s it doesnt benefit them nor their athletes.A company like Under Armour can do that because they know

Carolina led the way with a standout season that ultimately ended in Super Bowl defeat but there were plenty of highlights from the NFC, but as ever disappointment for others was not far away.AFC Season Review We look back at the NFC season The Panthers led not only the Conference but the NFL with an 15-1 regular season record - however there were others who defied expectations and justified the hype with Arizona and Minnesota among the teams to impress.Washington Redskins looked reborn, although their was the disappointment of RGIII, Seattle took time to get going but served notice that an exciting new generation will keep them in the hunt, injury disrupted the Dallas Cowboys and the less said about the 49ers the better.Weve put all 16 members of the Conference under the microscope and come up with our verdict on their seasons and dished out the all important end-of-term grades... NFC NORTH - IN FOCUS Vikings, Packers, Lions, Bears reviewed NFC SOUTH - IN FOCUS Panthers, Falcons, Saints, Bucaneers reviewed NFC EAST - IN FOCUS Redskins, Eagles, Giants, Cowboys reviewed NFC WEST - IN FOCUS Cardinals, Seahawks, Rams, 49ers reviewedAlso See:NFC North: In focusNFC South: In focusNFC West: In focusNFC East: In focusAllen Iverson 76ers Jersey .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. Zhaire Smith Jersey . The All-Pro lineman got the leg bent under him while trying to make a tackle during the first half of a 22-20 overtime loss at Miami on Thursday night. The medical staff initially thought hed torn the ligament, and the test a day later in Cincinnati confirmed it. http://www.76ersprostore.info/Cheap-Julius-Erving-76ers-Jersey/ . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Julius Erving Jersey . Didier Drogba gave away the penalty that put Senegal one goal away from a major upset, but the veteran striker will get another chance -- probably his last -- at the World Cup after Salomon Kalous injury-time strike sealed the Ivorians place in Brazil next year. Ben Simmons Jersey . - NASCAR announced a 33-race schedule for the 2014 Nationwide Series with virtually no changes from this years slate.As the Olympic Games approach, the tension between athletes and non-sponsors with the United States Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee has ratcheted up once again.In recent weeks, the United States Olympic Committee sent letters to those who sponsor athletes but dont have any sponsorship designation with the USOC or International Olympic Committee, warning them about stealing intellectual property.Commercial entities may not post about the Trials or Games on their corporate social media accounts, reads the letter written by USOC chief marketing officer Lisa Baird. This restriction includes the use of USOCs trademarks in hashtags such as #Rio2016 or #TeamUSA.The USOC owns the trademarks to Olympic, Olympian and Go For The Gold, among many other words and phrases.The letter further stipulates that a company whose primary mission is not media-related cannot reference any Olympic results, cannot share or repost anything from the official Olympic account and cannot use any pictures taken at the Olympics.The whole thing is ridiculous, said Sally Bergesen, CEO of Oiselle, which the USOC contacted after Oiselle published pictures of athlete Kate Grace after she won the 800 meters at the trials earlier this month.Oiselle sanitized the photos by blurring images of Olympic property but decided to leave the blogs up.While the USOC argues that money from sponsors and licensees who pay for the rights allow them to support athletes to go to the Games, Bergesen says the stringent rules hurt the athletes because companies that cant support them during the Games cant afford to pay them because of lack of promotion.It costs $300,000 to send an Olympian to the Games, and for our athletes, the USOC has reimbursed them about 1 percent of that cost, Bergesen said. Is that supporting them?Baird says that athletes can support a non-sponsor during the Games and a non-sponsor can support an athlete -- they just cant mention anything about the Olympics specifically.We need to give sponnsors exclusivity to our intellectual property that is protected by U.ddddddddddddS. law, Baird said.This is the first Olympics in which the IOC has relaxed its long-standing Rule 40, in which non-sponsors and athletes cant mention their relationship for a monthlong period in and around the Games.As part of a new compromise, the IOC, in concert with the USOC, allowed companies that did not have an official relationship to run ads during the Games so long as those ads started running in March and ran continuously through the Games.Baird wouldnt say how many companies had their ads approved and decided to commit to the five-month window, but she said it was a significant number.Bergesen said that smaller companies dont have the luxury to do that, which means it doesnt benefit them nor their athletes.A company like Under Armour can do that because they know that Michael Phelps is going to be in the Games, Bergesen said. We dont know in January which one of our athletes is going to make the Games.New Balance isnt a USOC or IOC sponsor but had more than 70 of its athletes qualify for the Games.We find the IOCs Rule 40 extremely frustrating and challenging to work with as a brand which wants to celebrate the many amazing achievements of our hard-working global athletes, said New Balance spokesperson Amy Dow. It is also unfortunate that many athletes do not have the freedom or opportunity to support the brands that support them.Baird said that companies take the hardship out of context.Athletes can certainly generically say, Thank you for your support during the Games, Baird said. But a company that sells a sports drink certainly cant post something from the Games on their social media page or website. Theyre doing nothing but using the Olympics to sell their drink. Thats entirely different from what say, ESPN is doing, which is clearly defined as journalism. ' ' '