Handled With Care

Being injured isn't a spa vacation, but mending in the Canyon Ranch of training rooms takes a bit of the sting out of rehab. Michigan State players are attended to by a staff of nine trainers in their 6,000-square-foot sports-medicine center. Among its features are a $75,000 SwimEx therapy pool commodious enough for "several 300-pound linemen to roll around like whales," says head trainer Jeff Monroe, plus a cold tub in which as many as eight Spartans at a time can dangle sprained ankles or swollen knees. The facility boasts X-ray view boxes, ultrasound equipment and an unloader—a treadmill with a harness-and-pulley system that supports a player's weight, letting him get in a running workout while putting less pressure on joints. Plans are being made to add a fluoroscopy imaging device, which will allow team docs to diagnose injuries on the spot.

Besides its equipment, Monroe likes the room's fishbowl layout. "The glass walls allow us to supervise all the athletes at once " says Monroe, "but it also gives players getting taped a chance to check in on their injured teammates. It's a social place as well as a healing place."