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HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- Former NFL Alumni Association President George Martin told a concussion conference Friday the injury is a scourge in contact sports with long-term consequences still widely underestimated.We need to take off the veil, Martin said. Ive attended far too many funerals lately for teammates and colleagues who have unfortunately succumbed to CTE.Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in athletes and others with a history of repetitive brain trauma, including concussions.Martin was the keynote speaker at the Ultimate Concussion Conference, a gathering of experts and policymakers in sports administration, law, education and health, including neuroscience and neuropsychology. About 80 people were expected for the three-day event.I always felt there was a lack of communication between disciplines, so I said, `Lets start a meeting that does this, said co-organizer Dr. Don Teig, an expert in sports vision from Ridgefield, Connecticut. A lot of players are so thrilled were doing this, because the subject had been pushed aside and buried. My goal was not to bury it anymore, and build it into something that lets people who are looking to come up with answers share their ideas.The first speaker was Martin, who described the toll he has seen concussions take. Martin played defensive end for the New York Giants from 1975 to 1988.The helmet I wore for the first five years of my career will tell you everything you need to know about concussions in the NFL, he said. If you looked at that helmet, you would be aghast. On the front there are nothing but scars, deep and penetrating. Its absolutely covered with them.Martin said helmets today are much improved, and said he has no criticism of the leagues recent response to concerns about CTE.But Martin said the disease has many players from his era worrying about their health.When I walk into the hospital room of a colleague who is a shell of his former self, I ask myself, is this a prelude to the future for me? he said. You dont know how frightening that question is.Dr. Michael Bergeron, president of Youth Sports of the Americas, told the conference there has been little improvement in understanding concussion risk because, ironically, theres so much data to absorb. Supercomputer software will help process information in the years to come, Bergeron predicted.Its too much for a human being to do, he said. We have to rely on software that can pull it together in an intelligent way. This will help prediction models and prevention.New findings will be presented Saturday by Dr. Tad Seifert, a Louisville neurologist involved in a study of boxers and mixed martial artists. He said the study found headaches increase with the incidence of concussion -- not a surprise, but something previously unsubstantiated.It could be a marker to follow over the arc of an athletes career in helping to identify those who become high-risk and most susceptible to long-term problems, he said.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Steve-Wine. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/steven-wine Cheap Custom Vikings Jersey . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Authentic Custom Vikings Jersey . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. George Hill stole a bad pass and was going in for a layup, and Pierce hustled back and appeared to be trying to wrap him up. http://www.customvikingsjersey.com/ . 10 Texas A&Ms offence dominated as usual against SMU. Custom Vikings Jerseys .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Cheap Vikings Jerseys . PETERSBURG, Fla. DETROIT -- Its always fun to beat your former team.Former Tiger Jefry Marte had three RBI and Tyler Skaggs shut down the Detroit offense in the Los Angeles Angels 5-0 victory on Sunday.After scoring 35 runs in the four games before this series, the Tigers were limited to six runs in the three-game weekend set against the Angels. It is the ninth time this season the Tigers have been shut out.The victory gave the Angels back-to-back road series wins for the first time this season.I think its huge for us, Skaggs said. It shows that were a good ball club. We havent been playing that well, especially on our last road trip, so its nice to win two series.Marte hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning off Anibal Sanchez (7-13) for the first runs of the game. It was Martes 10th home run of the season and first since Aug. 17.I was looking for a good pitch and try to drive the run in and was looking for a fastball, Marte said. I try to do my best every game but when you play against a team that you were (with) before, thats something exciting.Marte played in 33 games with the Tigers last season and was traded to the Angels in January.The Angels added three more runs in the sixth, on sacrifice flies by Andrelton Simmons and Marte, plus an RBI double by Nick Buss.Skaggs (2-3), pitching for the first time at Comerica Park, allowed just two hits while striking out six in six innings.Thats a tough lineup any day of the week and he did a better job as the game went on of controlling counts and got some big outs, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. He made some pitches when he had to.Sanchez gave up five runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.He wasnt as sharp as hes been in the last few outings, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said.The only Tiger with a hit off Skaggs was Miguel Cabrera, who had a single in the first and a doouble in the fourth.ddddddddddddTheir kid pitched well and they flat-out beat us, said Victor Martinez, who was 0-for-4. Thats the bottom line. We didnt do anything at all to score runs.POST-EJECTION AFTERMATH:Martinez declined to discuss his third-inning ejection in Saturdays game. Catcher James McCann, who was not ejected but did not agree with a called third strike in the second inning, said, At the end of the day, we have to find a way to take it out of the umpires hand. Unfortunately last night, I dont know that we were able to do that.HOMER HAPPY:Marte became the fourth Angels rookie in the last six seasons with 10 or more home runs, joining C.J. Cron, Mike Trout and Mark Trumbo.TRAINERS ROOMAngels: Although 3B Yunel Escobar (concussion) is ready to start baseball activities Monday, Scioscia wont commit to him playing next weekend against Seattle. If he feels good to play before then, well get him in before then, but weve got to wait and see when he can get back to baseball activities and how he works out on the field the next day, Scioscia said.Tigers: RHP Mike Pelfrey (low back strain) will make his first rehabilitation start Monday with Triple-A Toledo. Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said he would throw 40-45 pitches. Jordan Zimmermann (neck) will make his second rehabilitation start Wednesday and is set to throw about 60 pitches.UP NEXTAngels: RHP Matt Shoemaker will be making his first career appearance against the Cincinnati Reds. In eight career interleague games, seven of which were starts, Shoemaker is 3-3 with a 3.02 ERA.Tigers: LHP Matt Boyd will be making his third career start against the Chicago White Sox. In his last eight starts, Boyd is 5-0 with a 2.38 ERA. ' ' '