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(Photo by Ric Tapia / Icon SMI)

23 December 2009: Kyle Whittingham the head coach of the the Utah Utes gets a “Gatorade” bath during the Poinsettia Bowl NCAA football game between the Utah Utes and the Cal Golden Bears at the Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, CA.

(Ric Tapia / Icon SMI)

22 December 2009: Max Hall (15) and BYU’s head coach Bronco Mendenhall celebrate their win during the Las Vegas Bowl NCAA game between the Oregon State Beavers and the BYU Cougars at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, NV.

3 bowl games in 5 days. My trip lasted a little longer than that starting December 20th as I traveled to Las Vegas for the first bowl game of the year. I stayed with my Aunt Teri and Uncle Michael and also spent some times at the Craps Tables at varies Casinos. After my short vacation it was off to photograph the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl. It was very cold and windy with the winds between 25-35 MPH and gusting over 55 MPH. The above photo is from the celebration after BYU beat Oregon 44-20.

The next morning I left for San Diego to photograph the Poinsettia Bowl. A little warmer and a lot less windy. Great game as Utah beat Cal 37-27. I went on the Utah’s bench with less than 2 minutes left in the game and was able to photograph the coach getting drenched with “Gatorade” (Its Powerade in Utah’s case). After the game I drove up to LA to shower and sleep in my own bed. I spent less than 12hrs there because I needed to catch my flight to Sacramento.

It was Christmas Eve and my Grandmother’s Birthday. I was excited to see all of my family there in Sac Town. Christmas was spent with family as it should be. The next day was the Emerald Bowl in San Fransisco. I drove to SF and it was pouring, cold and did I mention RAINING. Time to bring out the rain gear. It’s only the 3rd time I have had to done so since I live in Sunny Southern California. The Emerald Bowl featured Boston College and USC. I have photographed USC about a half dozen times so I focused a little more on Boston College. I made the Raining and at times snowing drive back to Reno as I got in around 2am. I am going to be back in LA tomorrow and working on New Years Day again.

All in all I travel over 2000 miles and had a great time doing it. Thanks to all my family and friends for a great 2009 and I cant wait to see what 2010 has in store for me.

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