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Tue Nov 05, 2019 1:25 pm
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NEW YORK -- If Commissioner Roger Goodell gets his way, change could be coming to the NFL. Nike Air Max 270 React Nederland . Adding playoff teams. Monitoring instant replay from league headquarters. Possibly creating a set of guidelines to prevent locker-room bullying. Short on details or precise timetables, and acknowledging hell need approval from team owners for action, Goodell painted the picture of an ever-evolving league during his annual pre-Super Bowl news conference, held Friday in a theatre in midtown Manhattan. Goodell said "theres a lot of benefits" to increasing the post-season field from 12 to 14 clubs. "We think we can make the league more competitive. We think we can make the matchups more competitive toward the end of the season. There will be more excitement, more memorable moments for our fans. And thats something that attracts us," Goodell said. "We think we can do it properly from a competitive standpoint. So this will continue to get very serious consideration by the competition committee." That sort of proposal would require "Yes" votes from 24 of the 32 owners. At least one who attended Goodells speech, Jeffrey Lurie of the Philadelphia Eagles, sounded in favour of the idea, with a couple of caveats: He wouldnt want to let too many teams into the post-season, and hed like to hear more about scheduling. "We dont want to become like some other sports, where its too easy to make the playoffs," Lurie said. "Adding one team would not put us in a counterproductive situation. But when you would play the games, I think, is very important, so that the following games, you have virtually an equal time to prepare." Making a not-so-subtle reference to mistakes by game officials this season, Goodell said that committee also will make recommendations to the 32 owners about having replays from all games overseen by the league office. Major League Baseball recently joined the NHL as sports that have centralized replay systems. "We think theres plenty of room for us to improve the game of football, and officiating in particular. What we all want is consistency and fairness in our officiating," Goodell said. "I do believe there is a possibility that some version of that will occur -- where our office can at least be involved with the decision. It may not make the decision," he added, "but at least can provide some input that would be helpful to the officials on the field to make sure theyre seeing every angle." Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney said he needs more information before deciding whether hed be in favour. "Our situation is different than hockey. But I think we should look at everything," Rooney said. "Maybe we want to expand the number of incidents that you look at. A lot of times theyll say, Thats not reviewable. Look into that, for example." New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft likes the suggestion. "Games should be standardized and have the same people making the calls," Kraft said. "I dont want to ever lose a game based on poor interpretation of rules by (different) officials." Another focal point, according to Goodell, will be preventing the kind of alleged bullying that rocked the Miami Dolphins this season. "Ive already begun discussions with outside parties. Ive discussed it with the union, Ive also met with several groups of players, individually and collectively, to talk about the circumstances. What needs to be done?" Goodell said. "Some of it will be education. Some of it possibly could be policy change." Speaking two days before the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks play in East Rutherford, N.J., Goodell did not respond directly to questions whether other cold-weather cities with outdoor stadiums could host NFL championship games. During his opening remarks, Goodell said: "One unique aspect about the focus for this years Super Bowl has been on the weather. Of course, we cannot control the weather. I told you we were going to embrace the weather. Here we go." And with that, flakes of fake snow fell from the ceiling above the stage, drawing laughter. Among other topics addressed by Goodell: --The NFL is working to convince a federal judge in Philadelphia that the tentative $765 million settlement reached with former players who sued the league about concussions "can provide the kind of benefits that we intended, and were confident that well get there"; --The difficulty in selling out wild-card playoff games resulted from "mistakes that were made by us, the NFL, and our clubs," and not fans fault, and that improving stadium safety "is a critical component"; --The NFL is "not actively considering" allowing players to use marijuana for medical reasons, but "thats something we would never take off the table, if it can benefit our players"; --Selling out all three of next seasons games in London is "just another indication that the more we give fans in the U.K. of NFL