W.a.r. baseball stat - 1 Answer. There has been analysis done to look at the correlation between individual WAR and the record of teams. Most entities that calculate WAR make the same assumption …

 
WAR, which stands for Wins Above Replacement, is a widely used metric in baseball to evaluate a player’s overall contribution to their team. It provides a single number that represents a player’s total …. Public notaries near me

There needs to be a distinction between WAR as a stat and WAR as a framework. Technically, WAR is not a stat, it is a framework for evaluating players. bWAR and fWAR are stats, as they are implementations of the WAR framework. Here is how WAR works as a framework: Pick which components you think contribute to evaluating a player. 3. K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches. Author: Tyler Kepner. Published: April 2019. One of the best baseball books of 2019. Kepner weaves a joyous story of baseball through 10 chapters, each identified by a pitch: slider, fastball, curveball, knuckleball, splitter, screwball, sinker, changeup, spitball and cutter.R package with advanced statistical functions for baseball. This R package contains several functions to calculate advanced stats when working with baseball stat datasets. For batting statistics, these advanced functions include: BABIP ( batting average on balls in play) CT (contact rate) GPA (gross production average) ISO (isolated power) RC ...Also, ERA. Not a bad stat, but analysts and fans get way too hung up on that one number, when it is not necessarily the best way to determine how well a pitcher is performing. Underrated: A few I think are underrated: K/9, OBP, OPS, FIP, etc. 3.Mar 15, 2023 · Among the other metrics, WAR in baseball is one of the few that has caught baseball fans’ eye and is generally used as one of the metrics to compare players. Scroll through the article to know more about the WAR metric, its values, the record holders, its reliability, and more. Feb 17, 2021 ... WAR — Wins above replacement. Ostensibly, this measures a player's worth in terms of how many wins he is worth compared to a player who would ...Wins Above Replacement or WAR is a frequently used statistic in baseball. WAR is an all-encompassing metric that compares a player’s impact to that of a hypothetical replacement-level player in terms of his team’s success. It’s a way to put a number on a player’s contribution to the success of his team. When calculating a player’s WAR ...Posts about a player or team performance must include the stat, event, or context IN THE TITLE. If a two-way player's pitching performance is complete but the game is not over, include batting statistics in post body only. For a pitching or batting line, the player's performance must be complete. Do not make posts for no-hitters or perfect games.In 1957, Mickey Mantle set what ended up being his career highs with a .365 BA, .512 OBP, 1.177 OPS, and 221 OPS+, as well as his 3rd best SLG at .665. He finished 2nd in the league in all of those stats. 1st in all of those was 38 y/o Ted Williams. Dee Gordon is the active SB leader with 330 SB.1990s baseball season recaps include highlights of baseball seasons from the late 20th century. Check out our 1990s Season Recaps Channel. Advertisement In the 1990s baseball came ...Among the many statistical analyses of baseball that have been published during the last four decades, the single most important in my opinion is The Hidden Game of Baseball (1984) by Pete Palmer and John Thorn. Their research, based on a large-scale regression analysis of baseball statistics, led to the development of summary measures …The best live TV streaming services to watch MLB games for the 2023 regular season are MLB.TV, DirecTV, Sling TV, Fubo and more. Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season is back ...The hit stat is further broken out into notations that indicate just how far the batter got. A double, where the batter reaches second base, is represented by 2B. A triple, where the batter ...Nov 16, 2020 ... The number is how many wins that player brings the team over what a replacement player could bring to the team. Baseball Reference says if you ...3 Answers. Sorted by: 12. The definition of WHIP or Walks plus Hits per Inning Pitched is the following per Wikipedia: WHIP = (Walks + Hits)/ (Innings Pitched) Cautionary note: While WHIP is a common statistic in fantasy baseball, it's a rather poor tool for evaluating pitchers as it fails to account for something pitchers have little control ...But notice that even Cleveland can say "The Indians are 48-3 when leading after 8!" This stat gives the suggestion of a solid pen, but confuses the issue by including the number of wins. Whats really important are the losses . Finally, this stat doesn't show any data about good pen performance in comeback victories, but it does include bad pen ... Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is a popular statistical measure in baseball that attempts to summarize a player’s total contributions in one number. While WAR values give a useful snapshot of performance, it’s important to put the numbers in proper context: 0-1 WAR = Scrub/replacement level. 1-2 WAR = Role player/bench player.On Base Percentage is a little more complex: hits + walks + hit by pitch divided by at-bats + walks + hit by pitch + sacrifice flies. Slugging Percentage is single hits + (doubles * 2) + (triples * 3) + (home runs * 4) divided by at-bats. Earned Run Average (ERA) is (earned runs * 9) divided by innings pitched.Complete source for baseball history including complete major league player, team, and league stats, awards, records, leaders, rookies and scores. ... Our professional baseball register has stats from the Minor, Negro, Japan, Cuban, and Korean leagues, as well as NCAA Division I, II, and III, NAIA, and summer collegiate leagues.0. 6.00. 4/1/2023. Oregon State. L. 1-5. The official 2023 Baseball cumulative statistics for the University of Washington Huskies. I have developed several tools related to baseball data and analysis that I have made available and maintain for public use. Updates and tips for these tools are shared through the BaseballTools Twitter account.. baseballr package for R: baseballr is a package written for the R programming language focused on baseball analysis.It includes functions for …OBP: On-base percentage – the average number of times a batter reaches a base per plate appearance. OPS: On-base plus slugging – the sum of a players on-base percentage and slugging percentage. RBI: Runs batted in – when a batter hits a pitch that results in a teammate scoring a run.Statistical Databases and Websites. It’s a good time to be a baseball researcher with a computer. This was true in 2000 when How to Do Baseball Research was originally published and it is even more true today. And it isn’t only that computer and Internet speeds are more than an order of magnitude faster than they were back at the end of the last …Baseball Stats Spreadsheet Template. It was challenging to keep track of numbers in baseball games now, a baseball stats spreadsheet template Excel is available to make a life for a manager or …On Base Percentage is a little more complex: hits + walks + hit by pitch divided by at-bats + walks + hit by pitch + sacrifice flies. Slugging Percentage is single hits + (doubles * 2) + (triples * 3) + (home runs * 4) divided by at-bats. Earned Run Average (ERA) is (earned runs * 9) divided by innings pitched.Rickey retired as the franchise leader in steals for the A's and Yankees, teams that were both 103 years old at the time. Half of Rickey's steals (703) would still be top 10 all time. The last time Rickey led MLB in steals was 1998, at age 39. In the 24 seasons since, the combined total of the stolen base leaders from each season is 1,385.Become a Stathead. Statistic Description: Wins Above Replacement A single number that presents the number of wins the player added to the team above what a replacement player (think AAA or AAAA) would add. Scale for a single-season: 8+ MVP Quality, 5+ All-Star Quality, 2+ Starter, 0-2 Reserve, < 0 Replacement Level Developed by Sean Smith of ... MLB pitching stats explained in modern terms show that quality starts, K/9 (strikeouts per nine innings), BABIP ( batting average on balls in play), holds, and saves are more important than wins. Baseball pitching stats have evolved to reflect the changing dynamics of the game. The current baseball landscape is more focused on a starter …A batting average is a metric used to measure a hitter’s achievements at the plate and is calculated by taking the number of hits and dividing it by the number of at-bats. The average will come out to a number between 0 and 1.00, with good batting averages in the modern era falling between .240-.250. Batting average is a good stat, but it ...Better baseball research is within your grasp. I would also highly recommend the free, on-line edX course Sabermetrics 101.The course is run by Andy Andres and features not only an introduction to sabermetric analysis, but also SQL and R. I walked through the first version and have heard that the latest version is even better.Baseball Sports. (RBI + R - HR) = Runs Produced, a statistic invented in 1956 by Bob Creamer of Sports Illustrated. EDIT: I could not find runs produced per at bat which is what I was looking for. It seems like RC is definitely a better measure of individual performance. By the way, even besides 2 of the 3 components being team-dependent (which ... Baseball is more than just a sport for many enthusiasts; it’s a passion that brings people together. Whether you’re a die-hard fan or someone who simply enjoys the thrill of watchi...Minor League Stats, Black Baseball Stats, Nippon Pro Baseball Stats, Cuban National Series Stats, Korean Baseball Stats, 2023 Minor Leagues , 2023 Affiliates ... Put your baseball knowledge to the test with our daily baseball trivia game. Can you