Fourpeat

Alex Miller and the rest of the Fayetteville High School baseball team is preparing for the Class 7A state tournament, which begins tomorrow. Fayetteville has a first-round bye and will play today's winner of the Bentonville-North Little Rock game on Saturday as it seeks its fourth straight state title.

The skies here are cloudy as rain continues to fall, so the light was absolutely gorgeous. I shot alongside my friend, assistant coach Scott Williams, from behind an L-screen on the mound as he threw batting practice to the kids.

Brandon Burlsworth

Ten years ago this week, Arkansas walk-on-turned-All-American guard Brandon Burlsworth died in a traffic accident while traveling U.S. 412 between Fayetteville and his hometown of Harrison shortly after being drafted by the Indianapolis Colts.

Burlsworth was immediately recognizable during games and practice, as much for his abilities as his signature black glasses. During his time at the UA, I met and photographed him several times. His was an amazing story of a kid who, through hard work, went from scout team to an NFL draftee and graduated with undergraduate and graduate degrees. I traveled to Harrison for his funeral, held in the packed gymnasium at Harrison High School. We stopped by the side of the road in Alpena on the way back and saw the spot where his car had come to rest after it was struck.

I always think about him at this time of the year, what I was doing when I found out and the reaction of an entire state to the news of his death.

Getting ready

Anne and Jack Butt, with the help of Cody Graham, one of Anne's students, are readying their house for the upcoming home tour to benefit Washington Elementary School.

It was funny to hear Anne talk about getting ready for the tour and her surprise that anyone would want to come and see her old house, as she put it. The Butts live in a beautiful house along Lafayette Street in the Washington-Willow Historic District. It's a house that I have always loved. But I guess if you've lived in it for as long as they have, you start to take it for granted a bit. You see its flaws. You remember its humble beginnings. It takes seeing another person react to your house before you remember what makes it your home. Love works that way sometimes, too, I think.

Lady Bulldogs make it an even 50

Sadie Callison collides with the Rogers Heritage second baseman while stealing second during the Lady Bulldogs' win at Optimist Field at Northwest Park in Rogers. The win is the Lady Dogs' 50th conference win in a row.

Yet another whipping

Fayetteville shut out Bentonville, 6-0, for its 49th straight conference victory. The Lady Bulldogs were helped by six Bentonville errors and scored only one earned run in the win.

I was looking forward to shooting this today, and was disappointed when it turned out to be such a lopsided game.

Protest

Students and parents showed up at the Fayetteville Public School Board of Education meeting to protest the decision not to renew the contract of Greg Matthews, a much-loved teacher and coach. Though the board was not discussing the matter, since it is a personnel issue, but let two parents and one student speak, though not directly about coach Matthews.

As it turns out, coach Matthews was jumped from behind by a student, shucked him off and was put on administrative leave pending an investigation. It's relevant that Matthews has only one arm. Most feel that he handled the situation as anyone would have and was at a disadvantage to the student who, according to officials and students, is rather large for his age and has given Matthews problems in the past.

Can't seem to get enough

Arkansas defeated Oral Roberts, 9-6, in Tulsa, Okla., on a beautiful night. Though it was my day off today, I traveled over to Tulsa with Nate Allen to cover the game and see Walt Beazley, my best friend. He let me use his 600mm f/4 AF-S lens, which was fun, and it was good to get out of town.

Gone fishing

Gene Jackson, left, of Springdale shows his 5-year-old neighbor Blake Horton how to put a worm on a fishing hook as the two fished for bream Monday at the pond at Clarence Craft Memorial Park in Fayetteville.

Today was so beautiful and a last-minute decision to go up in pages put me outside looking for a photo to fill the extra space. This was so easy on a day that is easily the prettiest of the year so far.

Earth Day

The Omni Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology hosted an Earth Day celebration at the World Peace Wetland Prairie.

I really dig this shot, even though I didn't turn it for the paper. It's a little artsy, but it works for my blog, yes?

Hand off

Former Arkansas and current Dallas Cowboys running back Felix Jones was on hand to sign autographs during RazorFest and had to do a hand off when a fan's child didn't like his photo op.

Tripped up

Fayetteville junior Quinton Smith gets tripped up on one of the final hurdles in the 110-meter hurdles and fell to the track, eventually taking last place.

One of the amateur photographers at the track meet was surprised to hear that I really enjoy shooting track. Being at Arkansas, home of 40 National Championships in track and field and cross country, I have grown to really enjoy track. And the facilities here are truly second to none.

Have a day

Farmington's Blake Kutter, who had never even hit a home run in practice much less a game, hit three out and accounted for six RBI in the Cards' run-rule win over Berryville.

Bitterly cold

Lincoln and Green Forest square off in what was one of only three games to be played today after a weekend of rain.

Though the field was mostly dry, since a horrid, ceaseless wind blows there, it was so bitterly cold that I shot through the second inning and left. I was so thankful that something — anything — happened early enough to allow me to leave. I love baseball, but I am ready for some baseball weather.

