3. Cardinals (Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Ariz.): My upset pick. No one knows about this place because no one goes here. The long shadows of the San Francisco peaks frame the pine-tree-lined practice fields. It's usually 30 degrees cooler up here, at 7,000 feet, than it is in the Valley of the Sun. I once left Phoenix on a 98-degree morning and motored two hours north-through towns like Deadman's Wash and Horsethief Basin -- and it was 67 degrees. The Northern Arizona campus is a gorgeous sight to see when you arrive. The fields are pristinely kept, and the tableau of the red-and-white Cards against the green trees and blue sky makes you want to get out an easel and your third-grade paint set. Terrific access too. The players can't get away from you. On Emmitt Smith's first day of practice as a Cardinal two years ago, a fellow from Pensacola took a few steps beyond the ropes on the sideline to where Smith was stretching and shook his hand. There might only be a few hundred people at practice -- there'd be more if the Bidwillians could sustain anything but an empty stadium -- but that works to your advantage. Meet a Cardinal? Heck, you might take one to lunch.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/peter_king/07/06/training.camps/index.html?cnn=yes
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/peter_king/07/06/training.camps/index.html?cnn=yes
