Sorry I'm not an X's and O's guy so I can't offer up anything of significance in that area, these are just general musings from my experience today.
I attended TC last year and this year looked like three times the 12's from last year. I arrived in Renton to get checked in at 7:30am thinking I would be one of the first hundred or so fans...Oh no. The line was already half a mile long. After waiting about an hour to get checked in, we went into the bus line which went a little faster. Only about a half hour wait or so.
If you've attended TC at the VMAC, not much has changed. Same overall concessions and stands. You could get your photo taken with Taima our (real) mascot as well as some SeaGals. Not wanting to look like a middle-aged creeper more than I already do I passed on the latter, lol.
The Met Grill has a stand which is exciting but the menu, meh. Pulled pork sammy's (not bad), turkey leg (eh?) and roasted corn on the cob (meh). The Met is the best steak in Seattle, I would love it if they could offer up some steak sammy's and/or steak kabob's, etc... Maybe enough feedback will allow some better menu selections for 12's in the future.
Today the practice was held at the south field, the one that lies perpendicular (East to West) to their main (South to North) field. That created this odd funneling of fans bunched up on the small south hill with much of the main berm being unused. I thought that was a really strange move on the Seahawks part. Why not use the main field where the full berm can be used which has such better viewing for more fans?
Any ways, on to the important stuff...
With the music pumping from the PA system the tempo is typical Pete. Players flying around, banging into the stationary pads (on D) and running individual group drills. Typical TC stuff. There's so much to process at once I can only focus on one player or area at a time. The one player today that absolutely stood out was #17 Kasen Williams. He made two spectacular catches that drew cheers from the 12's. It's clear he wants to make this 2015 roster.
Russ looked like Russ. Efficient and quick. A couple less-than-perfect balls but for the most part he was precise and accurate. He connected with Graham several times throughout practice. Get ready to hear a lot of "Wilson to Graham....Touchdown Seeeeaahawks!!" From Raibs this year. You can tell they are already building a solid rapport.
Lynch could not be found the first 10 or 15 minutes when the players were on the field. We were beginning to wonder if he was going to practice at all but he finally did come out and looked, well, like Lynch looks when he runs. Not a ton of runs for Beast. We all know they like to keep his reps to a minimum in TC. Not like he has to prove anything in August to anyone.
Graham is outstanding and is no doubt going to be a difference maker on offense this year. I am really pulling for Matthews as well. I love his size and hands. If he can build on what he did in XLIX this could be a formidable WR/TE corp that will be tough to beat on size mismatches alone.
I'm sure I am missing a million things that those with an X's and O's brain would have picked up on today but the good news is nobody looked horrible that I saw, and I missed any injuries even though I guess the other post mentions someone walking off the field with some injury? I didn't see that.
It was pretty hot but by the lake there is a nice little breeze and they have those mist-generator fans that are REALLY nice to have on a 90+ degree day. We waited for the Blue Angels but we were already on the bus back to Renton by the time we saw them hit the skies.
All-in-all it was fun. Took my wife, daughter and nephew. Not sure if I will go back (maybe when the crowds die down a bit) but if you have never been to one and can go, I would do it at least once.
I miss the days when they were in Cheney and we .NETTERS made it a long weekend road trip. The scenery is MUCH better at the VMAC but the accessibility was superior in Cheney.
Hard to know for sure, but I smell another Championship season ahead.
Panoramic Photo:
http://www.toddbreda.com/tc2.jpg
I attended TC last year and this year looked like three times the 12's from last year. I arrived in Renton to get checked in at 7:30am thinking I would be one of the first hundred or so fans...Oh no. The line was already half a mile long. After waiting about an hour to get checked in, we went into the bus line which went a little faster. Only about a half hour wait or so.
If you've attended TC at the VMAC, not much has changed. Same overall concessions and stands. You could get your photo taken with Taima our (real) mascot as well as some SeaGals. Not wanting to look like a middle-aged creeper more than I already do I passed on the latter, lol.
The Met Grill has a stand which is exciting but the menu, meh. Pulled pork sammy's (not bad), turkey leg (eh?) and roasted corn on the cob (meh). The Met is the best steak in Seattle, I would love it if they could offer up some steak sammy's and/or steak kabob's, etc... Maybe enough feedback will allow some better menu selections for 12's in the future.
Today the practice was held at the south field, the one that lies perpendicular (East to West) to their main (South to North) field. That created this odd funneling of fans bunched up on the small south hill with much of the main berm being unused. I thought that was a really strange move on the Seahawks part. Why not use the main field where the full berm can be used which has such better viewing for more fans?
Any ways, on to the important stuff...
With the music pumping from the PA system the tempo is typical Pete. Players flying around, banging into the stationary pads (on D) and running individual group drills. Typical TC stuff. There's so much to process at once I can only focus on one player or area at a time. The one player today that absolutely stood out was #17 Kasen Williams. He made two spectacular catches that drew cheers from the 12's. It's clear he wants to make this 2015 roster.
Russ looked like Russ. Efficient and quick. A couple less-than-perfect balls but for the most part he was precise and accurate. He connected with Graham several times throughout practice. Get ready to hear a lot of "Wilson to Graham....Touchdown Seeeeaahawks!!" From Raibs this year. You can tell they are already building a solid rapport.
Lynch could not be found the first 10 or 15 minutes when the players were on the field. We were beginning to wonder if he was going to practice at all but he finally did come out and looked, well, like Lynch looks when he runs. Not a ton of runs for Beast. We all know they like to keep his reps to a minimum in TC. Not like he has to prove anything in August to anyone.
Graham is outstanding and is no doubt going to be a difference maker on offense this year. I am really pulling for Matthews as well. I love his size and hands. If he can build on what he did in XLIX this could be a formidable WR/TE corp that will be tough to beat on size mismatches alone.
I'm sure I am missing a million things that those with an X's and O's brain would have picked up on today but the good news is nobody looked horrible that I saw, and I missed any injuries even though I guess the other post mentions someone walking off the field with some injury? I didn't see that.
It was pretty hot but by the lake there is a nice little breeze and they have those mist-generator fans that are REALLY nice to have on a 90+ degree day. We waited for the Blue Angels but we were already on the bus back to Renton by the time we saw them hit the skies.
All-in-all it was fun. Took my wife, daughter and nephew. Not sure if I will go back (maybe when the crowds die down a bit) but if you have never been to one and can go, I would do it at least once.
I miss the days when they were in Cheney and we .NETTERS made it a long weekend road trip. The scenery is MUCH better at the VMAC but the accessibility was superior in Cheney.
Hard to know for sure, but I smell another Championship season ahead.
Panoramic Photo:
http://www.toddbreda.com/tc2.jpg
