Bills or Eagles Camp...No Contest Go Buffalo!!!

Over the past few weekends, I've had the opportunity to go to two training camps that were within a car ride from my residency in Northeastern, PA and let me say it was two different worlds. 

My first visit was to St. John’s Fisher College in Rochester, NY to see the Buffalo Bills camp and what a welcoming place that was for my entire family.   They have giveaways from corporate sponsors like M&T Bank, Verizon, Moe’s, Visa, and on and on.  They encouraged fans to stand by the fence, to cheer on the team and wait for players to come sign autographs after practice.   The Bills had a tent set up for fans under 14 accompanied with a parent the chance to get autographs from various positions depending on the day.   Other players walk along signing autographs for 15 to 20 minutes.   You felt like you were part of the action and that the players where as happy to see you as you were them.

This past weekend, I went to Lehigh University to see the Philadelphia Eagles training camp and to say I felt like an unwelcome guest would be an understatement.    You get there and they usher you along like a prisoner to the field area and have security poised to make sure you don’t lean on the “fence” or take a video or too many pictures.    If you decide you want to sit and watch the player’s practice your only option is to sit in bleachers and you better take that seat immediately or you’ll have some security guard screaming at you that you aren’t allowed to stand on the landing.   It was so bad a security guard was signaling out a man with a red hat who remained standing.  Calling him out in front of everyone only when she decided to take the time to approach him did she learn he was deaf and could not hear anything behind him.   As soon as practice ended the security force ushered the players towards the locker room with a few rare player such as third string QB, Mike Kafka, taking time to sign some autographs. 

Overall, unless you are a Eagles fan if you have the ability to pick between Lehigh and St. John’s Fisher there is really no doubt what your choice should be.  While the Bills might have trouble beating the Eagles this year on the field they humiliate them when it comes to fan experience at training camp.  Go Bills!!!