MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jerome Simpson has been suspended for three games for violating the NFLs substance abuse policy, his second such punishment in three seasons. The league announced the punishment Friday, putting Simpson on the sideline without pay until Sept. 22 when the Vikings begin practice for a Week 4 matchup with Atlanta. He wont count against the 53-man active roster until then, creating an opportunity for Adam Thielen and Rodney Smith, both of whom spent last year on the practice squad as undrafted rookies, to survive the final cuts and make the team for now. Simpson will sit out games against St. Louis, New England and New Orleans. Cordarrelle Patterson and Greg Jennings are the top two wide receivers, with Jarius Wright the only other player with NFL experience at the position. Offensive co-ordinator Norv Turner, asked recently about the possibility of losing Simpson, the teams best deep threat, dismissed any concern. "You have to have a varied plan. Unfortunately, in this game, guys miss," Turner said. Simpson travelled to NFL headquarters last week for an appeal hearing, but his effort ultimately had no effect on the ban. Simpson was arrested last November on suspicion of drunken driving, and in January he pleaded guilty to careless driving and refusing to submit to a chemical test while avoiding the DUI charge. Simpson denied hed been drinking to the state trooper who arrested him when his sports car was stalled in a freeway lane just outside of downtown Minneapolis. His attorney, David Valentini, has said Simpson would have passed had he taken a blood alcohol test that day. But the league considers the past in assessing punishment, and Simpson previously was suspended for the first three games of the 2012 season following a felony drug conviction. That stemmed from a marijuana shipment that authorities found at his home in Kentucky while he played for Cincinnati in 2011. He was still on probation for that at the time of his arrest in Minnesota last fall. The Vikings have seen enough good behaviour from Simpson off the field and glimpses of potential on it that theyve signed him to three consecutive one-year contracts, at relative bargains because of his trouble. Only one of his eight career touchdown catches has been with the Vikings, but he established career highs last season with 726 receiving yards and an average of 15.1 yards per catch. Cheap Air Max 2017 . - Suspended Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Justin Blackmon has voluntarily checked into a treatment facility and seems to be doing well. Nike Air Max Outlet . -- Athletics manager Bob Melvin is already starting to run out of superlatives to describe Scott Kazmir. http://www.airmaxclearance.us/.She struggled with a hacking cough, she was sick, and she twice celebrated too early, but she held her composure in a 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory on Saturday.On her third match point, she let her racket go before hearing a let call to what she thought was an ace. Wholesale Air Max Shoes .com) - Jimmie Johnson won Sundays AAA Texas 500 while championship contenders Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski as well as their teams were involved in a post-race fight on pit road after the two clashed in the closing laps at Texas Motor Speedway. Air Max Sneaker 2017 . A little more than one year after missing a last-second tip-in that would have given the Wolverines a share of the Big Ten regular-season title, the 6-foot-8 forward scored on a layup with 7.Nassau, Bahamas (SportsNetwork.com) - Alex Barlow scored 17 points to lead the Butler Bulldogs over the fifth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels, 74-66, in quarterfinal round action of the Battle 4 Atlantis at Imperial Arena. Kelan Martin also scored 17 points and added six rebounds for Butler (4-0), which outrebounded Carolina 57-40, grabbing 29 offensive boards, on the way to the upset win. Roosevelt Jones hit four straight free throws down the stretch, ending with 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Bulldogs, who will face the winner between Oklahoma and UCLA in the semifinal round on Thursday. Marcus Paige scored 18 points to lead North Carolina (3-1), which rallied in the final minutes but never had possession of the ball with a chance to take the lead. Trailing by as many as 14 points, Carolina made this game interesting down the stretch. Paige hit a transition layup with a 2:04 left to draw the Tar Heels within 63-57. Later, with 1:21 remaining, Carolinas Nate Britt drained a 3-pointer to make it a five-point affair, 65-60. Then, after Jones hit a pair of free throws with 61 ticks left, Paige hit another three with 45 seconds oon the clock to make it a four-point game, 67-63.dddddddddddd Trailing 70-66 with possession, North Carolina turned the ball over with 16 seconds left. Kellen Dunham was fouled with 13 seconds to play and hit both from the line to secure the win. Dunham had 11 points for Butler. After Carolina took a 35-32 lead into halftime, Butler came out of the break on fire led by Barlow. The guard sparked an 11-3 run to start the half with a pair of treys and Dunham ended the surge with a 3-pointer to stake the Bulldogs to a 43-38 lead. The Tar Heels eventually pulled within 43-41, but a 15-4 run gave the Bulldogs their first double-digit advantage of the game. Martin ended the burst with a 3-pointer at the 8:50 mark and then 1-of-2 free throws with 8:15 remaining for Butlers largest lead 59-45. Brice Johnson finished with 11 points for Carolina. Game Notes Kameron Woods had 13 rebounds for Butler ... Kennedy Meeks added 10 boards for Carolina ... The Bulldogs hit 9-of-28 3-pointers and shot 22-of-72 overall ... Carolina went just 4-of-16 from beyond the arc and hit 22-of-57 shots ... Barlow fouled out. ' ' '