training camp moments

I've spent a week out at Redskins Park in Ashburn, Va., covering training camp.

The big plus of the week: the AP finally put a byline on my stories.

The big minus: the 32-mile one-way commute to get here by 8:30 a.m. every morning. (Although that does help get the day done faster, as well). And an extra big minus Saturday, when I sat in traffic for nearly three hours to cover a training camp scrimmage.

Covering training camp has given me flashbacks to fall practice time in my days as a Southern Miss beat writer. Sure, there's more writers out here and more fans watching, but the job's still the same: stand around and watch football players practice (not even as exciting as it sounds), make sure everyone that's supposed to be on the field is on the field, watch for someone to get injured, and then dash around at the end trying to talk to everyone you need to talk to for whatever story you're going to write. The routine is broken, of course, if some news happens. This was how the first day of camp went, when I wasn't writing but just helping out and collecting quotes for the rest of the week.

The first few days were taken up with Jason Taylor updates. Then the rest of the time I've tried to find something interesting to write about (and make sure it's something I can get quotes about). I've only got a couple more days of making the long drive back and forth. Then I'll have to find something else to do next.

These month-long blogging breaks are no good, I suppose. This blog, at least, would get far more short posts from me throughout the day if I had easy access to an internet-accessible device as I was wandering about the city. Unfortunately, most of the quick ideas I have go floating off before I get to a point where I could type them in and tether them to this page.

This might change soon. At least, my access to such a device might change soon, and then my theory about increased posting would be put to the test. I'm thinking about picking up an iPhone. I still can't decide if it's actually worth it to pay AT&T the $ required each month, but I'm thinking the ability to watch movies on my commute (I have a pre-video iPod, so I was planning on upgrading that eventually regardless) combined with the GPS and instant internet access might be worth it. There's no question I'll be instantly addicted.

The problem comes in trying to figure out the best plan. Normally for the iPhone there's not much choice, but we might have a chance to pick up an original iPhone for cheap for Kirsten, so we could have one old and one new iPhone on a family plan. AT&T doesn't have much help on its website for people looking to roll an iPhone into a family plan without iPhones, much less for two different generations. Hopefully it wouldn't be too bad - I'm already paying way too much for my plan, but I'm off contract so it's an easy time to move.