I think I know what you mean by "popping". It happens to me shifting from first to second with the B&M shifter. Not sure what's wrong with it. All it is is the clutch is putting a little pressure on the stick when you push the clutch in. I'm not sure why that's a problem though. It's not hurting anything as far as I know, and all it does is kick the stick into neutral, so if you're shifting to second you just continue the motion.

And he's right, there is a really short knob on that one. I tried out different size knobs on my shifter. You can make the stick 2" longer with some of the ones I found at Pep Boys. It seams that road cars like short sticks while rally cars like long ones to keep it close to the steering wheel. Probably because offroad makes it hard to leave the wheel, while the smooth road is fine with one hand.