complete the grid? Baseball-Reference.com Blog and Articles; We're Social...for Statheads ...The game of baseball is filled with tons of statistics. Some of the abbreviations used can be quite easy to understand, while others can be downright confusing. I get a lot of questions about what this stat or that stat means, so I thought I would go over some of the most commonly used baseball stats abbreviations and some that may not be quite ...Valorant Stats. and most complete Tracking site! Here you can track your Valorant Stats, view your Valorant Ranks, progression, match history, and more! Your Valorant Profile also has all your agents and weapon usage! View our Valorant Database to see all the best weapons, reviewed by players like you. Check our Valorant Leaderboards - To see ...Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Willie Mays. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com wRC+ = ( ( (wRAA/PA + League R/PA) + (League R/PA – Park Factor* League R/PA))/ (AL or NL wRC/PA excluding pitchers))*100. wRC+ is scaled to have an average league performance of 100, so any time you look at a player’s wRC+ stat, you can easily decipher if the player is above, at, or below average. Every point above the league …Baseball Almanac is a privately held web site / endeavor in serious need of your financial assistance. PLEASE support our ongoing efforts to preserve baseball history by visiting this page OR by contacting us today for additional details.. Baseball Almanac has MORE than 550,000 pages of baseball history, MORE than 1,750,000 fast facts, original research …But notice that even Cleveland can say "The Indians are 48-3 when leading after 8!" This stat gives the suggestion of a solid pen, but confuses the issue by including the number of wins. Whats really important are the losses . Finally, this stat doesn't show any data about good pen performance in comeback victories, but it does include bad pen ... Basic Terms and Information. At Bat (AB) – A plate appearance that doesn’t end in a sacrifice, walk, or hit by pitch. Batting Average (BA or AVG) – Hits divided by at bats. Double (2B) – A two-base hit. Commonly nicknamed a two-bagger. Hit (H) – A ball put in play in fair territory with no out recorded that a fielder would not have ...The official 2024 Baseball cumulative statistics for the Lenoir-Rhyne University Bears. ... W/L Score AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB IBB SB CS HBP SH SF GDP K PO A E AVG; 2/2 ... On-base Plus Slugging (OPS): Adding on base percentage and slugging percentage. This stat is considered one of the best stats to evaluate hitters. Plate Appearance (PA): A batter’s turn at the plate. Each completed turn batting is considered a plate appearance.Collecting baseball cards has become one of the most valuable hobbies in America. The value of rare and unique cards keeps rising to a new streak. The rising demand for baseball ca...This is also simple to calculate with a formula of Replacement Level Runs = (570 * (MLB Games/2,430)) * (Runs Per Win/lgPA) * PA. The 570 and 2430 come from a statistic that is 1,000 WAR per 2430 games played. This means out of 2430 games, 1000 of the wins will be because of players with positive wins above replacement. On-base Plus Slugging (OPS): Adding on base percentage and slugging percentage. This stat is considered one of the best stats to evaluate hitters. Plate Appearance (PA): A batter’s turn at the plate. Each completed turn batting is considered a plate appearance.Mar 18, 2013 · Batting average is perhaps the best known of all baseball statistics. It’s a favorite of fans because it’s a simple calculation. A player’s batting average is calculated by dividing the number of Hits by the number of At Bats. This calculation does not count Walks, Sacrifice Flies, Sacrifice Hits, Hit by Pitch, or Catcher Interference. Background []. Although Bill James hinted at the idea in his Baseball Abstracts of the 1980s, the roots of today's WAR can be more directly traced back to Keith Woolner's concept of VORP (Value Over Replacement Player), which debuted in the 1990s for Baseball Prospectus and was probably the first statistic to measure a player's value …Baseball scoreboards are read from left to right, with the name of the teams listed to the far left. Numbers one through nine indicates each inning and the numbers below show how many runs were scored in each inning. R, H, and E show how many runs, hits, and errors occurred during the entire game. Although most baseball scoreboards contain the ...Discover the key baseball metric, wRC+ (Weighted Runs Created Plus), and unravel the world of weighted runs created with this guide.ERA is calculated this way: ERA = (Earned Runs Allowed / Innings Pitched) * 9. If a pitcher has an ERA of 3.00, and he has pitched 100 innings in his career, then he has given up three runs every nine innings to date. If he pitches one more inning and gives up two earned runs that would make his ERA 3.WAR in baseball