Anderson University held a press conference today to announce that the Indianapolis Colts have chosen their facility as the site to hold their 2010 training camp. Bill Polian, President of the Colts, was on hand and gave a brief speech after he was introduced by university president Dr. James L. Edwards. In the speech, Polian provided us with a strong hint as to why the Colts moved training camp from Terre Haute's Rose-Hulman Institute to Anderson, IN.
It’s very important to Jim Irsay and to everyone associated with our team to have as many of our fans, particularly youngsters, have the opportunity to see the team in person and touch them. We recognize that with a sold out stadium and the way things are in the National Football League not everybody gets to see a game in person. But with this facility, this location, the population base in this area, it’s really an ideal opportunity for lots and lots of people who are within perhaps 40 minutes drive of here to come here and see Peyton and Reggie and Dwight and Robert and all the great colts that they see on television every week in person. So, we look forward to it.
Based on that, the reasoning for moving camp locations seems to be that Anderson University is simply closer to Indianapolis than Rose-Hulman is.
A drive from northside Indy to Rose-Hulman can take roughly two hours. From northside Indy, a drive to Anderson University is roughly 40 minutes. This means more fans will, in theory, have a better opportunity to attend training camp as a "day trip." With Rose-Holman, a four-hour total drive just to watch a bunch of guys run around and do drills does not sound like much fun. But, with Anderson, 40 minutes to and fro is really not that big of a deal.
Polian also announced that training camp will begin Sunday, August 1st and run through Wednesday, August 18th. So, mark your calendars and get ready. Camp is almost here!
Oh, and yes, I agree the "touch them" line by Polian is a bit weird sounding. He did actually say that, word for word. So, anyone claiming I am misquoting him can bit my bag. Obviously, I think he means that people can shake player's hands or pat them on the shoulder; that kind of "touching."