PARIS - Dont laugh. Theres nothing funny about the gambling industrys latest wheeze to sink its teeth even deeper into football and its fans.Were talking here about David Ginola. So silky as a player for Newcastle and Tottenham; so ridiculous now with his car-crash campaign for the FIFA presidency.Ginola has zero chance of unseating Sepp Blatter. FIFAs election and ethics rules will almost certainly keep him off the May ballot. After Thursdays passing of the entry deadline, Team Ginola should fade away.But thats not the point here. This was about making a splash. In pocketing 250,000 pounds (335,000 euros; US$375,000) from bookmaker Paddy Power for this stunt, Ginola became the latest Trojan horse in the gambling and gaming industrys creeping and creepy embrace of football.Im here today to talk about love were the Frenchmans seductive opening words at his campaign launch in London this month.But the targets were our wallets and spending habits, not our hearts. That much was clear from the Paddy Power branding.Bet. Bet again. Bet some more.That is the message that football, more than most other sports, is mainlining into our homes, helped by names like Ginola and teams lending their cachet, stadiums, jerseys and players to the industry that had cash to splash when the 2008 financial crisis hobbled other sponsors.Its eyeballs were after, 12Bet executive Rory Anderson, quoted in the Daily Mail, said when the online bookmaker became the name on Hull Citys shirt for this Premier League season.And how about this blurb from Sky Bet, title sponsor since 2013 of Englands three divisions below the Premier League. It reads like a plug for Fifty Shades of Grey.Sport matters more when theres money on it, it says. Theres more passion, more pleasure and more pain.Whoa. What ever happened to sport for sports sake, for the buzz of competition, not a bet? How quaint. That was before online bookmakers offered odds on anything and everything, from match results and goals scored to which team will win the coin toss or take the first corner, and before their relentless advertising.Sports and gambling have, of course, long gone together, feeding off each others success and growth. Tuning in for results of football betting pools, which offered big jackpots for small stakes, was a Saturday afternoon ritual for many 20th Century English families.But gambling advertising wasnt as in-your-face as now. In the UK, which liberalized gambling advertising in 2007, adults exposure to gambling commercials on television soared five-fold in eight years to 2012, regulator Ofcom found. The increase was three-fold for children aged 4-15.Asking your kids to make tea during half-time breaks wont shield them from the bombardment, not with gambling ads flashing throughout matches on pitch-side light-boards. Hull against Aston Villa on Feb. 10 will pit two Asian online bookmakers against each other. Villas shirt sponsor is dafabet, a name that works better in Chinese, where dafa means big wealth. Stoke and Burnley players are billboards for Bet365 and Fun88 (another name that plays on the Chinese word to get rich).All this in a sport grappling with the increasing danger of gambling-related match-fixing and with ample examples of gambling-addicted players who frittered away their wealth.One of those is Kevin Twaddle, a former player for Motherwell and other Scottish clubs who told his story in the biography, Life On The Line: How to Lose a Million and So Much More. He no longer gambles and has delivered talks to other players about the risks.Twaddle takes a very dim view of Ginolas Paddy Power-backed grab for FIFA.Its an absolute disgrace, he said in a phone interview. Its great for Paddy Power. But I mean youre talking about one of the biggest, powerfulest jobs in football and all youre getting to hear about is Paddy Power.It just makes like a mockery of football.Imagine, for a moment, a Paddy Power-financed FIFA president. It wont happen; FIFAs ethics rules should see to that. But the mere thought of the gambling industry even attempting to place a stooge at the very top of football makes the prospect of another Blatter term seem perhaps not quite so bad.And that isnt funny at all.___John Leicester is an international sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jleicester@ap.org or follow him at http://twitter.com/johnleicester Cameron Reynolds Bucks Jersey . -- Fresh off their surprising run in the playoffs, the Portland Trail Blazers have signed head coach Terry Stotts to a multi-year contract extension. Khris Middleton Bucks Jersey .com) - The Calgary Flames were again involved in a game in which a team was held scoreless, only this time they came out on the winning side. https://www.bucksrookiesshop.com/Wesley-...Edition-Jersey/. -- Fantasy football owners and Denver Broncos fans can rest easy: Peyton Manning is back. Wesley Matthews Jersey . -- The Oakland Raiders expect to have starting right tackle Tony Pashos back for Sundays game against the Houston Texans. Eric Bledsoe Jersey . Trailing by a goal after 20 minutes of play, Joe Pavelski responded with three goals and an assist as the Sharks snapped a two-game losing skid with a 