WSU’s
Bridger Buckley, 22, of Snohomish to compete in ‘The Titan Games’ finals
Thursday
Updated Wed., Feb. 27, 2019, 8:51 p.m.
By Azaria
Podplesky Spokane S-R
Week after
week, challenge after challenge, and “The Titan Games” has all come down to
this.
What
started as 64 athletes from around the country has been whittled down to eight,
including Washington State University student Bridger Buckley.
He’ll
compete for a $100,000 prize in the finals Thursday at 8 p.m. on KHQ, channel
6.
“The Titan
Games,” according to creator, actor and professional wrestler Dwayne “The Rock”
Johnson, are “the most insane athletic competition ever devised.”
In the
semi-finals, which aired Feb. 21, Buckley faced off against yoga instructor DJ
Townsel in an event called the Herculean Pull.
Buckley
and Townsel each had to pull two giant silver poles from a structure, then have
a tug-of-war to remove a single gold pole.
After
learning he would be tested in the Herculean Pull, Buckley was excited to give
it a shot.
“I talked
to the people that did it before and they were like, ‘Pretty much, it’s all leg
power,’ ” he said recently from Pullman. “Out of everyone there, I had one of
the strongest set of legs, I think, so I was really excited to do that one.”
Both
athletes removed their first silver pole at nearly the same time, then moved on
to their second.
After
removing his second pole, Buckley was the first to the gold pole, securing his
place in “The Titan Games” finals.
One man
and one woman will then be crowned the overall titans, taking home $100,000
each.
“I’m
really excited for the last few events, to see how I stack up against the top
people,” Buckley said.
Watching
himself on TV every week has been fun for Buckley, who has begun to get
recognized around campus, he said, especially at the gym.
He also
has been approached by fitness companies interested in having him promote their
products.
But the
most rewarding part of his television experience is hearing from young viewers
wondering how Buckley overcame challenges to get to where he is today.
“That’s
probably the coolest part because I want to give back, whatever I can do to
help a kid out,” he said
::::::::::::::::::::::
WSU
student to appear on NBC show tonight
By Scott
Jackson Moscow Pullman Daily News
At 22
years old, Washington State University senior Bridger Buckley is among the
youngest of those competing in the first season of the new NBC show “The Titan
Games,” created and hosted by Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson.
Buckley
dominated the bracket-style fitness competition and will be one of the final
athletes featured in the show’s season finale, set to air 8 p.m. tonight. The
winner will receive $100,000.
Often
compared to “American Gladiator” and “American Ninja Warrior,” the show
features 64 athletes — 32 women and 32 men — from across the U.S. in a series
of one-on-one, endurance-based competitions and obstacle courses purportedly
inspired by Johnson’s personal workout regimen.
Buckley
said he first learned of the competition through a post on Johnson’s Instagram
account. After hours of filling out applications, completing interviews and
submitting workout videos, Buckley said he was among those chosen out of the
hundreds of thousands of applicants.
He said he
knew he would do well from the beginning.
“The first
time meeting all the competitors and seeing them, you’re pretty intimidated
just because everyone looks strong,” Buckley said. “But I’m pretty confident in
myself just because I know what I’m capable of, physically.”
Originally
from Snohomish, Wash., Buckley broke his neck when he was struck by a car in
2015. He healed and later walked on to the WSU football team as a middle
linebacker, but he ultimately dropped from the program before playing a game.
“At the
first practices, I could feel myself just not playing how I used to play just
because ... those injuries and stuff,” Buckley said. “That summer, I talked to
my doctors and my family and just realized football is probably not the best
idea for me with my back and head injury.”
Now
recovered, Buckley commonly participates in strength and endurance-based
competitions conducted by CrossFit. Buckley said he won such a competition in
the summer preceding his involvement in “The Titan Games,” and he hopes to
qualify for another CrossFit event in Australia soon.
He is
working toward a degree in business, finance and economics, but Buckley said
he’s hoping to make a career in the entertainment industry — much like Johnson.
“Every
time I talked to him, I felt like I blacked out a little bit and I don’t even
remember the conversation,” Buckley said. “He was just so genuinely nice and so
friendly — it was cool to meet one of your celebrity idols and whatnot and have
them actually be the person they say they are on social media.”
For his
first event of the show, Buckley participated in a contest called the
“hammering ram” against former professional wrestler and stay-at-home dad
Robbie Strauss. The two slammed 10-pound sledgehammers against a metal plate to
release a 350-pound battering ram. The competitors then pull on a rope that
swings the ram into a giant set of doors. The first person to break through the
barrier and ring the bell wins. Buckley won.
He then
faced off against firefighter Steve Hoppe in the show’s final event. It was a
series of punishing trials testing the competitors’ speed, strength, endurance
and dexterity called “Mt. Olympus.” Buckley finished seconds ahead of Hoppe and
was crowned the winner. He credits his success to a combination of strength and
determination.
“I was
probably one of the strongest guys that competed at the Titan Games and then
also endurance — I’m weirdly good at running and stuff for my size.” Buckley
said. “I was pretty confident in myself because I’m super competitive, like
insanely, probably a little bit too much.”
:::::::::::::::::::::
WSU
football
Dennis
Slutak to join Washington State as Director of Football Operations
UPDATED:
Tue., Feb. 26, 2019, 7:38 p.m.
