Now and Then

View gallery and read entire story here.

A rebound, a whistle, a moment captured

By Ron Kantowski · February 10, 2009

In my 35 years of writing about sports for newspapers, the one thing I've learned about this business is that if we don't pat ourselves on the back every now and then, nobody else will.

That's why I'd like to take this opportunity to pat Justin Bowen, who shoots Rebel basketball games for lasvegassun.com, on the back.

You know by now that one of the key plays in the Rebels' 73-69 overtime loss at New Mexico on Saturday night was when Rene Rougeau was whistled for a questionable rebounding foul and then was nailed with a technical -- his fifth personal -- for complaining about it with 4:28 to go.

"Kruger: Disappointed shrug," I scribbled in my notebook. The look on the face of the Rebels' coach told the story, but how to put it into words?

I didn't have to. Justin's picture captured the defining moment of the game. You see it here.

Rougeau, standing there, hands on hips ... Kruger's disappointed shrug ... The Pit fans going crazy in the background.

In a lot of ways, Justin's job, like mine, has been made less relevant in the video age of covering live sports.

This became even more clear when I saw his photo and had to resist the temptation to yell "BOO-YAH!"