NFL touchback numbers dropped in the first week of the 2016 preseason despite an offseason rule change that marks them at the 25-yard line instead of the 20.According to NFL.com numbers, 29 percent of Week 1 kickoffs (42 of 142) were downed in the end zone for a touchback. Thats well below the leagues rate of 56 percent during the 2015 regular season.More kickoffs tend to be returned in the preseason, when a big return can boost players chances of making the team. But the 2015 preseason rate of touchbacks was 43.4 percent, still notably higher than what the league produced in the first week of the 2016 preseason.Although it is a small sample size, the rate decrease is consistent with what NFL coaches have said about the rule change during training camp.The league is attempting to reduce returns for safety purposes, hoping that better field position will incentivize more teams to take touchbacks. Coaches have said they will experiment this summer with pop-up kicks that drop short of the goal line, thus forcing a return and achieving the opposite effect of the rule change.NFL officials have said they will study the full-season impact of the new touchback rule before deciding whether to abandon or tweak it in the offseason.During a conference call with league executives last spring, special teams coaches advocated a new, mandatory formation that would convert the kickoff into a play closer to a punt. Air Max 720 Canada . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Air Max 98 Canada . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. http://www.clearanceairmaxcanada.com/ . Belfort (24-10) needed just 77 seconds to down Henderson in the headlining bout of Saturdays "UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson" event at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. The fight served as a rematch of the pairs 2006 meeting, which Henderson won by decision. Air Max 90 Canada Sale . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors. Air Max 180 Canada . The 15th-ranked Canadian men lost the opening two games of their European tour: 19-15 to No. 17 Georgia and 21-20 to No. Australias cricketers should be prepared to say goodbye to the Gabba as their traditional starting point to summer outside of Ashes series - if the words of the Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland are anything to go by.While admitting the team sees the Gabba as a real stronghold, Sutherland has hinted strongly that the search for a more commercially successful Brisbane Test is likely to lead to this years mid-December time slot being persisted with, more than likely in the day/night configuration to be tried against Pakistan this week. Such a decision would mean the loss of a major competitive advantage for the hosts.In unveiling the schedule for next summers Ashes, CA have outlined how that now seems to be the only Test series in which the national teams preparation is to be kept as ideal as possible, with as many as four Sheffield Shield matches scheduled before the first match at the Gabba. Other summers against less marketable opponents will likely throw up similar issues to those seen this season - at least until proposed league structures for international cricket are approved at ICC level and take effect some time after 2019. Well definitely keep our options open there. Every summers different. I know there are aspects of the 2018-19 summer that are very different to others, thats just the nature of international cricket, Sutherland said when asked about keeping the Gabba Test in mid-December. Its certainly a possibility we play the Brisbane Test match at a different time in the season.I want to make that very clear. It was absolutely calculated for us to play the Test match here at this time. We wanted to ensure we gave ourselves the best opportunity to understand the Brisbane market and how we can increase attendances here. Theres a lot of promotion around it, weve got fantastic partners in the Queensland government and Brisbane city council, lets see how this week pans out.Were on target to have the highest attendance ever for a non-Ashes Test match at the Gabba this week. Were looking at around 80,000 and were very hopeful were on track for that.Success in home Ashes series is seen as the most pivotal team performance metric for the entirety of CA, especially after the disastrous 2010-11 summer placed considerable heat upon Sutherland and the governing bodys board directors, resulting in the Argus review. To that end, Australias players can expect a similar lead-in to the 2013-14 season, albeit with the distraction of an ODI series in India beforehand. That result eased a level of pressure on the top end of CA that has not been matched by this summers home series loss to South Africa.Were really comfortable with the traditional order, aand lets be honest, this venue is a real stronghold for the Australian team, they love playing here, Sutherland said.dddddddddddd. This is the same order as the 13-14 Ashes summer, which was very successful for the team and in terms of spectator attendance and public interests.Weve really wanted to not change anything in that regard, and well have a similar lead-in to the 13-14 summer with something like three or four Shield matches leading into the first Test, which were able to do when the Ashes series starts in late November.The preparation leading into a series of Test cricket will depend from year to year, its actually quite difficult when you start a Test series in early November because usually the Australian team will be touring somewhere. But we need to work around that to get the best possible preparation in the circumstances, and for an Ashes series its clear with a Test series starting in late November that well be able to get three matches in before the series starts.Casting his eye over the MOU discussions currently going on between CA and the Australian Cricketers Association, Sutherland said that he was not worried by the prospect of industrial action from the players. No, Im not concerned, he said. These sorts of negotiations come around every four years or whatever the cycle is and theyre things that need to be worked through behind closed doors in an appropriate fashion.I dont think its our role to be giving a ball-by-ball commentary on it. We will, with the ACA, work through it and work with the ACA and our players to ensure the game of cricket is stronger and better for whatever the new agreement might be.There is a lot to talk about and there are some very important issues and in some ways those issues are complex. Every time an agreement like this comes along it is an opportunity to put together a better agreement for all parties and I know thats what were interested in and I know thats what the ACA is interested in.Late on Tuesday the ACA chief executive Alistair Nicholson spoke about the past two days of negotiations, indicating there is a long way to go.Today we were able to clarify that the ACA and CA have a lot of detail to work through with differences in a number of areas, he said. With the position that CA have taken in responding to our submission, we will now re-engage with the players and the ACA Executive to gain their feedback on CAs response.The players are emphatic that they are partners in the game and will continue to push for one agreement for all cricketers, men and women, national and state. ' ' '