Arizona State University released their fall football schedule for 2008, and if you were planning a several day jaunt to Camp Tontozona to watch the Sun Devils train, sorry.

ASU is opting to hold camp in Tempe, at both the Bill Kajikawa Practice Facility and the brand new 8.4 million dollar indoor practice facility, which is scheduled to be completed by early August, in time for a practice session in shells on August 9th.

The Sun Devils will hold a formal scrimmage at Camp Tontozona on Saturday, August 16th in preparation for their season-opener against NAU on August 30th.

In my opinion, it is a sad day for ASU Football. Yes, the indoor practice facility will make practice schedules a lot more flexible during the hot weather of September and early October. And yes, the field turf surface will help prepare them for conference foes Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State and Cal, who all feature field turf at their home stadiums.

But training camp is a time where camaraderie is built among teammates, and Camp T was the perfect setting for that. A gridirion, smack-dab in the middle of a forest– it built focus. Players couldn’t lose their focus on football, because there’s really nothing else to Camp Tontozona. It was also an opportunity for optimistic Sun Devil fans to head out of the heat, and get a very intimate look at the team.

Progress can be really hard to accept sometimes.

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