PFT: Study finds CTE in living former players

AP

As the allegations of sabotage in Super Bowl XXXVII grew, it was only a matter of time before former Raiders coach Bill Callahan addressed them.? And address them he did, via a late-night statement suggesting that he has gotten himself lawyered up.

By uttering the ?D? word (not the one that ends in ?bag?), Callahan and/or whoever wrote the statement is making it clear to Tim Brown, Jerry Rice, and the persons who represent their legal interests that litigation is at least being contemplated.

But while a defamation lawsuit against one or both former players would become great theater, it would entail many challenges ? and cause significant collateral damage for Callahan, and possibly others.

1.? The statute of limitations against Brown possibly has expired.?

When pressed last night by Erik Kuselias of Pro Football Talk on the assertion of sabotage a decade after the game, Brown said that he has been talking about his suspicions on national television and Dallas radio for years.? Which means that, if Brown is sued, his first defense will be that Callahan waited too long to sue.

In most jurisdictions, the statute of limitations is one year.? It has been more than one year since Brown made his statements in a public setting.

I haven?t research the issue completely (which as I learned early in my legal career is standard lawyer code for ?I don?t really know what I?m talking about?), so it?s entirely possible that, in whichever jurisdiction Callahan would sue, each utterance of the false statement sets the clock back to zero.

2.? The difference between fact and opinion.

If a lawsuit is filed (and if it?s determined to be within the statute of limitations), the biggest challenge will be drawing a line between fact and opinion.? False statements of fact can lead to litigation; uninformed or incorrect opinions based on actual facts are protected.

The factual assertion from Brown is that Callahan drastically changed the offensive game plan two days before Super Bowl XXXVII.? Brown?s opinion is that Callahan was trying to sabotage the Raiders.

It?s a fine line, but Brown arguably has stayed on the right side of it.? Even last night, when he was as candid as he?s ever been about his beliefs, Brown said, ?I?m not necessarily saying he [changed the game plan] for that reason, but it happened.?

Rice may not have been as careful.? ?For some reason ? and I don?t know why ? Bill Callahan did not like me,? Rice said Tuesday on ESPN. ?In a way, maybe because he didn?t like the Raiders, he decided, ?Maybe we should sabotage this a little bit and let Jon Gruden go out and win this one.??

3.? Callahan is a public figure.

For ordinary citizens, any untrue statement of fact can provide the basis for a defamation lawsuit.? For public figures, a higher standard applies.

Callahan will have to show that Brown and Rice knew the allegations were false, or that they acted with reckless disregard to the truth or falsity of their comments.? That necessarily makes any case of defamation against a public figure like Callahan harder to prove.

In this case, it means that Brown and Rice would give detailed testimony on what they experienced that caused them to believe what they believed.? They?ll surely say that something different happened before that game than anything they?d experienced in all their years of playing football, which caused them to believe that Callahan was up to something.

Against a private citizen, that may not matter.? Against a public figure, that explanation could result in the case being tossed before it ever would be presented to a jury.

4.? Callahan would expose himself to significant criticism.

If the case goes forward, many former Raiders players and coaches will be questioned under oath.? And while they will have different perceptions and beliefs about the reasons for the decisions made and not made by Callahan, the questioning will rehash everything that happened in preparation for the game, including whether the game plan was changed and why the audibles and other terminology installed by Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden during his time as the Raiders coach wasn?t.

In other words, and as Kuselias framed the issue last night, Callahan was either corrupt or incompetent.? By proving he wasn?t corrupt, Callahan could end up shining a bright light on the notion that he is incompetent.

5.? Plenty of big names will be involved.

If it goes to trial, this lawsuit ultimately could top, from a media standpoint, every lawsuit ever filed or threatened by the late Al Davis.? The parade in and out of the courtroom would be even more impressive than the? Seinfeld finale, with guys like Rich Gannon and Tyrone Wheatley and Lincoln Kennedy and Bill Romanowski and Rod Woodson and Charles Woodson and Charlie Garner and maybe even Shane Lechler and Sebastian Janikowski making the walk to the witness stand, along with members of the 2002 Raiders coaching staff, including current NFL head coaches Marc Trestman and Jim Harbaugh.

