Serious camera and lense firepower

Saw this army of photographers all shooting Serena Williams at the U.S. open tennis tournament from the same general angle. They mostly had top of the line gear. Further down the walkway, however, I spoke with a photographer with a much smaller telephoto standing alone and shooting a different angle from all the rest. He said all these photographers worked for major publications. I felt badly for him because he had such a small telephoto and clearly couldn't 'pull Serena in' like the others. So I asked who he worked for. He smiled and when he told me, it made some sense ... The New York Times. I don't think they even have a sports section.