2020 – The Hackensack NJ Coronavirus OhLimpPix
(ignore May 1, 2017 publish date – this was published on June 8, 2020)
Whaddaya mean there’s no sports during the pandemic?
I’ve been watching all kinds of sports from my living room window for years: baseball, football, golf…. and a few you’ve never even heard of – all in the municipal parking lot behind my building.
The pandemic has forced a few gym-deprived individuals in my neighborhood to get out of their residences and head for fan-free Municipal (lot) Stadium, where I have the unique perspective of an upper-level, temperature-controlled central suite.
And since the Olympics won’t happen this year because of the global Coronavirus threat, I decided to document all the local action in stills and video – my own Wide World of Weird Sports, if you will – and blend it all to become the Hackensack, NJ, Pandemic of 2020 Municipal Parking Lot OhLimpPix.
BACKGROUND
I’ve lived above (and photographed) this parking lot for the last 32 years. As boring as that may sound, the goings-on there and the people passing through have kept me quite entertained.
To add legitimacy to this particular venture, I’ve created a Hall of Fame of sorts with annual best-ofs. Without going through EVERYTHING I’ve shot in the lot over 3+ decades that could very-questionably be labeled as a “sport”, I’ve limited entry to digital images……….THAT way, I don’t have to scan anything. And since I’m in my tenth year of shooting digital (it took me a long time to give up on Kodachrome), we’ll begin with 2011 (and please note that tongue is firmly planted in cheek regarding many of these……….um, “inductees”).
Hall of Fame 2011
This year contains more “sports” than any other. Let’s start with “Fishing”:
Senior Citizen Motorcycling:
Shopping:
Indy Racing Pit Crew Training (apparently, it takes a village):
Fashion:
Knot-tying (an offshoot of “Fashion”):
Track:
Digital Communication (ships in the night…………..well, day):
Bathing:
Most Obnoxious Parking (NY plate beats NJ plate):
Whatever-the-heck-this-is:
HoF 2012
Design:
(more on this at the end)
Fashion (Again? Hey – fashion’s always in fashion):
Yo! Cookiepants!
Meteorology:
Pediatric Towing:
HoF 2013
Baseball (the Pitch, Catch and Hit Competition):
Heliumball:
HoF 2014
Cap Toss and Catch:
HoF 2015
Skateboard Curb-Jumping
HoF 2016
Basketball
Swifferball:
Exercise (This guy just ran all over the lot, half-took off his shirt, did pushups, fully-took off his shirt and then ran around on the lot’s periphery sidewalks – non-stop.):
Protective Headgear:
HoF 2017
Stretching:
Pointing:
(Well, look who she’s pointing at………..how could I not include her?) 😉
HoF 2018
Basketball
Football – the Pass, Block and Receiving Competition:
Immature Go-Karting:
Ballooning:
Fine Dining:
Impressing Your Child (Not!):
HoF 2019
Bawling:
He-Man Sidesaddle Racing:
Carcinogenic Tennis:
Juvenile punt-returning and placekicking:
(Pssst! Hey, kid…….NFL kicking tees are only 1” high)
2020 OhLimpPix Stills
On most of these, I concentrated on video. They only cover a period of 2 1/2 months (late March to early June), so there aren’t that many. Let’s take a look:
Calisthenics (this man leads off the video):
Basketball (talented young lady):
Golf (the links were closed, so legendary golfing pro Arnold Palmhair came to Hackensack):
Skateboard Curb-Jumping (reminiscent of the 2015 HoF entry – same place, same result, different athletes) This gentleman is not in the video because I prefer to shoot stills for good stop-action results……….it keeps my timing in tune.):
Soccer (A family – at least I think it’s a family – showed up in the lot on two successive Saturdays)
Two footballs!
Extreme social-distancing:
The kids work on their skills:
Mom(?) and one of the kids do pushups:
Family hydration:
Foot injury? (or maybe an itch):
Time to head home:
THE 2020 OhLimpPix VIDEO:
(crank up the volume!)
Well, I can’t have the final scene of the parking lot be pitch black, so the Closing Ceremonies for the 2020 Hackensack Municipal Parking Lot OhLimpPix will be represented by my favorite shot of the lot – also taken at night.
The sport?
Painting With Light (MY favorite sport):
Here’s the full story of this 1992 image: https://iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com/?p=824
(scroll about 2/3 of the way down)
And here’s hoping that the 2021 Olympics go off without a hitch.
I can’t do this again.
Enjoyable! Thanks Bob.
Very creative and enjoyable