We understand progress. But that doesn’t make it any easier to say goodbye to Camp Tontozona. As we travel north toward Camp Tontozona this evening, we’ll wonder if it’s for the last time.

In previous years, this workweek would end around lunchtime and by 2 p.m. we’d be making that right turn at the Payson McDonald’s towards Camp Tontozona.

We’ll be making the turn again this year, but it’ll be later in the evening and there’ll be depressingly little football at the end of the drive.

There’s something special about this time of year. Some have called it the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. The students are back. Mill Avenue is springing to life. Football is weeks away. And you know the weather is about to turn.

For those of us who’ve lived in the desert our whole lives, Camp Tontozona is not terribly dissimilar from Spring Training. Just as Chicago Cubs fans dream of Arizona’s palm trees and swimming pools as they wait out the last few weeks of winter, Arizona State fans think of their Sun Devils working on a patch of grass in the tall cool pines of Payson and know that cooler temperatures are just around the corner.

Camp Tontozona, like Spring Training, was about the rare opportunity to see the Sun Devils up close. We remember conversations with beeming parents, listening in as position coaches explained the nuances of the game to freshmen, and watching Rudy Burgess get mauled by autograph-seeking youngsters. He seemed to oblige every one.

We also remember one year claiming a particularly choice spot in the shade on a hill to watch an afternoon practice from our lawn chairs. Dirk Koetter walked over to throw away a Power Bar wrapper and remarked to us that the only thing missing was an ice chest full of beer.

We were nursing hangovers from a night on the town in Christopher Creek, but we couldn’t have agreed more.

A little bird told us the university has had Camp Tontozona appraised. Michael Crow is a businessman and Camp Tontozona is an asset that has outlived its full usefulness.

We understand progress. We understand the college game has changed. We understand that if donors are willing to build you an $8.4 million practice bubble, you say, “Thank you, sir, now may we show you around Packard Stadium?”

But we don’t have to like it.

(Photo courtesy: East Valley Tribune)

What’s your favorite Camp Tontozona memory? Post in the comments or shoot us an e-mail, and we’ll compile the best memories for a future post.

Tags: ASU Football , Camp Tontozona, Dirk Koetter, rudy burgess // 4 Comments »