News, Ankündigungen » atrick Willis tones it d

The NFL is investigating whether the New England Patriots deflated footballs that were used in their AFC championship game victory over the Indianapolis Colts. We are looking into it, league spokesman Brian McCarthy wrote in an email to The Associated Press on Monday. We do not have anything further to add at this point. The inquiry was first reported by the website for WTHR-TV in Indiana, citing an unnamed source. The Patriots have come under scrutiny with regards to NFL rules in the past, most infamously when they were punished for videotaping sideline signals used by the New York Jets during a 2007 game. Coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000, and the team was docked $250,000 and stripped of its 2008 first-round draft pick. According to the NFL rule book, home teams are responsible for furnishing playable balls at all time. Each team brings 12 primary balls, while home teams are required to also bring 12 backup balls. Once the referee makes sure the footballs are properly inflated, theyre delivered to ball attendants provided by the home team. The leagues game operations manual notes: If any individual alters the footballs, or if a non-approved ball is used in the game, the person responsible and, if appropriate, the head coach or other club personnel will be subject to discipline, including but not limited to, a fine of $25,000. Deflating a football could change the way it would be gripped by a player or the way it travels through the air. The Patriots beat the Colts 45-7 to reach the Super Bowl. New England will play the defending champion Seattle Seahawks for the NFL title at Glendale, Arizona, on Feb. 1. In Sunday nights lopsided AFC finale, quarterback Tom Brady threw for three touchdowns and running back LeGarrette Blount gained 148 yards while scoring three touchdowns to send New England to its sixth Super Bowl in the past 14 years. Colts quarterback Andrew Luck had his worst game as a pro, completing only 12 of 33 passes for 126 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. On his regular weekly morning-after-game appearance Monday on WEEI radio, Brady said he wasnt aware of the report about the leagues investigation into whether footballs were properly inflated against Indianapolis. I think Ive heard it all at this point, Brady said with a laugh. Thats the last of my worries, he said. I dont even respond to stuff like this. ___ AP Sports Writer Howard Ulman in Boston contributed to this report. ___ Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich ___ AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP_NFL Jean-Sebastien Giguere Jersey . Bjoergen pulled away from Swedens Charlotte Kalla on the final straight to win in 38 minutes, 33.6 seconds and defend her title from the 2010 Vancouver Games. Kalla was 1.8 seconds back. Heidi Weng of Norway took bronze. Ryan Getzlaf Jersey . - Suspended Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Justin Blackmon has voluntarily checked into a treatment facility and seems to be doing well. http://www.authenticduckspro.com/Scott-n...r-ducks-jersey/. - Josh Sterk scored twice to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 7-1 rout of the Ottawa 67s in Mondays Ontario Hockey League action. Anaheim Ducks Jerseys .com) - The New York Jets have named Mike Maccagnan their new general manager. Adam Henrique Jersey . Jacobs scored two in the first end, but Jahr briefly took charge with two in the second end and two more in the third. Jacobs, from Sault. Marie, Ont., gave Canada some breathing room, following his big fourth end by adding two more points in the fifth to go up 7-4.RENTON, Wash. - Packers-Bears. Steelers-Browns. Cowboys vs. anybody in the NFC East. Those are long-standing NFL rivalries. Add to them 49ers-Seahawks, with a history of nastiness emanating from the college ranks for their coaches, and a hefty animosity built up in annual doubleheaders in their division. Now they meet for a spot in the Super Bowl. Are those hard feelings for real? "I think so, but itll always be that way when you have two good teams in the same division," 49ers receiver Anquan Boldin said. "You play each other a couple times a year and if youre good enough, possibly three times a year. It was the same way when I was in Baltimore playing against Pittsburgh. You respect each other as foes, but there is really a dislike." Its a healthy thing, really, because it makes for even more uncompromising action — on the field and on the sideline. One of these teams will emerge Sunday from ear-splitting