Jon Gruden would likely make an appearance at some point, possibly along with members of the Buccaneers defense (which had guys like Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, and John Lynch), who would be able to shed light on whether or not Gruden seemed to know what was going to happen, and possibly why he knew that.

Current and former NFL head coaches like Rod Marinelli, Raheem Morris, and Mike Tomlin ? all members of the 2002 Buccaneers coaching staff ? also could be involved, along with former Bucs (and current Cowboys) defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin.

At one point during the game, Lynch told Tomlin, ?Mike, every play they?ve run, we ran in practice.? It?s unreal.?

Said Tomlin in response, ?I know.?

The biggest name of all could be the guy who won?t be able to directly participate.? If the game plan was indeed changed by Callahan, we continue to believe the most plausible explanation is that Callahan was ordered to do so by owner Al Davis.? It would be fitting if the outcome of the lawsuit turns on whether a jury believes that Callahan was simply following the marching orders given to him by one of the most litigious owners in sports history.

6.? What should happen next.

Though it would be fascinating to cover the litigation and any trial that would happen, the smart move in the short term would be for Brown and Rice to issue statements explaining clearly that they are merely stating their opinions, based on the facts that they experienced.

And then they should never discuss the situation publicly again.

While on one hand the issuance of statements would suggest that they fear litigation, on the other hand it would be a prudent way of both putting a bow on a story that has quickly taken on a life of its own and managing potential liability risks.

Either way, the ball is not back in Brown?s and Rice?s court.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/22/new-imaging-technique-spots-evidence-of-potential-brain-damage-in-living-football-players/related/

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Australian firefighters test data-transmitting pills to monitor biometrics during work

A new swallowable pill has been trialled with 50 firefighters in Australia, aimed at monitoring body temperatures and other vital readings when working under extreme conditions. Using Equivital's EQ02 LifeMonitor capsule, the pill transmits metrics to a device housed on the chest. This then sends data on skin temperature, heart rate and respiration rate to an external computer. If a firefighter's core body temperature is increasing too quickly, they can then be moved from the frontline to a recovery area, hopefully reducing accidents and deaths caused by heat exhaustion.

Until now, the standard method involved measuring body temperatures through the ear, but this new method -- which was also used to monitor Felix Baumgartner's 23-mile drop to Earth -- offers a faster, more effective way of monitoring multiple vital signs. Research has so far focused on monitoring a firefighters' core temperature when they've been exposed to temperatures between from -3 to 124 degrees Celsius for about 20 minutes, but according to News.com.au, testing will continue on the Equivital capsules, with temperatures likely to go as high as 600 degrees Celsius -- about 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit. We're just hoping that electrical firewands are next on the list.

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Source: News.au.com

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Analysis: Obama agenda will confront GOP on debt (The Arizona Republic)

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10 Things to Know for Monday

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Monday:

1. OBAMA'S AMBITIOUS AGENDA FACES THAT DC GRIDLOCK

The 17th president to win re-election has goals that a divided Washington could thwart.

2. ALGERIA DEATH TOLL TOPS 80

Dozens more bodies are found at the natural gas plant in the Sahara, a day after special forces stormed the facility.

3. WHY MLK'S 'CONTENT OF THEIR CHARACTER' QUOTE STILL SPURS DEBATE

Liberals and conservatives use the civil rights leader's words to support opposing views on politics, affirmative action and programs for the disadvantaged.

4. MALIAN FORCES ADVANCE ON AL-QAIDA STRONGHOLD

Backed by French airstrikes, government troops push toward Diabaly, where militants had taken over a military camp.

