Disclaimer & Impressum » rst round series tonig

Last week in the CFL the penalty flags were flying. In total between the four games played there were 110 penalties for 958 yards, which is the third-highest total in the last 20 years. Obviously, that is way too many penalties. It disrupts the flow of the game, extends the length of the game, and is flat out hard to watch. However, it is one thing to simply complain about the flag-filled week. Its another to examine the calls, look at the reasons why they were made, and work towards finding solutions so it doesnt happen again. In conjunction with the leagues head coaches, that is exactly what Glen Johnson, the leagues Vice-President of Officiating, is currently working on. It is a process that will take some time for a couple reasons, the most important being that we are all learning a new culture in football where player safety is the focus. However, all the league stake holders are all in to work towards limiting the amount of penalties called, and the time it takes to call them. Johnson has accumulated the numbers from last week and some from the first three weeks of the season, and they may surprise football fans. First, all of the penalties from last week have been reviewed and, of the 110 called, 93 of them were the correct call while only seven of them were debatable or questionable calls. Essentially, 94 per cent of the calls made last week were correct which according to Johnson is, "very close to the overall standards from the last few years." These numbers are significant, because it is important to understand that fixing the problem of too many penalties does not just fall on the shoulders of the officials. The players and coaches are ultimately responsible, and are working with Johnson on a weekly basis to improve the situation. Johnson explained by pointing out that there are currently teams that have asked the league to make officials available for practices. "I talk to the coaches and we are working together to improve the situation on a weekly basis, in fact some teams have asked that we supply them refs at practice, which I think is an excellent idea, and can help the teams and our officials." After three weeks this season penalties are up by 31 per cent overall, which is a huge jump. However, when you dig a little deeper into the numbers, we shouldnt be surprised. Of the 31 per cent increase this year, "player safety fouls," are leading the way. Penalties like unnecessary roughness, roughing the passer, face masking, and sportsmanship-related fouls like taunting are driving the increase. When you consider what is happening in North America when it comes to player safety in contact sports, we shouldnt be surprised that calls that are designed to protect the players, sometimes from themselves, are up dramatically. It is going to take time for players to understand what is a legal hit, and what is not, when they have trained their whole lives to hit a certain way, especially when we are talking about the hits on the quarterbacks. So before we start chanting, "ref you suck," from the stands, remember that the Players Association have negotiated player safety items into their new collective bargaining agreements and have made it a priority. It is the players who must change their behaviour, and better understand what is - and isnt - a legal hit, and play with more discipline. They voted it into their own agreements. For now, if the officials err, they will err on the side of protecting the players because that has been mandated by the league and the CFLPA. Penalty-filled games make for long football games, and fans should know that the league is very aware of games extending too long and are working on improving that area as well. One concern is with regards to video review, and whether or not it is taking too long. No, this has nothing to do with the new rule to make pass interference a reviewable penalty - more on that in a minute. This is about being more efficient with the review process. Glen Johnson is even looking at possibly changing the mechanics to speed things up. "One thing that I am looking at is to possibly drop the part of the process where the official explains to the Referee what he saw which then gets relayed to the replay official." He went on to say, "that information is rarely helpful as the play is getting reviewed, we could save about 20 seconds per review." Twenty seconds would be significant when you consider that currently the average review is taking two minutes and 15 seconds. This however, according to Johnson, is skewed because of a few really long reviews this year that took five minutes. He said that reviews generally take about one minute and 30 seconds, which is close to the target. "The objective is to get them under two minutes and five minutes is not acceptable!" It should also be noted that according to data from south of the border, NFL reviews on average take about three minutes, so shaving over a minute off that time will add up quickly. Johnson has reminded his refs that when replay was first introduced to the game there was a 90-second limit placed on the referee, and that decision didnt come from a replay office - it was made from under the hood at the park. Now on the new rule involving the review of pass interference. After three weeks there have been five challenges of pass interference, and all five were on plays where there was no flag thrown. In other words coaches challenged that the call was missed. On two of those challenges the play was reviewed and it was determined by the command center that there was PI on the play and the no call on the field was overturned. It is a small sample size but Johnson, and the majority of the coaches in the league, feel the new rule change is, "going well," so far. As for the timing of this particular challenge on average it takes about 20 seconds longer than other challengeable plays. So if it takes about one minute and 30 seconds for most challenges, then a PI call would take one minute and 50 seconds which is still under the target of two minutes. By the way both overturned PI challenges occurred in the end zone which is the area on the field that changes the outcome of games, and the calls ended up being correct. The purpose of this change was not to make PI more difficult, but to assist the officials who may have missed something blatant during live action, and in that regard the league and the coaches believe it is working so far. When you break it all down, there is a fairly simple explanation as to why player safety type penalties are up, and that should correct itself over time. It is also important to understand that 94 per cent of the penalties called in the game are the correct call, so it is the coaches and players responsibility to make the necessary corrections. And finally, all the stakeholders in the game are very aware that last week there were way too many penalties and are working together to make changes to make sure 110 flags in four games doesnt happen again. Now lets get back to talking about football. Alex Iwobi Jersey . 