The Global Reach of American Football

The NFL made a strong push to expand its international footprint this season and could take yet another significant step this week.

Team owners are convening in Irving, Texas, on Tuesday and Wednesday for a special league meeting. A source confirmed to Front Office Spots that the agenda includes a vote, expected on Wednesday, to require all 32 clubs to play one designated home game outside the U.S. every four years. Right now, teams are required to do so once every eight years. Sports Business Journal initially reported the news.

The NFL played five international games this fall — three in London and two in Frankfurt — and is exploring the possibility of playing future games in Madrid and Sao Paulo, Brazil, along with plans to eventually return to Mexico City. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has made multiple comments about expanding in Europe and even hinted at playing a Super Bowl in London.

What to Look for on Day 15 of the Olympics

I'm watching the men's 50K race/walk right now, but many other events on the docket for today.

The men's gold medal soccer match today with Brazil and Mexico.

How about more diving, sailing and wrestling?

Women's volleyball as the USA and Brazil battle for gold.

Booxing finals and relays and more field events from track and field.

What to Look for on Day 12 of the Olympics

At the mid point of the final week of the 2012 Games.

Today we have a ton of track and field including the women's 200m.

An All American women's beach volleyball final.

The medal round in men's basketball and volleyball.

Also more kayaking, equestrian and wrestling.

Packers Only Want 2 Preseason Games

Green Bay Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy said Tuesday that he no longer supports any move to an 18-game, regular-season NFL schedule.

Murphy said he backed the idea of two preseason games per team followed by the 18-game schedule during last year’s negotiations with the NFL Players Association on a labor deal. He has since changed his stance.

"I was in favor of it during the bargaining process because I saw it as a way to bring the parties together and reach an agreement . Now, to be honest with you, I couldn’t support a move to two (preseason) and 18 (regular season). I just think with all the focus on player health and safety, it would be really hard to do that,” Murphy said. “And actually, I would be in support of a move to two (preseason) and 16 (regular season).”

 “The challenge there, obviously, is you’re losing revenue,” he said at the team’s annual stockholders meeting at Lambeau Field.

Murphy also said it could impact coaches, since it would reduce the amount of time they could spend developing young players. Murphy said he figured the starters would play roughly the same number of snaps in two preseason games as they do in four games now, so “I don’t know if you’d gain that much from a health and safety standpoint. But I think those are things we have to look at. What kind of things could we do to make sure the game is as safe as possible for our players?”

Murphy, who played eight seasons in the NFL as a safety for the Washington Redskins, made it clear that he is against the proliferation of concussion-related lawsuits being brought by ex-players. He said the lawsuits are “a real concern for the league” and questioned the motivation of some of the plaintiffs.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has some decisions to make with the rule changes, fines and suspensions because the league wants to improve player safety without significantly altering the game, Murphy said.

“Roger has to protect the future of the game and the integrity of it. I do think there’s a little bit of a tension there,” Murphy said. “You want to strive to make the game as safe as possible, but you don’t want to turn it into a 7-on-7 flag football game. So part of what makes the game so exciting is it’s so fast and physical. I think it’s finding a balance there.

“We’ve talked about it on the league level, it wasn’t that long ago that boxing was one of the most popular sports in America, and I think people just got turned off by the violence, the impact that it had on boxers. My concern in the long-term is that parents look at the game and say, ‘It’s too violent, too many risks involved, I don’t want my son playing the game.’ And that really starts to erode at your fan base in the future.”

SpaceX Dragon Completes Key Tests as it Heads to Space Station

Today, Space Exploration Technologies' (SpaceX) Dragon spacecraft completed key on-orbit tests as part of a historic attempt to be the first commercial company in history to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station.

In the days since SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the vehicle has steadily completed one task after another as it prepares to berth with the International Space Station. Only minutes after the spacecraft separated from the Falcon 9 rocket's second stage, its solar arrays successfully deployed, providing power to the spacecraft. The door that had been covering sensors needed for proximity operations opened successfully.

On Tuesday and Wednesday Dragon traveled in orbit, firing its thrusters to catch up to the space station. During that time, the vehicle hit a series of milestones. Dragon showed its Absolute Global Positioning System (GPS) is in good working order. The vehicle demonstrated both a pulsed and a full abort. It also demonstrated free drift, floating freely in orbit as it will when grappled by the space station's robotic arm. And its proximity operations sensors and SpaceX's COTS UHF Communication Unit (CUCU) are up and running.

Early this morning, Dragon's thrusters fired, bringing the vehicle 2.4 kilometers below the International Space Station. The vehicle completed two key tests at that distance. Dragon demonstrated its Relative GPS and established a communications link with the International Space Station using CUCU. Astronauts commanded on Dragon's strobe light to confirm the link worked. A video of Dragon as seen by the space station is available at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=144472261

With these tests complete, Dragon has started the trip flying around the space station, returning the spacecraft to its original approach location.

Dragon has been performing well, but the most difficult aspects of the mission are still ahead.

FRIDAY MORNING - Final Approach, Dragon Grapple

Around 2:00 AM Pacific/5:00 AM Eastern NASA will decide if Dragon is GO to move into the approach ellipsoid 1.4 kilometers around the space station. If Dragon is GO, after approximately one hour Dragon will move to a location 250 meters directly below the station. Dragon will then perform a series of maneuvers to show systems are operating as expected. If NASA is satisfied with the results of these many tests, Dragon will be allowed to perform the final approach to the space station.

Sometime around 6:00 AM Pacific/9:00 AM Eastern, astronauts on the space station will grapple Dragon with the space station's robotic arm and the spacecraft will attach to the station.

SATURDAY MORNING - Hatch Opening

If all goes well, at approximately 2:00 AM Pacific/5:00 AM Eastern, the crew will start procedures to open Dragon's hatch. It will take around 2 hours to complete all operations leading to the hatch opening. Once the hatch is opened, astronauts will enter Dragon for the first time in space.

All dates and times are approximate and could easily change.