COOPERSTOWN, NY – There are just a few shopping days remaining before the July 31 trade deadline, with contenders trying to decide which prospects they’re comfortable with moving, and sellers trying to be as greedy as possible.

While both sides seek the perfect compromise, they need to look no further than the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros for the ideal trade.

These two teams pulled off the perfect trade in December, and seven months later would each do it again in a heartbeat.

The Astros decided they weren’t going to be able to meet All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker’s price tag to keep him from becoming a free agent after this season and shopped him during the winter to make sure they could receive a healthy return before he walked way. They found the ideal dance partner with the Cubs, who believed Tucker would be the missing piece to lead them back into the postseason.

The Astros, who won the American League West last year while Tucker missed half the season with a fractured shin, weren’t going to simply unload Tucker for prospects. They still planned to contend in the AL West. Astros general manager Dana Brown wanted third baseman Isaac Paredes, who had fallen out of favor in Chicago but whose pull power would be perfect for the Crawford Boxes in left field. They wanted a top prospect to go with him and identified 6-foot-3, 224-pound third baseman Cam Smith, the 14th pick in the 2024 draft. And they wanted a pitcher thrown in the deal, Hayden Wesneski.

“I remember digging into the Cubs roster with Dana,’ Astros manager Joe Espada said, “and Cam was one of the first names that popped up. I’m looking at the video and I’m like, ‘This dude is the real deal.’ He hadn’t played a ton in the minor leagues, but every clip you saw, you saw the athleticism.

“Then, you start making call, and you about the makeup of the kid. All of a sudden, you’re getting real excited about him.’

A deal was born. The Cubs believed they pulled off a coup and would worry about Tucker’s free agency later. The Astros had a third baseman to replace Alex Bregman, who was a free agent, and one of the premier but unproven prospects in the game in Smith.

Debates raged who got the best of the trade, with questions being asked whether the Astros didn’t get enough in return, or the Cubs gave up too much.

Well, nearly eight months later, and the deal has worked out perfectly for both sides.

The Cubs are sitting tied with the Brewers for the best record (61-43) in the National League with Tucker performing just as they envisioned, hitting .274 with 18 homers and 58 RBIs. And the Astros have the best record (60-45) in the AL West, with Paredes hitting 19 home runs with 50 RBIs and playing exceptional defense until he went on the injured list when he pulled his hamstring last week.

Yet, the biggest surprise of all is Smith, 22.

He not only made the opening day roster as the starting right fielder, despite just 32 games in the minors and having never played the position in his life, but is a rookie of the year candidate. He’s hitting .260 with seven homers, 17 doubles, 43 RBIs and a .718 OPS, to go along with his defense that ranks third in outs above average among all right fielders.

“I said from day one this will be a good trade for both sides,’ Brown told USA TODAY Sports. “We knew exactly what we were giving up, one of the top players in Major League Baseball, so we knew we had to get a pretty decent return back.

“We wanted to compete in the present and compete in the future. This trade really allowed us to that. Essentially, we got two everyday players, a starting pitcher, and 14 years of control for one year of control of Tucker. We thought it was a good deal all of the way around.’

It’s the deal that should be the exemplary role model for all trades this week where everyone comes out happy and no one having a single regret.

Now, if the Cubs can’t re-sign Tucker and aren’t playing deep into October, perhaps the sentiments will shift, but for the Astros, they not only are returning to the playoffs without Tucker, but they have a bona fide star for the future.

“He’s going to be a perennial All-Star,’ Houston’s Jose Altuve says. “It’s amazing what he’s doing. He’s 22, he barely spent any time in the minor leagues, and it’s as if he’s been in the league for 10 years.

“He wants to be great, too. I’m telling you, this guy is going to be a star for a long, long time.’

Says Gold Glove first baseman Christian Walker: “He’s incredible. It’s crazy to think how young he is and what he’s doing with hardly any experience. Once he gets a little time, he’s going to be a .300 hitter with 30-plus homers every year.

“This guy is going to be a star for a long, long time.’

Just 13 months ago Smith was in the College World Series with Florida State, and now he’s trying to help lead the Astros to their fifth World Series appearance since 2017. Despite zero experience in right field, he’s already become one of the top defenders in the game at the position.

“The crazy thing is that we asked him to play a new position at the highest level,’ Brown says, “and to do it on a good club. It’s not like we’re a rebuilding club. He’s already a plus defender. He’s still going through his growing pains, but he’s got a really chance to be a really good player.

