Race Director did not exercise his discretion is not relevant to the

Blake ONeill would do the same thing if he had another chance.ONeill, the field-flipping punter whose successful one-year stint at Michigan will forever be remembered for a single play, ended up on the wrong side of college football history in October. In the final seconds of what looked to be a redemptive victory over rival Michigan State, ONeill mishandled a knee-high snap and was then swarmed by Spartan defenders when he picked up the loose ball and tried to sneak off a bicycle kick to save a sour situation. The ball popped loose into the waiting arms of Michigan States Jalen Watts-Jackson, resulting in one of the most memorable and pivotal touchdowns of the 2015 season.OK, so maybe he wouldnt do things exactly the same. ONeill wishes he had found a different outlet that evening, but his approach under pressure wasnt shattered or even shaken. He would still try to make a play.Definitely. I dont think you want to suppress that, he said. Could I have spent a bit more time understanding what happens in a situation where you drop the ball? For sure. You can look at this every which way from Sunday. Trust me. I have.I say, Why didnt I throw it of bounds or kick it along the ground and get a penalty or just drop on it? But at the end of the day you do what you do. I dont think you want to suppress that. That ability to go out there and just turn yourself off from overthinking is one of the best skills a punter can have.Australia has established a foothold in college football, and its influence is only growing stronger. Look no further than Friday nights season opener between Cal and Hawaii being played in Sydneys ANZ Stadium for evidence of the sports growing popularity Down Under.American coaches have turned to the other side of the world to find punters with more powerful legs and more athletic ability. But if youre going to have an athlete handling your punts, you better be prepared to have him thinking and reacting -- for better or worse -- like an athlete.USC coach John Baxter, who coached special teams at Michigan a year ago, says the U.S. produces about 10 elite level punter prospects per year. Unless a kid has grown up dreaming of being a punter, theres no sport in America that teaches the skill of dropping a ball onto your foot and kicking it.Australian rules football is a game in which the ball is moved predominantly by dropkicks. But Aussie rules players arent taught to just kick and get out of the way like American punters. They also are equally involved in catching, running and tackling. They bring that mentality with them when converting to the state-side version of football.They come from a completely different background and a completely different mindset than the kids in our country, Baxter said. American punters are paint-by-numbers. These guys are painters. Theyre reactive. Theyre not robots.Some American coaches have embraced that idea more than others. ONeill was hoping to run a fake field goal in his final college game to show off some off his speed, but he blew out his knee while practicing the play during a practice leading into Michigans trip to the Citrus Bowl.ONeill held for a few placekicks while his teammates handily beat Florida, but the torn ACL ended his college punting career a game early. His 23 punts inside an opponents 20-yard line during the 2015 were one shy of a school record set by former NFL punter Zoltan Mesko in 2008.The knee injury will also likely keep ONeill from taking a shot at a professional career in football. He said he wasnt able to train for a tryout in the spring and instead starting working for a real estate developer in Tampa, Florida.Things might change, he said. I might wake up one morning and horribly miss football, but I dont really foresee Ill be trying out next year.ONeill stays involved with football by helping a couple local high school teams in Florida and working at a few kicking camps. He made an appearance at Michigans satellite camp in Australia this summer while home waiting for a work visa.Staying involved in the football and kick communities is important to ONeill after he saw the positive power they could have during his season at Michigan, especially in the wake of the Michigan State finish. ONeill caught the ugly side of college football fans and Twitter vitriol from a small contingent of people on social media after the game, but said the response he got in the following week from teammate, fans and fellow kickers was overwhelmingly supportive.People you would never think would take the time to reach out would call and leave a message, taking the time to reach out and be very supportive, ONeill said. I think you take life lessons from that as far as being involved in a community and giving back to it.ONeill has never shied away from his mistake against the Spartans, but he moved on from it quicker than most Michigan fans. Nathan Chapman, who helped ONeill and many others make the jump to the U.S. through his ProKick Australia in Melbourne, said being older and more mature helped ONeill quickly put the incident behind him. The anti-Ray Finkle attitude also illustrates a fundamental difference in the way Australians view sports.Our history, only being a 200-year history, were still a nation in the act of becoming something, ONeill said. But its a country pretty much built on the idea of mateship and helping each other -- this idea of giving it a fair go. Our politicians love using that one.I would say in Australia thats sort of the way we approach it. More or less, the terminology is based on perspective. The idea of a fair go is, Lets go out there and have a bit of fun and play this sport. We all care. We can get emotional about it. We all love the game. But at the end of the day I can still walk across and shake the guys hand and say Well done, mate. Good contest. You got me today.Michigan was the intersection of fulfilling my own goals of playing on a high level and then also feeling like a part of something bigger, said ONeill. He may be moving on from football, but he doesnt regret making the long trek across the Pacific to be a part of it. Even if the impression he leaves is dominated by one ill-fated kick attempt on a cold October night, hed do it all the same way again. Tracy Mcgrady Magic Jersey . Deulofeu injured a muscle in his right leg in Evertons 4-1 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday. Barcelona says that its team doctors will "co-ordinate" with Evertons medical staff as Deulofeu recovers. Evan Fournier Jersey . 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The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side.The FIA has rejected Ferraris appeal against Sebastian Vettels time penalty in the Mexican Grand Prix. Mexican GP stewards, who reconvened in a teleconference on Thursday, decided there was no new element in the case despite submissions from Ferrari claiming there was.Vettel was handed a 10-second time penalty and dropped from third to fifth in the Mexican GP results on October 30 after being found to have illegally moved under braking to defend against Red Bulls Daniel Ricciardo. He became the first driver to be punished under the new regulation clamping down on drivers making such defensive moves - dubbed the Verstappen rule.Citing unspecified new evidence on their arrival at the Brazilian GP, Ferrari asked the FIA to review the incident and the governing body arranged a conference call between the three Mexico stewards, the Italian team and Red Bull on Thursday afternoon. Race Director Charlie Whiting joins the drivers press conference to explain the penalty given to Sebastian Vettel whilst battling with Daniel Ricciardo The FIA revealed Ferraris argument rested on two points.Firstly, that race director Charlie Whiting had the power to order Verstappen to give a place to Vettel the Dutchman had held on to by running off the track at the first corner in the incident that preceded the Ferrari drivers battle with Ricciardo.Whens the Brazilian GP on Sky F1?And, secondly, that GPS data it presented represented a new element in the case.However, Mexican GP stewards ruled that neither aspect countted as new evidence.ddddddddddddIn relation to the matter of the Race Director having the power to instruct the driver of Car 33 to give back the alleged advantage, we note firstly that the relevant article gives the Race Director absolute authority to allow the driver to give back a position, read the FIAs verdict statement. Ferraris Sebastian Vettel became increasingly frustrated and let rip a barrage of expletive laden radio messages throughout the Mexican GP. It does not imply an obligation to do so. The fact that the Race Director did not exercise his discretion is not relevant to the decision taken in Document 38.In relation to the GPS data, we note that this data is available to teams during the race. It is also available to, and referred to by, the stewards, in the Stewards Room during the race.The FIA added that Jock Clear, Ferraris representative in the teleconference, conceded that the GPS data did not contradict the stewards original verdict.Ferrari had earlier told Sky Sports F1 that the team had requested a review of the incident in order to set a precedent for what kind of defensive moves were permissable under the revised regulations.Can Nico Rosberg clinch the title at Interlagos? Watch the Brazilian GP live on Sky Sports F1 on Sunday, the race begins at 4pm; Watch the whole race weekend with a NOW TV week pass - £10.99, no contract Also See: The Formula 1 Gossip column Whens the Brazilian GP on Sky F1? ' ' '