It’s becoming more and more clear that the lockout isn’t going to end with a bang but with a shrug, in the form of an announcement made days after a new labor deal has become a foregone conclusion for most observers and fans. Until that joint statement declaring the return of football comes, a patchwork of circumstantial evidence will make that moment even more anticlimactic.
The latest piece of proof comes from the Philadelphia Eagles. Per LehighValleyLive.com, tents and bleachers are being erected at Lehigh University, site of the team’s training camp.
“It’s just them making preparations on their end,” Lehigh spokesman Steve Lomangino told Jim Deegan. “It’s the Eagles being proactive.”
Lomangino added that today is the day on which preparations would have begun, resulting in no delay to the process as a result of the work stoppage.
“We’re trying to be as prepared as possible in the event we go to Lehigh for training camp,” Eagles spokesman Derek Boyko said.
C’mon Derek. “In the event”? The Eagles wouldn’t be spending the money to get ready for camp if the Eagles thought there was a real chance camp wouldn’t happen. Though it’s still remotely possible but highly unlikely that something crazy will happen (more on that later), the Eagles are getting ready for camp because the Eagles believe camp is going to happen.