WSU goes indoors for Monday’s practice
COUGARS
I'm kind of bummed out. Feeling old. If you want to know why, and what went on at Washington State's practice tonight, read on.
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• We all had heroes when were growing up. Folks we admired. Guys like Chuck Yeager, Al Kaline, Jim Brown, guys like that. Most of my heroes were baseball players, but one boxer caught my fancy. Joe Frazier. What I loved about Frazier – and guys like him – is he wasn't the most talented athlete. Not flashy. Didn't run his mouth. He was solid. Tough. The kind of guy I knew I had to be if I wanted to play sports. Take three punches to deliver one. Never quit. Go to the end. Do whatever it takes. Frazier was older than me, but not that much. He was taller than me, but not that much. He was tougher than me, but my whole goal was to ensure that it wasn't by much. And now he's gone. Another hero from childhood no longer around. Damn. ... The Cougars moved practice inside the air supported structure tonight, getting out of the cold on a night when they don't hit. Their Monday night workouts will be there the rest of the season, mainly because they can get so much more done. The coaches and medical staff don't like to use the place when WSU hits – the turf is old and hard – but on a night like this, it's worth moving. ... Nothing special to report. No new injuries out of the California game. Jeff Tuel didn't have a helmet but he threw some. Not a lot, but some. And Connor Halliday had more snaps with the ones. We talked with Halliday afterward – started by shooting the breeze for a while about the construction up at Ferris High – and he's ready if called on. He did admit Todd Sturdy's offense is a bit tough to grasp, what with all the protections and whatnot, but he's getting a better handle on it. A grounded guy, Halliday knows what his role is, he knows how much he has to improve to reach his goal, playing in the NFL (he mentioned putting weight on his 6-foot-4 frame), and how he's ready whatever he asked to do. ... Otherwise, not much else to offer, though I do have a couple links. One is to a Jim Moore column from today on his blog. The other is to the WSU website and it concerns this weekend's honorary captain. Steve Gleason is coming to town. You know his story, so we don't have to go into it here. ... By the way, the Apple Cup will be on Versus at 4:30 p.m. The Utah game will kick off at 2 p.m. next Saturday. ... The weather report for Saturday night is for temperatures in the high 30s and a chance of showers.
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• That's it for tonight. We'll be back in the morning. Until then ...
