Indoor Facility Worked As Planned
June 14th, 2018
Weather no longer an issue.
It was early afternoon when the loud alarms went off behind One Buc Palace.
The alarms were to warn anyone on the practice fields that lightning was approaching. In years past, practice, which was was about to start Wednesday, would have been delayed or cancelled.
Those days are over.
The Bucs have an indoor practice facility and the team casually walked to the building roughly 150 yards from One Buc Palace and finished their scheduled practice without a hitch, even though neither the lightning nor the rain, came.
“Today’s a great example,” Bucs coach Dirk Koetter explained of the facility Wednesday, graciously paid for by Team Glazer.
“So, 10 minutes before we came out, the lightning horn went off. So, if we didn’t have the indoor [facility], that’s an automatic wait for 30 minutes. You have to wait for 30 minutes until the lightning clears. Right when that 30 minutes was up, we got another lightning [alarm] so we would have been back inside for another 30 minutes. So what happens when you don’t have an indoor is you just keep getting pushed back and we don’t have lights either. So if we were practicing in the afternoon, we might miss a whole day of practice.
“So we just come inside and keep working. Everybody’s happy. It’s a great facility. We got to see first-hand today how awesome this thing is with the air conditioning. We can still get the scoreboards, we have the cameras. It’s a really great facility.”
It may have been the first Bucs practice Joe has seen in heat of a June day that had no Bucs player was griping. That’s because even though it was broiling outside, inside was nice and comfortable.
So the days of the Bucs being in danger of missing some of if not all of a practice due to the weather, well, those days are over with.
June 14th, 2018 at 5:58 am
That’s a luxury not available in past years, glad it helps
June 14th, 2018 at 6:26 am
Chalk one of for the Glazers building a first class facility…..
June 14th, 2018 at 6:51 am
And chalk one up for the tax payers too. It sounds to me like dirk is gona be in that AC quite a bit. I dont blame him, but the young players need to be working in the heat. Dont soften em up coach, we saw how that went last year.
June 14th, 2018 at 6:52 am
People and coaches both, have claimed that practicing in the Florida heat gives the team an advantage.
But, since this team is the biggest loser in the history of Pro sports- I call BS!!
Practicing( or working) in the Florida heat creates a condition called chronic dehydration.
Fatigue, lethergy.
Living in the Florida heat gives you an adjustment other teams dont have. Occasional practices will prepare the team for Sundays.
If it were up to me, 75% of team pracices would be in the AC.
Then meybe they’d they’d have some energy, for a change!
June 14th, 2018 at 7:02 am
Ahhh the Glazers and their generosity! Even though OUR Bucs have enriched them by the BILLIONS the fact that they will throw some crumbs the teams way…. now THAT is a great owner indeed!
June 14th, 2018 at 7:22 am
Now, if only we had a hurricane resistant retracting roof on our stadium so that the games were not delayed, cancelled or rescheduled, costing us bye weeks.
June 14th, 2018 at 7:26 am
Darin Says:
June 14th, 2018 at 6:51 am
“And chalk one up for the tax payers too.”
If I remember right, the Glazers paid for the whole thing themselves. So the tax payers get no credit. Heck, you cannot even say ticket sales helped, since fans seem incapable of buying tickets to sell out games…or of supporting the team through hard times.
June 14th, 2018 at 7:28 am
@Capt Tim
I agree with you. And I firmly believe it leads to more injuries too.
June 14th, 2018 at 7:57 am
how many practices thru the years have been scrubbed due to bad weather? making this team unprepared on opening day, i am very happy they got this facility done, my other question is why did it take forever and a day to do it?
June 14th, 2018 at 7:58 am
go bucs
June 14th, 2018 at 8:30 am
If it leads to a W, then its money well spent.
June 14th, 2018 at 8:40 am
They need to start sounding those alarms across the street @RJS when they’re close to getting their a$$ kicked. You lose then turn the AC off, lose again then practice in the rain….