“He’s got a special makeup. He’s very likable, and very competitive at the same time, which is hard to find.’

Says Espada: “It’s amazing how he’s adapted to this league. I think we were hoping he could maybe help us at some point during the season when we got him. No one thought he’d make our team out of spring training, but was never overwhelmed. All of the attention he was getting from the Kyle Tucker trade never bothered him. He handled the whole thing so well.

“He was looking really good at third base, but we had an opening in right field. We wanted to see how he looked there, and in three weeks he picked it up and showed that he could play the position. He made the adjustment quickly, throwing to the right base, reading swings, all of the things to make himself a complete player.’

Smith took the job, won a spot on the opening day roster, and has ran with it.

“It’s like I’m living out my dream every single day,’ Smith tells USA TODAY Sports. “I mean, I was living out my dream at Florida State, too, and the next step obviously was the major league level.’

Still, but this quickly?

Learning a position he had never played in his entire life, playing shortstop in high school and third base in college? Hitting major league pitching when he had only 134 plate appearances in the minors?

Are you kidding?

“It’s just so impressive,’ Astros hitting coach Troy Snitker says. “Here’s a young kid who has never seen this good of pitching consistently, and he’s holding his own without being overmatched. You just don’t see that.’

Smith still has trouble believing it himself, almost awestruck when he met Marcus Semien of the Texas Rangers, Francisco Lindor of the New York Mets and Lawrence Butler of the Athletics. He had goosebumps just being on the same field as Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton, even though he didn’t meet him.

Oh, and don’t even get him started on the sheer thrill of facing Shohei Ohtani at the plate, with a strikeout never feeling better.

“I think what helped me so much is learning from these guys, my own teammates,’ Smith says. “They made me believe I could do this. It would have been pretty tough to do it on my own. Just having the comfort of talking to veteran guys, asking them questions, and having them let me know it’s going to be all right.

“They told me, ‘Hey, you’re here for a reason.”’

Smith, after getting off to a slow start, even solicited the advice of Hall of Fame first baseman Fred McGriff over lunch in Tampa, Florida, in May, with McGriff stressing to him the importance of being aggressive at the plate. He has hit .277 with four homers, 31 RBIs and a .755 OPS since early May.

While it would have been easy for Smith to melt down while trying to live up to the void left by Tucker, Smith never blinked. Instead of it being a burden, he viewed it as an opportunity.

Come on, someone had to replace Tucker in right field, why not the guy who was in the same trade?

“I think it’s pretty cool, really,’ Smith says. “I talk about it all of the time.’

Smith smiles easily, showing the confidence of a 10-year veteran, not a rookie. Sure, he was given a golden opportunity, but he was the one who took advantage of it. He’s the one who showed up first every day to spring training, arriving to the gym before 6 a.m., often the last to leave the complex. He was the one who took fly balls in the hot sun before workouts each day with Astros outfield coach Dave Clark. He was the one who got into the cage for extra hitting before the veterans with Snitker. He was the one in the weight room late in the afternoon when others were on the golf course.

“He’s way ahead of his time,’ Walker says. “His maturity, the skill set, the talent, the raw ability; it’s all right there. He’s a freak athlete, but his ability to ask some good questions, and to think his way through a situation, has been impressive. He knows when to listen. He knows when to ask a question.

“There’s a lot of young guys that just rely on their skill set, but right away, he embraced the work ethic. You see him taking notes on guys, studying scouting reports, and doing all of those things behind the scenes. There’s a time and place to just let it fly, and trust your ability, but his stance was calculated, and tactical, and playing chess right from the get-go. And when he pairs that up with his skill set, and how smart he is, it’s obvious that he’s trying to play for a long, long time.

“He’s not just trying to have some instant success.’

The Astros players still talk about his 22^nd birthday in spring training when Espada asked Smith to address his teammates. He wasn’t nervous one bit. He spoke confidently, eloquently, as if he had spent his life as a public speaker.

“I think that’s when we all started to fall in love with him,’ Espada said. “We have a lot of veterans in this clubhouse, World Series champions, All-Stars, so it can be intimidating for a young guy. Not him. We knew we had something special.’

The entire Astros team has fallen in love with Smith and his work ethic. He’s an integral part of their success, and who knows, one day could be the face of the team.

