I am with Jimmy Graham on this one. This new no dunking over the field goal post after a touchdown rule absolutely sucks.

In their continuing quest to be the No Fun League, the NFL has banned dunking over the field goal post after touchdowns due to some field goal posts having been bent a few times by players,causing delays in play after crews were brought in to fix them.
Graham has since been flagged several times in two preseason games for continuing the celebrations,drawing the ire of his coach,Sean Payton,whose Saints were penalized 22 times in their 31-24 preseason win on Friday against the Tennessee Titans.

I personally hate this rule. Seeing guys like Graham and Vernon Davis and others do this makes the game fun. I’m never okay with rule changes that take fun out of the game and the NFL did just that.

I know that Graham is probably going to stop doing this after Payton chewed him out on the sidelines on Friday. If he doesn’t, I understand.

Are we putting too much emphasis on preseason games?

I mean,it’s great that football is back and I’m excited for that, but we’re only in preseason and getting way too worked up for it. When your team wins, it doesn’t mean very much in the standings, the same as if they lose.

All we’re really doing in the preseason is seeing who our back-up players will be and how they match-up against another team’s back-ups. Not only that,we’re doing so at full price. If we’re really measuring how teams do in the regular season based on the preseason, then one has to believe the 49ers are going to go 0-16 after being outscored 57-3 the first two preseason games. One has to believe that the sorry,no-account New York Giants are Super Bowl bound because they are 3-0 in the preseason. You know who else won all of their preseason games once upon a time? The 2008 Detroit Lions. Guess how many regular season wins they mustered that year? Zero!

I think it’s great that fans are excited about football being back and have high hopes for their team,but don’t think for a second that it’s because they’re having a great preseason.

The sale of the Los Angeles Clippers became final last week as former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer became the new owner at the low price of $2 billion. While the Sterling ownership is over for this team (thank goodness!), one member of the family isn’t entirely gone.

Shelly Sterling,the estranged wife of former owner Donald Sterling, was given the title of “owner emeritus”. In addition to that stupid title, she also receives courtside seats, VIP parking passes and even three championship rings if the Clippers ever win an NBA title.

Does the NBA or even realize that she was just as bad as Donald was? Did nobody see her pose as a health inspector in order to gain access into the homes of minority tenants living iin her family’s buildings? Isn’t anyone in the league office bothered by that? Am I the only one who is?

I don’t think the league should be allowing Ballmer to execute this with the Sterling family. I get that he is trying to extend an olive branch to the prior family that owned this team (terribly,I might add), but this is something that shouldn’t be happening. Give her your $2 billion and send her on her way.

I don’t usually talk soccer a whole lot,but since I am living in an area where the sport’s popularity is growing, it’s a must this week.

The Sacramento Republic FC, who at the moment are a USL Pro team, are hoping to become an MLS franchise in the next few seasons and it looks as though they are on their way. All that they really need is a new stadium. A few sites around downtown and even neighbouring West Sacramento have been mentioned,but I think one more should be as well.

Elk Grove.

Wait,Elk Grove? Yes,Elk Grove.

Why? Because the city is itself growing at a very rapid rate with over 160,000 people and also, why not? I have few reasons to even go to Elk Grove and maybe a soccer game might be an idea. Plus a lot of MLS clubs have suburban stadiums,so why not one more?

I’m not immediately shooting down the idea of a downtown pitch or one along the river or even one in the railyards. I just think Elk Grove should receive some more consideration. I’m hoping they can be at least a darkhorse candidate for the Republic FC’s new home. I think it would be great!