In his new role, Joe Dumars will …

In his new role, Joe Dumars will oversee all Basketball Operations matters for the NBA, including the development of playing rules and interpretations, conduct and discipline, and policies and procedures relating to the operation of games. He will engage with players, coaches, team executives, officials and other key stakeholders to sustain the highest level of play and competition. Dumars will also lead the overall talent strategy for Basketball Operations and reinforce a culture of inclusivity and innovation.

Reflecting on NFL and Chiefs’ history with marijuana

Our @EdEastonJr reflects on the complicated history of marijuana in the NFL, how it has impacted some #Chiefs players and the path forward.

Marijuana use in the NFL has been a controversial topic for many years now.

The subject has continued to evolve lately as the league loosened its hard stance on the substance, taking a more liberal approach. The Kansas City Chiefs have encountered the once strict rules that prohibited any use of cannabis in the league, but those fines and suspensions that affected player availability appear to be a thing of the past as the NFL embraces change. The words cannabis and marijuana are directly associated with wellness and business for today’s players.

The league took a significant step forward in March 2020 when they implemented the new collective bargaining agreement. The new CBA declared that players who test positive for cannabis use would no longer be suspended. Testing would be limited to the first two weeks of training camp instead of a range spanning April to August. The threshold for the amount of THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana needed to trigger a positive test, was also raised.

Branded content editor and cannabis insider Sarah Michel believes these changes are a necessary step in the right direction to correct what has been a troubling history.

“I think even looking at the history of marijuana and seeing how it was vilified, more people are becoming accepting now and seeing how people use cannabis in different ways,” Michel told Chiefs Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. “People are starting to see the medicinal benefits, and even with the NFL, I know that they just got a million dollars to commission two or three studies to see the effect of marijuana on pain management after an injury or just dealing with it medicinally. I think those are great steps, and people are starting to see that these players use marijuana to self-medicate. And because it has been labeled as a schedule one drug, it is difficult for people to see it past being a ‘drug.’ So I think they are making great steps and being more open.”

In February of 2022, the NFL awarded $1 million to two research projects. The first was a look into the “Effects of Cannabinoids on Pain and Recovery from Sports-Related Injuries in Elite Athletes.” The other on “Naturally Produced Cannabinoids for Pain Management and Neuroprotection from Concussion and Participation in Contact Sports.”

The football career of current Chiefs receiver Josh Gordon was most notably affected by the NFL’s past sanctions against cannabis. Gordon was a multiple-time offender of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, costing him several games and entire seasons since entering the league via the 2012 supplemental draft. He had been vocal about his mental health issues and once relied on marijuana to help cope.

After stints with the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks, Gordon was reinstated by the league following his latest suspension and signed to the Chiefs’ practice squad. Gordon only played 11 games for the Browns after his 2013 Pro Bowl season due to his substance abuse suspensions and missed the entirety of the 2015, 2016, and 2020 seasons. The easing of suspensions due to the league’s new interest in cannabis research was the catalyst for the decision. Before last season, the rules were strict for those that violated the policy.

A failed test meant a referral to the substance abuse program. A second violation resulted in a fine of two game checks, the third violation was a fine of four game checks, a fourth violation was a four-game suspension’ a fifth violation was a 10-game suspension, and the sixth violation led to a one-year ban without pay.

“I say that speaks to just how dangerous and harmful the war on drugs is,” said Michel. “(Gordon), like many people, has been arrested. And now there are big companies making billions of dollars off of it. And Americans still can’t get jobs because of felonies and other things. So, it’s a horrible consequence. Opioids are addictive. Cannabis hasn’t had any real studies that say it’s an addictive property. It has over 400 chemical properties that make it so complex. So it just kind of angered me in a way. That’s the story of cannabis: There are people who are affected, and they’re never going to get certain aspects of their lives back. They’re never going to be able to know where they could have been if this hadn’t happened to them. And then there are people who are going around profiting from it.”

Recent Chiefs players with substance abuse violations due to marijuana possession or failed drug tests include Demetrius Harris in 2018, De’Anthony Thomas in 2019, and Bashaud Breeland in 2020.

Former Chiefs’ great, Christian Okoye, notably promoted the use of marijuana as a prominent pain killer back in 2018. The former running back abandoned the use of opioids to deal with lingering pain from his playing days. He proclaimed that CBD had changed his life, and he is now “almost pain-free” as the marijuana allowed his body to recover fully.

