Athletic trainers, etc.

Tom Brady's pal and trainer Alex Guerrero has been getting a lot of press lately, and Bellichik has limited his role going forward.

This article explains the situation a bit.

https://sports.yahoo.com/report-patriots-player-refused-strength-155346257.html

This situation points to the larger issue of how athletes get trained and rehabbed by a team's medical staff. I was disappointed when the Celts let go of head trainer and PT Eddie Lacerte, who was their go to guy for 30 years. I hope the medical group that won the turf battle against him proves to be as competent keeping our Celtics healthy through this season and beyond as Eddie was for years. A team's medical staff is fundamentally important to its success or failure. The Portland Trail Blazers, for example, were beset by a string of severe injuries over the years for which I hold the training staff somewhat responsible. You would be amazed at how incompetent the medical staff on some pro teams can be and, moreover, how vicious they can be in defending their turf.

Alex is doing a really superb job with Tom and many other - if not most - of the Patriots. If he were not successful, players would not seek his care and pay out of their own pockets for the services at TB12. It is just that success that makes other medical professionals jealous and go to war to protect their turf. I can speak directly to one example involving the New York Knicks. When Patrick Ewing was the star there in the 1990's he had trouble with his ankles and a knee. One of my associates worked on him regularly and pointed out that Ewing's Quadriceps Vastus Medialis muscle - which extends the knee and stabilizes the patella - was quite weak, and that weakness was really the cause of Patrick's knee problem.

That led to a confrontation with the Knick's head trainer, and the next day my friend was banished. He then went on to train 20 Gold Medal winning Olympic athletes, including, most recently, Justin Gatlin, who beat Usain Bolt in the 100 meters to claim the title the world's fastest man at the latest World Championships. Sports medicine is a full contact sport among the professionals vying for the glory that comes with being associated with a pro team. Again, I hope that Eddie's replacements are up to the task. My newest concern is Jaylen's Achilles tendon. One bit of free advice: Never take Cipro for an extended period - that antibiotic can lead to severe Achilles tendon problems among other neuromuscular ailments. I pray that Jaylen's docs know this.

I cannot find the article, but the Patriots issue with Alex Guerrero may stem from a supplement that Alex Guerrero claims cures the damage done by multiple concussions. The team may be creating a separation, officially or not, due to the pending legal battle over his claim.

gyso

Gyso, that claim was made in 2011, and Alex refunded all the buyers. There is no legal matter pending. That action was settled long ago. I personally think that the supplement may be beneficial, because some supplements are beneficial for brain injuries, especially curcumin, but I don't know what was in Alex's product. I do know that one cannot make any claims about a nutritional product one is selling, whether those claims are valid or not. The rare exceptions are saying that oatmeal is heart healthy, etc.

This is strictly a turf battle between the Pats medical staff, BB, and Alex whose own staff treats many Pats players at the TB12 clinic of which he is co-founder with TB. I believe Robert Kraft is also a co-owner of the TB12 clinic, and he probably also owns all the real estate at Patriot Place of which the TB12 clinic is a renter.

I did a search: alex guerrero concussions

Here are some of the results. You all can decide:

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2015/10/09/tom-brady-alex-guerrero-neurosafe/

http://www.nbcsports.com/boston/new-england-patriots/curran-who-alex-guerrero-heres-what-i-know

https://deadspin.com/sports-illustrated-nakedly-shills-for-tom-bradys-danger-1797276280

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2015/12/19/tb12-investigated/

gyso

Gyso, there is NO pending legal action against Alex Guerrero or TB12. The article observes that these matters were all settled by 2012. Regarding the article's claim that there is a $40B industry selling quack cancer cures,

"Cassileth says “cancer quackery” like Supreme Greens is a $40 billion-per-year industry. "

that is flat out bullshit which seeks to condemn people to an approach to cancer care which is NOT preventative and often NOT successful using conventional means. To each his own, but there are literally billions of people worldwide who use nutritional products to prevent and treat cancers. Don't limit yourself to what medical orthodoxy preaches. Curcumin, blueberries, and selenium are among the top three nutrients  I'd suggest using, and they are quite inexpensive.

Bob, Many thanks for your selenium chart. I just did a search for breast cancer rates of incidence and found this. I am not savvy enough to post the picture:

https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/statistics/state.htm

Curiously there seems to be an overlap between areas with the lowest level of selenium in the soil and the highest rates of breast cancer.

BTW, the recommended supplemental dose for selenium is only 200 micrograms a day. It can definitely be toxic at the milligram level.

It's fine with me that the medical profession is dealing with medical ways to respond to athletic injuries - but it might also be a good time to examine some of the REASONS for the rash injuries - Such as weight,speed and recklessness - using the nba as an example.

    -My own personal observations-
*Weight,,, dinosaur size bigs soaring above the rim and often times crashing to the hardwood floor in an unstable position.
 * Speed and Recklessness,,, And then there is the much lighter player driving and soaring to the rim and facing the threat of a long unstable fall to the unforgiving hardwood floor below.
   Getting to the rim or defending the rim has taken on a new life - one that begs for injuries.

  swish

On the knee injury part of the discussion...

Having had 3 surgeries on my right knee, all injuries in different ways;

1. Baseball - that sliding technique is more important than you think - ACL, lateral and medial collateral ligaments, fractured femur
2. Basketball - didn't listen to docs and rehab long enough after the first surgery - Lateral collateral ligament - dumb teen/angry parents
3. Running onto the football field in pregame intro as head coach - yes, really - torn meniscus

Two different surgeons, same comment; the human knee is simply not built for the stress athletics places on it. No trainer can do anything to stop the injury. Proper warmup techniques can't hurt. The best prevention is strengthening surrounding areas, or not playing.

The best prevention is strengthening surrounding areas, or not playing.

True dat.

worcester wrote:The best prevention is strengthening surrounding areas, or not playing.

True dat.

I think the best prevention would be to reinvent the game and play it like it was played back in the Russell era - guys playing a game in their underwear - a game more like touch football then the NFL.

 swish

swish wrote:

worcester wrote:The best prevention is strengthening surrounding areas, or not playing.

True dat.

I think the best prevention would be to reinvent the game and play it like it was played back in the Russell era - guys playing a game in their underwear - a game more like touch football then the NFL.

 swish

I've thought about this scenario. I do not remember injury issues being this predictable in previous eras.

Part of the problem could be the refs. They are all over the place. That can lead to player frustration. I've seen a lot of dirty plays. I think Crowder deliberately hurt Gordon, not that the result was deliberate. Perk got hurt on a dirty play. It looked like a player deliberately kickd at Jayson Tatum. I don't think this is Kermit Washington throwing dangerous punches, but I think there are too many players who couldn't care less about making dirty plays.

I don't want touch football for hoops as Swish puts it, but I am sick and tired of unnecessary bad sportsmanship. Like D Wade tearing off Rondo's arm or Kobe used to by coincidence (?) kick the defender while taking jump shots.

Daryl Stingley getting paralyzed because dirty hits were popular in football.

It's not all about dirty plays. Injuries will happen. I just think sometimes guys are getting hurt, like Hayward, when it should never have happened due to an "unnatural play." I forget what they're called. That might be it. There is a new phrase. I gotta go. They're singing the national anthem. Chicago is due a beat down.

bobheckler wrote:

NYCelt wrote:On the knee injury part of the discussion...

Having had 3 surgeries on my right knee, all injuries in different ways;

1. Baseball - that sliding technique is more important than you think - ACL, lateral and medial collateral ligaments, fractured femur
2. Basketball - didn't listen to docs and rehab long enough after the first surgery - Lateral collateral ligament - dumb teen/angry parents
3. Running onto the football field in pregame intro as head coach - yes, really - torn meniscus

Two different surgeons, same comment; the human knee is simply not built for the stress athletics places on it. No trainer can do anything to stop the injury. Proper warmup techniques can't hurt. The best prevention is strengthening surrounding areas, or not playing.

NYCelt,

Somewhere out there Joe Namath is hobbling to the medicine cabinet for his next pill and saying "No shit, Dick Tracy".



bob



.

Bob,

I think Joe Willie got himself some new replacement knees.

Probably still can't get Suzy Kolber to give him a kiss though.

Regards