Fans still flock to Cheney
Shane McCorry, a 40-year-old stay-at-home dad, loves spending summer days at the Seattle Seahawks training camp.
Two to three days a week, McCorry scouts his favorite NFL team, be it at the morning practice session, afternoon session, or – if he doesn’t have to watch any of his three kids – both. But after next year’s training camp at Eastern Washington University, McCorry’s summer routine will be disrupted like a quarterback being chased by a blitzing Grant Wistrom.
The Seahawks are moving into a state-of-the art training facility in 2008, the team announced about three months ago. The facility will be on waterfront property in Renton, worlds away from the arid climate of Cheney.
“It bites,” McCorry said during Tuesday morning’s practice. “When they’re out here, there’s nowhere for them to go. They’re going to have so much trouble (in Renton) with the players going out and partying.”
McCorry is one of the many fans who dress in Seahawks gear, line the chain-link fence around the practice fields and consider themselves camp regulars. He and the others started showing up long before the Seahawks made last year’s Super Bowl run.
At Tuesday’s practice, the Colbert resident wore a custom-made T-shirt that read, “Referees 21, Seahawks 10,” in reference to the final score of Super Bowl XL, which some fans contend was unjustly decided by the officials.
McCorry said he offered to give one of the shirts to Matt Hasselbeck, but the Seattle quarterback didn’t think it would be a good idea.
The defending NFC champion Seahawks have trained in Cheney from their inaugural season in 1976 through 1985. After training at their headquarters in Kirkland from 1986 through 1996, the team returned to EWU in 1997 and has trained in Cheney since.
Practices are watched by anywhere from 150 to 400 fans daily.
Scott Sutton, president of the Tri-Cities Sea Hawkers fan club, tries to get to as many as possible.
“Moving is going to take quite a bit away from the East Side,” said Sutton, 54, who dressed Tuesday in a Seahawks T-shirt, accessorized with Seahawks cap and a bling-worthy Seahawks wristwatch.
Sutton, who plans to retire later this month from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, spends part of his vacation at the Seahawks camp.
He parks his RV near campus, takes in the twice-a-day workouts and punctuates his NFL experience by collecting autographs.
This week, Sutton has been roaming the practice site with a Sharpie and his 12th-man flag in hand. His goal is to get as many players as possible to sign the flag, which has become a symbol of the team’s fans.
The flag will be raffled with the money donated to NFL charities, Sutton said. However, the rest of Sutton’s treasured blue, navy and bright green memorabilia will stay in the 800-square-foot Seahawks room he built at his home.
While Sutton quarterbacks the Tri-Cities fan club, Tim Fackenthall holds the job with the Spokane Sea Hawkers fan club. Although he can’t attend camp on weekdays, he plans to be at Saturday’s Seahawks Extravaganza, which includes a barbecue, fan interaction and scrimmage.
“I’ll still love them,” Fackenthall said on the telephone Tuesday afternoon, regarding the team’s imminent exodus from Cheney. “It’s not like I’m not going to root for them anymore. It’s kind of sad to see them go.”
EWU’s facility has three practice fields, and the new facility will be situated on 19 acres of industrial property. It will have a permanent indoor practice field. In addition, there will be four outdoor practice fields.
The new facility will be open to the public to attend training camp for up to 3,000 spectators per day.
To traveling fans, such as the Elliott family, Renton will be a welcome road trip. For three years, the Elliotts have traveled from Portland to get a glimpse of the team.
“I think it will be good for our family, because we’re only going to have go three hours instead of five,” Marilyn Elliott, the mom of the group said, while waiting for players to sign her 12th-man flag.