ROME - Italys once-proud national team has been eliminated from the last two World Cups in the first round. Michael Kors Outlet 80% OFF .Former European champions such as AC Milan and Inter Milan didnt even qualify to compete in this seasons Champions League.And the days of Serie A landing top foreigners like Diego Maradona, Marco van Basten and Zinedine Zidane are long gone.So its of little surprise that the Italian football federation is planning to vote on Thursday on of proposed reforms to shake up the national game.The changes would require Serie A clubs to limit their first squads to 25 players, and stipulate that at least four come up through their youth systems.A rule could also be passed to require that one of the maximum of two non-EU players in each club has a certain pedigree with his national squad.The idea is to give the national coach more options and promote homegrown players.But Italian Players Association president Damiano Tommasi believes the proposals are too radical.If these are the reforms that are going to be voted on then we still have some work to do, Tommasi told The Associated Press in an interview.He represents all players based in Italy — whether Italian or foreign — and the proposed reforms would eliminate 80 players from Serie A by trimming the total number of footballers from 580 to 500 from next season.According to a study published in the Gazzetta dello Sport on Wednesday, not one Serie A club currently conforms to the regulations being considered.Small clubs such as Chievo and Hellas Verona dont have a single player on their squads who came up through their youth systems.The real changes needed are structural, and they need to be done over a period of five to 10 years, Tommasi, who played on the Roma squad that won Serie A in 2001, said late Tuesday.By drasticaally altering the rules and cutting 80 jobs, Serie A would almost certainly contain a higher percentage of Italian and younger players — which could help the national team. But clubs might then struggle to compete even more with their European counterparts.We have to measure ourselves with countries like Germany or Belgium that dont have such limits but still have national squads much better than ours, Tommasi said.Serie A used to have four Champions League spots. A few years ago, it slipped behind the Bundesliga to fourth in UEFAs country rankings. Now, only the top two finishers in Serie A qualify directly for the Champions League, and the third-placed club goes into a playoff to reach the group phase.This season, Napoli was beaten by Athletic Bilbao in the playoffs, leaving only three-time defending Serie A champion Juventus and Roma to represent Italy.Roma was humiliated in a 7-1 home loss to Bayern Munich last month, highlighting the disparity between the top clubs in Italy and Germany.And with crumbling stadiums, fan violence, and dropping attendance, Serie A is also a far cry from the English Premier League, which prides itself on full stadiums, the eradication of hooliganism, and huge international interest.Few fans actually go to the stadiums, and a recently signed international TV rights deal is a fraction of the Premier Leagues - 186 million euros ($230 million) on average per season in Italy vs. more than 800 million euros ($1 billion) in England.Perhaps Italy should follow the English model and go back to blacking out live matches on domestic TV to force fans to go to stadiums.The TV broadcasters should be interested in showing matches with full stadiums, Tommasi said. But first you have to improve the show on the pitch and provide better accessibility to stadiums — create a reason to watch a match live instead of on TV.I also think that having to buy a season ticket without knowing what day of the week the matches are on is definitely a deterrent, added Tommasi, referring to the Italian leagues habit of scheduling matches often only a month ahead of time.Theres a lot to think about, Tommasi concluded. We shouldnt be talking about changes that affect just next season. We need a five- or 10-year plan.