All Over Albany

Giants training camp not coming back to UAlbany next season

Little Giants taking in practice last year at UAlbany.

The Giants announced Friday that they will hold their training camp at their practice facility at the Meadowlands (in New Jersey!) next season -- not at UAlbany. From the announcement:

"The University at Albany and the Capital Region have been great hosts for us during our training camps," Giants President and Chief Executive Officer John Mara and Chairman and Executive Vice President Steve Tisch said in a joint statement. "UAlbany truly has been the summer home of the Giants. We are grateful to Mayor Jennings and to [UAlbany athletic director] Dr. [Lee] McElroy and his staff in the athletic department for making us feel welcome and providing the resources we needed to prepare for the season. We are fortunate to have a facility in the Timex Performance Center that allows us to hold training camp here. We have told Mayor Jennings and Dr. McElroy that we will evaluate our training camp situation on an ongoing basis and certainly would not rule out a return to Albany in the future if it makes sense for both parties."

The Giants have trained at UAlbany for 16 of the last 17 seasons. The exception was 2011, which had an usual startup because of a lockout.

Traditionally NFL teams went away for training camp, but in recent years the trend has been to hold the pre-season practices at the team's regular practice facility -- 19 of the league's 32 teams did so last season. The Giants' practice facility at the Meadowlands opened in 2010 and it appears to be rather swank. There's been talk about the team moving training camp there since the facility opened.

It's too bad the Giants won't be coming back. It was fun for football fans, getting the chance to stop into practice and see the players up close.

The Giants are back at UAlbany

Two Super Bowl wins and Eli's still carrying his own bags. Do you think Peyton carries his own bags? Psh. No respect.

The New York Giants are back at UAlbany for this year's training camp. Players were scheduled to report today (Thursday), but they've been showing up for the last few days. The camp runs through August 14.

The practices are open to the public. Here's the schedule. (Autograph day is this Saturday.)

If you're a football fan, it's worth a stop. It's one thing to watch the NFL on TV, it's another to see these guys in real life. It's hard to appreciate how big and fast they when watching them on a screen. Up close you really get a sense of the freakish combination of size and athleticism.

Lombardi Trophy: The Giants are, of course, the defending Super Bowl champs. And they brought the Lombardi Trophy with them to prove it. The trophy will be on display at Albany City Hall rotunda August 2 (a Thursday) from 8:30-11:30 am.

photo: New York Giants

The Giants Super Bowl license plate

You'll no doubt be heartbroken to find out that "ELI4EVER" won't fit on the Giants plate.

The state Department of Motor Vehicles unveiled a Giants 2012 Super Bowl Champions custom plate today. They're $60, plus a $31.25 renewal fee, non-customized. If you want to express your love for Eli with a custom plate number, that's another $60.

Speaking of this stuff: Will the city of Albany update those "Albany / Mayor Jennings welcomes you / Summer Home of the Super Bowl XLII Champion New York Giants" signs now? Maybe it's a good time to swap the signs for something along the lines of simply, "Welcome to Albany / Capital of the Empire State."

image via NY Governor's Office