell was I missing my flight home on Sunday night.....

 

 

 

So I got nuttin'....

NBA Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers Pacemates

NBA-Lebron James and Indiana Pacers Pacemates - Images by Michael Hickey

Somebody forgot to tell the Indiana Pacers there was a game Tuesday night. Maybe they were spending the night with their valentines because the men in gold didn't show up to face King Lebron and the Heat at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Just watching warmups I knew it was going to be a long night, the Heat looked relaxed and was hitting everything in sight before they took their warmups off. After the tip it didn't take long to see that the Heat were there to put on a clinic for the audience in Indy and the Pacemates were there to do what they do best during the timeouts but a "basketball game" never happened. It was a disaster to put it mildly. Down by thirty at the half, Granger exited the game with an ankle injury and the Heat played everyone but the ball boys and training staff in the fourth quarter but the Pacers still couldn't recover. 
In all seriousness it was terrible game to watch and an even worse game to shoot. Nothing memorable here folks but if you feel compelled to look be my guest but prepare to be underwhelmed.

At least there's the Pacemates.

NCAA Basketball: Purdue Boilermakers vs Northwestern Wildcats-West Lafayette, IN

NCAA-Purdue Boilermakers vs Northwestern Wildcats-West Lafayette, In - Images by Michael Hickey

First of all, something I don't understand. When a school, team, league, etc issues a parking credential to a photographer and then they don't grant you anyway to park to PICK UP the parking credential, life gets a little aggravating. Please work on this Purdue, thanks in advance.

This game stayed pretty darn close all night until the very end when the Boilermakers pulled away in the closing minutes and was capped off when Northwestern's Drew Crawford got a little crazy reacting to what he initially thought was a charging foul on him. He proceded to slam the ball and was lit up for a "T". Since he was charged with another technical foul earlier in the game for a minor skirmish this foul caused him to be ejected. And to top the entire incident off with a cherry, the charging foul that drew his reaction was changed to blocking foul on Purdue. Whoops.

Purdue over Northwestern 87-77.

NBA Basketball: Indiana Pacers vs Denver Nuggets-Indianapolis, In

NBA Indiana Pacers vs Denver Nuggets-Indianapolis - Images by Michael Hickey

The Indiana Pacers are on a skid and they have the Heat tomorrow night. And the Bulls and their injury issues with D Rose, you'd think now would be a good time to make up some ground in the central division.

Shout out to the Indiana Pacers Pacemates for the traffic they consistently send to my site!!!!

 

Super Bowl XLVI-Indianapolis

Super Bowl XLVI-Indianapolis, Indiana - Images by Michael Hickey

For the last few years, when asked, I have consistantly said "I could care less if I ever shoot the Super Bowl. The crowds, the security, a million other photographers and sports writers, etc. No thanks." 
Then comes the 2011 football season. I didn't think there'd be anyway they'd ask me to shoot the game. Maybe I'll ask just to be a card runner so I can see the all the hoopla first hand. Come to find out, they had every intention of having me shoot the big game in the first place. Really?
Fast forward to the end of January and beginning of February and the game week is upon us. The crowds as I predicted descended on downtown Indy in droves. The horde of media was every bit as big of a horde as I thought, security was tighter than vice grips and our (Colts fans) arch enemy was moving into our training facility and could possibly be celebrating a Super Bowl win on OUR field. Well, luckily the latter didn't happen but everything else came and went as predicted.
Needless to say it was a week of inflated parking, parties, press conferences, red carpets and a tiny little football game at the end.

I didn't have a field credential, I had an upper position. I didn't have high hopes of getting many good shots as I've never shot football elevated before. I'm here to tell you it WON'T be the last time I shoot elevated! I couldn't believe how much I loved this position. Why can't I do this for every game I shoot. You can see the entire field, follow the plays perfectly and pick off action photos like shooting fish in a barrell.
So when all was said and done, I did it. Got some killer shots. I also didn't come down with a massive cold after shooting non-stop and getting very little sleep over ten days which is usually a perfect recipe for contracting a massive sinus cold usually. This time I beefed up the vitamin C intake and all is good, post Super Bowl XLVI.