stands for Wins Above Replacement. These metric measures how much better (or worse) a player is against a typical average player regarding how many wins they won for your team during 162 games. Essentially, WAR takes a complete look at a baseball player, and uses a formula to calculate how valuable they …As a scientist in my professional career and a baseball stats geek in my free time these TechGraphs “how to” articles on R, Tableau, and Excel stuff have been simply phenomenal. I have not only learned things for Baseball data manipulation but also have learned some things that I can use in my actual work. One of the “excel wizardry ...Instant answers to your MLB questions. Stats, scores, bios, records, odds and more — just ask.But notice that even Cleveland can say "The Indians are 48-3 when leading after 8!" This stat gives the suggestion of a solid pen, but confuses the issue by including the number of wins. Whats really important are the losses . Finally, this stat doesn't show any data about good pen performance in comeback victories, but it does include bad pen ...League news and updates for American Association of Professional Baseball.Beyond Baseball: Other Applications of Mass Spectrometry - Applications of mass spectrometry is a term related to mass spectrometry. Learn about some applications of mass spectrome...Baseball statistics. Baseball statistics play an important role in evaluating the progress of a player or team. Since the flow of a baseball game has natural breaks to it, and normally players act individually rather than performing in clusters, the sport lends itself to easy record-keeping and statistics. Statistics have been recorded since ... Jul 26, 2023 · WAR stands for “Wins Above Replacement.” WAR is a statistic showing how many more wins a baseball team has from a player. It is in comparison with the team gaining with a replacement-level player in the same position. The baseball war stat is “based” on the defensive offensive, pitching, and baserunning to create the final figure. WAR ... Better baseball research is within your grasp. I would also highly recommend the free, on-line edX course Sabermetrics 101.The course is run by Andy Andres and features not only an introduction to sabermetric analysis, but also SQL and R. I walked through the first version and have heard that the latest version is even better.Nov 6, 2023 · This stat is used by coaches and teams to determine the impact a player has on the game. In baseball, WAR stands for Wins Above Replacement. It’s a comprehensive statistic that quantifies a player’s total contributions to their team, estimating how many more wins the player is worth compared to a replacement-level player at the same position. The Crossword Solver found 30 answers to "Baseball stats", 4 letters crossword clue. The Crossword Solver finds answers to classic crosswords and cryptic crossword puzzles. Enter the length or pattern for better results. Click the answer to find similar crossword clues . Enter a Crossword Clue.Mar 15, 2023 · Among the other metrics, WAR in baseball is one of the few that has caught baseball fans’ eye and is generally used as one of the metrics to compare players. Scroll through the article to know more about the WAR metric, its values, the record holders, its reliability, and more. 1 Answer. There has been analysis done to look at the correlation between individual WAR and the record of teams. Most entities that calculate WAR make the same assumption …As a scientist in my professional career and a baseball stats geek in my free time these TechGraphs “how to” articles on R, Tableau, and Excel stuff have been simply phenomenal. I have not only learned things for Baseball data manipulation but also have learned some things that I can use in my actual work. One of the “excel wizardry ...The 2018 edition of the Official Baseball Rules of Major League Baseball (MLB), Rule 9.04 Runs Batted In, reads: A run batted in is a statistic credited to a batter whose action at bat causes one or more runs to score, as set forth in this Rule 9.04. ...Conclusion. RA, RD, and RS are three of the most commonly used acronyms in baseball. RA stands for “Runs Allowed” and is used to measure the number of runs allowed by a pitcher over the course of a game or season. RD stands for “Runs Differential” and is used to measure the difference between the number of runs scored and the …The Kansas City Chiefs, also known as the NFL KC Chiefs, are one of the most exciting teams to watch in the National Football League. With a strong roster of talented players, they...baseballr. baseballr is a package written for R focused on baseball analysis. It includes functions for scraping various data from websites, such as FanGraphs.com, Baseball-Reference.com, and baseballsavant.mlb.com. It also includes functions for calculating metrics, such as wOBA, FIP, and team-level consistency over custom time frames. Mar 18, 2013 · Batting average is perhaps the best known of