The Student News Site of North Carolina A&T State University

The A&T Register

The Student News Site of North Carolina A&T State University

The A&T Register

The Student News Site of North Carolina A&T State University

The A&T Register

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    Bethune-Cookman Beatdowns Brett

    The Bethune-Cookman Wildcats beat the Aggies so bad on Saturday,even one of the A&T Register staff members got hurt.

    Brett Harrington, my right-hand man when it comes to “newspaper stuff,” was on the sidelines during the game taking pictures, along with myself.

    We both circled the field and tried to get as many different angles as possible.

    One, because we have to buy our own film and pay to get it developed. Two, because we have nothing better to do than shoot pictures of our losing football team.

    At some point during the first half of the massacre I moved to the A&Tsideline to photograph the action while Brett stayed on the Bethune-Cookman side.

    Just as I got settled in and ready to shoot, the direction of the action changed. I think Marshall Glenn threw another interception, or one of the 6th string running backs fumbled the ball away.In any event, everybody was now on the other side of the field.

    Being the news man that I am, I followed the action and went back to the Bethune-Cookman sideline, in the area that is designated for the media.

    When I got there and saw Brett, I noticed he had a fresh cut on his forehead and a small trickle of blood was flowing down towards his eye. I thought maybe Bethune-Cookman’s coach, the ill-tempered Alvin Wyatt, had gotten a hold of him and smacked him with a clipboard.

    Thankfully, that was not the case.

    According to Brett, he was taking photos from the sideline at what he thought was a reasonably safe distance. He had zoomed in with his telephoto lens when a Bethune-Cookman running back, presumably Xavier Butler, came barreling towards him. Evidently the view from the camera must have thrown off Brett’s timing, because he did not get out of the way fast enough.

    Brett’s personal account of what happened next went like this: He snapped an out-of-focus picture of Xavier Butler being chased to the sidelines by a couple of A&T defenders.

    By the time he got the camera away from his face, the Aggies had caught up to Butler and they fell to the ground, sliding toward thearea where Brett was standing and taking out his legs.

    Being hit in the legs causes most people to fall forward, but Brett had an expensive camera to protect. He said he intentionally fell backwards and held the camera in front of his chest so it wouldn’t hitthe ground.

    Members of the chain crew and the A&T student television crew confirmed this story.

    My point is this: Brett was willing to sacrifice his body, his equipment and whatever “cool points” he might have had to do his job as a journalist. It didn’t matter if standing on the sidelines at a football game could be dangerous to one’s health. We needed pictures and that was where the action was.

    So, to all the aspiring journalists on this campus: If you’re not prepared to be totally dedicated and committed to the craft of journalism, you should look into choosing a different major. Journalism is hard work.

    • Chad Roberts