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…

'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.

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.

John Doherty: Concussion law has more than one flaw

Since becoming effective in July of last year, the Concussion Law in Indiana has generated as many questions as answers.

JOHN DOHERTY: Enhancement the NFL doesn't need

Because concussion is the diagnosis du jour, more than a few members of the media were quick to question whether it played a role in the monstrosity perpetrated by Jevon Belcher two weeks ago.

JOHN DOHERTY: Urlacher deserves credit but payment is due

It was inevitable, really. I give the guy credit for lasting as long as he did. Yet Brian Urlacher's most devout fans have to admit that, even prior to his hamstring strain last week, he is no longer the dominant player he once was.

JOHN DOHERTY: Keep concussions in perspective in wake of Chiefs tragedy

It didn't take long — hours in fact — for members of the media to start pointing the finger at concussion in the wake of the murder-suicide perpetrated by Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher. In the same breath, memories of the tragedies involving Junior Seau and Dave Duerson were dredged back up.

John Doherty: Football hits big time at Purdue

Barely bowl eligible and having just fired its head coach, Purdue is hardly the place one would think of as the center of the football universe. Surely, that distinction – for now -- belongs 112 miles to the northeast in South Bend at the University of Notre Dame.

Pediatricians confirm enormous value of athletic trainers at high schools

Two weeks ago, the American Academy of Pediatrics' annual membership meeting in New Orleans featured a position statement, reported on in this space at the time, on cheerleader safety.

John Doherty: Video views verify hits' hurts and healing

INDIANAPOLIS | It was the talk of the Indiana Athletic Trainers' Association's annual fall meeting on Saturday evening, here. The “it” was the right knee injury suffered by South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore.

John Doherty: Heady times across sports spectrum

It doesn't seem to matter where you are or what sport holds your interest, there's no escaping the controversy of concussion.

JOHN DOHERTY: 4-H troubles sports can do without

This year marks the 100th anniversary of 4-H clubs being known as 4-H.

JOHN DOHERTY: Greenberg's dream emerges from moonlight of concussion

Field of Dreams is one of this native Bostonian's favorite movies. And not because main character Ray Kinsella of Iowa drives cross-country to Fenway Park — essentially bypassing Wrigley Field — to find the meaning of the messages he hears from “the voice.”

John Doherty: Making dollars and sense of ACL injuries

After an off week, Purdue's football team will finish its nonconference schedule by hosting Marshall on Saturday. When the Boilermakers' offense takes the field, will quarterback Robert Marve be in the huddle or still on the sideline?

Spinal cord injuries exact a staggering cost

It’s been 10 days since Tulane safety Devon Walker injured his cervical spine when he collided with a teammate as they tackled a Tulsa receiver. Surgery to stabilize the fracture followed a day later. Since then, not a word about progress. And when it comes to tragedies such as these, no new…

JOHN DOHERTY: ESPN football series a puzzle whose pieces don't fit

Last week, ESPN presented a “cross-platform” series entitled “Football at a Crossroads.” Using its broadcasts, webpage, and magazines, the sports media giant attempted to examine health issues at all levels of the sport.

Numbing tale worth circulating

When I looked up the story, I couldn't believe it occurred so long ago. However, it is worth retelling. And New York Met pitcher Dillon Gee can probably credit the story and Major League Baseball's devotion to history with saving his arm if not his life.

Is your school ready for the new concussion law?

It may be hard to believe on this relatively early date in July but the fall high school sports season in Indiana starts in just 20 days. Illinois will follow suit 10 days later.

JOHN DOHERTY: Getting to the heart of screening questions

Last month, 2011 Hobart High School graduate Sam Moore, who played football and baseball for the Brickies, collapsed while jogging and could not be revived. In March, Lincoln-Way High School senior baseball player Tom Schuman of New Lenox died in his sleep.

Conditioning sessions for improving life, not ending it

ST. LOUIS | The National Athletic Trainers’ Association used its 63rd annual meeting, here last week, as the venue for the release of an inter-association consensus statement on “Preventing Sudden Death in Collegiate Conditioning Sessions.”

JOHN DOHERTY: Single kidney not double trouble

The conventional wisdom, when I was a younger athletic trainer, had been not to allow young athletes with only one working kidney to play in collision/contact sports.

JOHN DOHERTY: Unexpected results in Mayo Clinic football study

On Thursday, 80-plus lawsuits filed by more than 2,000 ex-players against the National Football League were consolidated into one action in Philadelphia federal court. With that news, the unrelenting assault on football continued.

Doherty column: Do ultra-endurance sports fit the heart?

Dr. Ken Cooper is referred to as the “Father of Aerobics,” thanks to his work with NASA, the United States Air Force, and his own Cooper Institute, founded in 1970.

Bulls timing it right with Rose

Last week, Knicks rookie guard Iman Shumpert had the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee reconstructed. That's the same ligament, in the same knee, torn on the same day as Bulls guard Derrick Rose.

Rose a crucial loss on real balance sheet

Let's get this out of the way right away. Those of you blaming Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau for Derrick Rose's injury, just stop. There was still more than 1:20 to play, and with the NBA's 24-second shot clock, a 76ers comeback from 12 down on Saturday wasn't bloody likely but it wasn't im…

No equality in overuse

The universally dreaded anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury — and how women are more likely to suffer one — was covered in this space last week.

JOHN DOHERTY: Remembering an anniversary we can't afford to forget

It's not that far away -- in miles or time passed. Perhaps you remember but if you don't, Fennville, Mich., is just 120 miles from here, a two hour ride, tracing the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan.

JOHN DOHERTY: No secret to return to success

Win or lose, the Bulls miss Derrick Rose.

LeGrand, Norton, Wozniak show real spine

To best understand the sports medicine story of 2011, a trip back to 2010 is required. Oct. 16, 2010, to be exact.

JOHN DOHERTY: It's official: Referees required

On Nov. 18, 1994, referee Paul Danko collapsed during the Munster Basketball O'Rama. And despite the best efforts of athletic trainer Jose Madrigal, medical professionals in the crowd and responding paramedics, the Calumet Region officiating giant could not be resuscitated.

Where do we head next?

Last week was not a good one for football, hockey, and soccer - at least when it comes to news reports regarding the safety of those games.

Short preseason will reveal NBA's achilles heel

Lament ye not Bears fans, over running back Matt Forte's knee injury. Nobody likes losing their star tailback — or their quarterback for that matter — but as Bears head coach Lovie Smith said matter-of-factly on Sunday, it's "part of the game."

NSAIDs: Not Smart Addition in Defense against pain

Last week I decried the use of caffeine — or any other stimulant — as a performance enhancer. Much the same can be said for another class of drugs which many may not think of as enhancing performance. However, that is precisely the way these drugs are used all too often.

JOHN DOHERTY: Thinking through theories on Theo

Before going any further, let me make one thing clear. Theo Epstein was a far more successful general manager than Jim Hendry.

JOHN DOHERTY: When to reture is up in the air

Over the weekend, Army beat Northwestern 21-14; Navy gave South Carolina all it could handle before falling 24-21; and Air Force was idle.

ACL-U

Purdue University athletes suffered a rash of anterior cruciate ligament injuries during the 2010-11 school year. The Boilermakers subsequently terminated their strength and conditioning staff, replacing three full-time coaches with nine.

Mental health sometimes fragile in strongest athletes

On Friday, we saw two of Chicago's sports sons -- one adopted, one native -- come unraveled.

Events outpacing plans for concussion monitoring

A bill sits on Gov. Pat Quinn's desk in Illinois, awaiting his signature, which will compel all schools offering interscholastic sports to follow IHSA rules regarding concussion.

JOHN DOHERTY: Hendry proves to be an oversight expert

Saturday's game at Wrigley Field was a microcosm of the Cubs season: a 13-3 loss featuring Carlos Zambrano trying out for batting practice pitcher for the Marlins and Alfonso Soriano in such a slump that he was hitting seventh, behind catcher Geovany Soto -- he of the .235 batting average.