#working journalist

[withaniphotography]

There's a few missing, but I've amassed quite the collection of press passes. My favourite event was the MasterCard Memorial Cup, but the concert ones are pretty cool - Johnny Reid, Hedley, Marianas Trench and the Barenaked Ladies were some of the concerts I've been able to shoot.

[withaniphotography]

I s’pose I should do one of those “2017 Year in Review” things. I’m not sure how far I’ll get, so I’ll at least make a post about likely the most memorable thing I did work-wise all year. The incident pictured above doesn’t include my best photography, but it was part of a situation that I felt overall was some of my best work in the year, work that I felt truly meant something, and a story that was missed by some other local outlets. Former Edmonton Oiler Ryan Smyth got caught with a blindside hit during a Chinook Hockey League (now the Allan Cup Hockey West league) playoffs game between the Lacombe Generals and Stony Plain Eagles. I was the only reporter in the building, and the only one to get a pic of the incident and the moments afterwards. Smyth hasn’t played an ACHW game since, and Kyle Sheen, the player who hit him, was given a 16-game suspension. It caused quite the stir, with major news outlets reporting later on the story based on a sole press release calling Sheen’s hit a blatant flying elbow. There was debate about it all over, but I was the only reporter in the building that saw the hit first hand, and apparently the only one to bother talking to the Generals on their side of the story. I got hate mail for months after the hit from Smyth fanboys (and I call them fanboys because they constantly referred to how players should show him “respect” and not touch an NHL player. Puh-lease). I had people question my credentials and argue with me, but I kind of thrived from it. The whole situation made me remember why I’m in journalism at a point where I was feeling complacent, and really improved my drive and determination to continue to get better and grow. For those interested, here’s the article on the hit: http://www.lacombeglobe.com/2017/03/13/smyth-injured-during-senior-aaa-provincial-final and my column on some of the backlash over the hit: http://www.lacombeglobe.com/2017/03/15/criticize-the-hit-not-the-character