5. HOW 'BRAIN PACEMAKERS' MIGHT SLOW ALZHEIMER'S

Currents from tiny wires inserted into holes drilled in a patient's skull could offer hope for staving off dementia.

6. WHERE THE MAKER OF BUSHMASTER RIFLES IS EMBRACED

Residents of Ilion, N.Y., a blue-collar stretch of the Mohawk Valley, defend their 200-year-old Remington plant.

7. US FLU OUTBREAK SPREADS TO POLITICS

New York City weighs mandatory sick leave in the private sector to match San Francisco and the District of Columbia.

8. WHAT'S TARNISHING US MILITARY BRASS

At least 30 percent of commanders fired over the past eight years lost their jobs because of sex offenses.

9. WHERE BIG WAVES DRAW BEST SURFERS

Swells of at least 20 feet greet competitors in the Mavericks Invitational at a break off Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco.

10. COACHING BROTHERS TO BATTLE IN SUPER BOWL

Ravens coach John Harbaugh will face off against his sibling, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh in the NFL title game on Feb. 3.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/10-things-know-monday-104352258.html

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Researchers analyse 'rock dissolving' method of geoengineering

Public release date: 21-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Michael Bishop
michael.bishop@iop.org
01-179-301-032
Institute of Physics

The benefits and side effects of dissolving particles in our ocean's surfaces to increase the marine uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2), and therefore reduce the excess amount of it in the atmosphere, have been analysed in a new study published today.

The study, published today, 22 January, in IOP Publishing's journal Environmental Research Letters, assesses the impact of dissolving the naturally occurring mineral olivine and calculates how effective this approach would be in reducing atmospheric CO2.

The researchers, from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany, calculate that if three gigatonnes of olivine were deposited into the oceans each year, it could compensate for only around nine per cent of present day anthropogenic CO2 emissions.

This long discussed 'quick fix' method of geoengineering is not without environmental drawbacks; the particles would have to be ground down to very small sizes (around one micrometre) in order to be effective. The grinding process would consume energy and therefore emit varying amounts of CO2, depending on the sort of power plants used to provide the energy.

Lead author of the study Peter Khler said: "Our literature-based estimates on the energy costs of grinding olivine to such a small size suggest that with present day technology, around 30 per cent of the CO2 taken out of the atmosphere and absorbed by the oceans would be re-emitted by the grinding process."

The researchers used a computer model to assess the impact of six different olivine dissolution scenarios. Olivine is an abundant magnesium-silicate found beneath the Earth's surface that weathers quickly when exposed to water and air in its natural environment it is dissolved by carbonic acid which is formed from CO2 out of the atmosphere and rain water.

If olivine is distributed onto the ocean's surface, it begins to dissolve and subsequently increases the alkalinity of the water. This raises the uptake capacity of the ocean for CO2, which is taken up via gas exchange from the atmosphere.

According to the study, 92 per cent of the CO2 taken up by the oceans would be caused by changes in the chemical make-up of the water, whilst the remaining uptake would be down to changes in marine life through a process known as ocean fertilisation.

Ocean fertilisation involves providing phytoplankton with essential nutrients to encourage its growth. The increased numbers of phytoplankton use CO2 to grow, and then when it dies it sinks to the ocean floor taking the CO2 with it.

"In our study we only examined the effects of silicate in olivine. Silicate is a limiting nutrient for diatoms a specific class of phytoplankton. We simulated with our model that the added input of silicate would shift the species composition within phytoplankton towards diatoms.

"It is likely that iron and other trace metals will also impact marine life if olivine is used on a large scale. Therefore, this approach can also be considered as an ocean fertilisation experiment and these impacts should be taken into consideration when assessing the pros and cons of olivine dissolution," continued Khler.

The researchers also investigated whether the deposition of olivine could counteract the problem of ocean acidification, which continues to have a profound effect on marine life. They calculate that about 40 gigatonnes of olivine would need to be dissolved annually to fully counteract today's anthropogenic CO2 emissions.