football, the more they want" and that the possibility of placing a franchise in that country is closer to reality than a year ago; --He deflected a question about whether hed call a Native American a "Redskin" face-to-face, saying, "Lets not forget this is the name of a football team." ------ AP Pro Football Writer Barry Wilner and Sports Writers Rachel Cohen, Tim Booth and Tom Canavan contributed to this report. Nike Air Max Plus Goedkoop . A little more than one year after missing a last-second tip-in that would have given the Wolverines a share of the Big Ten regular-season title, the 6-foot-8 forward scored on a layup with 7. Nike Air Max Axis Nederland . He was still a kid, going into his senior year of high school. Thursday, the point guard stood in front of a couple dozen members of the media and spoke with poise about how much hed grown since then, and how hes ready for the next level. http://www.airmaxkopennederland.com/ . - A week after a late-game debacle on defence, the Pittsburgh Steelers showed they can finish.PHOENIX -- After a laugher over the New York Knicks, the Phoenix Suns are on their longest winning streak in four years. Goran Dragic scored 32 points in 32 minutes and the Suns routed the Knicks 112-88 on Friday night for their season-high sixth victory in a row. Eric Bledsoe added 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists, Markieff Morris scored 16 and Miles Plumlee had 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Suns, who led by 22 at halftime and 32 in the third quarter. Carmelo Anthony scored 21, seven below his season average, and Amare Stoudemire 19 for the Knicks, blown out for the second time in three games on their five-game western trip. "They didnt play good defence," Dragic said of the Knicks, "so tonight we could get everything that we want. We swing the ball two and three times, Im sure we get an open guy." With Memphis loss at Golden State, Phoenix pulled a half-game ahead of the Grizzlies for the No. 7 playoff spot in the West. The Suns are a game ahead of Dallas. The Knicks fell two games behind Atlanta for the eighth spot in the East. After winning eight of nine, Phoenix is just 1 1/2 games behind No. 6 Golden State and 2 1/2 behind No. 5 Portland. "In the West, its so crazy," Dragic said. "The first nine teams, they all deserve to be in the playoffs. But its only eight teams that can get in. We just have to take care of our business. I think if we play like tonight, were going to be in good shape." Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said that unless his team finishes 7-2 "or something like that," its unlikely Phoenix can catch the Warriors or Trail Blazers. "But they (the players) do look at the standings," Hornacek said. "They see that its bunched up there and lets see what we can do." Dragic, who scored 18 in the first quarter, returned to start the second half after getting five stitches to repair a cut just above the left eye, the result of a second-quarter collision with Tyson Chandlers massive armm. Nike Air Max Kopen. "I tried to poke the ball from him and he turned and hit me with his elbow right in the eye," Dragic said. "I dont know what it is. Its always the left eye." He said hes had stitches above the eye five times in his career, twice this season, and always on the left side. Phoenixs streak is its longest since the Suns won 10 straight four years ago. The smaller Suns dominated the boards 56-37 and had a 46-24 advantage in points in the paint. "We just werent ready for them," Anthony said. "We werent prepared for them, and they ran us out of the gym." It wasnt quite as bad for the Knicks as their 127-96 embarrassment against the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, but it wasnt close after the first 1 1/2 quarters. The Suns, a season-high 15 games above .500, outscored the Knicks 24-6 over the final 8:49 of the half to lead 62-40 at the break. "We are playing for something and it is disappointing because we just cant afford to give games away," New York coach Mike Woodson said. Dragic had 20 at the half on 8-for-10 shooting, including 3-of-4 on 3s. Phoenix shot 52 per cent in the first half to New Yorks 39 per cent. The Suns were 8-of-20 on first-half 3s, the Knicks 4-of-13. The smaller Suns even outrebounded New York in the first two quarters 26-17. Anthony, the No. 2 scorer in the NBA at 28.2 points per game, had 10 in the first half on 4-of-10 shooting. Things got worse for New York early in the third quarter. Dragic made two 3s and Bledsoe one to put the Suns up 78-47 and Plumlees reverse jam on an alley-oop pass from Bledsoe made it 82-50 with 6:40 left in the period, Phoenixs biggest lead against anyone this season. NOTES: Tim Boven, an engineer at Honeywell from suburban Peoria, won $77,777 by sinking a shot from halfcourt during a second-quarter timeout. ... Stoudemire played in Phoenix for only the second time since leaving the Suns following the 2010 season. ... Phoenix is 20-10 against Eastern Conference foes. ' ' ' |
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