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. Blank Jersey .C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes have activated defenceman Joni Pitkanen from injured reserve. http://www.arsenalsoccerproshop.com/Authentic-Danny-Welbeck-Arsenal-Jersey/ . Belfort was originally schedule to fight Chris Weidman at UFC 173 on May 24, but a Nevada State Athletic Commission ban on testosterone replacement therapy forced the former light heavyweight champ to withdraw. Sead Kolasinac Jersey . -- Michigan coach John Beilein is willing to give Nik Stauskas a little leeway when it comes to shot selection. Lucas Torreira Jersey . CBS Sports Jon Heyman is reporting that Santana will sign a one-year deal, likely in the next two days with one of a trio of suitors, with the Toronto Blue Jays believed to be heavily involved.(SportsNetwork.com) - The top-seeded Anaheim Ducks will aim for a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first round series tonight when they host the Dallas Stars at the Honda Center. The game can be seen live on TSN and TSN GO at 10pm et/7pm pt. Ryan Getzlaf will play after suffering a deep facial laceration late in Game 1 because of getting hit with a puck. He required multiple stitches to close the cut, but that x-rays were negative. "He has no one to impress. He has a wife and kids. I think he looks good. This is playoff hockey," quipped Ducks defenseman Ben Lovejoy. Getzlaf, a Stanley Cup winner in 2007 with the franchise, has 22 goals and 39 assists in 70 postseason appearances. Getzlaf and his wife, Paige, had a baby girl this morning as well. The Ducks Matt Beleskey suffered a lower-body injury in Game 1 and will not play Friday. Devante Smith-Pelly will likely start in place of Beleskey, but head coach Bruce Boudreau said others might get the chance to play on that line as well. The Ducks led the West with 116 points -- 25 more than Dallas -- and their supremacy showed in the early portion of Wednesdays Game 1 victory. However, after jumping out to a four-goal lead, Anaheim was forced to hang on for a 4-3 decision in the opener. Anaheim held a 4-0 lead just over nine minutes into the second period, but Dallas cut the deficit to two goals by the end of 40 minutes and made it a 4-3 game when Tyler Seguin scored with a little over six minutes remaining in the third period. However, rookie goaltender Frederik Andersen, who got the start in net for Anaheim over Jonas Hiller, turned away all comers over the final six minutes to help the Ducks grab the early edge. Andersen finished with 32 saves in his postseason debut for the Ducks, who used a 54-20-8 regular-season record -- the best in franchise history -- to secure the conferences top spot. "We let up a little bit in the third after our fourth goal, so this is a good lesson for us," said Andersen, who became the first rookie goaaltender in club history to win his playoff debut.dddddddddddd "Hopefully we can prevent that from happening again." Anaheim plans on sticking with Andersen in Game 2. Hiller led Anaheim with 50 appearances in net this season, but the veteran did not play in seven of Anaheims final eight regular-season games. Getzlaf and Beleskey each supplied a goal and an assist for the Ducks, with Kyle Palmieri and Mathieu Perreault supplying a goal apiece. Anaheims Teemu Selanne notched an assist for his 83rd career postseason point (42 goals, 41 assists) in 119 games. The 43-year-old future Hall of Famer plans on retiring at the end of the season. Jamie Benn and Colton Sceviour scored 1:33 apart late in the second to kick off Dallas valiant comeback effort. Sceviour added an assist on Benns goal while Kari Lehtonen allowed four goals on 35 shots for the Stars, who claimed the Wests second wild card spot to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2008. "We had a tough start," Benn admitted. "They came out hot in their building. They are really good in this rink. I thought we battled back pretty good there but it just wasnt enough." Benn and Sceviour were both making their playoff debuts, while the 22-year-old Seguin, a former Boston Bruin, now has 19 points (7 goals, 12 assists) over 43 postseason contests. This series marks the third all-time playoff meeting between these clubs and first since the Stars bested the Ducks in six games during the 2008 Western Conference quarterfinals. After Game 2, the series will shift to Dallas for the next two meetings. The Stars will host Game 3 on Monday with Game 4 scheduled for Wednesday. Projected Stars Lines Benn - Seguin - WhitneyRoussel - Eakin - ChiassonCole - Horcoff - GarbuttSceviour - Fiddler - Nichuskin Goligoski - DaleyNemeth - BennConnauton - Gonchar Lehotenen Projected Ducks Lines Smith-Pelley - Getzlaf - PerryWinnik - Bonino - PalmieriCogliano - Koivu - SilfverbergMaroon - Perrault - Selanne Lindholm - BeaucheminFowler - Lovejoy Allen - Robidas Andersen Cheap Buffalo Sabres Gear Wholesale Calgary Flames Jerseys Cheap Adidas Colorado Avalanche Jerseys Montreal Canadiens Outlet Store Wholesale New Jersey Devils Jerseys Adidas Arizona Coyotes Jerseys Cheap Adidas Boston Bruins Jerseys Cheap Adidas Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys Chicago Blackhawks Shop Free Shipping Wholesale Columbus Blue Jackets Jerseys Dallas Stars Shop Free Shipping Cheap Adidas Detroit Red Wings Jerseys Anaheim Ducks Jerseys China Wholesale Edmonton Oilers Jerseys Florida Panthers Shop Free Shipping Wholesale Los Angeles Kings Jerseys Minnesota Wild Outlet Store Cheap Adidas Nashville Predators Jerseys Cheap Adidas New York Islanders Jerseys New York Rangers Winter Classic Jerseys Cheap Adidas Ottawa Senators Jerseys Cheap Adidas Philadelphia Flyers Jerseys Wholesale Pittsburgh Penguins Jerseys Cheap Adidas San Jose Sharks Jerseys St. Louis Blues Winter Classic Jerseys Wholesale Tampa Bay Lightning Jerseys Toronto Maple Leafs Outlet Store Vancouver Canucks Outlet Store Cheap Adidas Vegas Golden Knights Jerseys Cheap Adidas Washington Capitals Jerseys Cheap Adidas Winnipeg Jets Jerseys ' ' '