New Bubble to Help Sun Devils Beat the Heat

Normally you hear about this kind of thing from a northern weather school, but if you've ever been to a day game at Sun Devil Stadium in September or October, you can understand the idea. After working practice schedules around the oppressive heat for so long, ASU has finally constructed an indoor bubble, large enough to house a couple of practice fields with room to spare.

The cost was high, at just around $8.6 million. But to hear ASU associate athletic director Dawn Rogers tell it, this thing is worth every penny.

"During August and pretty much through October we practice at night due to the extreme heat," Rogers said. "That makes it really difficult for players to get up and lift (weight train) at 6 a.m., go to class all day and then to study table and practice. It makes their day extremely long.
"It also makes it difficult for them to recover. What the air structure does is allow us to start with a normal schedule beginning in August and continue on until the team is able to go outside for day practices."

But it doesn't stop there. Rogers went on to say that this isn't just a football facility, but one that several sports will enjoy. Even the band will get use out of it. And finally, the cost of the air conditioning won't be too steep. Partly because they won't have to cool it year-round, but they are looking into using solar panels to help produce the energy needed to cool the facility.

Now will this help on the football field? Time will tell. Other severe weather teams have certainly embraced the bubble idea. But to be able to keep their student-athletes on a somewhat regular schedule, in a cool, comfortable, and potentially environment-friendly structure? I guess the only question is what took so long for this to happen.