“He’s a guy I look up to, he’s an inspiration,’ says Astros second baseman Brice Matthews, who made his major league debut in July. “He’s such a great player. He’s so calm every moment of the game. Just seeing how he’s dealing with everything, I’ve been leaning on him a lot just to see how his transition was through all of this. It helped me slow things down a little bit.

“It’s super fun watching him go out there and play great defense, and then come back and just be a great hitter all of the time. Really, it’s no surprise that he’s as good a player as he is, seeing the work that he puts in every day, being the first guy in the cage, and being super diligent in his preparation. It helps when you’re an uber athlete like he is, it’s like he can do anything. He runs like a gazelle out there.

“He’s going to be a great player in this game for a long time.’

Smith hears the praise from his teammates and coaches, shrugs his broad shoulders, and says there’s plenty of work to be done.

The Astros have a four-game lead in the AL West, but also have 17 players on the injured list. They need Smith more than ever. It’s already been a long season for the rookie, who never had played more than 66 games in a collegiate season, and the team has reminded him to ease on his workout routine since they plan on playing deep into October.

“It’s all I know, is hard work,’ Smith says. “I just have a burning desire to show up and prepare. This is a winning ball club. We’re competing for first place. And I’m going to do everything I can to help get us into the playoffs.

“It’s an awesome feeling to be part of this.’

Around the basepaths

– The Seattle Mariners, even after acquiring first baseman Josh Naylor from the Arizona Diamondbacks, are aggressively pursuing Naylor’s former teammate, All-Star third baseman Eugenio Suárez.

The Yankees had extensive talks with the D-backs for Suárez but thought the price tag was too high when they pivoted and traded for Colorado Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon, who is superior defensively.

– The Diamondbacks never engaged in contract extension talks this season with Suárez.

– The Chicago White Sox want third baseman Mark Vientos from the New York Mets in any deal for Luis Robert Jr., who has a .983 OPS in 11 July games.

– Trade interest in Miami Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara has soared since his last start with teams now convinced he will be moved by the July 31 deadline.

– The Cleveland Guardians have no interest in trading reliever Cade Smith and would have to be overwhelmed by an offer to move closer Emmanuel Clase.

– Teams believe that the best three relievers traded at the deadline will be Jhoan Duran of the Minnesota Twins, David Bednar of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Ryan Helsley of the St. Louis Cardinals.

– The Pirates continue to listen to offers for everyone on the team but Paul Skenes and Oneil Cruz and are still expected to move starter Mitch Keller.

– The Philadelphia Phillies, after signing free agent David Robertson to a $6 million contract, want to add one more high-leverage reliever by the deadline.

– The Boston Red Sox have no plans to trade outfielder Jarren Duran at the deadline, rejecting the San Diego Padres’ offers, and are more likely to move him this winter.

– The Padres have been quietly shopping starter Dylan Cease for about a month for controllable players who can help them now – and also in the future.

– The New York Yankees are open to trading prized outfield prospect Spencer Jones, rival GMs say.

– Now that the Rockies have traded McMahon, it opens the door for Rockies third-base prospect Kyle Karros, the son of former Dodgers first baseman Eric Karros, to make his MLB debut.

– The Houston Astros would like to find a third baseman while Isaac Paredes recovers from his hamstring tear but have no interest in reigniting talks with the St. Louis Cardinals for third baseman Nolan Arenado. They had agreed to a trade during the winter, and the Astros had permission to speak to Arenado, but they couldn’t convince him they were still going to contend this year.

“We tried to convince him that we’re not rebuilding, that the window is always open with our owner,’ GM Dana Brown said. “We planned to compete in 2025 and beyond. He misunderstood the plan.’

– Teams that have been heavily scouting the Diamondbacks view Merrill Kelly as their best available pitcher ahead of Zac Gallen. Kelly, 36, has a career 2.25 ERA in four postseason starts. Each are free agents after the season, with the Cubs expressing interest as they scour the market for a starter.

– Atlanta DH Marcell Ozuna, who has 10-and-5 rights and can veto any trade, is now expected to approve any deal if the team guarantees him everyday playing time. He recently lost his starting job with Atlanta.

– The Yankees now have about $66 million invested in former Rockies third basemen with McMahon and recently released D.J. LeMahieu. McMahon is owed $16 million in 2026 and 2027.

