TC: Who's ready for some Football

The Washington Redskins wrapped up their two-a-day practices with joy and tears in their eyes (kidding). But what is interesting to me is that not only was the team ecstatic, the media was as well. Although there would be no wrap party, or special gathering, most members from the local media expressed nothing less than exultation that camp was over. Most of them said that they were going to do one of two things to celebrate. Either A. Treat themselves to a nice dinner or B. Have one, two, or maybe seven cocktails.

And deservedly so. Like the players, they spend 12 hours a day in Ashburn away from family grinding it out. Digging for a story in a camp that hasn't produced one big headline. No Jason Taylor, no torn ACL, and really no big position battles. So if you cover the team, how do you make it interesting? One media member went as far as interviewing a player in the infamous ice tub. Others? Well they stuck to more conventional methods. Either way, the work they do is not easy.

As Dan Hellie put it, "You have two weeks where it's kind of a grind. You're here at 8:30 and you're not done until 7 or 7:30." Immediately followed by cameraman Dan Buckley, "Thank God it's the last day. We'll break down the tent and finish off all the gatorade and water. I'm gonna get loaded on G2. Thats how we do it at Channel 4."

From here on out, for some, the job gets easier as far as covering the Redskins is concerned. For others, it's the old 'one door closing while another one opens' sort of thing. The real story here is, that door that's opening, is only a week away. It's what we as fans, and as members of the media, have been waiting months for. No more nonsense of evaluating players that aren't going to be on the team come September. It's finally time to get to the magical 53.

Ryan O'Halloran won't be the only person who is "elated" when the season starts, so will every football fan in America. But for now, we can keep speculating, evaluating, and wishing for September 10 to get here. Because water cooler coaches and radio shows alike still need something to talk about until then.

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