"If this method of geoengineering was deployed, we would need an industry the size of the present day coal industry to obtain the necessary amounts of olivine. To distribute this, we estimate that 100 dedicated large ships with a commitment to distribute one gigatonne of olivine per year would be needed.

"Taking all our conclusions together mainly the energy costs of the processing line and the projected potential impact on marine biology we assess this approach as rather inefficient. It certainly is not a simple solution against the global warming problem." said Khler.

###

Notes to Editors

Contact

1. For further information, a full draft of the journal paper or contact with one of the researchers, contact IOP Press Officer, Michael Bishop:
Tel: 0117 930 1032
E-mail: Michael.bishop@iop.org

Geoengineering impact of open ocean dissolution of olivine on atmospheric CO2, surface ocean pH and marine biology

2. The published version of the paper 'Geoengineering impact of open ocean dissolution of olivine on atmospheric CO2, surface ocean pH and marine biology' (Peter Khler et al 2013 Environ. Res. Lett. 8 014009) will be freely available online from 22 January.

Environmental Research Letters

3. Environmental Research Letters is an open access journal that covers all of environmental science, providing a coherent and integrated approach including research articles, perspectives and editorials.

IOP Publishing

4. IOP Publishing provides publications through which leading-edge scientific research is distributed worldwide. IOP Publishing is central to the Institute of Physics (IOP), a not-for-profit society. Any financial surplus earned by IOP Publishing goes to support science through the activities of IOP. Beyond our traditional journals programme, we make high-value scientific information easily accessible through an ever-evolving portfolio of community websites, magazines, conference proceedings and a multitude of electronic services. Focused on making the most of new technologies, we're continually improving our electronic interfaces to make it easier for researchers to find exactly what they need, when they need it, in the format that suits them best. Go to http://ioppublishing.org/.

The Institute of Physics

5. The Institute of Physics is a leading scientific society. We are a charitable organisation with a worldwide membership of more than 45,000, working together to advance physics education, research and application. We engage with policymakers and the general public to develop awareness and understanding of the value of physics and, through IOP Publishing, we are world leaders in professional scientific communications. Go to www.iop.org

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 21-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Michael Bishop
michael.bishop@iop.org
01-179-301-032
Institute of Physics

The benefits and side effects of dissolving particles in our ocean's surfaces to increase the marine uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2), and therefore reduce the excess amount of it in the atmosphere, have been analysed in a new study published today.

The study, published today, 22 January, in IOP Publishing's journal Environmental Research Letters, assesses the impact of dissolving the naturally occurring mineral olivine and calculates how effective this approach would be in reducing atmospheric CO2.

The researchers, from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany, calculate that if three gigatonnes of olivine were deposited into the oceans each year, it could compensate for only around nine per cent of present day anthropogenic CO2 emissions.

This long discussed 'quick fix' method of geoengineering is not without environmental drawbacks; the particles would have to be ground down to very small sizes (around one micrometre) in order to be effective. The grinding process would consume energy and therefore emit varying amounts of CO2, depending on the sort of power plants used to provide the energy.

Lead author of the study Peter Khler said: "Our literature-based estimates on the energy costs of grinding olivine to such a small size suggest that with present day technology, around 30 per cent of the CO2 taken out of the atmosphere and absorbed by the oceans would be re-emitted by the grinding process."

The researchers used a computer model to assess the impact of six different olivine dissolution scenarios. Olivine is an abundant magnesium-silicate found beneath the Earth's surface that weathers quickly when exposed to water and air in its natural environment it is dissolved by carbonic acid which is formed from CO2 out of the atmosphere and rain water.

If olivine is distributed onto the ocean's surface, it begins to dissolve and subsequently increases the alkalinity of the water. This raises the uptake capacity of the ocean for CO2, which is taken up via gas exchange from the atmosphere.

According to the study, 92 per cent of the CO2 taken up by the oceans would be caused by changes in the chemical make-up of the water, whilst the remaining uptake would be down to changes in marine life through a process known as ocean fertilisation.