June 14th, 2018 at 8:59 am
Dirk Koetter and many Bucs coaches before him had to schedule mid day blazing heat practices to avoid the lightning. I really think that has taken a lot out of Bucs players and caused injuries over the years. Now we can schedule a less hot 3-5 sea breeze practice when we want and when the lightning shows up, go inside. This amazing facility took a year to build. No clue why it didn’t happen 20 years ago.
June 14th, 2018 at 9:05 am
This is a very underestimated element to improvement. No missed practices, ability to prepare for indoor games, and less fatigue. I sincerely believe continuous training in the humidity leads to more injuries as evidenced last year. Especially when you couple it with soft practices.
Seems like we’re going much harder and have the luxury to train indoors now. This will have an immediate impact on our performance. Just think we haven’t had this in our 43 year existence. Interesting to see how it pays off.
June 14th, 2018 at 9:16 am
this team deserves safety but not luxury…..if they go indoors, cut the AC off…..don’t let this players get comfortable…..that’s when they get soft…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
June 14th, 2018 at 9:26 am
all this “practicing in the heat causes injuries” is a bunch of BS…..what caused our injuries were a bunch of soft practices…..not hitting and not tackling to the ground…..
funny how JAX practiced hard in the blazing heat and it made them tough as nails….they were able to form an identity by fighting thru adversity which was the heat and fatigue…..
stop coddling these grown a$$ men who are professional football players…..gotta practice how you play….have their a$$ practice in the heat full speed….and when lighting is in the area, have them practice with no AC indoors….
and we wonder why this team is soft mentally and physically….
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!….GO BUCS!!!
June 14th, 2018 at 10:20 am
813 I did clarify that coupled with soft practices it has more adverse effects. It seems the jags alleviated the issues with hydration and proper rest.
Dehydration is correlated to muscle issues. It’s just a scientific fact especially when your practice habits are inconsistent. Players, coaches, and trainers have explained this.
We’ll see how it pays off for Jacksonville but keep in mind, the issues can come from long term exposure too. They have sucked for a long long time.
June 14th, 2018 at 10:42 am
buccernutter
I noticed you mentioned that….hydration is very important indeed….I think every team monitors their players closely when it comes to hydration….not sure if they alleviated it with rest since teams have limited time on the practice field or in the facilities…..
I remember reading one thing that the coaches tried to do was make things as uncomfortable and stressful as possible to see how the players react…..that meant practicing in the blazing heat and constant hitting….it built character….it built attitude…..players like ramsey, Campbell, Jackson, fournette were all saying TC was extremely hard which made the season easier…..they were use to going full speed and being physical…..
the bucs, titans and jags all picked 1,2,3 in 2015……titans and jags made the playoffs and won a playoff game in the same year…..tells me those coaches are doing something these coaches aren’t…..hopefully we’ll catch up this year….
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!…GO BUCS!!!
June 14th, 2018 at 11:09 am
813
Absolutely. You can tell Dirk is emulating them too. Much difference than the stubborn lovie days. Dirk has a liberal football mentality. I have a lot of faith in him.
This team needs discipline. Especially McCoy.
June 14th, 2018 at 3:24 pm
Bravo Glazers
June 14th, 2018 at 4:04 pm
Couldn’t they set the thermostat inside to 80 or so?
With proper air circulation it would still be comfortable and might help mitigate some heat related health issues.
Just because it’s indoors doesn’t have to mean it’s too cold.
June 14th, 2018 at 9:38 pm
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Now, if only we had a hurricane resistant retracting roof on our stadium so that the games were not delayed, cancelled or rescheduled, costing us bye weeks.
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Except, games are not cancelled because they’re afraid of some rain and wind ruining the game. Games are cancelled because it’s a massive public safety issue trying to run a football game when attendees are at risk of hurricane impacts outside of the arena. Not only that, the hurricane doesn’t even have to be on top or near you to cause issues. You can’t have a football game demanding law enforcement presence when evacuations for a hurricane are ongoing. Just putting some facts in that discussion.