A wise man has said Steven Nelson Jersey , “Once is an accident, twice is a trend. Four, five, or six times is a clear indication of a strategic shift in overall policy.” (I may have added the last part.)It has become more and more clear and obvious over the past year or so that the NFL, reeling from sharp reductions in TV viewership during the 2016 and 2017 seasons, has decided to take a kindler and gentler approach to player discipline, in order to ensure that as many great players as possible are available to play in NFL regular-season and postseason games.The change happened at some point after the Ezekiel Elliott case, which entailed (in my opinion) a Keystone cops investigation and a kangaroo court proceeding aimed at justifying that which the league office wanted to do: Suspend Elliott for six games.Those wheels were put in motion before the election-induced ratings drop of 2016 was followed by the unexpected anthem-induced additional ratings drop of 2017, and the end result was the team that has become the top TV draw in the NFL spending 37.5 percent of a season without the straw that stirs its drink. As ratings plummeted in 2017, someone at the league office apparently did the math regarding the impact of not having great players on the field versus the impact of letting great players play despite off-field baggage.The pendulum initially swung hard in the direction of taking a hard line with players after the elevator video emerged in the Ray Rice case. The Commissioner spent a couple of weeks genuinely concerned that he could lose his job in the uproar that ensued, and Roger Goodell undoubtedly resolved at that point that he would never Tony Gonzalez Jersey , ever be accused again of going too easy on a player who misbehaves. That trend continued until Elliott’s suspension, which was followed by an all-out effort by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to get rid of Goodell.Forced to choose between an assault on his job by a mob of outsiders and an assault on his job by one of his 32 bosses, and concerned about the very real impact on ratings of star players not playing, Goodell has now nudged the pendulum in the other direction, far more subtly and gradually than it moved in 2014.It started with the league’s unspoken lenience for chronic substance-abuse policy violators like Josh Gordon, Martavis Bryant, and Randy Gregory. Although the trio currently is suspended, the league could have tossed each of them out of the sport early in 2018 under the clear terms of the policy. Instead, they each got extra chances until new suspensions were imposed, and the new suspensions weren’t for a minimum of one year (as they should have been). Indeed, there’s a chance that all three will be playing again this year.Why? Because no one cares about marijuana anymore Derrick Thomas Jersey , and no one will complain that the league is letting guys who smoke pot play football.The dynamic also has affected the league’s application of the Personal Conduct Policy. The investigation of multiple incidents involving then-Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt was in mothballs before video of him pushing and kicking a woman in the hallway of a Cleveland hotel emerged. Elliot, despite video showing him confronting and possibly shoving a 19-year-old security guard and notwithstanding Elliott’s status as a prior offender (which supposedly is a big deal under the Personal Conduct Policy), wasn’t punished. Now there’s Hill, who escaped any and all punishment with the league issuing a statement that doesn’t even address the menacing remark that prompted the Chiefs to send him away from the team’s offseason program.Two years ago, Hill wouldn’t have been so fortunate. Now, as the league tries to build on momentum from 2018 TV numbers fueled by an offensive explosion about which the NFL privately bragged to reporters on a near-weekly basis, it’s better for the league to have Hill on the field than it is for the league to not have Hill on the field. Sure, there will be complaints and objections, maybe even a loosely-organized protest. But the potential impact on the league’s business from letting Hill play is smaller than the potential impact on the league’s business from not letting him play, and that’s ultimately all the league cares about.Football is business. They say “football is family” because it’s good for business to say “football is family,” but football is business. The NFL got into the business of policing the private lives of players for P.R. purposes. The NFL enhanced those efforts in the face of strong objections to the NFL’s failure to be aggressive enough with players who got in trouble away from work. Now Christian Okoye Jersey , business interests require an approach that entails the application a deeply flawed in-house justice system (a system that isn’t about justice at all) in a way that enhances business.That’s why Hill wasn’t suspended, and that’s why players in similar situations will receive similar treatment, unless and until the league’s business interests once again compel a more aggressive approach to discipline. At that point, the pendulum will swing again, back in the direction of imposing overly strong punishments. AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Will Power topped qualifying once again. Now he has a chance to turn pole position into a tidy little payday if he can drive to another victory.The Team Penske star earned career pole No. 56 Saturday at the inaugural IndyCar Classic at the Circuit of the Americas, edging Andretti Autosport teammates Alexander Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay.Sixteen of Power’s 35 career victories have come from pole position. Do it again Sunday and he’ll earn a $100,000 bonus. But the Australian said he’s eying an even bigger prize: a season championship to match his 2014 IndyCar crown.“I want the $1 million at the end of the year,” Power said. “That’s much better.”Power started on pole position at the season-opening race in St. Petersburg but finished third behind winner and Penske teammate Josef Newgarden.The top three had to dig deep for the final laps to knock rookies Colton Herta of Harding Steinbrenner Racing and Felix Rosenqvist of Chip Ganassi Racing from the top spots. Herta will start fourth and Rosenqvist fifth.Herta was the breakout driver at preseason testing here and briefly held pole position until the final seconds of qualifying. He had trouble Friday when his engine blew early in practice, putting pressure on the team just to get him back on the track.“To show we had the pace during qualifying was reassuring. I know we can back it up in the race,” Herta said.IndyCar is racing for the first time at the track built for Formula One in 2012. After two days of preseason testing last month and two days of practice and qualifying this week Marcus Allen Jersey , the drivers think the 3.41-mile track, one of the longest of the IndyCar season, could produce some wild racing as tires wear out quickly with no track limits in the turns.The biggest impact will be on Turn 19, where drivers will be allowed to swing wide into the runoff area. That will help cut lap times by 0.2 to 0.3 seconds.Some drivers like it. Some don’t. Several had trouble negotiating the turn on Saturday.“I’m not a fan of track limits. That’s why I like racing in America, because you don’t really have track limits. You go off in this grass, gravel or wall,” Rosenqvist said. “I’m kind of a fan for opening it up. You know it’s going to be the same for everyone. They’re not going to look at this guy was one millimeter over the line or not, which is a bit ridiculous.”Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud questioned whether it’s safe. His qualifying session ended early after Tony Kanaan ran wide into the gravel on Turn 19 to bring out a red flag.“The track was designed a certain way. I think there was a reason,” Pagenaud said. “It’s really a tough corner when you have track limits. When you don’t have track limits, running off wide, you’re actually facing the guardrail. It’s not as safe Larry Johnson Jersey , not designed that way. It’s actually bad on the car as well because you’re really bottoming pretty hard.”Other items from Austin:ROOKIE PUSHHerta and Rosenqvist weren’t the only rookies making a push deep into qualifying Saturday.Santino Ferrucci of Dale Coyne Racing and Carlin’s Patricio O’Ward both made it past the opening rounds. O’Ward, last season’s Indy Lights champion, will start eighth in his IndyCar season debut. Ferrucci will start 11th.The circuit veterans were impressed by the youngsters. Power, Hunter-Reay and Scott Dixon, who have won seven IndyCar titles between them, are all 38 years old. Herta is 18. O’Ward is 19.“I think it’s great for the future of the sport,” said Dixon, who will start sixth Sunday. “Some of us are getting pretty old.”PAGENAUD’S PROBLEMSThe 2016 champion has seen his qualifying in the first two races doomed by red flags in the early sessions. The Frenchman will start 22nd Sunday. He started 13th in St. Petersburg and raced his way to finish seventh.“I need to find a lucky charm or something,” Pagenaud said. “It’s really frustrating to start at the back like this. I’ve got a good car.”