all baseball statistics. It’s a favorite of fans because it’s a simple calculation. A player’s batting average is calculated by dividing the number of Hits by the number of At Bats. This calculation does not count Walks, Sacrifice Flies, Sacrifice Hits, Hit by Pitch, or Catcher Interference. Mar 15, 2023 · Among the other metrics, WAR in baseball is one of the few that has caught baseball fans’ eye and is generally used as one of the metrics to compare players. Scroll through the article to know more about the WAR metric, its values, the record holders, its reliability, and more. Advanced stats had started to bubble up for a while throughout the sport, but it feels like 2012 is where it took off more. Reply reply ... r/baseball. r/baseball. The BIGGEST and BEST subreddit for America's pastime: baseball. The focus is mainly on MLB, but other posts about other leagues and levels are allowed! ...FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference have the same replacement level (1,000 WAR per 2,430 games played) and we allocate 57% of the WAR to position players and 43% to pitchers. To that end, calculating replacement level runs proceeds like this. Replacement Level Runs = (570 * (MLB Games/2,430)) * (Runs Per Win/lgPA) * PA. Although we often associate reforestation projects with the fight against climate change, there is also a clear link between planting trees and poverty. Climate change and poverty ...A player’s ability to run the bases with given innate baseball knowledge and speed has always been considered when evaluating their overall skill. Although more heavily weighted in the past versus the present, this asset in a player’s repertoire can still add several runs to a team’s overall totals. As baseball evolves, the main question turns into how this skill …To compute it, we add up the hits and walks – including intentional walks – a pitcher has given up. Then, we compute the total innings the pitcher has pitched. Finally, WHIP is computed by dividing the total hits and walks by the number of innings pitched. Symbolically, WHIP = \frac {1B+2B+3B+HR+BB+IBB} {IP} W H I P = I P 1B+2B+3B+H …WAR measures a player's value in all facets of the game by deciphering how many more wins he's worth than a replacement-level player at his same position (e.g., a Minor League replacement or a readily available fill-in free agent). The Magic number is the sum of a team's wins and an opponent's losses needed to guarantee a playoff spot. WCE# is the opposite - it's the sum of a team's losses and an opponent's wins before they are eliminated. It's also known as the Tragic Number. Let's say the Bluejays don't lose another game this season AND Royals/Tigers win 14 games the ...Oct 4, 2023 ...Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Willie Mays. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com OBP: On-base percentage – the average number of times a batter reaches a base per plate appearance. OPS: On-base plus slugging – the sum of a players on-base percentage and slugging percentage. RBI: Runs batted in – when a batter hits a pitch that results in a teammate scoring a run.All MLB boxscores and play by play since 1957. (Excluding current season) 2023 Season | 1947 Season | 2017 Season | 2011-09-21.Nov 13, 2023 · BB – Bases on Balls: The number of times a player is ‘walked’ or awarded first base after four balls are thrown during an at-bat. SO – Strikeouts: The number of times a player strikes out while at bat. SB – Bases Stolen: The total number of bases a player has stolen as a baserunner. 3. K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches. Author: Tyler Kepner. Published: April 2019. One of the best baseball books of 2019. Kepner weaves a joyous story of baseball through 10 chapters, each identified by a pitch: slider, fastball, curveball, knuckleball, splitter, screwball, sinker, changeup, spitball and cutter.Check out the list of all the Baseball Leaders & their all-time Career, Single-Season, Playoffs Records, Leaderboard and more on Baseball-Reference.com ... Minor League Stats, Black Baseball Stats, Nippon Pro Baseball Stats, Cuban National Series Stats, Korean Baseball Stats, 2023 Minor Leagues, 2023 Affiliates, ... Baseball-Reference …League news and updates for American Association of Professional Baseball.Orlando Cepeda Minor, Winter & Mexican Leagues Statistics including batting, fielding, prospect rankings and more on Baseball-Reference.com. ... , Black Baseball Stats, Nippon Pro Baseball Stats, Cuban National Series Stats, Korean Baseball Stats, 2023 Minor Leagues, 2023 Affiliates, ... Baseball-Reference Bullpen. 100,000 ...Baseball Stats Spreadsheet Template. It was challenging to keep track of numbers in baseball games now, a baseball stats spreadsheet template Excel is available to make a life for a manager or …Jan 27, 2022 ... It's a powerful stat, and it's more predictive of future ERA than ERA itself at least. But it's stuck between being descriptive/explaining what .....

