WSU head football coach Nick Rolovich has had to put out a lot of figurative fires within the football program since taking over last year. Now he’s putting out literal fires.

According to a story from Pullman Radio, the Cougar football team was holding a conditioning session inside of the indoor practice facility “bubble” on Monday when a small fire broke out in an electrical junction box at one of the light towers. The fire department was called, but the situation was already in hand by the time fire fighters arrived.

“(Rolovich) saw the smoke and flames and has able to run over there, grab a fire extinguisher and safely extinguish the fire,” WSU Fire and Safety Compliance Officer Darren Jones told Pullman Radio. “He had great reaction and did exactly what we want to do; He could see a fire and he could safely put it out. He did what we train people to do.”

The report said that the fire ended up causing about $500 in damage to the junction box. However, thanks in part to Rolovich’s quick action, the bubble went undamaged and the team ended up continuing their conditioning as scheduled.

It’s no secret that the indoor practice bubble is something that desperately needs to be replaced. The University is working on fundraising to build a permanent facility, but in the meantime, they’re making minor improvements to make things work in the meantime. Late last year, the university unveiled upgraded turf and lighting, in part because the soccer team plans on playing at least part of their spring schedule there until the winter weather allows them to move back out side.

I think we can all agree that the athletic department needs to pop the bubble and build an upgrade as soon as possible. But, while we wait, we can thank Coach Rolo for keeping that thing inflated for as long as we can.

Links

Canzano: It’s what Ohio State’s Gene Smith isn’t saying the Pac-12 Conference needs to hear - oregonlive.com
I spoke with Washington State President Kirk Schulz on Monday. In a wide-ranging interview, WSU’s big boss spoke about the hiring process and what he covets in leadership. He talked about how important it will be for the new hire to spend time on each of the conference’s campuses — and not just 90-minute speed dates with the the engine of a chartered aircraft still running on the tarmac.

Pac-12 schedule analysis: USC, UW, ASU have easier 2021 games
Week Two stands as the most important of the season for the conference, with four major intersectional matchups, including Oregon at Ohio State and Washington at Michigan.

Jehlárová Named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week - Washington State University Athletics
The sophomore's defense guided the Cougars to a weekend sweep of ASU.

Leger-Walker, Manzardo Finalists for Seattle Sports Star Awards - Washington State University Athletics
The 86th Annual Seattle Sports Stars of the Year Awards will be presented virtually Feb. 27, 2021.

Non-WSU Related

San Francisco Giants outfielder Drew Robinson's remarkable second act
After dealing with depression and self-doubt for years, Drew Robinson reached a crisis point in April 2020. But what was almost the end of his story turned out to be the start of another.

It has nothing to do with WSU athletics, but I wanted to link to it here anyway. ESPN’s Jeff Passan wrote poignant, heartbreaking and important feature on San Francisco Giants outfielder Drew Robinson. It’s well worth the read. And, if you have ESPN+, you can watch a video version of it there.