Well in the economic climate while I believe it would be best to forge a deal between NAU and the Cardinals, I do also know colleges are very hard hit while the NFL continues to see rising profits.
People don't realize that it now costs literally 20x as much to go to college now then it did in the mid 80's. ASU parking fees are insane (I remember paying 250 one year to park 2 miles from my classes probably around 2004, it's now well over double that). Now students have to buy health insurance AND meal tickets even if they never plan to use it. $150 books that they MIGHT get 20-30 bucks for if those particular books will be bought back.
So it's hard to blame NAU for not wanting to spend millions of dollars to build a dorm which it would then have to pass on the costs to it's students. Is every student supposed to pay an additional $100 this year (or next year) for school? Hell recently defaulted student loans surpassed credit card loans, and of course because of our great leader (of my party) the douche made it impossible to discharge this debt.
I place blame on the Cardinals since they are the ones that need the facilities more and it serves their purpose well, and they are most able to afford them. Part of business is creating goodwill in the community, and since 1994, the ARIZONA Cardinals are a statewide brand. Bringing Northern Arizona into the fold and feeling a part of the brand is important and building the dorms/holding training camp are a cheap and easy way to achieve that. It benefits both sides. Overall it is a situation where the Cardinals need to pony up and pay the lion share of the costs.
Some of the complaints can be assuaged by the building of new dorms. You have a new facility and thus one that is less likely to be infected by weird diseases. You can design them so they are more amenable to players so their experience isn't as bad.
If they all drive from home, even if it's more comfortable it will lack the team building that goes on when they are holed up in a dorm and where veterans will sometimes room with rookies and remove these benefits from our team. The soul of the team would be harmed. How much is of course uncertain and unmeasurable, but it won't be a good thing to remove it.
There are some pros, like we remove the risk of the team's major investment in players from driving, sometimes in a hurry up semi-treacherous roads that we have seen players get injured driving. The timing aspects of additional days off can be cut, but I really don't see that as a problem, as training camp counts per the CBA by actual days, not travel days, thus our camp can be a half a week longer in calendar days with the same number of actual practice days and it doesn't hurt the team being slightly spread out. If anything it might help lessen injury risk and allow rookies more time to absorb lessons, even if it is a minute influence from it being a limited occurrence.
The real only thing that would be fully supplanted by moving down would be the removal of needing to use the walkup sky dome. We've seen players get injured on the turf, but if memory serves correct it was recently replaced by the next turf stuff. Which would probably be enough given it was always a backup during lightning storms or really heavy rain.
But the fans of course will lose. Training camp was getting really big and growing. It's these sorts of events that really foster excitement and growth of the brand in Arizona. It's a way for Northern Arizona fans to get their fill, and provides a low cost vacation for Phoenix metro residents. An excuse to ditch the 105-115 degree days. Fans from Las Vegas to Albuquerque can readily make the trip.
Generally I think Bickley can be pretty horrible, but he recently made a great comment about the Cactus league and the Diamondbacks that I think applies here. We as a state love being able to watch and do things outdoors when possible. Cactus league games are the perfect time for baseball here in Phoenix, and it's why we can have significant draws at 6-7-8 locations at a time playing Cactus league games. It's why we can have 15 Cactus league teams in one metro area whereas in Florida it takes almost the entire state to match that. During the summer, the 'cactus league' experience is the Cardinals NFL training camp in Flagstaff. The Diamondbacks have a dome, the Cardinals have a dome. During regular season play it's too hot to not be in a dome (aside from early/late baseball season on occasion or some late season home football games), and thus it also helps complete the entire experience that people get to be outside with the team sometimes and inside others. Makes a nice balance.
Maybe the team can cut some costs and make some more money if it's in Glendale, but it comes at a price. Worse for fans. Worse for team camaraderie. Worse for brand building. Plus it reeks of giving everyone the big middle finger. As just has been reported the salary cap went up because of unexpected revenue increases, coupled with the insane TV deal, means NFL teams are flying high in this greatest depression and it doesn't send a good signal to let a relatively small amount of $$$ for an NFL team to be a wedge between it's fans, it's community, and the organization.
I believe it would be wise to foster the goodwill and pay for the dorm or the lion share of it. Get it done. Let the fans and nearby communities rejoice, keep the tradition alive, and be seen as a true member of the community in actions and not just Michael Bidwill's elucidated like a car salesman's words. This is the type of action people will remember. Donating and renovating football fields or whatever is GREAT. But THIS is what a big slice of fans will really remember.
Oh and clif, the instant outrage is because of constant delay of needed change. People are at a breaking point, because nothing that is needed to change, has been. They are feeling the effects, and those effects cause people to hold onto to few things in their life that is supposed to have meaning or be free of some sort of rot. It's innocence. People are pissed off, and have had it up to their chin in dealing with these things. Which also should mean to the Cardinals, that now is not the time to go against the wishes of people, because it'll piss them off far more now than it did a decade ago.