Community effort

The Arkansas Music Pavilion, in accord with Victory Church, are collecting food, water and supplies for the citizens of Mena whose town was hit hard by tornadoes Thursday evening.

It's pretty amazing to see what can happen when folks start banding together for others. This effort was largely organized using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

All the world's a stage

Longtime Lincoln High School teacher Ed Marshall constructs an extension of the stage in the auditorium as work construction of seating continues as he and a members of the Beta Club prepare for a play written by Marshall Saturday at the Cane Hill College in Canehill.

The Cane Hill College was established in the late 1800s and when its charter was transferred to the current University of the Ozarks, is served as an elementary school until Canehill was incorporated into Lincoln Public Schools. The auditorium is vacant save for the weekend it is used during the Cane Hill Harvest Festival to house the quilt show. The students wanted to see it used again. After finding some theater seats in Memphis taken out of an old wrestling venue, they went to work and hope to hold a play in it soon.

Hogs run into a wall

Arkansas junior Dallas Keuchel struggled and Vanderbilt's hard lefty Mike Minor was brilliant as the Hogs fall, 9-0.

After temperatures in the 70s on Wednesday, it was 43 baseball degrees at the start of the game tonight and it got colder quickly. My toes are aching.

Leadership Fayetteville

The Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Fayetteville class toured places of interest around town today, including the Arkansas Air Museum. The class was organized in 1986 to educate the young business leaders in the community about the assets in town and to let them know about volunteer opportunities.

The Museum is housed in a wooden hangar, one of few still standing and thought to be the only one still in use in the United States. It is a product of the town and the University of Arkansas' war-effort involvement during the 1940s and was built by locals using hand saws. The Smithsonian has agreed, once changes are made to make the hangar a little more authentic and better lit and ventilated, to include it under its umbrella.

Bonk

Farmington's Samantha Luther and the Lady Cardinals hung 15 on Huntsville — 12 in the third inning alone — to earn yet another run-rule shortened victory.

E. Fay Jones

The University of Arkansas has wisely chosen to rename its school of architecture in honor of the late E. Fay Jones whose influence can be felt globally and very much so locally. The final event of the weekend of celebration was a tour of homes and businesses designed by Jones. The opportunity drew folks like the former American Institute of Architects president John Anderson and his wife Flodie from Denver.

Through my work with the Times I have had the good fortune to have been able to tour many of Jones' homes and businesses in Fayetteville and to have met Jones and spoken with him. His work is amazing and the legions of people who admire his work is even more so. Robin Mero, our reporter, and I agreed that it is assignments like these that make this job so wonderful.

Walk-on

Arkansas sophomore walk-on fullback Mitchell Bailey broke through the second-team defensive line and ran 80 yards for a touchdown during the scrimmage Saturday in Razorback Stadium.

I don't think anyone saw that one coming and it was the talk of the scrimmage.

Interesting for a bit

When Rogers Heritage jumped on Farmington in the first inning, 2-0, I thought it was going to be a game. And then Farmington hung seven on them in the bottom of the inning. It ended up being 15-2.

Ouch.

DTP

I haven't posted one of my Date, Time, Place photographs yet, but this was all that I was required to shoot today since my game and track meet were both rained out.

Date, Time, Place, for those of you who don't know, is a weekly photograph that we publish along with a calendar and briefs in the Sunday Living section. It was conceived of many years ago when it was decided that it would be nice to have a photograph to break up a page of gray text. And it is nice. At the time, former Times photographer Phillip Walrod wanted a place to publish the more artsy photos that he tended to take and this seemed like a perfect solution for both needs. Another former Times photographer, Robbie Hammer, embraced DTP and it quickly became a favorite among our readers.

Along with the photo are printed the day, time and place where the photograph was made. Though each photographer who contribute to DTP make it his or her own to define, the photos tend to be somewhat enigmatic, and taken in the spirit of making a visually interesting photo that by its nature would have no other place in the newspaper. And I think in its creation there was the assumption that every photographer needs this sort of outlet.

At the same time of the creation of DTP was the creation of a spot similar in duties, but on the agate page in sports. This gave me an outlet to use all of the photos that I shot at practices and games and allowed me to publish the scores of photos — sometimes of support staff who would not otherwise be published in a photograph — that we would not otherwise have the opportunity or need to print. When we lost the use of the Associated Press wire, we also lost the agate page and the photograph that went on it daily.

Not since I was very young have I found myself taking photos that lack a sense of newsworthiness. I've been shooting for an editor and a publication since 1988, and that sense of purpose shapes my work and my curiosity completely. I no longer shoot out of a sense of whimsy, but instead shoot for an audience, an editor and a publication in mind. And I think the current staff at the Times feels the same way.

The result is a sort of reluctance to fill what should be the most fun spot in the paper. Weird.