THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 23, 1995 TAG: 9507240275
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FROSTBURG, MD. LENGTH: Long : 127 lines
Imagine how you would feel if every year your boss demanded you leave your family for at least a month, work 15-hour days, seven days a week in often-searing heat, and submit to nightly bed checks?
Those are just some of the reasons pro football players hate training camp. The fact that at any moment they could lose an incredibly lucrative job doesn't help their attitude about the Great Summer Sweat.
The football fan, on the other hand, loves training camp. Or should. It's the best chance he has to get to know his favorite player as something other than a head in a helmet. It's a rare opportunity to study different coaches and coaching styles.
Training camp teaches first-hand that by itself, size isn't enough. By itself, raw speed isn't enough. By itself, strength isn't enough. By themselves, courage and fortitude and determination aren't enough.
Even the worst player in the league possesses a few of those attributes. The great players possess them all. The difference is revealed to you day after day.
And the best part of this is that, even for the fan on a budget, the cost is minimal.
The Washington Redskins' move from Carlisle, Pa., to Frostburg, Md., means about a 6 1/2-hour drive from Hampton Roads. That's the hard part. Once you arrive, lodging is more than reasonable. There are a variety of restaurants in town, from fast food to French cuisine. Prices are cheaper than we pay at home. Quality is high.
Practices, which are open to the public from Monday through Aug. 8, are free.
Training camp is a daily bonanza for autograph-seekers. Players willingly sign cards, hats, balls, helmets, T-shirts (even ones you're wearing at the time), programs, photos. Name it.
Most of the time, players and coaches gladly stop for pictures, particularly after practice. It's part of the ritual.
Frostburg is a tiny place and easy to get around. The merchant's portion of Main Street is several blocks long and has thrown itself into Redskins Mania with a gusto Carlisle lacked in recent years.
Everything, it seems, is colored burgundy and gold - Frostburgundy, you could say.
There's a burgundy-and-gold raft in the window of LaPorta's barber shop. The 4-Star Pizza parlor sports a sign ``Thank you (team owner) Jack Kent Cooke for selecting FSU and Frostburg.''
Lucky's Liquors has Redskins wrapping paper hanging in the front window, a spot once reserved for the schedule of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Fidelity Bank has a caricature of quarterback Heath Shuler holding a football in his right hand, the index finger of his left hand signalling the Redskins are No. 1. The workers at McFarland Candy decorated their front window with burgundy-and-gold boxes of all sizes and burgundy-and-gold paper.
The marquee of the old Palace movie theatre, now the visitor information center in town, carries a ``Welcome Redskins'' message.
Kline's Furniture was swamped with donations of Redskins memorabilia, including a huge 1937 team photo that came from a local minister.
The electronic store down the street is running a tape of Super Bowl XXVII - Washington whipping the Buffalo Bills - 24 hours a day on each of the 27-inch TVs in the front window.
It sounds hopelessly corny. Maybe it is. But there's a story here that in some ways has everything to do with football - and nothing to do with football.
It's about people so proud of their home that even crotchety, cynical media types are touched.
It's a city official you met briefly days before calling you by your first name and asking you once, twice, three times if there is anything else she can do to make your job easier.
It's the owner of a tiny downtown shop, somebody you've known five minutes, inviting you to her home that night for supper with her husband and family.
Walk down Main Street. You'll feel it and be refreshed. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
BILL ABOURJILIE/Staff
``Welcome Redskins'' sign greets visitors as they enter Frostburg,
Md., on exit 34 off Interstate 69. Obviously, there is no secret how
the locals feel about having the Redskins in training camp.
Even the Frostburg library on Main Street gets into the act on
welcoming the Redskins by going ``hog wild''.
Redskins flags line the buildings on Main Street in downtown
Frostburg, Md., where the city has reached out to welcome their new
visitors with open arms.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Redskins running back Reggie Brooks, who has a pulled hamstring and
is taking it easy for a few days, signs autographs for fans after
the team's first practice session.
Map
STAFF
Graphic
VISITING FROSTBURG:
Directions: I-64 West to I-95 North to U.S. 17 (Warrenton exit).
Take U.S. 17 to Winchester and I-81 North. Stay on I-81 North to
Hagerstown, Md., and then take I-70 West. At Hancock, Md., take I-68
West to Frostburg. Take exit 33, which is the second Frostburg exit.
Bear right on Midlothian Road and drive approximately 1 mile to main
entrance of Frostburg State University.
Lodging: Don't come without having first made a reservation.
There are other activities scheduled for the Allegany County area
during the Redskins' stay.
Practice: The Redskins practice at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday,
Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, they practice only
at 4. Morning practices are scheduled to be held on Frostburg
State's baseball field, afternoon practices inside Frostburg's
football stadium.
Spectating: Practices are open to the public from Monday through
Aug. 8. They are free. On July 29, the Redskins will scrimmage the
Pittsburgh Steelers in Frostburg. It is sold out.
For information on Frostburg and Allegany County: Call
1-800-508-4748.
by CNB