Vancouver Canucks forward J.T. Miller thinks his team is being rushed onto the ice after a COVID-19 outbreak, saying it is “dangerous to a lot of players.”
“What we’re being asked to do is not going to be too safe, if you’re asking me,” Miller told reporters on Wednesday.
Miller added: “It’s kind of frustrating, if I’m being honest with you. We try to talk about the No. 1 priority being the players health and their families’ safety, and it’s almost impossible to do what they’ve asked us to do here on our return.”
… Lance is the most mysterious potential star in this month’s NFL draft. He is 6-foot-4 and 226 pounds, has played in a pro-style offense in college that demanded he make reads at the line, runs the 40 in somewhere around 4.5 seconds and, in response to a question, told the students at Holy Redeemer that he once threw a ball 79 yards. “But that was a while ago,” he said. “I think I can beat that now.” It sounded more like an aside than a flex.
In truth, Lance seems to have been created for the sole purpose of confounding, and enticing, NFL decision-makers. He has shown all the physical (speed, arm strength, accuracy) and mental (ability to read a defense, leadership, pattern identity) qualities NFL scouts look for, but in precious few repetitions to evaluate their next-level utility. Lance presents the kind of conundrum that no longer seemed possible: He is an underexposed quarterback.
Through the NFLPA, players from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks have issued statements expressing their intent to forgo participating in voluntary offseason workouts. The statements were released amid NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith and president JC Tretter issuing a letter to players encouraging them to not attend voluntary workouts because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The NFLPA’s leadership has been operating under the hope that the NFL would be open to having another virtual offseason. Tretter reportedly told players earlier this month that the NFLPA wants virtual OTAs and minicamps before an in-person training camp. The NFL countered by proposing that the first two weeks of offseason programs be virtual before starting in-person sessions. Based on the NFLPA’s letter to the players, along with the Broncos, Seahawks and Buccaneers’ statements through the NFLPA, the NFL’s counter is not good enough.
New legislation aims to create a change for athletic trainers in New York.
New York currently allows for certification of the profession. Athletic trainers and advocates say the new legislation would create a licensing procedure for these workers.
The original scope of practice for the profession was codified in the 1990s, and advocates say much has changed since then.
What long-term effects do repeated vigorous motion have on professional pitchers’ arms? A team from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania set out to discover the details. Their work, “Chronic Adaptations of the Posterior Rotator Cuff in Professional Pitchers,” appears in the February 16, 2021 edition of The American Journal of Sports Medicine.
Co-author Stephen J. Thomas, Ph.D., A.T.C. is with the Department of Exercise Science at Temple and told OSN: “Baseball pitchers are known to lose glenohumeral internal rotation range of motion due to the stress of pitching. However, there are three possible sources that lead to this loss. Bone (humeral retroversion), posterior capsule tightness, and posterior rotator cuff tightness. We have been able to isolate humeral retroversion and posterior capsule, however previously there was no way to isolate posterior rotator cuff tightness. We hypothesized that muscle architecture (pennation and muscle thickness) would be predictive of rotator cuff tightness in both the infraspinatus and teres minor.”
“Sports medicine clinicians often use an individualized treatment approach. Therefore, knowing the specific adaptation responsible for the reduced shoulder range of motion (ROM) is required to optimize their rehabilitation program.”
Dabo Swinney’s infatuation with multi-sport standouts dates back to his elementary school days, when he’d pedal his bike to Pelham (Ala.) High every time Bo Jackson and rival high school McAdory rolled into town.
“I watched him run track, I watched him play basketball, I watched him play football and I watched him play baseball,” Swinney said. “He was as good of an athlete as I’ve seen. Ever.”
Swinney has been in pursuit of the next Bo Jackson ever since, and although it’s unlikely that an athlete of Jackson’s vast and varied abilities will surface any time soon, Swinney has been diligent in that quest.
AI has the potential to automate people out of their jobs, and in some cases, it will. But while we should carefully consider the risk of replacing human capabilities, it’s important to realize that AI has enormous potential to augment them as well: it can boost the creativity of our work, help us learn better, deliver healthcare more effectively, and make our societies more sustainable. Like any tool, however, AI and its relationship with humans has as much to do with its interface as it does with the underlying capabilities it provides. Does it amplify our actions and remain attentive to our goals—even as we revise them—or is it a black box that accomplishes tasks autonomously?
Digital transformation has sparked a host of IoT devices that are bringing connected experiences to our homes and our lives. Smart speakers, for example, continue to rise in demand, with 51 percent of people saying they currently own a smart speaker or intend to purchase one soon, according to our State of Play 2020 Report But this is just the beginning — with the technology to enable smart displays, we’re enabling new categories of connected devices such as fitness machines, mirrors, interactive displays, and more.
