Calibrating the monitor isn't going to help shoot sports, that is the point here. tevo has a long way to go before worring about the monitor, or grey cards, or thirds, all of which really don't apply to shooting sports. It is a new area of photography, learning the basics of shooting sports is what matters.
Outdoors, iso around 200 in sunlight, 400-800 in overcast and 1000-1600 under dark skies. Shutter speeds no slower than 500th, aperture between 5.6-8.0. Indoors iso that works with the light avaliable, if it's 1600-3200 then that's what you have to figure on, not ideal, shutter speeds, 400th-500th, for action, you can get away with slower speeds and better iso if you shoot around the action, the static players. Aperture 2.8 if you have, if not work around it and shoot as fast as your lens is. Don't over think what you're trying to do. I won't go into shooting in the snow, a whole new set of concerns. It shouldn't take you more than a few minutes to figure out your camera settings for each venue, especially indoors, they don't change.
You are correct in that the monitor calibration is not going to help in
SHOOTING sports, but you certainly aren't going to sell any images if the color is incorrect and doesn't look good on them either. Tevo is jumping into this head first and learning on the fly, so it's ALL got to come together. In the end the calibration and white balance do matter.
I am not talking about using the grey card for setting white balance, but we discussed using it for setting exposure and determining your bump up in exposure, so... little different there.
Rule of thirds is nice, but you're right-it doesn't matter. It's the emotion and action that matters in sports.
I'd also like someone to explain to me (because I am of a different mind that could very well be WRONG...) why you would choose aperture priority for sports when you know you are already going to have to shoot wide open? This is my line of thought (and like I said... it could be really wrong) in many to most situations you already know you are going to have to shoot wide open-inside a gym or on the night fields-so your aperture isn't in question ever. Why would you choose to keep an eye on what the camera is deciding for shutter speed if you know your aperture is going to max out on you? In which case I would choose to go with shutter priority. The camera can't screw up to awfully bad if you are hitting the wide open spot on the aperture. It's a non point. Not running the risk of the shutter dropping through the gutter would be more important to me, personally.
I shoot sports in full manual. It's easier than a priority mode for me and here's my thoughts on that: I know I am going to be forced to shoot wide open in most situations. I know I need to have a shutter of 1/640 or faster depending on the sport. That's the 2 main elements of your exposure right there. I also know that if I am on the football field at night I am going to max out my ISO.
With a priority mode I had more nightmares in post processing. The meter may have hit something dark and chose settings based on that or vice-a-versa. I had to fix and tweak constantly in post. Now I keep an eye on where my meter hits when it's reading the grass or the gym floor. I know where I want those things to fall in the meter (grass is about +1 or +1/2 and a gym floor is about a +1.5 to +2 depending.) As long as I check my meter here and there in changing light (football) making sure it's reading where I want it to, I am fine to shoot. In a gym your lighting never changes. Once you get one perfect exposure you don't need to meter again at all. I found that if I hit the white jerseys in a game I had dark images to fix and if I hit the navy or dark jerseys I had way too bright images to fix. It took me longer in post. Now I know my exposure is the same across the board. I can apply one preset that covers all of the images, delete the crap and I am done.
Could I be doing this differently that would make it still easier yet on me?
Edit to add: I am a bit like you in that I know if I am under the lights and I have to be in the end zone I have to change my shutter and/or ISO to accomodate for the dark, lack of light there. It's so much habit, just like your different zones that I just click according to where I am and what I know I need-that came with a little experience...
