… Last season, playing primarily with the 905, Caboclo slowly seemed to grow into a player that was beginning to match the theory of what kind of player he could be, but it took time, and his emotional growth was a factor.
“That was his biggest improvement last year, taking all the reps he was doing in practices and being able to take them into game play out on the court and being able to make some mistakes and figure out what’s going on,” said Stackhouse, who led the 905 to their first championship last season as they ran roughshod through the league with a 39-11 record.
“I’m not sure he was there at the beginning of the season [and] he’s had some problems controlling his emotions.”
When his rookie season was over and he wanted an escape, Auston Matthews went home. He passed time like any teenager, lounging poolside and racing go-karts with buddies in Scottsdale, Ariz., savoring his parents’ shredded beef tacos, waging war on their new Ping-Pong table. He took up golf and—surprise—caught on fast, starting in triple digits and peaking with an 83 at TPC Scottsdale. Once a week he worked on his flexibility and posture at a local studio called Simply Pilates with a private instructor who knew nothing about him until their first 55-minute session in early June. “It was good to see him free up his brain, no care in the world,” says his father, Brian. “He got to be Auston for a little bit.”
The past two years would’ve depleted anyone’s Duracells, of course. On Sept. 17, 2015, his 18th birthday, Matthews officially became a pro hockey player, when he joined Zurich’s ZSC Lions, a Swiss league team that he would lead with 24 goals. He spent his 19th birthday in Toronto at the ’16 World Cup, where he was the youngest player on the 23-and-under Team North America, but sparkled nonetheless. In between he paced Team USA with nine points at the world championships in Sochi, Russia. Twelve months, three teams, three countries. “Just crazy,” Matthews says. “I needed to wind down.”
… He turns 20 on Halloween and has packed an awful lot into his short career bearing in mind he has already been to a European Championship with England, with the opportunity for Gareth Southgate’s team to book a place at the World Cup by beating Slovenia on Thursday. Rashford’s debut for United owed to a stroke of fortune before a Europa League tie against FC Midtjylland, courtesy of Anthony Martial sustaining a hamstring injury in the warm-up, and to put it into context the teenager’s name did not even appear in the club programme that night. Nineteen months on, a rare appearance in front of the England press corps included one question about what it felt like to belong to the small and exclusive club of the world’s best young footballers, alongside Kylian Mbappé and Neymar.
Another player might allow it to go to his head. Yet an audience with Rashford is a reminder that he has managed to stay remarkably grounded. Indeed, time with the boy from Wythenshawe confirms that everything you might hear about him being an unpretentious and ordinary sort is probably true. He is what is known in the trade as a reluctant interviewee – or rather one who does not seem to understand why these strange journalists, with their tape recorders and inquisitive minds, keep banging on about him living the dream. One certainty: Rashford would much rather continue living it than having to discuss it with a bunch of strangers.
All the storylines fit when you look at the raw numbers. Alex Smith is having the best start to his career, and one of the best three weeks in the NFL, after the Kansas City Chiefs began the process of replacing him. With first-round draft pick Patrick Mahomes II sitting on the bench, Smith has transformed into the aggressive gunslinger that no one thought he wanted to be.
One caveat: He hasn’t.
The disparity between Smith’s traditional passer rating and his total quarterback rating illustrates the help he has received from teammates in what remains a highly conservative passing offense. This is not to say Smith has played poorly. The Chiefs’ attack is best viewed as the most efficient Alex Smith offense imaginable, rather than something new.
The NHL has become faster and more skilled. As the NHL’s new generation of stars look to make their mark, Connor McDavid, Taylor Hall and more have turned to a new age of training.
What is more important to sporting success, culture or cohesion? Liam Napier speaks to a former Wallaby attempting to put data above mythology.
Culture is often used to justify success or failure in sport. The All Blacks win regularly, so their culture is good. The Warriors lose, so theirs is not right . . . or so the theory goes. The very concept of culture is a broad, vague explanation, though. Certainly not one that embraces all aspects.
Former Wallabies prop Ben Darwin and his Gain Line Analytics is drilling much deeper. With data sourced from the army, Nasa and business schools, and then applied to sport, his research suggests cohesion and continuity are far more important – and that the rugby world may be catching the All Blacks.
Coaching cross country can be as much a science as it is a sociology experiment.
But for those who tread those lines expertly and efficiently, there can be a definite return on investment.
Take West Hartford (Connecticut) Hall High cross country head coach Jeff Billings, for example.
The third-year head coach of the program has perfected an Excel spreadsheet that tracks every single runner in his program over their four years at the school. It logs career best times and every race ever run, converts course efforts by scale, and then produces a mathematical rating — ala speed ratings — of aptitude given the level the runner is at in his or her career.
… “Can some wearable technology, biometric systems and big data analytics, help us make the difference? We think it could and that’s why we’re working on this study for the future with USC, because having the right information, at the right time, reduces risk and increases response time, resiliency, prevent injury and improves outcomes.”
Lt Col Warren Cook, Commanding Officer, 2d Bn, 4th Marines, 1st Marine Division, at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, said he was looking to technology to provide a competitive advantage in combat.
“The way to get an advantage is in the 6 inches between your ears—cognitively—how can we outthink the enemy?” he pointed out. “Fatigue is a huge problem. A wearable that measures how much sleep a Marine has had, and a patch to track hydration—because we hike with body armor that doesn’t let your body breathe—that’s a good thing.”
Remove the guesswork from your running form with these brainy footwear upgrades
You may have had a coach who barked about picking up your knees. Or perhaps you looked at the wear patterns of your worn soles to see where you scuffed. Along came motion-control shoes, designed to do the thinking for you, steering your feet through the gait cycle.
All of this is a roundabout way of informing your body to improve form for greater efficiency, speed and reduced likelihood of injury. Here, we look at the future: shoes and insoles that use tiny sensors and smartphone apps so you can receive sophisticated biomechanical data, analysis and even coaching advice on the fly.
Shimmer Sensing is a specialist in clinical-grade wearable sensing systems. In a world where disruptive med-tech start-ups and global fortune 500 companies alike are pursuing wearable tech, Martina Donohue, marketing manager at Shimmer spoke to MTI’s Dave Gray about the rapidly evolving landscape.
Toru Sato and Kyoto University and Panasonic colleagues have refined a wireless, radar-based vital measuring device they developed last year.
The original sensor combined a radar with signal analysis algorithms to measure how the body moves as the heart beats. Software filters isolated the heart’s minute motions while the body moved. However it was extremely large. … The device is now 1/10 of its predecessor’s size.
There’s a consulting company, Article One Partners, that bills itself as a human-powered search engine that is basically…amazing. Click through to be surprised and dumbfounded. Humans: 1; AI: 0.
… “The landscape of college basketball for the player, from middle school to high school to college to the pros, keeps changing,” Krzyzewski said. “We in college have not changed as much as the landscape has changed. We are not equipped right now to handle that. We don’t have a good model, a model that fits what’s happening in basketball, so college basketball’s going to have problems. Before these kids ever come to us, we are not the only ones recruiting these youngsters. Talent is being recruited all the time in every shape and form.”
“There’s no progress, there’s absolutely no progress,” he added. “There is progress on what a player gets in college now, but that is only enforced upon the NCAA because of litigation.”