___Andrew Dampf can be followed at www.twitter.com/asdampf Michael Kors Handbags Outlet . -- Once the Anaheim Ducks wiped out a four-goal deficit, all the stress shifted to the visiting Winnipeg Jets. Michael Kors Outlet Sale . Often imitated, never replicated Things to do at a carnival And the intense couple of the year award goes to...... Crazy trick shot from a moving vehicle "Hey Yeezy, how about putting my kid in the game!!??!!?" And for the bonus vine, heres how Zidane would say happy birthday.BRISTOL, Tenn. - If two rain delays totalling more than five hours werent enough, the water-logged race at Bristol Motor Speedway had a battery fly out of a car and spread a toilet paper-looking substance all over the track. And that wasnt even the strangest occurrence Sunday. Moments before Carl Edwards closed in on what should have been the white flag lap, the caution lights were accidentally turned on from the flag stand. As NASCAR tried to figure out what was going on, the sky opened up and prevented the race from resuming. Edwards was awarded the win under caution — a victory he was headed to before the mishap — and celebrated his third career win at Bristol with his trademark backflip on the slick concrete. "Oh, man, I thought, This is stupid. I shouldnt do this ... Its awfully glossy. It might be slick," he said. "I didnt want to stick it perfectly and have my feet go that way and break my arm on the concrete. That would have been terrible. I was actually really nervous about that." NASCAR vice-president of competition Robin Pemberton said a person in the flag stand leaned on the manual override switch and that turned on the caution lights. Six seconds after the lights were turned on, the flag man waved the yellow flag. Pemberton said that the flag man can wave the caution flag without a call from series officials in the tower if they see a proper reason. "We were scanning cars and spotters, and theres some of us in the tower that only heard it after the teams were talking about it because we were looking at other things around the racetrack," Pemberton said. Said Edwards: "No harm, no foul, lets act like it just didnt happen." The victory makes Edwards the fourth winner in four races this season and, under NASCARs new rules, is supposed to get him into the 16-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. "Just to have a win this early, man, it is a huge relief," he said. Five other things from water-logged Bristol: BUMP-AND-RUN: With Chase berths conceivably on the line with a win, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was salivating at a shot at teammate Edwards when the final caution came out at Bristol. But he knew if the race went green again, his only chance would be the old Bristol bump-and-run, which hasnt been used in years. Its a risky move to do to a teammate, but owner Jack Roush said he expected nothing less from Stenhouse. "When it comes time to really charge for the checkered flag, there are no team orders, there aree no rules," Roush said. Michael Kors Outlet. "I expect them to race one another as they expect to be raced, not only with one another, but with everybody in the garage. I expect Ricky is as fierce a competitor as there is out there, and if his car has the speed in it and he can get to the car in front of him, particularly the short track, youd bump-and-run and take the prize if you could. Id be disappointed if he didnt have that in his mind." AWESOME ARIC: Aric Almirola finished a career-best third — and Richard Petty Motorsports teammate Marcos Ambrose was fifth as four Ford drivers placed in the top-five — but Ambrose felt he could have gotten more. He restarted second behind Carl Edwards with 70 laps to go and had one solid chance to take the lead. If hed gotten past Edwards, he just might have grabbed his first career victory. "These races are so hard to win, and it was a great day for us," he said. "Im not disappointed at all with third, but when you see it and you can taste it and its that close, you wonder what could have went different." SMOKE RISES: Tony Stewart salvaged what looked like it was going to be an awful weekend with a season-best fourth-place finish. It came after he qualified 37th, needed two Saturday practice sessions with crew chief Chad Johnston to make significant improvements to the car and needed the entire race to work his way into the top-10. "Its a step in the right direction for sure. This is a big one. If you come out of this place with a top-five youve had a good day," he said. DISSAPOINTED WITH THE FINISH: Kyle Larson flirted with the lead and was in position to race for the win until the race-changing caution with 77 laps remaining. He went to pit road third, took four tires and restarted ninth. So even though he finished a career-best 10th, the rookie wasnt thrilled. "Its crazy to think its kind of a disappointing finish for the way we ran for most of the race, but all in all it was a good race," Larson said. DALES BAD DAY: Dale Earnhardt Jr.s strong start to the season finally came to an end at Bristol, where he finished 24th after opening with a win and two second-places. Although his Chevrolet wasnt great all weekend, his trouble Sunday was compounded by two left-front tire issues. Once he was out of contention, he was basically just making laps for the bulk of the race. It cost Earnhardt the points lead, which went to Brad Keselowski. 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