Okoye wouldn’t be the only former Chiefs star to go into business with marijuana. In 2019, Joe Montana announced his investment in a venture capital firm for the pot-growing industry. The list of former NFL players getting involved in the cannabis industry goes on and on.

The ongoing league studies are encouraging for the current players who rely on cannabis to deal with pain and mental health issues. However, according to Michel, the policy should be amended further, as she still believes the league is capable of doing more than collecting data to affect change for their players and the greater public.

“I think the NFL, in sponsoring this study, is taking the right step,” she said. “But at the same time, they’re kind of contradicting themselves because these players are practically brand ambassadors for the cannabis industry. They are the proof that (cannabis products) are effective. So it does sound like a conflicting message with them not using the study to affect policy afterward. I will be interested to see what comes out of the study and how they use it to implement change.”

Sarah Michel is the founder of CannaCultureConnect, a digital platform dedicated to educating people about the holistic qualities of cannabis while advocating to end the War on Drugs.

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MLB is going to be stuck with the awful ‘ghost runner’ rule in extra innings for 2022

Well, that’s a letdown.

When Major League Baseball and the players union came to an agreement to end the 99-day MLB lockout, fans were prepared to see several changes to the on-field product with the new CBA.

Pitch clocks, larger bases and banning the defensive shift were all changes that could be implemented in 2023. But one of the more popular moves was the apparent elimination of the rule that placed a “ghost” runner on second base for extra innings.

It turns out that baseball fans celebrated too soon because the rule is staying for at least another season.

According to The New York Post, the league and union agreed on a few additional changes like expanded rosters and allowing pitchers to remain in the game as a DH (to allow us to enjoy more Shohei Ohtani at-bats). But evidently, the extra-runner rule lives to fight another day — err, year.

Via nypost.com:

The extra-inning rule is probably the most controversial of the batch. It will just be in effect for 2022. It will again have a runner placed on second base to begin each extra inning as a way to create instant action and strategy and get to a resolution without playing long into extra innings.

The league is expected to abandon the ghost runner for 2023 as it’s staying around to cut down on longer games in a season with a shortened spring training. But man, we were so ready to celebrate that rule’s demise. It feels terrible to have it back.

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Gaffe on 16 costs Keegan Bradley two shots during second round of Players Championship

Bradley was 2 under for the tournament, then trouble began at the par-5 16th.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Keegan Bradley was rolling.

Having completed his first round in the Players Championship on Friday, an even-par 72, Bradley started his second round on the 10th hole Saturday when play resumed at 12 noon in this storm-delayed tournament on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.

After knocking in a bomb for birdie from 52 feet on the par-4 15th, Bradley was 2 under for the tournament. Then he reached the par-5 16th with two mighty blows.

Facing an eagle putt from 70 feet, Bradley marked his ball.

Then his troubles began.

A gust of wind moved the ball but not the marker. After it came to rest, Bradley retrieved the ball and placed it ahead of his original mark. But according to a provision under Rule 13.1 D, Bradley was supposed to play from the ball’s new location after the gust of wind. His gaffe cost him a two-shot penalty.

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Bradley then three-putted and walked off with a double-bogey seven.

He birdied the second and was 1 under for the tournament through 14 holes.

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College football news: fake injuries here to stay for 2022 season

What would you do to fix this obvious college football problem?

What does college football have in common with men’s international soccer?

Fake injuries.  And a lot of them.

Whether you’re a fan of a team from the SEC, Big Ten, ACC, and independent, or a fan of a squad from a Group of Five conference chances are extremely high that you’ve seen your team have a fake injury pulled on them and that your favorite squad has faked an injury on someone else.

Well, that won’t be going away anytime soon.  At least not for the 2022 college football season.

The NCAA Football Rules Committee issued the following statement on Friday:

To address teams that are awarded an injury timeout through deceptive actions, the committee proposed a reporting and investigation process. Schools and conferences would be able to report questionable scenarios to the national coordinator of officials, who will review and provide feedback to the conference for further action. Any penalties levied would be up to the conference office or school involved.

“It is very difficult to legislate ethics, particularly when an injury timeout is being used to gain an advantage,” David Shaw said. “The small number of teams that seem to use these tactics should be addressed directly.”  

