Victory dunk only temporary setback for Star photographer
Apr. 14—If Anniston Star photographer Steve Gross has a spirit animal, it's not a gator.
Two photo assignments from his more than four decades at the paper stand as evidence: About 14 years ago, Gross took his camera on a hunt for an alligator rumored to reside in Crystal Lake, near Roanoke, like a local Loch Ness lizard. Gross ended up waist-deep in mud that sunlight had baked to look like solid ground.
Then, on Sunday night, Jacksonville State University won the Ohio Valley Conference against Murray State, and somehow Coach John Grass and his assistant coaches each managed to avoid three, 15-gallon buckets of blue Gatorade. As each coach dipped, ducked, dove and dodged around a shower of chilled Blue Raspberry sports drink, Steve Gross — Lord help him — caught the worst of it while trying to get that championship celebration shot.
When it comes to making a mess of our photographer, gators don't need any aid.
"One of the old sayings is, 'If you didn't get wet, you didn't get the shot.' Well, I must have got the shot," Gross joked.
Gross is no stranger to sports coverage, but this was his first time catching a Gatorade dunking meant for someone else. He chalked it up to excited players, quick coaches and the mad rush to get photos.
Tuesday afternoon, Gross wasn't sure which incident was worse. Any flavor of Gatorade is bad for the thousands of dollars in photo gear Gross carries, which is waterproof, but not built to withstand sticky sugar (the jury is out in the case of electrolytes). Then again, stuck waist-deep in thick mud, with an alligator reportedly on the loose, is the sort of setup that documentary shows about strange deaths would love.
"And I couldn't get out," Gross said. "It may have taken about 45 minutes to get free. There wasn't anybody there to call to, and I didn't have my cell on me — I was thinking it would ring and scare the gator."
When he finally dragged himself free of the mud pit, his shoes and socks were still in the ground. He had to reach in and grab them, and ended up covered in mud.
Sunday night wasn't dangerous but it was a whole other kind of mess. After the game, Gross was in the JSU locker room where about 100 people had gathered into a space far too small for them, and he was covered in the blue drink. His vest has waterproof pockets, he said, and since there wasn't going to be any rain, he hadn't closed them. They were all full of Gatorade, he said, so he had to take off the vest and pour it out.
"An hour and a half after the game, my hair looked like a helmet," Gross said. "It was like hairspray. It was stuck."
When everyone finally went home, Gross cleaned his camera and gear with Q-tips and alcohol swabs. One of his hearing aids is out of order, he said, but everything else is working fine.
He said he probably wouldn't change much if he had it to do over again.
"I probably wouldn't be so close, but in such tight quarters, I chose the lens I knew was going to work," Gross said. "But I wasn't expecting to be in the middle of this."
Assistant Metro Editor Ben Nunnally: 256-235-3560.