Ocean fertilisation involves providing phytoplankton with essential nutrients to encourage its growth. The increased numbers of phytoplankton use CO2 to grow, and then when it dies it sinks to the ocean floor taking the CO2 with it.

"In our study we only examined the effects of silicate in olivine. Silicate is a limiting nutrient for diatoms a specific class of phytoplankton. We simulated with our model that the added input of silicate would shift the species composition within phytoplankton towards diatoms.

"It is likely that iron and other trace metals will also impact marine life if olivine is used on a large scale. Therefore, this approach can also be considered as an ocean fertilisation experiment and these impacts should be taken into consideration when assessing the pros and cons of olivine dissolution," continued Khler.

The researchers also investigated whether the deposition of olivine could counteract the problem of ocean acidification, which continues to have a profound effect on marine life. They calculate that about 40 gigatonnes of olivine would need to be dissolved annually to fully counteract today's anthropogenic CO2 emissions.

"If this method of geoengineering was deployed, we would need an industry the size of the present day coal industry to obtain the necessary amounts of olivine. To distribute this, we estimate that 100 dedicated large ships with a commitment to distribute one gigatonne of olivine per year would be needed.

"Taking all our conclusions together mainly the energy costs of the processing line and the projected potential impact on marine biology we assess this approach as rather inefficient. It certainly is not a simple solution against the global warming problem." said Khler.

###

Notes to Editors

Contact

1. For further information, a full draft of the journal paper or contact with one of the researchers, contact IOP Press Officer, Michael Bishop:
Tel: 0117 930 1032
E-mail: Michael.bishop@iop.org

Geoengineering impact of open ocean dissolution of olivine on atmospheric CO2, surface ocean pH and marine biology

2. The published version of the paper 'Geoengineering impact of open ocean dissolution of olivine on atmospheric CO2, surface ocean pH and marine biology' (Peter Khler et al 2013 Environ. Res. Lett. 8 014009) will be freely available online from 22 January.

Environmental Research Letters

3. Environmental Research Letters is an open access journal that covers all of environmental science, providing a coherent and integrated approach including research articles, perspectives and editorials.

IOP Publishing

4. IOP Publishing provides publications through which leading-edge scientific research is distributed worldwide. IOP Publishing is central to the Institute of Physics (IOP), a not-for-profit society. Any financial surplus earned by IOP Publishing goes to support science through the activities of IOP. Beyond our traditional journals programme, we make high-value scientific information easily accessible through an ever-evolving portfolio of community websites, magazines, conference proceedings and a multitude of electronic services. Focused on making the most of new technologies, we're continually improving our electronic interfaces to make it easier for researchers to find exactly what they need, when they need it, in the format that suits them best. Go to http://ioppublishing.org/.

The Institute of Physics

5. The Institute of Physics is a leading scientific society. We are a charitable organisation with a worldwide membership of more than 45,000, working together to advance physics education, research and application. We engage with policymakers and the general public to develop awareness and understanding of the value of physics and, through IOP Publishing, we are world leaders in professional scientific communications. Go to www.iop.org

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/iop-ra011813.php

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With $4.1M In New Funding, MasteryConnect Wants To Give ...

One of the most important roles that technology can play in transforming education revolves around data. Whether that?s by implementing APIs to make student data more transportable (a la Clever and LearnSprout) or creating integrated, cloud-based analytics platforms that give educators more insight into student performance through realtime metrics, finding better ways to make data more accessible can solve some of the biggest problems that are crippling our educational system.

Today, many educators agree that the educational process relies too much on end-of-the-year or end-of-term assessments and standardized testing, and, instead, need a better way to assess their students? mastery of the material during the term so they can make adjustments on the fly ? rather than at the end of the term, when it?s too late. MasteryConnect launched in July 2011 to help solve this problem by offering a cloud-based platform that allows educators to track student progress through their mastery of Common Core standards.

