Inclement weather stories

By Ed Piper, Jr.


Wet and windy weather outside--with Fashion Valley's parking structures expected to flood, granted that the development was constructed in a flood-vulnerable valley next to the San Diego River--conjures memories of bad weather game days in the past.


Two incidents come to mind. One was not rainy weather, but cold. The other centers on the merciless damaging of a fine piece of photographic equipment in a downpour in Edwards Stadium at La Jolla High. (I'm being overly dramatic.)


The cold: I was a high school sophomore on the "B" basketball team (too young and unseasoned for the junior varsity) at my alma mater in Ventura County, Camarillo High. We took the long bus ride with the varsity, I believe, to Antelope Valley to play their high school.


As deserts will be in the dead of winter, it was pretty chilly in Antelope Valley. (We took the I-5 north once we got east of Ventura County. Then Highway 14, I believe, a two-lane blacktop at the time.)


The challenge, though there isn't much to tell in this story, was our team had to run from the locker room, where we changed into our uniforms before the game, through the outdoor cold to the gym. All I remember is that going and coming, without sweatpants on, only warm-up sweatshirts, the outdoor chill was a tacticle experience.


I do remember that in the varsity game after our game, Mike Spahr threw the ball up in the air in closing seconds to try to kill time. The ball hit an obstruction, or came down early, leaving time on the clock for the home team to try for a last basket. But the Scorpion varsity (that was our mascot) prevailed.


The rain story happened right on the LJHS campus during a boys soccer game several years ago. I foolishly thought my Nikon D3 camera body was mostly waterproof. I foolishly subjected it to taking photos of the Vikings during a heavy rain. I did bring a plastic bag and had it wrapped over the body and 70-200 mm lens. The bag blew out of position with the wind, so when a heavy downpour came, it drenched my camera.


Much to my horror, the camera shut off. I freaked out. I immediately turned everything off and made my way out of there. I was pretty upset.


The camera body worked pretty well after that, though not perfectly. It would do minor malfunctions from time-to-time, something it never did before I subjected it to the rain. I had camera specialists check the D3 body out for moisture. They said they detected no moisture inside.


I have never taken my equipment out into the rain again. It's not worth it. Plus, the photos you get, with the rain pouring down, aren't great quality. Once you've seen action shots with precipitation in them, the novelty wears off and you really aren't motivated to go to other events for that effect.