CenturyLink Field headed for New Jersey to play for the sports biggest prize. The other will carry into the off-season even more loathing for this opponent. "There is no love lost; there is no love found," said Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman, who will find himself lined up often against Boldin in the NFC championship game. "Its going to be intense. Its going to be physical. I dont know if there are going to be handshakes after this one." That almost goes without saying with the coaches. When 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh was at Stanford — where, incidentally, Sherman played after being recruited by current Seahawks coach Pete Carroll when he was at Southern California — he ran up the score in a 2009 win at Los Angeles that prompted Carroll to ask him at games end: "Whats your deal." Harbaughs deal has always revolved around being a hard-edged player and coach. His teams embody that attitude, and it certainly has worked in San Francisco. The 49ers are 41-13-1 in his three seasons in charge, are in their third straight conference title game, and back down from no one. That can make for some uncomfortable moments, whether its Harbaughs overzealous handshakes and back slaps after wins or his team playing up to (and sometimes beyond) the whistle. Carroll claims the acrimony between them is overblown. "For whatever reasons, you guys have had a field day with this," Carroll told reporters Thursday..dddddddddddd "We have not been friends over the year, we just know each other through the games. We have a very confined relationship. "I have great respect for Jim. Thats it — you guys have had a blast with it." Carrolls Seahawks arent exactly wallflowers, either. Defensively, at least, these are the NFLs two most physical and intimidating units. That, in turn, can lead to ill will. "I dont hate anybody," All-Pro cornerback Sherman said. "So I dont think (theres) hate. But passion, definitely. There will be some passion, some dislike — some strong dislike. But there will be some intensity. Its playoff football. "So even if we werent two teams that are familiar with each other ... theres going to be a lot of intensity, a lot of chippiness, and a hard-fought game." Where might this antipathy show most? Try whenever Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch — his nickname, "Beast Mode," says it all about his style of play — meets up with All-Pro NaVorro Bowman and his fellow linebackers, the best group in the NFL. Or when Boldin, among the best clutch receivers in football, uses his physicality against Sherman, safety Earl Thomas, a fellow All-Pro, and the rest of the games top secondary. All of the matchups for Sunday are familiar to both sides, of course. And when division foes meet for the conference title — each team won at home this season — the results hardly are predictable. Since the 1970 merger, there have been 15 third meetings in conference championships, 10 in the AFC, including the Seahawks losing to Oakland when Seattle was an AFC franchise in 1983. The 49ers beat the Rams in such a meeting in 1989. In 10 of those games, the host won. What can be forecast for Sunday: hard feelings all around, even if 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis tones it down slightly. "Theres no question theres a lot of hostility between us," Willis said, "but at the end of the day theyre another football team. So, theres always going to be dislikes. Theyre an opponent of ours and we want to win. "If we werent in this race right now thered be no doubt that if they were playing against someone else, I would wish them well because its in our division. But its us playing, so theres not going to be any like at all there." ___ AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org Wholesale MLB Orioles Jerseys Red Sox Jerseys From China Discount Yankees Jerseys Online Rays Jerseys For Sale Blue Jays Jerseys From China Wholesale MLB White Sox Jerseys Indians Jerseys For Sale Tigers Jerseys From China Wholesale MLB Astros Jerseys Cheap Baseball Angels Jerseys Athletics Jerseys From China Mariners Jerseys For Sale Cheap Baseball Rangers Jerseys Braves Jerseys For Sale Discount Marlins Jerseys Online Discount Mets Jerseys Online Phillies Jerseys From China Wholesale MLB Nationals Jerseys Cubs Jerseys From China Discount Reds Jerseys Online Brewers Jerseys From China Wholesale MLB Pirates Jerseys Wholesale MLB Cardinals Jerseys Diamondbacks Jerseys For Sale Rockies Jerseys For Sale Discount Dodgers Jerseys Online Discount Padres Jerseys Online Giants Jerseys For Sale ' ' '