5-2 victory over the struggling Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.It isnt perfect but it isnt as bad as most thought it would be. It is well documented now, but Hamiltons first home game of the season wasnt really a home game because they played at McMaster and arent yet able to get to their new home at Tim Hortons Field. In fact, since Kent Austin signed on as the teams head coach, his TiCats have not had true home field advantage in 10 possible home games. Guelph did a good job last year, but it is not the same true home field advantage that you get when you are in your own locker room and playing in front of a home crowd that knows how to make it tough on the opposition. Most opposing players will tell you that fans in Hamilton can make it tough on the opposition. Having said that, McMaster for a few games is not going to be the end of the world and did provide the fans an up close a personal look at the physicality in football. The Redblacks and the Ticats were pounding each other and fans at McMaster are so close to the field that most of them probably went home and strapped on some ice packs like the players do. They were that close. It is almost like getting that backstage pass and performance by a rock band. There is the concert for 40,000 people but if youre lucky and won the contest on the radio, you are one of fifty people to get a private performance backstage and a chance to meet the rock stars. Last Saturdays game at McMaster felt a little like the backstage performance. Everyone is looking forward to the opening night of the new Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton and tops on that list is the teams head coach Kent Austin. But until then, a select few fans can get a backstage pass, although they may want to wear a helmet. The New PI Rule While there are a few that are still dragging their feet when it comes to the rule change where by coaches can now challenge defensive pass interference, it sounds like the change has working the way it should. To date there have been 10 challenges of defensive pass interference (they have all been on non-calls), and only two have been overturned. On those two "non calls" overturned, both were in the end zone and in the final analysis the correct call was made. Some have tried to blame longer games, more penalties, and longer reviews on the new PI rule, but none of those issues have anything to do with the new rule. Generally speaking, even coaches that were initially skeptical have supported it, including the coach on the TSN panel Paul Lapolice, who early in the season was opposed to the rule change but on a recent conference caall said, "speaking as a coach, I would like the opportunity to challenge a game changing play like PI in the end zone if I was on the sideline.ddddddddddddquot; To understand why more penalties have been called, look no further than the roughing the passer call. It is up by a 50 per cent from this time last year but has been trending down for the last two weeks. That should sort itself out when players learn the new standard and the new target area on quarterbacks. As far as lengthy reviews are concerned; according to the league, there have been 25 coaches challenges this year and they are averaging two minutes and 15 seconds. The target time is about 1:30 and the league is working hard to get to that target but that could take some time. Also of note, the 10 PI challenges have averaged about 1:55, so on average are taking less time than the other reviews. So, lets not blame the new PI rule change for other issues. It is interesting that every time pass interference is called, there is a debate as to whether or not it should have been called by coaches and the players. If you talk to an offensive coach, they will say that a defensive back should not ever touch a receiver unless he is right on the line of scrimmage. While when you talk to a defensive player or coach, hand fighting and a little pushing and pulling should be fair game. In reality, there shouldnt really be a debate because there is a standard as to what is and isnt PI. Most that still complain either dont know the standard or know it but dont agree with it, which is a different argument all together. If you want to argue the standard and the actual rule, thats one thing but it is a different discussion then the one involving the review of PI. So lets stop blaming the review of PI for everything from extended games to the flat tire you had this morning. Superman Honoured in BC Much has been said about how great of a football player Geroy Simon was and he deserves all of the notoriety. The BC Lions did a fantastic job of honouring one of the leagues greatest players; including one moment that really stood out during the ceremony. As good of a player that Simon was, he is even a better person and role model to so many young kids. It was great to see him surrounded by all those young amateur football players in the tunnel at BC place, all with huge smiles on their faces and all trying to do the Superman pose. It makes you wonder; how many young kids in our country signed up for football because they wanted to be the next Superman? ' ' '