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Brad Ramsey, Kevin Cox and Co. pulled a Bachman-Turner Overdrive on the rest of the state and continued taking care of business at the state tournament last weekend in Sheridan. Unbeaten, unscathed, unholy, and many more superlatives fully describe this team’s incredible rise to the top. To paraphrase the greatest (only ones to have a hit) white Irish hip-hop group, House of Pain, word to your moms, Central came to drop bombs. Terrible lyric, I know, but it was all I could think of at this hour.

The tournament played out as expected as three of the four defending state champions re-captured their respective crowns. Sadly, my alma mater (*cough* Laramie *cough*) was the only one who failed to repeat. In fact, they only painted their chests in support of the girls’ team that destroyed the state again. The East boys did the Laramie boys one better by qualifying for the tournament, only to be eliminated from play in tears like a lesser loser from the Biggest Loser (disclaimer: the T-Birds are not losers). The East girls, however, captured 5th place by destroying the pride of Sweetwater Co., Rock Springs, 7-0. Nice work. During my two days at the tournament, I watched as the Central girls dropped two games by a combined score of 7-2 in a fourth-place effort. I cannot say whether it had something to do with not scoring enough (as I am no soccer/any kind of expert), but I’m pretty sure that was the case.

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Man-o-man, for years I thought the only place to get a good Kosher beef frank was the ballpark (I obviously don’t go to grocery store often). But on Sunday, I had the experience of a lifetime — an entire event featuring some of my favorite foods including said franks, corned beef on rye and potato cakes. Where can one find such a fabulous array smorgisboard-worthy grub, you ask? Well, the Mount Sinai Yiddish Food Festival, of course.

It was an enriching experience with a touch of culture unlike any other I’ve experienced in my two decades of Wyoming living. This was my second trip to the city’s go-to synagogue. Just like the first, I was impressed with the people, atmosphere, and obviously, food. Though I didn’t actually eat, I wanted to. Unfortunately, my steady diet of club crackers and ramen noodles preceded the event. Thus, my appetite was as absent as me in a classroom during my schoolboy years. Foolish, foolish me.

In the future, I will be sure to load up on a pocket full of shekels in order to partake in the feast of a lifetime. As we speak, I’m eating a Hebrew National Frank. Mmm, mmm good (sorry Campbell’s Soup Co., but this dog is the real deal).

Regional soccer proved two things — Cheyenne Central’s unbeaten record is legit, and Cheyenne East’s luck is not.

Along with the fans, I watched 220 minutes of scoreless T-Bird soccer only to see them lose not once, but twice via shootout. It was obviously heartbreaking for the Eastsiders to lose in such a fashion — on two consecutive days no less. Even more so insulting, Gatorade Player of the Year Ben Borin missed his shot in shootout No. 2 — that’s an obvious slap in the face from Lady Luck.

Central, on the other hand, looked sharp and played hard as they won two matches by a 1-0 margin. In each Central game I covered this year, I was continually impressed by their stonewall defense.

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WTE Prep Athlete of the Week Kelsey Eklund of Burns.

Pretty impressed. That is how I feel about my experience shooting Burns track star Kelsey Eklund. A number of reasons contributed to my overall feeling of the shoot.

One being the chance to cruise into the country in order to visit the 11 or 12 people who live there.

Beware: seriousnesses follows below…

Not only did Ms. Eklund dazzle the camera with a natural smile and comfort, which required little to no direction on my part, but she was also able to wrangle every single pair of sneakers in the entire town for use as props. I used the 10 or so pairs as a backdrop for this shot. By looking at the photograph, it is difficult to realize that she is actually laying in a strategically empty space with the sneakers merely surrounding her body. There are, however, a few dark spots where shoes could not fit (due to a lack of pairs).

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One element about photojournalism not a lot of people talk about is flexibility. I don’t know how many times I have gone to an assignment expecting something and getting something completely different. Yesterday I headed over to Goins Elementary to photograph the Las Flores De Colores dancers perform for students.

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