In two full high school football seasons playing for Vincent-St. Mary’s High School in Akron, Ohio, Lebron James caught 103 passes for 2,065 yards and scored 23 touchdowns.. Monster truck clipart

w.a.r. baseball stat

Nov 16, 2020 ... The number is how many wins that player brings the team over what a replacement player could bring to the team. Baseball Reference says if you ...As the market shifts, superstar athletes are hedging their risks. Throughout the decades of the 1990s and 2000s, it seemed like Major League Baseball was in an un-winnable arms rac...As a scientist in my professional career and a baseball stats geek in my free time these TechGraphs “how to” articles on R, Tableau, and Excel stuff have been simply phenomenal. I have not only learned things for Baseball data manipulation but also have learned some things that I can use in my actual work. One of the “excel wizardry ...Also, ERA. Not a bad stat, but analysts and fans get way too hung up on that one number, when it is not necessarily the best way to determine how well a pitcher is performing. Underrated: A few I think are underrated: K/9, OBP, OPS, FIP, etc. 3.R: 20. Mel Ott+ (22) 110.9: 11347: L: 21. Mickey Mantle+ (18) 110.2: 9910: B: …18.0. 5. John Clarkson. 16.66. Complete Leaders. Discover the current and all time leaders in Wins Above Replacement in Major League Baseball on ESPN.com.Data validation provided by Elias Sports Bureau, the Official Statistician of Major League Baseball. The official source for player hitting stats, MLB home run leaders, batting average, OPS and stat leaders. An above average player that without a doubt would be cherished on any team, but being worth only 9.7 wins above an average MLB player should definitely put some questions on a player’s HOF campaign. For comparison, Ted Lilly was worth 11.9 WAA in his career, despite being worth much less WAR (29.2). Much like WAR, WAA shouldn’t be the only ...Posts about a player or team performance must include the stat, event, or context IN THE TITLE. If a two-way player's pitching performance is complete but the game is not over, include batting statistics in post body only. For a pitching or batting line, the player's performance must be complete. Do not make posts for no-hitters or perfect games.How Baseball-Reference.com calculates WAR and how others do: WAR-Wins Above Replacement Explanation WAR-wRAA explanation WAR-Position Players WAR-Pitchers …Standard Stats. For more than a century, statistics have been a staple of the game of baseball. Arguably no sport has a closer relationship with the stats that chronicle its every play. Standard stats are widely used by those who play fantasy baseball. A typical fantasy baseball league will use the following statistics: In this section, you ... Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Henry Aaron. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com ... , Black Baseball Stats, Nippon Pro Baseball Stats, Cuban National Series Stats, Korean Baseball Stats, 2023 Minor Leagues , 2023 ...Contents What Is War in Baseball? WAR stands for “Wins Above Replacement.” WAR is a statistic showing how many more wins a baseball team has …Aug 31, 2023 · RD, or Run Differential, is a cumulative team stat that is based on offensive and defensive scoring. The Run Differential of a team is determined by subtracting the total number of runs allowed from the total number of runs the team has scored. Logically, if the team scores more runs than it allows, the RD will be positive. Converting Innings Pitched for Pitchers' Statistics. In baseball, the numerical value of the innings pitched is not presented with the normal numeric format. Since there are only three outs to an inning, the largest value in the tenths digit will be “2” rather than the usual “9” (such as 5.1, 5.2, and 6.0). However, the tenths place ...There needs to be a distinction between WAR as a stat and WAR as a framework. Technically, WAR is not a stat, it is a framework for evaluating players. bWAR and fWAR are stats, as they are implementations of the WAR framework. Here is how WAR works as a framework: Pick which components you think contribute to evaluating a player..

Popular Topics