Dein erstes Forum » rce a return in light of the league rule

NEWPORT, R.I. -- Everybody in the American Athletic Conference is prepared for the storm. Publicly, nobody is panicking.The AAC held its annual gathering in New England to eat lobster, kick off its fourth football season and start talking about what happens if the conference loses members to Big 12 expansion.I cannot stand here this morning and ignore the recent Big 12 news regarding realignment, Commissioner Mike Aresco said during his state of the conference address Tuesday. Although I do want to address it at the outset, Im not going to dwell on it.Coming off a successful 2015 on the field that included 10 victories against Power Five teams and four teams ranked in the Top 25 at some point, the conference is again facing uncertainty. While Aresco likes to tout the American as the equal of a Power Five league -- he uses the term Power Six -- the fact is there is still a wide gap in revenue and prestige between the AAC and high-resource conferences.The Big 12 offers a chance for two or maybe even four schools access to the pot of gold that comes with Power Five inclusion. And most of the 12 schools in the American have expressed interest either publicly or privately in joining. There are no secrets here.I think its pretty evident whos been maneuvering, but we respect each other enough to not put each other on the spot, said East Carolina athletic director Jeff Compher, who is the chairman of the American ADs group.Memphis athletic director Tom Bowen said: Were committed to the present right now. I think that keeps us balanced.Aresco met with AAC athletic directors in Rhode Island over the last three days. He said the meetings were productive and all schools participated. While the public nature of the Big 12s exploration of expansion is not ideal, Aresco said, he is pleased with the transparency of his members.I think weve set a tone that we are going to approach this in a workman like fashion, Aresco said in an interview with the AP. Were not going to be morose. Were not going to be acting like woe is me. Just the opposite of that. This just means there is work to be done.Aresco said contingency plans to deal with possible departures have been discussed. He would not give details, but said the league has considered that it could lose as many as four members, dropping membership to eight.All things considered I think wed like to be back at 12 if we lose some schools because it gives you more (television) inventory, Aresco said. The American is halfway through a six-year television deal with ESPN.There is only a handful of schools that I think would be attractive to us. What we dont want to do is risk the progress weve made, put it in jeopardy. We dont want to do anything to dilute our brand in any way. Could we stay at 10? If it makes more sense, absolutely. Especially in the short-term. We can play a championship game at 10.Aresco said he has not had an extensive conversation with Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby about the Big 12s plans, but they did talk. Aresco said he is comfortable that he will be kept in the loop as the Big 12s plans come into focus. Aresco said Bowlsby did not lay out a timetable other than to say the Big 12 hoped to work quickly.Aresco took over as commissioner in 2012 when the American was still the Big East. The conference was falling apart during that round of realignment. Ultimately, defections forced the conference into a near-complete makeover and what emerged was the American Athletic Conference. Aresco said having gone through the Big Easts downfall will help the American get through this.This is not going to be fun. Its not going to be easy, Aresco said. We know we had to rebuild three years ago. I think it was a dire situation then. Its probably less so now but that doesnt mean that there wont be specific challenges. Were trying to be prepared.---Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP Nick Mullens Super Bowl Jersey . -- When the Florida Panthers fell behind by two goals in the first period to the top team in the NHL, it appeared they were on their way to yet another loss. Garrett Celek Super Bowl Jersey . Patrice Bergeron and Daniel Paille scored 20 seconds apart a few minutes after Stamkos was taken off the ice on a stretcher with a broken right leg, and the Bruins beat the Lightning 3-0 on Monday afternoon. http://www.authenticsf49erspro.com/Richie-james-49ers-jersey/ . Brad Jacobs and his Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., team took control of the game early. Terrell Owens Super Bowl Jersey . Marincin has played in two NHL games so far this season with two penalty minutes. The 21-year-old has three goals, four assists and a plus-5 rating in 24 games with the American Hockey Leagues Oklahoma City Barons this season. Kendrick Bourne Super Bowl Jersey .Y. - Jerome Samson scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the St. EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- The first field goal by Blair Walsh this season that counted for Minnesota on the scoreboard, exhibition game or not, was good from 51 yards out.Never mind that the ball hit the crossbar before bouncing over for three points. The sight of Walsh confidently walking off the field at halftime in Cincinnati was satisfying for the Vikings and their agonized fans, who havent forgotten about his unfathomable miss in January that kept the team from moving on in the playoffs.Walsh found it gratifying, too.Any time you go out there and have a mistake-free game and just do what you do and make kicks, it helps, Walsh said. I didnt expect anything less. Im confident in my abilities and myself and what Ive shown so far in camp, and its nice to show that in game time.He told coach Mike Zimmer thanks for sending him out for the long try on Friday against the Bengals.I wouldve let him kick it anyway, Zimmer said.Confidence maintenance for a potentially vulnerable player can be strategic. Still, Zimmer and special teams coordinator Mike Priefer have repeatedly expressed pride in the way Walsh has bounced back this spring and summer from that infamous 27-yard field goal attempt with 22 seconds left in the frigid air that veered left and sealed a 10-9 victory for Seattle in the first round of the playoffs.Guess who the Vikings play this week in their second preseason game?The Seahawks.Change of venue, vastly different weather, nothing at stake. Yet an unavoidable reminder, even if the coaches and players arent thinking that way.Not at all. Its a completely new season, Priefer said. I can understand why people would think that, but at the end of the day weve long since moved on. Blairs had a phenomenal camp. Hes stronger than he was a year ago. Hes kicking off well. Hes kicking fieeld goals well.dddddddddddd Im excited about this year.Overshadowed by Walshs most visible miss were the 34 field goals he made during the regular season, the most in the NFL, and the three others he converted that afternoon against the Seahawks.I dont know if you ever get over something like that, Priefer said, but Ive moved on from it.Walsh has plenty of success to bank on in the quest to put that game in the past. The move inside U.S. Bank Stadium will also provide climate-neutral conditions. Then theres the new task hes been busy trying to master: kickoffs with hang time.Instead of simply winding up and trying to boom the ball into the end zone, Walsh will be asked more often to drop the ball inside the 5-yard line to force a return in light of the league rule change that sets the line of scrimmage at the 25-yard line following a touchback instead of the 20.We werent told to kick deep at all on Friday, Walsh said. Thats kind of showing you what were going to do. I dont think thats always going to be the case. When were playing a really good returner or somebody we want to keep the ball out of his hands, we could do stuff like that. But weve got a good enough coverage unit where I dont see us backing down from returners.Walsh, too, has a good enough leg to keep from backing down from the challenge of bouncing back from that ill-timed miss.You just want to continue to work hard, like you always do. You just want to continue to prove yourself as one of the best kickers in this league, which I am, Walsh said. Im confident in what I do each and every day.---Online:AP NFL website: http://www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '