Some musings as we've now gone 105 days since a game was played in a North American pro sports league, with some baseball, NASCAR and youth sports talk mixed in ...
One of the more interesting things I've heard this offseason in relation to the Patriots — and when we're talking about the Patriots and being interesting, we're grading on a very steep curve — is how they're gauging the shape their players are staying in this offseason.
How are they doing it? Apparently on their phones ... just like anyone else.
It turns out, there's an app for that.
I came across this little tidbit (and it's not earth-shattering) when talking to a source. I asked them, "Can you tell what kind of shape these guys are in right now, aside from seeing their faces in Teams meetings?"
That's when they revealed that the players are entering their workout information (and possibly nutritional intake) through an app.
"Really, we're relying on them being honest," the source said. "Could they be slacking off and just entering their information? Sure. But we'll know come training camp when they have to take the conditioning test."
As with most things that deal with the inner-workings of the Patriots, details are scarce — and the team declined to share any specifics of the project to BSJ, outside of confirming its existence. The Patriots are not a team that is willing to give reporters a ton of background on this stuff.
But there's a lot of apps around, including Volt (working with the Eagles), WHOOP and Myzone, that do this and some other teams have leaked out a little more information.
The Associated Press ran a story with some additional insight:
“We are getting a ton done,” Colts coach Frank Reich says. “With the technology today, they all have heart rate monitors, so they do their workouts, it’s all logged, it all kind of shoots to our system. This isn’t, ‘Hey, I’m watching you.’ This is, ’Hey, I’m interested in you.’ I’m a little bit of a numbers guy, so I like to see these charts. Then I’ll show them to the team.”
...
WHOOP, an online fitness company, partners with the NFLPA to provide wearable monitors for players. Nearly 1,000 players have used the service over the past three years as well as teams from Major League Baseball, the NBA, NFL and Major League Soccer.
The waterproof device can be worn around the wrist or bicep and tracks heart rate and strain during workouts and recovery periods. In addition to measuring heart rate variability, resting heart rate and respiratory rate, it provides information about sleep performance to give coaches the necessary information to ensure safe, efficient workout plans that won’t overstress the body.
“If you go too far and keep training in a state where you’re not recovered, you’re not making physiological gains at that point. You’re just digging a hole,” said vice president of performance Kristen Holmes, a former U.S. national field hockey player and NCAA title-winning coach at Princeton. “It’s not about more and more and more. It’s about being smart and managing load.”
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If you're dying for some kind of in-person sports experience this summer, you'll be able to find it in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League based here in New England. The wood-bat league with college players will start July 2nd.
"The 10th season in Futures League history will feature six teams -- the defending, four-time champion Worcester Bravehearts, Brockton Rox, North Shore (Lynn) Navigators and Westfield Starfires, all of whom play within Massachusetts, as well as the New Britain (Conn.) Bees, and Nashua (N.H.) Silver Knights. The Pittsfield Suns, members of the FCBL in 2019, will not operate in 2020 but are working towards bringing baseball back to Wahconah Park and the Berkshire County of Massachusetts next summer.
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Pretty moving stuff at Talladega on Monday after what happened on Sunday.
Moving and powerful scenes in Talladega as drivers and crew show support for Bubba Wallace. pic.twitter.com/UYtvYAcZLY
— Andrew Gourdie (@AndrewGourdie) June 22, 2020
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A lot of you know I'm a big proponent of youth sports and I love to give back by coaching, whether it be baseball, softball or basketball.
One of the Facebook groups I follow, Softball Is For Girls, had a post today that bothered me a bit ...
People are free to have whatever opinion they want on the rules that are being implemented when it comes to themselves and their families. But I just want youth sports to go off without a hitch for all these kids. And if we're successful this summer, then we have a chance for school sports in the fall and winter.
In that vein, and if it's truly all about the kids, who cares if there are rules as long as they're playing?
I would gladly take any and all restrictive rules you can pile on — geez, is it all that oppressive if the players are spread out over multiple benches and required to wear masks on the field — if you told me the kids would be able to play the rest of the summer without being interrupted.
It's not a very big sacrifice.
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Lighthearted moment of the week:
One of our players — and I love the kid — showed up for a very hot baseball practice this weekend in a tank top and no hat.
One of our assistants didn't miss a beat busting out this line.
Man, I'm so glad youth sports are back. Let's make sure they stay back.