NBA teams might not know much about Darius Bazley yet, but they can safely say he’s the only sneaker intern in the 2019 NBA Draft class.
Last spring, Bazley shocked college basketball when he announced he would forego his commitment to Syracuse to enter the NBA G League. Bazley signed with star agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports in April, but by October, the plan changed again. Bazley would take the year off to train for the NBA draft instead. In addition to three-a-day workouts, Paul also engineered an internship for Bazley as part of an endorsement deal with New Balance.
“They gave me an opportunity to voice my opinion,” Bazley said at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago. “Maybe I have a shoe down the line, putting my shoe out this way versus that way, me being able to learn that also gives me the credibility that I know I have.”
… He hit over .300 with more than 40 homers in both 2017 and 2018. The only other hitters to do so multiple times since the introduction of PED testing in 2004 are Albert Pujols (5 times), Alex Rodriguez (2 times), Miguel Cabrera (2 times), and David Ortiz (2 times). There’s a very real chance that Martinez will join Pujols as the only three-peaters in that rare coupling of elite power and elite average — and Martinez would be doing it in an era when reliever usage and stuff are both far different than they were when Pujols last accomplished the trick in 2010.
“To be able to do both those things is so difficult in today’s game because of velocities, movement, I think that’s why he’s one of the elite hitters in baseball,” said bench coach Ron Roenicke. “When he’s staying with what he does well, it’s pretty amazing. He can hit to all fields. He can hit the off-speed. . . . When he’s disciplined at the plate, he’s as good as anybody in the game.”
… Ask [Clare Polkinghorne] who first went to the World Cup as an 18-year-old in 2007 whether this is the best group of players Australia has ever assembled, and she is unequivocal.
”Yes, I think it is.”
But if the Matildas are to go all the way, they are going to have to rely on more than just the starting XI and star players such as Sam Kerr doing the job for them.
”It’s going to be important that the whole squad of 23 players are contributing and will be used throughout the whole tournament. It’s going to be a real squad performance, and everyone knows that,” she said.
… we have seen maintenance days handed out, we’ve seen players miss practices too and nothing much became of it. However, given that this is a Boston Bruins team that is coming off the back of ten days off, to have a player missing practices before Game 1 seems a little concerning.
That was exactly the case for David Krejci, who has now shaken off whatever illness was ailing him. Obviously, there is still a slight concern as any illness that affects his ability to practice will surely have some sort of lingering effect come game time. Even if that lingering effect is as simple as lacking that extra step.
With organized team activities underway and players back to football, it is important to know where the Dallas Cowboys stand at the most crucial position, quarterback. Dak Prescott has received harsh criticism about his viability as a franchise player, most recently due to the contract-extension negotiations that are ongoing.
While those discussions are being held in the board rooms (more likely across the best ip polycoms money can buy), there’s another set of discussions taking place regarding Prescott in the coaching wings of The Star. That pow wow centers around Prescott’s skillset and just how much new quarterbacks coach Jon Kitna can refine in on offseason and how well new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore can design a scheme that helps Prescott continue on the path blazed at the end of 2018.
An international team of researchers demonstrates that our brain need only perform a few lightning-fast statistical calculations to detect key properties of unknown objects
… With first author and postdoctoral scholar Yoav Adam and a multi-institutional, cross-disciplinary research team, [Adam] Cohen sheds literal light on the brain, transforming neural signals into sparks visible through a microscope.
Those sparks come from a protein called archaerhodopsin. When illuminated with red light, the protein can turn voltage into fluorescence (this and similar tools are known as genetically encoded voltage indicators, or GEVIs). Like an ultrasensitive voltmeter or the hair on your arm, archaerhodopsin changes form when it gets a jolt.
The Cohen team paired this with a similar protein that, when illuminated with blue light, causes neurons to fire. “This way,” Adam said, “we can both control the activity of the cells and record the activity of the cells.” Blue light controls; red light records.
Objective: In two independent study arms, we determine the effects of strength training (ST) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) overload on cardiac autonomic modulation by measuring heart rate (HR) and vagal heart rate variability (HRV).
Methods: In the study, 37 well-trained athletes (ST: 7 female, 12 male; HIIT: 9 female, 9 male) were subjected to orthostatic tests (HR and HRV recordings) each day during a 4-day baseline period, a 6-day overload microcycle, and a 4-day recovery period. Discipline-specific performance was assessed before and 1 and 4 days after training.
Results: Following ST overload, supine HR, and vagal HRV (Ln RMSSD) were clearly increased and decreased (small effects), respectively, and the standing recordings remained unchanged. In contrast, HIIT overload resulted in decreased HR and increased Ln RMSSD in the standing position (small effects), whereas supine recordings remained unaltered. During the recovery period, these responses were reversed (ST: small effects, HIIT: trivial to small effects). The correlations between changes in HR, vagal HRV measures, and performance were weak or inconsistent. At the group and individual levels, moderate to strong negative correlations were found between HR and Ln RMSSD when analyzing changes between testing days (ST: supine and standing position, HIIT: standing position) and individual time series, respectively. Use of rolling 2–4-day averages enabled more precise estimation of mean changes with smaller confidence intervals compared to single-day values of HR or Ln RMSSD. However, the use of averaged values displayed unclear effects for evaluating associations between HR, vagal HRV measures, and performance changes, and have the potential to be detrimental for classification of individual short-term responses.
Conclusion: Measures of HR and Ln RMSSD during an orthostatic test could reveal different autonomic responses following ST or HIIT which may not be discovered by supine or standing measures alone. However, these autonomic changes were not consistently related to short-term changes in performance and the use of rolling averages may alter these relationships differently on group and individual level.
Biometric parameters are the hidden gems found in leading biometric sensor technology that don’t get much attention, but hold a great deal of potential for next generation wearables and hearables. As background, one of the reasons PPG sensor technology has come to dominate the market for biometric sensors in wearables is that the PPG waveform can provide a broad range of insights on blood flow characteristics beyond simple heart rate measurement. This in turn enables a rich set of biometric measures, including continuous heart rate, R-R interval (heart rate variability), VO2 max, cardiac efficiency, blood pressure, and more.
But wait there’s more…the “metadata” about the PPG signal (what Valencell calls Biometric Parameters) can provide important contextual information for advanced use case development.
UEFA has advised FIFA and football’s rule-makers to consider the introduction of temporary concussion substitutes, a year on from Loris Karius‘ blow in Kyiv.
Daily Bruin student newspaper, Jacqueline Dzwonczyk and Jason Maikis from
Three former UCLA football players filed lawsuits against the university, former head coach Jim Mora and the NCAA on Thursday, according to Thakur Law Firm, APC.
John Lopez, Poasi Moala and Zachary Bateman have sued Mora, UCLA and the NCAA for allegedly playing a role in severe injuries the players sustained during their time as Bruins.
“While the lawsuits involve many of the same facts, each case is distinct in its own way,” said Pamela Tahim Thakur, who is representing all three players, in a statement. “But what they all have in common is the pattern of brutality and intentional disregard for player health and safety by Coach Mora and his staff at UCLA.”
Professional basketball players are at increased risk of hip and groin pain. Epidemiologic data exist on the prevalence of hip and groin issues among players in the National Basketball Association (NBA), but little is known about how these injuries affect athletes after retirement. Hypothesis:
A high proportion of retired NBA athletes would have hip and/or groin pain. Study Design:
Cross-sectional survey. Level of Evidence:
Level 4. Methods:
A survey was developed through an interdisciplinary focus group. The survey was developed to capture data regarding demographics, collegiate and professional athletic injuries, and current quality of life and musculoskeletal health. The questionnaire was electronically distributed to all members of the National Basketball Players Association using SurveyMonkey (N = 900). Results:
A total of 108 (12%) retired NBA players completed the survey. More than one-third (36.3%) of athletes report currently experiencing hip and/or groin pain, and 17.6% had received injections for hip or groin conditions since retiring from the NBA. Since retiring, 14.7% of respondents had undergone total hip arthroplasty. The median Tegner activity level scale was 3 out of 10. Nearly one-third (32.4%) of athletes report moderate to severe problems with mobility, and close to half (48%) had moderate to extreme pain/discomfort. Conclusion:
Hip and groin injuries are common among NBA athletes, affecting players throughout their careers and into retirement. A subset of athletes may exist in whom intra-articular hip pathology is not appropriately identified and treated while playing in the NBA. Clinical Relevance:
Retired NBA athletes are at high risk of hip and groin pain after retirement and are more likely to require total hip arthroplasty compared with the general population.
Instead of turning to the usual suspects to fill the void left by Kevin Durant and Boogie Cousins, Steve Kerr has foisted players from the far end of the bench into the starting lineup. Is it nothing more than a weird flex? We ranked the three most surprising new starters.
… Given the messaging from rookie manager Rocco Baldelli, though, these Twins don’t appear to be at risk for getting caught up in the accolades or the gimmicks.
“It’s a good start to a long season, but I think all of us in here are just trying to stay in the present, work on our day-to-day tasks, and not get too ahead of ourselves,” said right fielder Max Kepler, who along with Rosario, center fielder Byron Buxton, and third baseman Miguel Sanó debuted with Minnesota at various points during the 2015 season. Shortstop Jorge Polanco, another product of the Twins farm system, beat them to the majors by a year but didn’t become a regular until 2017.