Football has a penalty called “illegal motion” which applies when an offensive player is in forward motion before the ball is snapped.
Speaking of offensive, there is a contest currently being run by a Photoshop magazine (not affiliated with Adobe). The winner gets to pretend to be pro media photographer on the sidelines at a USA college football game. The contest is open only to amateurs.
The prize is “a dream sports assignment of a lifetime” and includes: the winner will be loaned the necessary gear (with which they probably have no experience using); they will go into the stadium’s media room to get a “big spread of all kinds of food”, a “full blown buffet”; they will “mingle with other media folks”; and finally, the winner gets a media pass to shoot on the sidelines.
Maybe it’s just me, but this is insulting to pro photographers and demeaning to the sports media. This is the kind of stunt that makes people think professional sports photography is just a game or a joke. Walk in from the street, stuff your face with free food, hang around on the sidelines and then go home. This is not even close to the real thing.
Will there be a similar contest where the winner gets to play magazine editor and help lay out a few magazine pages? Maybe win the opportunity to play web designer and do a few pages of code for the magazine’s web site? How about the chance to play workshop leader at the magazine’s next workshop?
The contest organizers state that the only people eligible to enter are those who do not have access to to sidelines. That should be the tip-off right there. If they’re not allowed access in the first place, then there’s probably a reason why.
Why give media passes to non-media people? It defeats the purpose.
Better idea: give the contest winner a new camera and lens, plus the chance to shoot a practice and get photo tips and editing advice from a pro. Then on game day, the winner sits in a nice stadium box to enjoy the game with free food and drink. This way, the winner gets a truly valuable and educational prize and is out-of-the-way during the game when the sidelines will be crowded with people busy working for a living.
But then again, maybe it’s just me.