The Salt Lake City-based startup focuses, particularly, on formative assessments ? a type of assessment that involves qualitative feedback (instead of relying on scores) and takes place during the learning process, with the goal of helping educators tweak their activities and approach to teaching with the goal of helping students learn more effectively. MasteryConnect, then, makes it easier for teachers to create these types of assessment and share them with colleagues, parents and students.

MasteryConnect co-founder and CEO Mick Hewitt tells us that another important part of the startup?s mission is to help teachers, parents and schools understand the Common Core Standards, while allowing teachers to help drive the shift away from a situation in which students tend to be over-tested yet under-assessed. Hewitt, whose wife and father are both teachers, says that he hears time and again that teachers go into teacher-parent conferences wanting to explain why their son or daughter got a ?C? grade in Math, and, while they can point to poor grades on homework or tests as a result, they still find it nearly impossible to explain which concepts or lessons they struggled with, which in turn led to the poor grades.

That?s why MasteryConnect created a widget that allows schools to embed Common Core standards into any website so that they can easily look up those standards and better understand the connection between them and the lessons they?re teaching (or learning) and the meaning behind them. In turn, the platform makes it easy for teachers to upload their assessments and answer keys, analyzing feedback from students through the browser or MasteryConnect?s app, which are then graded automatically.

Allowing teachers to drive the assessment process, doing so in the ways that they see fit while getting access to realtime results on those assessments has led to some promising traction. Hewitt tells us that the startup?s iOS and Android apps have seen 500K downloads to date, and standards in these Common Core reference apps have seen 40 million page-views. In turn, its patent-pending technology is now used by teachers in 7,700 districts across the U.S. ? over half of the country?s 15,000-odd districts ? and some 23,000 schools.

To support this growth ? most of which has occurred over the last twelve months ? the startup is today announcing that it has raised $4.1 million in series A financing, a round that will remain open for the next month or so, Hewitt says. Catamount Ventures led the investment, while the second largest chunk came from the Michael And Susan Dell Foundation, with contributions from Deborah Quazzo of GSV Advisors and existing investor, LearnCapital. The new round adds to the $1.1 million in seed financing MasteryConnect raised from Imagine K12, NewSchools and Learn Capital, bringing its total to $5.2 million.

It tends to be unusual to see venture firms investing along-side non-profit foundations, but for Hewitt, it?s an important sign of validation. While the Dell Family Foundation has made a handful of investments in both non-profit and for-profit ventures over the last six years, this represents ?the first equity investment for the foundation in a U.S.-based edtech startup,? Hewitt said today, echoing the company?s blog post on the investment.

As a result of the investment, the Dell Family Foundation required that part of MasteryConnect?s schools be low-income institutions. And while that could be seen as a handicap for an education software startup amidst a space that is traditionally rife with slow sales cycles, the Chief Executive welcomes the requirement, helping it maintain its focus on its core user base: The public school market, both low-income and otherwise.

Not only that, but MasteryConnect wants to help transform education in such a way that learning is driven by teachers and educators, allowing them to decide how assessment data is used in the classroom. Teachers are becoming disillusioned with the types of tests they?re required to administer by the state, with many of them believing that they are far from being the most effective way to measure progress. Instead, MasteryConnect offers teachers an opportunity to do away with the old letter grade standard, using its platform to track student mastery against Common Core or state standards as they go. For both teachers and students, that?s an exciting proposition.

In terms of its business model, MasteryConnect has opted for the freemium approach, offering free accounts to teachers, which allows them to access its Learning Community to find, share and collaborate on assessments, along with including basic grading functionality. Premium accounts, which cost $159/year for teachers or $6/year per student for an entire school or district, allow for more grading capabilities and integration with Student Information Systems (SISes), more robust collaboration and reporting.

