Colts.com has their primer up for training camp. Tomorrow, we'll switch over our NFL Draft buttons on the left side of the blog for buttons about camp and the upcoming pre-season. This means the countdown to Colts training camp is almost complete. We are tee-minus 24 hours and counting.
Football. Is. Back.
The Colts open their camp a bit later than other teams this year. Teams like the Patriots, Eagles, Chiefs, and Redskins are already in full camp swing. After the jump, we'll touch on some things that fans absolutely must do while at Anderson for camp.
Camp Essentials For Fans:
- Watch what you want, Tweet what you see. I'm a big believer in this. Twitter has been a revolutionary tool for training camp junkies like me. When I go to camp, I feel it's my job to note every little significant detail I can and then communicate those details QUICKLY to fans who care about the team. Who is running with the first unit? Who dropped passes in WR drills? Who did Teerlinck yell at in pass rushing drills? Twitter is a great tool to communicate those kinds of observations to other Colts fans. I encourage all of you camp enthusiasts to Tweet your camp experiences. If you send your Tweets to @stampedeblue, we will probably post them on the blog in our daily camp re-caps.
- This is sort of a follow-up to the last point: Tweeting about what you see at camp does not violate any NFL rules. Anyone who says it does is simply lying to your face. You aren't giving away "team secrets" when you Tweet, and you aren't making it "easier" for the opponent to beat the Colts. This is football. There are no real "secrets" in this game, despite what some NFL people tell you. You line up, hit the dude in front of you, repeat. The team that hits the hardest and plays the smartest often wins. As far as I know, Twitter has no affect on how hard a player hits another player. So, by all means, Tweet away.
- Attend a night practice. They are a ton of fun! The first night practice is next week (August 4th) at 7:30pm. The Colts have three night practices scheduled.
- I'm not a big autograph hound, but if you are there is an autograph tent every day. Be sure to get in line for that tent early. VERY early. Like, three hours before camp starts kinda early.
- If you smoke or wanna pop open a brew while watching camp, forget it! According to Anderson University's website, the campus is an "alcohol-free and smoke-free campus."
- If you are looking for a decent place to eat in Anderson that is NOT fast food, try Nile Restaurant. It's highly rated on Google. Another option is Real Hacienda Mexican Restaurant. I personally avoid places like Red Lobster and Pizza Hut.
- I encourage you to make FanPosts and FanShots highlighting pictures from camp.
- Anyone who creates FanPosts or FanShots chronicling their Anderson experience will have those posts highlighted in the article section and recced.