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NEW YORK -- Dunta Robinson will pay for his flagrant hit on the Eagles Jeremy Maclin. Tony Gonzalez Jersey . He wont be suspended. The NFL on Monday fined the Falcons cornerback US$40,000 for the hit in which he led with his helmet and crashed into Maclin in the third quarter of Atlantas 35-31 win over Philadelphia on Sunday night. Robinson was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness. The league did not suspend Robinson although it has said hits like the one he put on Maclin could lead to such action. Robinson is a repeat offender, having being fined $25,000 last year for a similar hit on the Eagles DeSean Jackson that left both players with concussions. In a letter sent to Robinson, NFL vice-president of football operations Merton Hanks noted that "future offences will result in an escalation of fines up to and including suspension." Commissioner Roger Goodell was advised of the decision, and said "we felt this was the appropriate discipline." Asked if this was an example of the hits the NFL is trying to get out of the game, Goodell said, "Theres no such thing as a perfect example. There are individual elements of each hit. Were trying to identify the techniques that will make our game safer." The league said Robinson violated Rule 12, Section 2, Article 9 (a) (2) of the playing rules, which states: "It is a foul if a player initiates unnecessary contact against a player who is in a defenceless posture." The rule notes that players in a defenceless posture include "a receiver attempting to catch a pass; or who has completed a catch and has not had time to protect himself or has not clearly become a runner." On the play with 6:12 left in the third quarter, the league said Robinson lowered his head and made forcible contact to the head and neck area of Maclin, who still made the catch. He was slow to leave the field but returned to the game. Robinson can appeal to former NFL coaches Art Shell and Ted Cottrell, who are paid by the league and the NFL Players Association to handle those cases. Their appeal must be heard by the second Tuesday following notification of the discipline. Replays clearly showed Robinson leading with his helmet, something the league has been adamant about eliminating. The NFL this year also banned players from launching themselves into a defenceless opponent. Falcons coach Mike Smith said after the game he thought it was a legal hit and "thats the way we teach it." "My opinion didnt change," he said Monday before the NFL made its ruling. Last October, the NFL sent head coaches memos listing those players on their teams who were called for two or more unnecessary roughness penalties since 2008. Ray Anderson, NFL executive vice-president of football operations, told The Associated Press this summer the league uses the last two seasons as criteria to determine repeat offenders. "Player safety is a priority and we will not relent on it," Anderson said in August. "Let me make it very clear, particularly in regard to repeat offenders, that egregious acts will be subject to suspension. We will not feel the need to hesitate in this regard." Joplo Bartu Black Jersey .Y. -- Trevor Cooney and C. Brett Favre Jersey .com) - The Edmonton Oilers have made Nail Yakupov a healthy scratch for the second straight game for tonights game against the Washington Capitals.BOSTON -- In the heyday of the New Big Three, when the Boston Celtics were winning the 2008 NBA title and going back to the finals two years later, there arose in the TD Garden a new tradition: Gino Time. When the Celtics were winning and the game was in hand by the final TV timeout, the arena would play a disco-era video of a shaggy man in a tight T-shirt that said "Gino." Players on the bench and fans in the stands would swivel their hips along with him to celebrate as the final seconds ticked off the clock. There hadnt been much Gino Time in Boston this season, now that Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are in Brooklyn and Doc Rivers is in Los Angeles. Until the Cleveland Cavaliers came to town. "Nobodys told me about that," first-year coach Brad Stevens said after the Celtics scored 18 of the games first 20 points and coasted to a 103-86 victory over Cleveland on Friday night. "Maybe they thought we wouldnt have a game out of reach." Jeff Green scored 31 points, the most by a Boston player this season, and Jordan Crawford had his third career triple-double to lead the Celtics to their third victory in four games. It was their biggest margin of victory of the season, and the first time they have won at home with such a comfortable margin that the fans could frolic with "Gino." "They dont know about Gino," injured point guard Rajon Rondo, the only holdover from the two-time Eastern Conference champions, said in the locker room after watching the game in street clothes as he recovers from reconstructive knee surgery. "Weve got to get a couple more wins." Crawford had 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for Boston, which at 7-11 has the most wins in the Atlantic Division and is a half-game out of first place. Avery Bradley scored eight of his 21 points in the first quarter, when the Celtics jumped to an 18-2 lead. They maintained a double-digit edge for the rest of the game. "We got great defensive stops to begin the game with. Thats how we got that lead," Green said. "We are finally putting everything together. Weve had our ups and downs throughout the season ... but it was good to put an all-around good game together." Crawford had four points, four rebounds and three assists after one quarter. He said he asked Stevens to stay in the game so he could complete the triple-double,, reaching the milestone on a pair of free throws with 94 seconds to play. Devonta Freeman Black Jersey. "Im whispering in his ear," he said. "I appreciate it, though." Stevens said he was surprised to hear that Crawford had reached the milestone and called his performance "shockingly effective." "He had a triple-double? Crawford did? Holy smokes, I had no idea," he told reporters afterward, looking at the stat sheet to confirm it. "He had 11 rebounds? Jordan Crawford had 11 rebounds? ... Its good that our guards rebound. Our guards need to rebound to win." Dion Waiters scored 21 points and Kyrie Irving had 17 for the Cavaliers, who lost their fifth straight game and fell to 1-9 on the road this season. Cleveland scored just 10 points in the first quarter, its worst output for any quarter this season, and lost for the eighth time in nine games. "To me, its a work in progress. Its going to be that way the entire year," coach Mike Brown said. "But the one thing we can do is we can defend better, and we did not do a good job of that at all, especially in the first quarter." The Celtics scored 18 of the games first 20 points, upped the lead to 20 early in the second quarter and extended it to 25 in the third. Cleveland trailed by at least 10 points for all but the first 3:59 of the game. "They threw the first punch tonight and I feel like we laid down. ... They controlled the whole game," Waiters said. "Weve got to be men. Weve got to grow up. We cant just turn it around and think its going to be easy. This is a mans league, so at the end of the day weve got to bring it." Clevelands only sustained run came in the middle of the second quarter, when it went on a 16-6 run to cut a 20-point deficit to 10. Anthony Bennett hit a 3-pointer, Waiters also had one, and then Waiters added a three-point play to make it 45-35. But the Celtics scored the next eight points, including a 3-pointer and layup by Green. Notes: Waiters took a hard foul from Brandon Bass late in the third quarter. ... Russian rookie Sergey Karasev made his first start of the season. It was the Cavs seventh different starting lineup. ... Celtics G Courtney Lee missed the game with a sore left knee. ... Bennett, the No. 1 overall draft pick, played 20 minutes and had four points, four rebounds and four fouls. cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