– Even with Atlanta All-Star second baseman Ozzie Albies’ struggles this year, Atlanta plans to pick up his $7 million option this winter and will at least listen to trade offers for him. Albies also has a $7 million club option in 2027.

– The biggest surprise at the trade deadline would be if the Dodgers don’t come up with another closer. They have checked in with virtually every team for bullpen help.

They also are looking to upgrade their outfield with Michael Conforto’s season-long struggles and have expressed interest in Minnesota Twins outfielder Harrison Bader and Cardinals utility man Brendan Donovan.

– There is talk among MLB officials of moving the World Baseball Classic to the All-Star break.

– The San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks will play a series in Mexico City next April.

– Ichiro Suzuki says he will give his Hall of Fame speech in English at Sunday’s induction ceremony.

– Tigers starter Jack Flaherty’s two-year, $35 million contract turned into $45 million when he made his 15^th start, triggering an escalator clause. He is now guaranteed $20 million next year but has an opt-out.

– The Nationals say that their prized young core of James Wood, C.J. Abrams, MacKenzie Gore and Dylan Crews is staying put.

– The Cubs desperately want another starter at the deadline, targeting Mitch Keller of the Pirates, and would include outfield prospect Owen Caissie to make it work.

–The Milwaukee Brewers will start listening to offers for starter Nestor Cortes, who completed his last rehab start.

– The Texas Rangers still plan to be aggressive at the deadline, believing that if they can just get into the playoffs, they like their chances as much as anyone with their fabulous rotation led by Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi.

– The Diamondbacks had no intention of trading Josh Naylor so quickly, but the Mariners’ offer overwhelmed them, and they quickly moved, acquiring pitching prospects Brandyn Garcia and Ashton Izzi.

– The Kansas City Royals are showing little interest in trading starter Seth Lugo and would love to sign him to an extension.

– Is there a bigger surprise than the Miami Marlins of late? They have a 24-12 record since June 11, with only the Milwaukee Brewers having a better record in this stretch.

– There were nine catcher’s interference calls in 2002.

There were 56 catcher’s interference calls as of midweek, after a record 100 last season.

– Recent history shows that just getting into the postseason as a wild-card team does not provide nearly the same odds of winning the World Series as a division winner.

Since 2018 (excluding the 2020 shortened COVID-19 season), 13 of the 15 AL wild-card teams were eliminated in the AL division series round. One team lost in the AL championship series round. The other lost in the World Series.

In the NL, eight of the 15 wild-card teams were eliminated in the NLDS, four teams lost in the NLCS, two teams lost in the World Series, and one team (the Washington Nationals) won the World Series.

– Athletics slugger Nick Kurtz, who had played only 66 games, has pulled ahead of teammate Jacob Wilson in the AL Rookie of the Year race with his four-homer game, going 6-for-6. He is the only player in history to produce at least six hits, six runs and eight RBIs in a single game and tied Shawn Green’s record with 19 total bases.

“It’s arguably the best game I’ve ever watched from a single player,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay told reporters. “And I say that because I watched Barry Bonds and the season he had [73 homers]. And what Barry did was hands-down one of the greatest seasons you can have.

“This kid continues to just have jaw-dropping moments. And to witness that was pretty special for all of us.’

Kurtz hit .305 with a 1.060 OPS and had 43 extra-base hits in his first 66 games, a feat only accomplished by Joe DiMaggio.

– Remember when the Padres were a season-high 12 games over .500 on May 14. Well, they since are 29-34 and barely clinging to a wild-card berth.

– Hall of Fame players in attendance in Cooperstown this weekend offer their best wishes to Ryne Sandberg, battling prostate cancer.

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Which football helmets should I buy?

It’s what a Virginia Tech athletics equipment manager asked Stefan Duma, a faculty member at the university’s department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, in 2009.

Duma’s team had been working to better understand what causes brain injury. It had placed sensors in Hokies players helmets. It had simulated car crashes.

The question seemed simple enough, until Duma and his colleagues delved deeper into it.

“We said, ‘We don’t know.’ We can buy helmets and test because there’s really no information available in what was good and what wasn’t,” says Steve Rowson, who, as a graduate student, joined this little-known football helmet project that was about to take off.

Duma’s group simulated hits with a guillotine-like device that plunged a dummy headform down cables onto an anvil.

“We bought the helmets, and we saw huge differences,’ Rowson tells USA TODAY Sports. ‘But we also felt like everyone should have that information, so we developed the Virginia Tech helmet ratings based on that. And it was like the first independent, objective way of evaluating helmets.”