Part of the success of the platform thus far, Hewitt attributes to this social component, which allow teachers to collaborate on the most effective ways to create formative assessments and discover which teachers, classes and students perform best under different teaching styles and methods of assessment. Traditionally, assessment in K-12 education has been driven by top-down models, with higher-ups in the district or state determining how testing will be structured, and on what content students will be tested, with pre-determined content from publishers driving the whole process.

MasteryConnect allows teachers to play a greater role in determining what content should be used, how it should be used, and test the efficacy of content and different styles in their own classrooms. While the startup is pushing a greater understanding of the Common Core within education?s ranks, it doesn?t play favorites or put any requirements on how teachers use these assessments. This, in turn, has led to the sharing of 25,000 different types of assessments by teachers via MasteryConnect, and, with its new funding under its belt and the ability to scale its own infrastructure, Hewitt sees a lot more growth in the future.

For more on MasteryConnect, find it at home here.

At MasteryConnect we?re changing education with standards-based learning in the cloud. We bring educators, students and parents together to understand and master the Common Core. Our mastery tracking of Common Core and state standards is powerful, simple, social, and real-time. For teachers, our innovative and time-saving assessment tools make formative assessment simple and efficient. They can electronically grade assessments taken on the iPod or iPad app, and correct plain-paper answer sheets in seconds by simply...

? Learn more

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/20/with-4-1m-in-new-funding-masteryconnect-wants-to-give-teachers-a-better-way-to-track-student-progress/

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HBT: Few could match 'Stan the Man'

Stan Musial?s name doesn?t dot the record books anywhere near as frequently as those of Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds. Still, for consistent greatness, perhaps no one matched Stan the Man, who passed away Saturday at age 92.

- Excluding his one-year absence due to military service in 1945, Musial, who spent his entire career with the Cardinals, hit .310 or better every year from 1942 to 1958. That?s age 21 to age 37. He qualified for the NL batting title all 16 of those seasons, finishing first seven times, second twice, third four times, fourth twice and fifth once. He also finished third in 1962 at age 41.

- In addition to his seven batting titles, he led the NL in OBP six times, in slugging six times and in OPS seven times.

- He led the league in runs scored five times, hits six times, doubles eight times, triples five times, RBI twice, walks once and games played five times.

- He did all this while never striking out more than 46 times in a season. He finished his career with 1,599 walks and just 696 strikeouts.

- Musial played in 24 All-Star Games (in 20 seasons), tying Willie Mays for the most of all-time.

- Even 50 years after his retirement, Musial ranks 2nd all-time in total bases (6,134), 4th all-time in hits (3.630), 30th in average (.331), 22nd in OBP (.417), 19th in slugging (.559), 13th in OPS (.976), ninth in runs (1,959), sixth in RBI (1,951), third in doubles (725), 19th in triples (177), 28th in homers (475) and 13th in walks.

- Advanced stats: Musial ranks 12th all-time in Baseball-Reference?s WAR, ninth among position players. He?s third in runs created (2,562) and his OPS+ of 159 ranks 15th.

- Only Barry Bonds, with seven MVPs, has been more successful in the MVP balloting. Musial is one of eight players with three MVPs, and he has four second-place finishes to go along with them.

- Musial wasn?t particularly productive in the World Series, but his Cardinals teams won three of the four in which he played. He hit .256/.347/.395 with one homers and eight RBI in his 23 postseason games.

Musial ended up playing 21 full seasons, plus his 12 games as a 20-year-old in 1941. Never once did he finish with an OPS+ under 100. He ranked among the NL?s best hitters at both 21 and 41. He hit .300 18 times. Only Aaron, with 15, had more seasons with 300 total bases than Musial?s 13. Only Bonds, Ruth and Ted Williams, with 18 each, had more seasons with .900 OPSs than Musial?s 17.

Musial may have missed some milestones in finishing with 475 homers and 1,951 RBI, but his status as one of baseball?s very best hitters is cemented. The awesome nickname probably doesn?t hurt.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/19/stan-musials-greatness-undiminished-by-time/related/

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