Take a stationary bike, for example. On its own, it’s a solitary way to pedal and increase your heart rate. Combined with a smart display, however, a stationary bike transforms into an immersive workout experience, allowing you to virtually ride trails from across the globe, follow a professional instructor, and even connect and compete with other riders in real time. Camera and video capabilities make it possible to have live two-way conversations with trainers, and even AI assistants that can help correct posture, positions, and alleviate injuries. And of course, connectivity makes all of this possible.
Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Russia) from
Skoltech researchers have developed a prototype of a fluorescence-based sensor for continuous detection of cortisol concentrations in real time, which can help monitor various health conditions. The paper was published in the journal Talanta.
Cortisol, a steroid hormone commonly known as the “stress hormone,” plays a significant role in the regulation of a range of physiological processes from glucose levels to blood pressure and inflammation. Reduced or elevated cortisol levels are linked to various diseases and symptoms, but accurate and reliable continuous cortisol monitoring in vivo is yet out of reach. Existing laboratory-based methods such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), reliable as they are, cannot be adapted to real-time monitoring due to sample preparation requirements.
“First of all, any analyte monitoring in vivo is a challenge. Secondly, cortisol is a relatively small molecule. Finally, it is always destructive to take a blood test from mouse/rats or human patients. The reason is simple, as any such kind of tests initiate stress and elevate the cortisol concentration, making the test inconclusive. The goal is to develop an implantable cortisol sensor, which would work in real-time placed in blood flow,” Vladimir Drachev of Skoltech and the University of North Texas, a coauthor of the paper, explains.
The Ohio State quarterback came into the year as the clear no. 2 passer in the draft, then had a banner season. Yet now he’s seemingly sliding down draft boards due to clichéd critiques that reinforce the uphill battle Black QB prospects face.
D.C. United head coach Hernan Losada turned a few heads in a press conference last week when he lamented, in some detail, his dissatisfaction with the fitness levels of his players when they reported for their first preseason under their new leader.
“I didn’t expect to have the team so unfit,” declared the 38-year-old Argentine, who espouses an aggressive high-pressing philosophy in the mold of his countrymen Matias Almeyda and Marcelo Bielsa. “If we want to compete with teams that are going to be better than us, teams that have more budget and better players than us, we need to be the fittest team in the league.”
A few days later I had the chance to ask a veteran sports science specialist about Losada’s remarks, and got an interesting response.
“Everyone likes to say that they’re the hardest-working or fittest team in the league. To be the fittest team in the league you have to work really, really smart AND really hard, and also recruit the right athletes,” said the specialist. “Being the fittest team in the league has a huge recruitment element as well.”
And that in a nutshell is what makes the arrival of new D.C. general manager Lucy Rushton — beyond the obviously historic nature of just the second woman hired as a GM in MLS’s 26 years of existence — such a notable development in the Black-and-Red’s 2021 metamorphosis.
Major League Soccer today released the Roster Rules and Regulations for the 2021 MLS Season, including details of the new U22 Initiative as well as parameters to provide players with professional development opportunities in MLS front offices.
With a continued focus on strategic investment in players, MLS clubs will now be able to sign up to three young players, age 22 and younger, to lucrative contracts at a reduced budget charge, decreasing the risk associated with acquiring or retaining players who are still approaching their prime.
While players signing from other professional leagues must be joining on their first MLS contract, the initiative provides enhanced opportunities for Homegrown Players and SuperDraft signings.
… Among the newest set of minor league experiments announced on Wednesday was one that could represent once-in-a century legislation, moving the pitchers’ mound from its traditional spot at 60 feet, six inches away from the plate.
In the second half of its season, the Atlantic League will move the mound 12 inches further back — 61 feet, six inches from the plate.
This is intended as a counter-adjustment to the dramatic improvements pitchers have made in recent years. Working with private businesses like Driveline Baseball and analytically-inclined front offices and coaches, pitchers have become nastier, increasing fastball velocity and breaking ball spin. Strikeouts have increased in 15 consecutive seasons.
Several NBA general managers and team health officials say the unorthodox and compressed schedule, attempting to make up games postponed due to COVID-related issues, has led to a rash of injuries around the league, with several teams fearing player health has reached a boiling point.
These concerns have been voiced in interviews with ESPN by a number of GMs, members of coaching staffs and athletic training staffers, though there is universal acknowledgment that the schedule is the byproduct of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Hands down, it’s the worst schedule I’ve seen in 25 years in the league,” said one veteran assistant coach. “It’s utterly insane.”