The investigation that started in Duma’s basement lab sparked a wave of discussion that would define standards used by youth, high school and college teams and expand to other sports.

“It wasn’t like a pass/fail scale,” Rowson tells USA TODAY Sports. “It was, ‘Here are the best performers. Here are the next best. Here are the not so good performers,’ and that really resonated with consumers. It was a little disruptive to the football helmet manufacturing industry.”

Rowson is now director of Virginia Tech’s Helmet Lab that has reached national acclaim for its testing and studies. It published the first independent safety ratings for varsity football helmets in 2011 and continues to ramp up the standard for what constitutes a five-star helmet.

Just recently, it updated its rating system with new thresholds for those used in varsity and youth football and by bicyclists.

“The best helmets back in 2011 would be the very worst helmets today,” Rowson says.

Have you ever wondered about the force of a hit to the head your kid sees in practice and in games, and how their helmets are tested to protect from them?

Or how helmet recommendations are determined for various sports and age groups?

We spoke with Rowson about the history of his lab, the methods and evolution behind Virginia Tech’s STAR testing system and how it can help keep your athlete safe.

What is the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab and how does it replicate impact?

The lab is a collection of about 25 Virginia Tech faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students who study the forces that cause injuries all over the body and look for ways to prevent them from occurring.

They consider over a million head impacts to develop football readings. As they learn more, they add test conditions or change methods.

Sometimes, it’s a complete overhaul.

Their first varsity football helmet ratings were based on Duma’s drop test.

“We were only considering linear acceleration in the head, and it’s because there weren’t really good methods to evaluate rotation of the head,” Rowson says. “We didn’t know how rotational acceleration related to brain injury really well at the time, but we knew enough about linear acceleration that it had a correlation to concussion risk.

“However, a few years later, we had new data to tell us how rotational acceleration related to brain injury, and we upgraded the football method to include both linear and rotational acceleration. We have a pendulum impactor, which pretty much looks like a big upside down hammer that swings down and then it hits a dummy headform that has a helmet on it. Think of a crash test dummy. That dummy headform has sensors inside it.”

Helmet manufacturing has advanced, Rowson says, as the lab has.

“The amount of change that we’ve seen in helmet design over the last decade is probably more than we saw in the previous 30 years combined,” he says.

Understanding the impact and distribution of hits

I asked Rowson, who has a master’s and Ph. D in Biomedical Engineering from Virginia Tech, if he could come up with an analogy for the greatest impact a helmet sustains on a field. He did some math and got back to me with the following scenario:

Head accelerations associated with concussion are comparable in magnitude to those experienced in unbelted car crashes at approximately 17 mph for college-level players and 10 mph for youth-level players.

However, damage from concussions can be cumulative. The lab tests helmets with the hardest hits as well as what Rowson calls “everyday impact” players see on the field.

“They probably see that impact multiple times, and then, with our highest impact condition, not every player might see it,” he says. “The ones who do are at risk of injury. The helmet influences how much force is transferred to the head during all those impacts. So if a helmet’s too soft and too thin, it might not do great under higher impact energy or if it’s optimized for high energy hits, it might do poorly at the low energy hits. So we have a comprehensive evaluation of it where you can’t overdesign for really hard hit impacts or everyday impact.”

No helmet is concussion-proof, the lab states on its website, and any athlete can sustain a head injury. It identifies the helmets that best reduce your chances.

The Summation of Tests for the Analysis of Risk (STAR) score is calculated based on a helmet’s performance in a series of impact tests that are sports-specific. Tests are weighted based on how often people experience similar impacts.

The lower the score, the better the protection. Scores are assigned a number of stars between 1-5, with 5 stars being the best.

“Our ratings are representative of the average,” Rowson says. “There is gonna be some in that (data) distribution who get hurt at really low head accelerations, and there’s gonna be other people who don’t seem to ever get hurt, even at high head accelerations, and that comes down to biological variance. Everyone has their own tolerance to head impact, everyone’s material properties and their brain tissue’s different.

“So it’s kind of a predicted number of injuries for a given number of head impacts that we would expect to see on average, amongst a lot of people. We identify helmets that systematically reduce head acceleration and thus risk.”

What’s the difference between a four-and five star helmet? (Hint: They’re both good.)

