Training Camp

So, I was at Training Camp on 8/11. This post is a little late. I'll admit that. I've had other things occupying my time, but that's not a real excuse. So, I apologize. I especially apologize to the the two or three new readers I've picked up that work with my wife.

At this point, I've got up to five or six people asking me why I haven't gotten up off my ass (or gotten in front of a computer and sat on my ass) to update the ol' blog.

Without further to do, here it is...

First of all, here are pictures:















That's Jack Lambert. I know it's a picture of a picture, but I was so excited to take it that I needed to take it three times to get it right. And I still probably didn't.















Distance shot. That's about as close as I got and get a decent picture.

(I would like to add that I went with my father-in-law to Training Camp and I hope my kids get his eyes and my wife's eyes -- both have excellent vision, but he makes a hawk look like a bat. I was standing with him on a hill 200 yards from where his buddies were sitting. You can see them in the upper right-hand corner, towards center if you're fucking super human like he is. He spotted them at 200 yards, then said, "Oh. Looks like Frank joined them and he brought his cooler." I am not kidding. I swear that he's going to be on CSI: Williamsport and that the Who song they choose is "I Can See for Miles". Works, right?)














That's Casey Hampton. Seriously. That's about as good a shot as I got at the players. They came out of the dorms, they made their way quickly down the stairs, and they were on the practice field. I got there late enough that people with cameras and camera phones were 4 or 5 deep in front of me, so when I player came along, I had a small window (not obscured by hands and picture-taking devices) to snap a picture. Casey Hampton was the only player big enough for me to capture.

And... those are the quality pictures that I got. Seriously. I am bad with a camera.

Thoughts from Training Camp:

From what I could see at a distance (we eventually made our way closer to practice, thanks to the keen eyes of my father-in-law, who saw his buddies at a hundred yards and then decided the best path to meet them -- I am not sucking up, since he rarely reads this, I was just that impressed, especially since I am "no sighted" and can't see near or far, even with contacts.)

1. Heath Miller is, by far, the best tight end on the roster. This is pretty much obvious, but became more obvious when they did a blocking drill. Basically, they put a dummy in front of a cage that didn't allow the players to stand upright, so the player had to rush the dummy on all fours and hit the dummy as hard as they could. Any time I became disinterested in this drill, I'd hear a BANG, look over, and see Heath knock the friggin' thing into orbit. We know he has great hands, but it's often overlooked how far he has come as a blocker. The guys behind him have, essentially, nothing to do but improve their blocking and their performance in this drill, yet Heath completely destroyed them in it.
2. Dennis Dixon throws a nice ball. Tight spiral, leads the receiver well. We need to find a way to keep this kid, particularly since it looks like his knee is holding up.
3. Even though it rained and we left early, every Steeler fan needs to make their way out to Training Camp at some point. You get star-struck looking at the players coming from the dorms to the field, you feel the anticipation of the coming season in the practice, you get to take a look at the kids that you don't see all that much of in the regular season, and you get an appreciation for just how choreographed and by rote these practices are. Some dude would blow a whistle every five minutes, and the players would line up in another area with their coaches as though they were part of a military formation. It's something to behold and everyone should... well, behold it.