I'll bet there are newcomers in our midst who aren't even aware that the NFL team used to hold its annual preseason training camp out at EWU.

I never went out there, but I get it about the appeal of pro sports training camps. There's less pomp and packaged excess. More up-close viewing access. At least there used to be.

Before my parents moved to Spokane in 2000, I used to go back to New England and visit them in September. And as it happened the New York Rangers held their preseason training camps in the late 1990s at the nearby University of Vermont. I'm not sure how many times I went over to the campus and watched for an hour or so. Maybe three or four. Maybe half a dozen times.

The Rangers had a player then named Adam Graves who might have been the most fluid skater I have seen up close and in person. It was a pleasure to watch him even when he was just doing drills.

I suspect those who went out to Cheney to watch the Seahawks practice have smiliar memories. 

---

---