The committee considered several in-game options to address this, including altering the injury timeout rule to remove the injured student-athlete for more than one play, which is the current rule. This concept was debated at length, but the committee was concerned with the additional issues that could be created and did not want to encourage players to continue to participate when injured.

Committee members discussed how the pace of play appears to be contributing to this concern. “We considered all options to address this issue, including allowing both teams an opportunity to substitute after a first down,” David Shaw said. “This is another step to consider in the future.”

So there won’t be a penalty during the actual game but perhaps your program will be penalized in the days after.  Sure, that will get the problem to go away.

Just like fining athletic departments gets fans to stop rushing the field, right?

I don’t have the right answer in how to fix the faking of injuries but anyone who watches college football sees it on the regular and to anyone with an ounce of competitive spirit, they’re angered by the acts.  However, it appears those acts will be here to stay for at least 2022 and likely beyond.

Related:

Happy birthday to college football legend Knute Rockne

Game-by-game predictions for Notre Dame football in 2022

Which 2022 draft prospects qualify for Bill Parcells’ QB rules?

Ian Book passed all of Bill Parcells’ quarterback rules before the Saints picked him last year. If they’re still using those benchmarks, which 2022 draft prospects qualify?

What do you look for in scouting college quarterbacks? If you ask legendary former coach Bill Parcells, you’re looking for players who have, well, played — at a high level and for a long time. Parcells established seven rules for identifying prospects he thought had what it took to lead a franchise to a Super Bowl. And while some of those rules have been eroded or modified by teams over the years, they do still give a good barometer in helping to judge which quarterback prospects might be up to snuff. You don’t use these rules as the end-all, be-all decision-maker. But it’s a start.

It’s something Ian Book accomplished during his stellar run at Notre Dame, though he struggled in a tough spot with 20-plus teammates unavailable in his lone start for the New Orleans Saints last season. Obviously Book isn’t seen as franchise quarterback material just because he passed all of those thresholds, but it might be something the Saints value. They still have plenty of Parcells influences on their staff even without his chief disciple working as head coach.

College Football Playoff: Four more years of four teams

Should the Playoff expand beyond four teams?

The College Football Playoff will remain at four teams for the next four years until the contract expires following the 2025 season.

This means we have four more years of a four team playoff and the earliest we could potentially see expansion for the postseason would be in 2026, but that would hardly be a certainty, either.

I know a lot of the message boards and social media will be filled with fans who are outraged over the fact that the playoff isn’t expanding but personally I’m happy it isn’t.

Six, eight, or 12 teams instead of four aren’t going take away from the dominance of the SEC and the stranglehold they have on the rest of college football.  It will mean more meaningful postseason games, sure, but will further water down what is the best regular season in all of sports.

We and the rest of the college wire sites will have more on this throughout the day.

Related:

Notre Dame game-by-game predictions for 2022 football season

A super early Notre Dame bowl projection for 2022

Notre Dame transfer portal tracker – 2022

Notre Dame football coaching staff tracker

 

What are the NFL overtime rules for the Super Bowl?

Everything you need to know about how overtime works at the Super Bowl.

If the game is close at the end of the Super Bowl, which it’s looking like it might be, you might be curious about how overtime works in the Super Bowl. The NFL has changed up the rules semi-recently, so it never hurts to get a refresher.

Let’s go through them really quickly.

First, there’s the coin toss. You want to win the coin toss. We’ll get to why in a second. The visiting team captain gets to call the toss.

Winner of the coin toss will want the ball first, because there’s a major advantage to getting the ball first. The reason: The first team to score a touchdown will win a game.

The change that happened a few years back is that a field goal no longer automatically wins the game. Each team is guaranteed a possession … unless the first team scores a touchdown. If the first team scores a field goal, the other team gets a shot to tie it up or score a touchdown. If the other team scores a touchdown, it wins the game.

Here’s what’s different about the postseason (including the Super Bowl): Unlike in the regular season, after a 15-minute overtime period, the game doesn’t end in a tie. We start ‘er up with another coin flip and do the whole thing over again.

The other wrinkle: There are no challenges in overtime.

