Sun Devils Say Goodbye to Camp Tontozona
We understand progress. But that doesn’t make it any easier to say goodbye to Camp Tontozona. With the Payson Roundup reporting that Camp T is now officially up for sale, we remember a special Arizona State tradition.
(Photo courtesy: East Valley Tribune)
In previous years, a special workweek in August would end around lunchtime on Friday and by 2 p.m. we’d be making that right turn at the Payson McDonald’s towards Camp Tontozona.
We made the turn again this year, but it was later in the evening and there was depressingly little football at the end of the drive.
There’s something special about that 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.
The Payson Roundup reported last week that the university has officially put Camp Tontozona up for sale. 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.
What’s Your Take, Sun Devils?
What’s your favorite Camp Tontozona memory? Let us know in the comments below!
As a native Arizonan, I grew up hearing about Camp T. That’s what made it so special the first time I attended a retreat up there. The memories are too many to name. I hate that future sundevils will not get that experience.
Its a bad thing that we are selling a tradition, but on the other hand it is good for the program. Camp T was old, and did not have that much equipment for get good practices, plus the rain did wash away numerous practices over the years. Now, we can have a full preseason practice without rain since we have the bubble. Sad loss for the program, but good gain for the future of the sun devils
Let’s see … I grew up three blocks south of the ASU campus and have been involved with ASU football for as long as I can remember. And I’ve never been to Camp T.
Rain, lightning, crappy accomodations, sloppy field, bugs … ah, memories. This is not the way to attract a Gen-Y football recruit.
If you’ve never been to Camp T David, you missed out. It was a heck of a lot of fun, and a truly unique ASU tradition.