Anyone who follows the team closely, or has read the Raible/Sando book on the Seahawks, knows that the sun is setting on the sweltering stories of summer training camp in Cheney.

What fans might not have realized, until reading the latest blog entry from Sando, is that you'll have to wait until the Summer of 2008 before you can watch your favorite football team practice at training camp.

The reason? The new training facilities in Renton will not be completed until 2008, and the additional pre-season game in China is forcing the Seahawks to hold training camp in Kirkland this year, which is too cramped to provide access to the fans.

As Seahawks fans, I guess we now know how Steve McNair felt last summer when he was barred from the Titan's training facility! On one hand, I can understand this, as it doesn't make sense to shuttle back and forth between Eastern and Western Washington when you have to make a trip to the other side of the globe to play an exhibition game. On the other hand, plain and simply, it sucks!

Other than historic mediocrity, the face of this franchise since its inception has always been the blind and loyal support of its fanbase, and to exclude the 12th man from the advantages of training camp may come back to haunt the club in the regular season. I can see it now, as folks are spilling beers, dropping hot dogs and straining vocal chords, all because they didn't have 6 - 8 weeks in the summer to get themselves back into cheering shape.

And who knows, in a tight home game against a formidable opponent, the crowd might not be able to muster up that all important false start penalty, as they're icing their throats or checking the game program to see who all these new guys are in the defensive backfield, or why Grant Wistrom is now playing linebacker.

But true to form, the ever faithful members of Seahawk Nation will "take one for the team," and continue to support the club regardless of their limited access to their favorite players during the off season.

Let's just hope this move proves to be as inspiring and fortunate for the 12th Man, as it did for new Ravens QB!

[Comments taken in SeahawkBlue Forums]