STEP AWAY FROM THE INJURY REPORT: If you're a fan of college sports and wonder why it's more difficult than it used to be to find out the nature of a player's injury, this posting from TarHeelBlue.com, the official UNC sports Web site, offers the answer: It's against the law.
Here's writer Lee Pace, answering a query about the medical status of two current hoopsters:
"This seems like an easy question to those of us used to simply asking the trainer about medical ailments of college athletes. However, it's no longer quite that easy. The NCAA recently adopted the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The legislation is complicated but essentially boils down to the fact that a college trainer (in this case, head hoops trainer Marc Davis) can no longer discuss the nature of an athlete's injuries with anyone. Our understanding is that Davis would be breaking the law if he even uttered which body part might be holding back Grant or McCants, although we know through other mediums that it's the big man's knees and McCants's right index finger. Even if Grant was standing before you with a colossal cast on his left knee and you asked Davis what was wrong with the big guy, all he could say is, 'Injured.'
"That's a longwinded way of saying that it's very difficult under the new rule to get a medical explanation for injuries."
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