Rowson says just about every varsity and youth football helmet they recently rated earned five stars.

“But that starts to dilute what a five star meaning is,” he says. “The five star rating is intended to identify what the very best available protection is. And if every helmet that’s being rated is five stars, it takes a little meaning away from that.”

The ratings update rescales those areas to make the five-star winners truly standout performers. The new thresholds reduced the number of five-star helmets from 167 to 38 (bicycle), 33 to 11 (varsity football) and youth football (26 to 6).

The lab still recommends any four or five star helmets.

“It’s not just like everything got good,” Rowson says, “it’s they got good, but to different extents where we could identify meaningful differences.”

Watch contact in practice: Understanding helmet differences and unique risks

According to Virginia Tech, varsity football helmets used to have corresponding youth versions, but there were often few differences between them. There was little data describing how risk differed for youth players. 

Today, the lab model for “youth” football simulates a 10-to-12-year-old boy, the varsity model an 18-to-24 year old male.

“A kid isn’t necessarily just a scaled down adult,” Rowson says. “Their head is bigger relative (to) their body than we see in a full grown male, their brain’s still developing, and there’s differences in kind of how they respond to a head impact.

“Every impact scenario we recreate in a lab is weighted based on how often a player is gonna see (it) on the field. So like kids, when they fall to the ground, they have a heavier head and a weaker neck, and the helmet’s pretty heavy relative to their body mass compared to an adult. So their helmet’s more likely to follow through and strike the ground. So we see more side and back impacts in youth football than we do in varsity football.”

As part of a groundbreaking 2012 study funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Virginia Tech researchers put sensors inside the helmets of seven players aged 7–8 years old for a season and measured their impacts.

They found that 76% of the ones greater than 40 g (40 times the acceleration of gravity) and 100% of impacts greater than 80 g occurred during practices.

‘It was first data measuring head impacts in youth football players,’ Rowson says.

Following the study, Pop Warner youth football outlawed drills that involved full-speed, head-on-blocking and tackling that starts with players lined up more than three yards apart, as well as head-to-head contact.

According to The New York Times, Pop Warner officials said they were persuaded by data from the youth study that indicated the level of severity of some hits were similar to some of the more severe impacts college players experience.

“We’re like, ‘Wow, all our hardest hit impacts are coming from this one (Oklahoma) drill,’ ” Rowson says. “And out of all the games we collected, we didn’t see that kind of impact happen a single time. We’re like, ‘We don’t think you should be doing this,’ and the coach was really receptive. It was just a local youth football team, and it was a dad coaching who had that drill in there, because that’s what he did when he was a kid.”

A follow-up study of football teams comprised of players aged 9–12 suggested head impact exposure could reduce significantly by limiting contact in practices to levels below those experienced in games.

Coach Steve: Why are boys sports declining? Former NBA star looks for solutions

How helmet ratings differ by sport

Their helmet research always starts in the real world, Rowson likes to say. They learn how people are getting hurt and they match those conditions – the speed at which they’re hitting their head, where they’re hitting their head, their acceleration profile – in the lab.

With cycling, the researchers look at a fraction of the head impacts as football.

They don’t put a sensor on everyone because cycling is an individual sport and crashes are rare. Instead, Rowson says, they identify riders involved in crashes and collect their helmets.

They buy the same helmet and start hitting it until they match the damage profile, then back calculate the location and velocity at which they hit their head.

For snow sport, researchers have traveled to big events on mountains and set up cameras from various angles.

Through video tracking, they calculated their head impact speed into the ground.

The lab now has helmet ratings for varsity football, youth football, flag football, hockey, bicycle, equestrian, soccer, snow sport and whitewater.

They’ll be announcing rating programs for baseball and softball soon.

“Essentially, we’re trying to cover all sports,” Rowson says. “The ultimate goal is for us to be able to provide data to everyone on what’s available.”

The lab doesn’t formally advise any leagues, but often, the leagues come to them.  A full time faculty member is assigned to direct outreach, host tours, run STEM activities for kids and answer questions.

The questions, it seems, come every day.

“Sometimes they’re very technical, sometimes they’re more general: What does this mean and how do we use it?” Rowson says.

We know now from Duma, the Virginia Tech professor of engineering whom its football team sought out in 2009, how a seemingly innocent one can lead to a scientific explosion.

Steve Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He spent 10 years coaching his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents for two high schoolers. His column is posted weekly. For his past columns, click here.