NFL fans’ jaws dropped over Joe Burrow’s Super Bowl 56 pregame look

Here are the official rules, via the NFL:

SECTION 1  – OVERTIME PROCEDURES

ARTICLE 1. SCORE TIED

If the score is tied at the end of the regulation playing time of all preseason, regular season, and postseason NFL games, a system of modified sudden-death overtime shall be in effect, pursuant to the following.

ARTICLE 2. END OF REGULATION

At the end of regulation playing time, the Referee shall immediately toss a coin at the center of the field, in accordance with rules pertaining to a usual pregame toss (4-2-2). The visiting team captain is to again call the toss.

ARTICLE 3. EXTRA PERIOD

Following an intermission of no more than three minutes after the end of the regular game, the extra period shall commence.

  1. Both teams must have the opportunity to possess the ball once during the extra period, unless the team that receives the opening kickoff scores a touchdown on its initial possession, in which case it is the winner, or if the team kicking off to start the overtime period scores a safety on the receiving team’s initial possession, in which case the team that kicked off is the winner. If a touchdown is scored, the game is over, and the Try is not attempted.
  2. If the team that possesses the ball first does not score on its initial possession, the team next scoring by any method shall be the winner.
  3. If the team that possesses the ball first scores a field goal on its initial possession, the other team (the second team) shall have the opportunity to possess the ball.
    1. If the second team scores a touchdown on its possessionit is the winner.
    2. If the second team scores a field goal on its possession, the team next scoring by any method shall be the winner.
    3. If the second team does not score on its possession, the game is over, and the first team is the winner, subject to (4) below.
    4. If the second team loses possession by an interception or fumble, the down will be permitted to run to its conclusion, and all rules of the game will be enforced as customary, including awarding points scored by either team during the down. If the second team scores a touchdown on the down after regaining possession, it is the winner. Only fouls that require the down to be replayed, fouls that negate a score, or palpably unfair acts will be enforced.

Notes:

  1. In such situations, if the player who intercepts the pass or recovers the fumble goes to the ground and makes no effort to advance, the covering official will blow his whistle to end the game.
  2. If the second team loses possession by an interception or fumble, but the first team committed a foul prior to the change of possession, the second team’s possession has not legally ended, and the game cannot end on the down. However, in certain situations, the second team cannot decline the penalty and accept the result of the play, no matter how beneficial, because it would create a second possession for itself. It must accept the penalty enforcement, which will extend its initial possession.
  3. The situation in (2) may also affect the team that receives the opening kickoff during its first possession. If there is a foul by the second team followed by a double change of possession, and the first team declines the penalty and accepts the result of the play, the second team has had its required possession, and the first team has possession of the ball for the second time and needs only a field goal to win. However, if it accepts the penalty, it will extend its initial possession.
  1. A player is in possession when he is in firm grip and control of the ball inbounds (3-2-7). The defense gains possession when it catches, intercepts, or recovers a loose ball.
  2. The opportunity to possess applies only during kicking plays. A kickoff is the opportunity to possess for the receiving team. If the kicking team legally recovers the kick, the receiving team is considered to have had its opportunity. A punt or field goal attempt that crosses the line of scrimmage and is muffed by the receiving team is considered to be an opportunity to possess for the receiving team. Normal touching rules by the kicking team apply.
  3. All replay reviews will be initiated by the Replay Official. Coaches’ challenges will not be allowed.
ARTICLE 5. OVERTIME IN POSTSEASON

The following shall apply to overtime games in the postseason:

  1. If the score is tied at the end of a 15-minute overtime period, or if the second team’s initial possession has not ended, another overtime period will begin, and play will continue, regardless of how many 15-minute periods are necessary.
  2. Between each overtime period, there shall be a two-minute intermission, but there shall be no halftime intermission after the second period. At the beginning of the third overtime period, the captain who lost the coin toss prior to the first overtime period shall have the first choice of the two privileges in 4-2-2, unless the team that won the coin toss deferred.
  3. At the end of the first and third extra periods, etc., teams must change goals in accordance with 4-2-3.
  4. Each team is entitled to three timeouts during a half. If there is an excess timeout, the usual rules shall apply (4-5).
  5. At the end of a second overtime period, timing rules shall apply as at the end of the first half. At the end of a fourth overtime period, timing rules shall apply as at the end of the fourth quarter.
  6. At the end of a fourth overtime period, there will be another coin toss pursuant to Section 1, Article 2, and play will continue until a winner is declared.

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