By Theo
Lawson Spokane S-R
Washington
State announces hire of linebackers coach Roc Bellantoni
Dennis
Slutak, a former special teams coach at USC under Pete Carroll who has
extensive experience in athletic administration, will join Mike Leach’s
Washington State staff as the new Director of Football Operations, the school
announced Tuesday.
WSU announced
Slutak’s hire in conjunction with the addition of new inside linebackers coach
Roc Bellantoni.
“Dennis
has a reputation of being one of the best football operations people in the
country,” Leach said in a press release. “He has a tremendous amount of experience
in the Pac-12 Conference and is incredibly organized and efficient in his
methods. We are excited to have Dennis on staff here at WSU.”
Slutak
replaces Antonio Huffman, a longtime Leach pupil who elected to return to his
alma mater Texas Tech in December to become the Red Raiders’ Chief of Staff.
Most
recently, Slutak served as the Director of Football Operations at UNLV for the
last four seasons. He was also a DFO for Bowling Green during the 2013 football
season and oversaw the Falcon’s run to the Little Caesars Bowl.
But Slutak
also brings a wealth of Pac-12 experience with him to Pullman.
Before his
stint at Bowling Green, Slutak was an Assistant AD for Football Operations at
Washington from 2009-11 and before that spent four years at USC, from 2005-08,
as the DFO.
Prior to
his work in athletic administration, Slutak was an asistant coach in the
Pac-10, serving as a special teams coach for Carroll’s national championship
winning USC teams in 2003 and ’04. A former punter at Florida State, Slutak
also had coaching stops at Ole Miss, North Carolina State and Lehigh
University.
::::::::::::::::
Recent
snowfall leaving area plow crews stretched thin
Pullman
experiences winter weather records in February
By Anthony
Kuipers, Moscow Pullman Daily News 2/28/2019
Snowfall
records have fallen in February and the onslaught of winter weather is leaving
area snowplow crews exhausted and struggling to keep up.
"Our
equipment is breaking down, our guys are getting tired," Whitman County
Public Works Operation Manager Brandon Kruger said Wednesday afternoon.
He said
between 30 and 40 people have to cover about 1,500 miles of paved and gravel
roads in Whitman County when the snow hits.
And it has
hit hard this month.
Ron
Miller, meteorologist with the Spokane National Weather Service office, said
Pullman set a new record for snow volume in February with 31 inches as of
Wednesday morning. He said this crushes the old record of 22.2 inches set in
1975. Moscow will likely break its second-highest snowfall total of 38 inches.
The highest Moscow total, set in 1919, was 49.5 inches.
Kruger
said the wind has been wreaking havoc on the roads by creating drifts that can
cover a freshly plowed road with new snow within minutes. He said this causes
some residents to mistakenly believe their road was not plowed.
"The
wind is certainly discouraging," he said. "It makes the job so hard
with drifting conditions."
He said
the areas that tend to get the most snow are typically around Oakesdale and
Tekoa, as well as Colton and Uniontown.
Crews have
had to work non-stop. Kruger said one of his supervisors has worked 21 out of
the past 22 days to keep up, and another supervisor told Kruger this season's
winter weather "is some of the worst stuff he's seen in a long time."
Additionally,
he said the mechanics have been hard at work because the more snowplows are
used, the more likely they are to break down.
"Nothing
makes stuff break down like plowing," he said.
The
Washington State Department of Transportation's snowplows have also been
working nearly around the clock to cover about 895 miles of state roads on the
Palouse, with the morning shift starting at 4 a.m. and the evening shift working
sometimes until 1 a.m., WSDOT East Region Maintenance Manager Ken Heale said.
He said the weather on the Palouse has been so bad they have had to pull
resources from Spokane to take care of highways near Colfax.
"Our
crews are working extremely hard - they're very dedicated," he said.
He, too,
said snow is much more manageable without the wind. This winter, he has seen
4-foot drifts accumulate on State Route 27 within two hours of a snowplow
clearing the road.
SR 27 was
closed Wednesday between Garfield and Tekoa because of poor driving conditions.
A collision involving a semi-truck and a vehicle that left one person dead
closed down State Route 26 near Washtucna. Heale said WSDOT and Washington
State Patrol have the authority to close roads when driving conditions are
poor. Heale urged people to obey road closure signs because it takes extra
resources for the state to find a stuck vehicle and free it from the snow. He
also encouraged travelers to drive a safe distance of at least 150 feet behind
snowplows and avoid passing. He said several snowplows have been struck by
vehicles this winter, and a damaged snowplow means there is one less asset on
the road.
Kruger
asked that people do not drive unless they have to. He also asked that they
stay patient with the snowplows because the staff is working as hard as they
can.
He said if
a driver has to abandon his or her vehicle, the county should be notified.
The snow
has also disrupted school and government operations. Non-emergency staff for
Pullman and Moscow city government were sent home early Wednesday, and schools
were closed or released early in Pullman, Moscow, Genesee, Potlatch and Colfax.
The
Whitman County Courthouse closed early Wednesday because of bad weather. A
power outage Tuesday in Pullman cut power to two of the four backup generator
switches at Pullman Regional Hospital, which forced the hospital to cancel
elective surgeries scheduled for Wednesday, PRH Director of Marketing Megan
Guido said. She said the switches have been partially fixed and the hospital is
fully operational. The hospital expected the switches to be repaired some time
Wednesday.
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