We took a tour of the new practice facility this afternoon and it is P-L-U-S-H.

It is not quite done, they are still doing the finishing touches, but the fields are painted and look good and the indoor field is huge and incredible. No more smelly bubble that seems like at any moment it will blow over, this is more like an airplane hangar. The outdoor fields have a large berm close to I-405 that can allow fans to sit and watch practice, or block out anybody trying to get a peek.

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The Seahawks plan to have bleachers and concession stands for fans at training camp once they open their new Renton facility in June 2008, team president Tim Ruskell said today. They hope to accommodate roughly 1,500 or 2,000 fans at a time. Specifics have not been firmed up, so those numbers are estimates. They won't have enough parking for that many fans. As a result, Ruskell said he envisions a shuttle system using buses. Fans will not have access to training camp this summer because the team is holding camp at its Kirkland facility, where there are something like 100 parking spaces and almost no room along the sidelines.

Some have asked how the Seahawks' new facility in Renton is coming along. We'll have more specifics tomorrow. The Seahawks have called a press conference featuring president Tim Ruskell, coach Mike Holmgren, CEO Tod Leiweke and Renton mayor Kathy Keolker.

I would expect this to address plans to break ground on the facility, which was scheduled to open in June 2008. Note: Image provided by the Seahawks.

The King County Journal has an update on the Seahawks' plans to build their new facility in Renton, south of Seattle. According to the story, the team has agreed to move buildings 62 feet toward the east to pacify neighbors who complained about having their views obstructed.

The Cardinals have a new $455 million stadium featuring retractable roof and a grass field that rolls outside when not in use. The Seahawks have never played there. Here's what Matt Hasselbeck said that means to him: "The things that I try to do, I try to locate the play clock right away. They're never in the same spot in the stadiums. So you try to find that right away. Sometimes they're really low and they're harder to find. Try to locate where they have the down and distance, the clock, all those kinds of situations. When you're familiar with the stadium, it's easy to find that stuff. But on the road, that's kind of the important stuff. All the other stuff, the fan stuff, that doesn’t matter to me."

Well, well, some 20-year-old in Milwaukee is apparently not linked to terrorist groups. We all hope the FBI is correct in its declaration that recently publicized threats against NFL stadiums, including Qwest Field, were a hoax.

Apparently a Web site is threatening terrorist acts against seven NFL stadiums, including Qwest Field, with the target date this weekend. Government officials are said to be skeptical. We'll be monitoring this one, obviously.

Former longtime Kansas City Star reporter Jonathan Rand has an interesting story about the new NFL commissioner's concerns about noisy stadiums. West Coast teams might wonder whether crowd noise would be one of the commissioner's concerns if, say, the Cardinals had experienced problems with noise at the Meadowlands.

Thanks to the reader who called yesterday to report that the Seahawks had assembled bleachers at Qwest Field, apparently allowing for additional tickets to be sold. The team issued a release today confirming that additional tickets are availably by calling Ticketmaster at 206-622-HAWK or visiting Ticketmaster.com.

This is the game when Seattle will put Cortez Kennedy in its Ring of Honor. As the release notes, "A limited number of bleacher and standing room only tickets have been released by the Seahawks for Sunday’s home opener at Qwest Field versus the Arizona Cardinals."

The Seahawks are going with another company to supply food at Qwest Field, and you might have read it here first. The team has terminated its relationship with Aramark in favor of Levy Restaurants. Hawks CEO Tod Leiweke hails the move in a press release. Levy also handles food at Alltel Stadium, Raymond James Stadium, Arrowhead Stadium, Lambeau Field and the Edward Jones Dome, among numerous other non-NFL venues. Menus available here. I didn't know the food at Qwest was an issue. When they opened the stadium, they invited media to sample the food and I thought it was great (I recall eating a salmon sandwich). Perhaps that wasn't indicative of what they served on game days. Was the food a problem?

The Seahawks have not announced anything on this, but while I was working hard to break 90 this morning, one of our alert readers ran across a story about some upgrades for Qwest Field. According to the Korea Times, LG CNS Co. plans to provide LED screens "for the outer walls, the VIP lounge and the lobby of Qwest Field." I have not yet confirmed this with the team, but I have no reason to think the story is untrue.

"LG CNS will also install 100 plasma display panels and liquid crystal displays throughout the stadium to allow comprehensive visual management of broadcasting and the display of statistics and commercials, the company said. It plans to complete the provision and installation of the system by March 2007." -- Korea Times

The Seahawks announced their planned move to Renton during a press conference with CEO Tod Leiweke, president Tim Ruskell, coach Mike Holmgren and the Renton mayor. They provided few details about fan access to training camp, which will be held there once the facility opens in June 2008. But officials have since told me that fans will be welcome at training-camp practices. They still have to work out parking and other issues of logistics. Audio from the press conference is here. The artist's rendering was provided by the Seahawks. Projected cost is $60-65 million, a number that counts land value. I'll be heading out to practice. More details here. Click on the "read more" icon to see a photo of the site, also provided by the Seahawks.

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