BASEL, Switzerland — England beat Spain 3-1 in a penalty shootout to win Euro 2025 on Sunday, successfully defending the title they won in 2022 after an enthralling encounter.

The match ended 1-1 after extra time.

Spain dominated possession and made the breakthrough in the 25th minute as Ona Batlle crossed and the England defence was caught flat-footed, allowing Mariona Caldentey to head the ball past Hannah Hampton.

England levelled in the 57th minute, Alessia Russo heading home from a Chloe Kelly cross.

With the game deadlocked at 1-1 after 90 minutes and extra time, England’s Chloe Kelly netted the winner in the penalty shootout.

The defending NFC West champion Los Angeles Rams invested resources this offseason to ensure they have one of the top offenses in the league. Los Angeles retained left tackle Alaric Jackson and signed three-time first-team All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams.

The Rams continued that investment in the 2025 NFL Draft by selecting tight end Terrance Ferguson in Round 2 and running back Jarquez Hunter in Round 4.

Training camp began on July 23 for the defending division champions. They’re preparing for what could be a close battle in the NFC West once again.

There’s one key piece that’s not on the field, though: quarterback Matthew Stafford.

The 37-year-old is entering his fifth year with the Rams but has missed training camp so far with back soreness. Los Angeles coach Sean McVay said Stafford will not return to practice this week as previously hoped. McVay said they’re taking a week-to-week approach to his recovery.

“We’ve got a good plan in place,” McVay said. “We are going to still take some more time with him, though. Nothing that’s changed in terms of the setback. I probably spoke a little bit too soon, but the ultimate goal is [Week 1 game against] Houston and being mindful of that. So we’ll take it a week at a time with him.’

Stafford didn’t participate but was in attendance at training camp this weekend.

How long will Stafford be out?

There’s no clear timetable for Stafford’s return to the field at training camp as the Rams are taking this week-to-week approach. McVay reiterated that there’s no ‘reason for concern’ as to why Stafford won’t be practicing.

Los Angeles’ preseason games start Aug. 9 against the Dallas Cowboys, but it was unlikely Stafford would play in that matchup even if fully healthy.

McVay will likely provide more updates in the coming days and into next week about Stafford’s availability.

Stafford missed just one game in 2024, the regular season finale against Seattle, to rest ahead of the playoffs. In 16 games (all starts), Stafford completed 340 of 517 passes for 3,762 yards, 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

The Rams went 10-7 during the regular season and advanced as far as the divisional round of the NFC playoffs, where they lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, 28-22.

Terry McLaurin reported to training camp with the Washington Commanders on Sunday, July 27.

The star receiver is seeking a contract extension to remain with Washington beyond 2025, but there has been little word on any progress towards a deal.

Despite the stalemate, McLaurin was reinstated to the active roster Sunday and was placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list with an ankle injury, the team announced.

McLaurin’s holdout lasted four days into training camp.

‘Terry McLaurin has reported and we’re very happy about that,’ head coach Dan Quinn said. ‘On the business side, (GM Adam Peters) and the guys are still working hard with Terry and his reps. While on PUP, it’s just like we do with other guys – work with the trainers to get back as soon as he can.’

McLaurin will turn 30 in September and is entering the final year of his three-year, $68.3 million deal, according to Spotrac.

On July 15, McLaurin was adamant he would not play without ‘progression’ toward a new deal.

‘I’ve been pretty frustrated, I’m not gonna lie,’ McLaurin told reporters of his contract situation. ‘Everything that has transpired up and to this point has been pretty frustrating and disappointing. I’ve wanted to continue my career here. I’ve created my life here. My wife and I bought our first home here. So this is somewhere where I’ve always wanted to be.’

McLaurin has watched several receivers cash in this offseason, most recently on July 14 when the New York Jets signed Garrett Wilson to a four-year, $130 million extension.

The Commanders are aiming to build on their best season in 33 years. They traded for wide receiver Deebo Samuel and five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil. McLaurin’s contract seems to be the final piece in a successful offseason so far.

McLaurin has been Washington’s top receiver since he was drafted in 2019. He has exceeded 1,000 receiving yards in each of the past five seasons and caught the second-most touchdown passes in the NFL in 2024 (13). He has displayed strong chemistry with quarterback Jayden Daniels and is a key cog of the offense that is looking to take the next step.

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