The Mount Carmel Caravan are for real. Period. They handled Fenwick, a pretty good team. The score was 32-8 at the half.
I wanted to see Mount Carmel this year to see if the high rank was deserved. It is. They can play defense. They can score. Angelo Ciaravino is as good as advertised. He finished with 26 points sat much of the third and fourth quarters. He seems very much improved since last season—bigger, stronger and faster than I recall he playing last year.
Mike Clark teases me about my comments on the quality of the light is area gyms. I stand by my frequent citation to universal truth codified in the third law of basketball—the most important factor in basketball is the quality of the light in the gym. I think we all know it’s true; we just don’t talk about it.
With that said, I must say the light in the Mount Carmel gym is not the best. Not enough of it and color is a little too yellow. Perhaps a capital campaign is in order. Just a thought.
I was testing out a lens just released by Canon, the RF 100-300mm, f2.8. It’s a beast. I have used the legendary Canon EF 300mm, f2.8, telephoto lens many times. It is a classic.
Canon’s new lens looks to improve that staple of sports photography by making a 100 to 300 millimeter zoom lens instead of a 300 millimeter prime lens. A zoom lens that reaches out to 300 millimeters might just take out the other staple of sports photography—the beloved 70-200mm, f2.8, telephoto lens. Basically the best lens there is.
This new 300 is heavy. Many people use old version on a monopod. I haven’t because I have mostly used it for football so I can put it down between plays. Plus I don’t like monopods. I like to sit when I shoot.
Shooting basketball with a big heavy Canon 300mm is different. One needs to hold it up a long time. If I would use it every time I shoot basketball, it would take a while to get used to it and build up the right muscles.
This new 300mm telephoto is every bit as razor sharp as it predecessor. The “throw” (the distance and time it takes to move the lens from 100 millimeters to 300 millimeters) is a little long for basketball. The throw seems to take longer that the 70-200mm.
This is not scientific testing by me. It is my initial impressions for using for an hour and a half. I will keep using it over the next few days and at the Chicago Elite Classic. I am guessing that it will work very nicely on the bigger court at UIC’s Credit 1 Arena.
Good start to the season. I am looking forward to the race in the Chicago Catholic League Blue. Mount Carmel, Brother Rice, DePaul Prep, DeLaSalle, Loyola, St. Ignatius, St. Rita, Leo, and Fenwick. These teams know each other. The winner is likely to have at least two conference losses. But we will see. Maybe one teams run through the schedule. Maybe Mount Carmel.
