Football is not for old, sick guys

Janice and I hied ourselves (apologies to Gazette columnist Carl Strock) over to the Giants football training camp at SUNY Albany yesterday. One thing I could tell immediately was that none of the players had ever had surgery for pancreatic cancer or any other major abdominal woes.

They kept crashing into other - often shoulder into gut, and I winced almost every time. I know it's hard to not feel indestructable when you're in your early 20s but believe me, guys, it will probably happen eventually. Every few years papers will run stories about former star players (especially running backs, )who can barely walk or lift their shoulders or who have some other kinds of major health issues by the time they are 40.

The NFL doesn't seem that greatly concerned, since they have an endless flow of new cannon fodder coming out of (and occasionally actually graduating from) colleges every year.

My greatest physical challenge yesterday was not being inadvertently stuck in the gut with a stray elbow or purse as we made our way through the thick crowd. Half the time I was covering up like a boxer who doesn't want to take any more body blows.

My only other experience with a training camp was in Rochester a few years ago when we went to see the Bills work out at East Roch High School. I remember having a nice seat in the bleachers with all of the various drills easily visible. There might have been a few hundred people watching.

But this Giants thing is something else. People were packed several deep against a fence that was still 50 yards or so away from the players, who were just doing boring drills anyway. I was hoping to get close enough to get a sense of their size and how hard they hit, but we were far too remote for that.

The paper today said there were more than 6,000 people there yesterday, who paid $5 per car to park. It was autograph day, so people were lining a few deep hours ahead of time along the pathways the players took between the locker room and the fields. Didn't sound like our idea of fun. Besides, I hate the Giants for beating the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago.

There's an old saying that while baseball is better experienced live, football is better on TV. I would add to that that baseball spring training is fun since they play actual games, while football preseason can be safely avoided. Seems like it is such a dangerous game they can't afford to actually do too much of it in practice.

And if I do go to watch practice again, I will wear some version of a gut protector. Some of the fans looked like the the types to give their neighbor a friendly shot in the chops. Afraid I'm beyond that.