championship – CAIN IMAGES

Phillies Phanatic at the World Series Championship Parade in 2008. — PHILADELPHIA, PA – OCTOBER 31: The Phillie Phanatic dances on a float in front of City Hall during the World Championship Parade October 31, 2008 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays to win their first World Series in 28 years. (Photo by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images)

The other day I was viewing a FB post by someone I know. She was out with her family celebrating a birthday. They made a bunch of pictures of the celebration and posted them on social media. I noticed one of the pictures had, on the wall, a photograph of the Phillies Phanatic at the World Series Championship Parade in 2008.

Have any of you ever seen this photograph hanging on a wall somewhere? Yup. It’s one of mine. I made that image at Broad and Spruce with a 300mm as I got tired of riding on the bus the Phillies provided for media. I wanted to get out in the crowd and see what I could find pictures wise. Low and behold, the Phanatic was dancing atop one of the floats with City Hall in the background.

That image must have been published and republished many times over in the past 13 or so years. I once saw a print of the image for sale in Wegman’s. If you’ve seen it somewhere, let me know.

I spent last Friday and Saturday in Hershey at the Giant Center photographing PIAA Championship basketball games. On Friday for the Inquirer and Saturday for the Intelligencer. Lots of great action, joyful moments and also, sad moments. Overall fun time making the pictures though. I had a system in place, shoot the first half, transmit pictures then shoot a bit more in the fourth and then make pictures of the jubilation or dejection, depending upon how the teams I was covering fared. In three of the five games I photographed, the team from southeastern Pennsylvania won the state championship in their class.

It was a great photographic weekend. 🙂

See some of the images below.

From left, Archbishop Wood’s Claire Bassetti, Bailey Greenberg, Erin Morgan and Emma Stanfield celebrate after defeating Villa Maria to win the girls basketball PIAA Class AAA state championship Saturday March 19, 2016 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania (Photo By William Thomas Cain) (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)

Archbishop Wood celebrates after defeating Villa Maria to win the girls basketball PIAA Class AAA state championship Saturday March 19, 2016 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania (Photo By William Thomas Cain) (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)

From left, Archbishop Wood’s Meg Neher #34 and Claire Bassetti #44 carry the championship trophy off the court as they celebrate after defeating Villa Maria to win the girls basketball PIAA Class AAA state championship Saturday March 19, 2016 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania (Photo By William Thomas Cain) (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)

SBNEUM19P Neumann-Goretti’s Vaughn Covington and Mike Milsip and their teammates celebrate after defeating Mars 99-66 to win the boys basketball PIAA Class AAA state championship Friday March 18, 2016 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. (WILLIAM THOMAS CAIN/For The Inquirer) (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)

SBNEUM19P Neumann-Goretti’s Quade Green makes a layup as Mars Christian Schmitt #23 defends in the first quarter of the boys basketball PIAA Class AAA state championship game Friday March 18, 2016 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. (WILLIAM THOMAS CAIN/For The Inquirer) (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)

SBNEUM19P Neumann-Goretti’s Vaughn Covington #0 dribbles up court after stealing the ball from Mars Sam Morrissey #13 in the second quarter of the boys basketball PIAA Class AAA state championship game Friday March 18, 2016 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. (WILLIAM THOMAS CAIN/For The Inquirer) (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)

SGNEUM19P Neumann-Goretti team members hold the trophy in the air after defeating North Star to win the girls basketball PIAA Class AA state championship game Friday March 18, 2016 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. (WILLIAM THOMAS CAIN/For The Inquirer) (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)

SGNEUM19P Neumann-Goretti’s Jada Russell #22 attempts to block a pass by North Star’s Courtney Schlock #5 in the fourth quarter of the girls basketball PIAA Class AA state championship game Friday March 18, 2016 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. (WILLIAM THOMAS CAIN/For The Inquirer) (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)

SMATH19P Kennedy Catholic’s Sagaba Konate #50 lands on top of Math, Civics and Sciences Malik Archer #3 in the first quarter of the boys basketball PIAA Class A state championship game Friday March 18, 2016 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. (WILLIAM THOMAS CAIN/For The Inquirer) (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)

SMATH19P Math, Civics and Sciences players dejectedly sit on the bench in the last seconds of the fourth quarter against Kennedy Catholic in the boys basketball PIAA Class A state championship game Friday March 18, 2016 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Kennedy Catholic defeated Math, Civics and Sciences 71-60 to win the PIAA Class A championship. (WILLIAM THOMAS CAIN/For The Inquirer) (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)

SOHARA19P Cumberland Valley’s Morgan Baughman #24 grabs a rebound as Cardinal O’Hara’s Mary Sheehan #13 and Mackenzie Gardler #14 defend in the second quarter of the girls basketball PIAA Class AAAA state championship game Friday March 18, 2016 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. (WILLIAM THOMAS CAIN/For The Inquirer) (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)

SOHARA19P From left, Cardinal O’Hara’s Lauren Leicht, Bridgette Hoy, Kristen Denoncour and Maura Hendrixson sit on the bench in the last seconds of the fourth quarter as they lose to Cumberland Valley in the girls basketball PIAA Class AAAA state championship game Friday March 18, 2016 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Cumberland Valley defeated Cardinal O’Hara to win the PIAA Class AAAA state championship. (WILLIAM THOMAS CAIN/For The Inquirer) (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)

Some clips: