JOHN DOHERTY: The Is have it: Illinois feels same heat as Iowa, Indiana next

One day after I wrote last week's column on Iowa banning two-a-day high school football practices effective this fall, the Illinois High School Association announced its own plan to battle heat illness. It didn't go as far as Iowa. Instead, it mimicked the NCAA, banning two-a-days on consecu…

Sun setting on two-a-days

The American Journal of Preventive Medicine isn’t the first place administrators, athletic trainers, coaches, and team physicians refer to for guidance. However, a study published there in January and cited last week in Scientific American warrants their interest.

SPORTS MEDICINE: Injuries which are tough to stomach kneed watching

Rather than Manti Te’o not being drafted in the first round, D.J. Hayden being taken by Oakland with the 12th overall pick should have been THE story of last week’s NFL draft.

JOHN DOHERTY: Achilles tendon injuries fatal only to Achilles

According to Greek mythology, Achilles was an invincible warrior during the Trojan War. His power, it was thought, came from being dipped in the River Styx as a child by his mother. However in so doing, she gripped him tightly by the back of the heel, not allowing the water to touch him ther…

Kobe Bryant, Gary Vitti

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, left, puts his head in his hands as trainer Gary Vitti looks on after being injured Friday in Los Angeles. The Lakers won 118-116.

JOHN DOHERTY: Questions loom as NCAA hoops season ends

With Monday's final game of March Madness, we now know which is the best men’s college basketball team in the land.

'New' concussion guidelines long overdue

Since their release eight days ago, the updated Sports Concussion Guidelines issued by the American Academy of Neurology have generated quite the buzz. Every major television network trumpeted the news. Even the Wall Street Journal took interest.

Changes in rules, strategy help to clean up NHL

Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby sits on the bench during a game against the Ottawa Senators in 2011. A year after his return from concussion-like symptoms, Crosby is his old self. And due to the fallout from the devastating hit he took more than two years ago, the NHL may be better off for it.

Changes in rules, strategy help to clean up NHL

PITTSBURGH | The fear is gone. The doubt too for that matter. Ditto the hesitation.

JOHN DOHERTY: For ACL recovery, the mind matters

I have long said an athlete tearing his or her ACL is much like a death in the family. Certainly not the same, but “much like" in that the athlete and his or her family experience genuine grief — with all its stages.

JOHN DOHERTY: ABCs of ACL lost in NBA

Basketball certainly is a contact sport — and that's just in the sports section of the newspaper. The verbal jousting of late has been as bad as I've seen — and that's just among members of the same team.

JOHN DOHERTY: Athletic trainers march on

With a slogan that reads, “Every Body Needs an Athletic Trainer,” the National Athletic Trainers’ Association has designated March as National Athletic Training Month.

JOHN DOHERTY: Athletes drowning in search for Fountain of Youth

It's been 500 years since Ponce De Leon set off from Puerto Rico in search of the Fountain of Youth. Instead, he found Florida.

JOHN DOHERTY: Cardiac safety legislation well-intended but not well-aimed

Over the last four years, the NFL and like-minded groups have had one success after another promoting youth concussion safety legislation in statehouses nationwide.

JOHN DOHERTY: Concussion season is never ending

Football season may have ended Sunday but concussion season did not. Other sports and recreational activities continue and, with them, hits to the head.

JOHN DOHERTY: NFL injury practices far from letter perfect

DEAR JOHN DOHERTY: The New England Patriots played tight end Rob Gronkowski in the divisional playoff game. And he breaks his arm AGAIN! Can you comment on whether a poor and rushed decision was made?-- Thomas Thiel

JOHN DOHERTY: Athletic trainer's presence saves greatest present of all

Having started in the profession as a student athletic trainer at Blinn College (Texas) in 1963, Mike O'Shea should be retired by now.

John Doherty: Alphabet soup a toxic brew

ACL, CTE, HGH, LCL. These letters have dominated sports headlines already this year.

Doctor optimistic after Redskins' RG3 knee surgery

WASHINGTON | If Adrian Peterson can do it, maybe Robert Griffin III can, too.

Doctor optimistic after Redskins' RG3 knee surgery

Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III sits on the bench after being injured during an NFL wild card playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday in Landover, Md.