The past few months have been busy ones for the Utah Blaze, the newest team in the Arena Football League. They've hired employees, held tryouts, signed free agents, announced a mascot, built a Web site, had uniforms designed and so on.
All before a single practice was held.
But that first practice finally took place Monday afternoon at the Spence Eccles Fieldhouse on the University of Utah campus. The Blaze opened up their first mini-camp with 37 players vying for 24 roster spots for the season-opening game Jan. 28 against the San Jose SaberCats.
"We're excited to get things started," said Blaze head coach and general manager Danny White. "After all the months of planning and preparation, this mini-camp will allow us to get a first look at our full squad. This will give us a chance to teach our system to many of the new guys and evaluate our team, as a whole, before we open officially on January 5."
The mini-camp will run through Wednesday. Today's practice will again be at the Spence Eccles Fieldhouse with Wednesday's being held either there or at the Delta Center — where the team will play its home games. A new turf field is arriving for the Delta Center this week, but it is uncertain whether it will be ready to be played on by Wednesday. If so, practice will be there.
While it's still far too early to tell how good the Blaze may be this inaugural season, AFL veteran quarterback Joe Germaine, the former Ohio State star, likes the direction things are headed.
"Some of the players we have on this team are some of the top notch players we have in this league," said Germaine. "It's our hope we can put a winning product out there on the field and that's what we're going to strive to do."
The AFL plays a 16-game schedule. After opening in San Jose, the Blaze's home opener will be Feb. 4.
E-mail: lojo@desnews.com