ks than Jimmy Garoppolo will be super-excited to avo

The Latest on the Rio Games (all times local to Rio de Janeiro):8:35 p.m.Wrestlings international federation is working to validate the eligibility of the Russian wrestlers whove qualified for the Rio Olympics.United World Wrestling president Nenad Lalovic announced the newly implemented process on Monday. He also noted that the World-Anti Doping Agency has already tested each Russian wrestler at accredited laboratories -- with some of those athletes having passed as many as four tests.Lalovic said that the UWW recently clarified to the International Olympic Committee that the Russian labs implicated in the McLaren Report are not part of its testing protocol. He added that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency tested 108 wrestlers from 38 countries during last years world championships in Las Vegas and didnt find a single doping violation.Still, the UWW has requested more information and evidence about the wrestlers said to be implicated in disappearing positive tests.Russia is arguably the worlds top wrestling nation, earning 11 medals in 18 weight classes at the 2012 London Games. The Russians are expected to field another strong team in Rio, led by two-time world champion Abdulrashid Sadulaev.---6:47 p.m.Russian doping whistleblower Yulia Stepanova is appealing her ban from the Olympics, saying it was based on incorrect information and dubious legal grounds.Stepanova sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee contending she never said she wouldnt compete for the Russian team, as the IOC stated. The IOC would not make any exception for her to compete under a neutral flag.She says the IOCs ban of any Russian athlete who has previously served a doping ban is not permitted -- a ruling the Court of Arbitration for Sport made in 2011.Stepanova was an 800-meter runner who got caught for doping, but later came forward to expose the Russian doping system.Both the World Anti-Doping Agency and tracks governing body, the IAAF, recommended she be allowed in the Olympics.---6:42 p.m.Tour de France stage winner Jarlinson Pantano will replace Nairo Quintana at the Rio Olympics after the Colombian climbing star complained of an illness that affected his Grand Tour performance.The Colombian Cycling Federation announced its decision Monday.Quintana was expected to challenge Chris Froome for the yellow jersey, but he was never able to mount an attack in the high mountains. His team, Movistar, said Quintana will rest before undergoing medical tests in the coming weeks to determine what caused his Tour struggles.Pantano was chosen by Colombia national team coach Carlos Jaramillo. He will fly to Rio on Aug. 4 after fulfilling commitments in Belgium and France with his trade team, IAM Cycling.The Olympic road race is Aug. 6.---4:20 p.m.The International Weightlifting Federation is seeking further clarification from the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency before making a decision on which Russian athletes can be cleared to compete at the Rio de Janeiro Games.The Budapest-based IWF says that some points might lead to confusion regarding the IOC ruling giving individual sports federations the responsibility of deciding who can compete in Rio.The IWF said no Russian weightlifter sanctioned for doping will be allowed to compete -- even if they had already served their suspension -- and that it is waiting for evidence from the Russian athletes entered for Rio before making its decision.---4:13 p.m.Apparently all reigning Olympic all-around champion Gabby Douglas needed to overcome a so-so performance at Olympic Trials is quality time with national team coordinator Martha Karolyi.Karolyi praised Douglas for her steady improvement during a recently completed national training camp, and said Douglas will likely be given an opportunity to defend the gold medal she won in London four years ago.Douglas made the five-woman team at Olympic Trials two weeks ago despite finishing eighth in the all-around. Karolyi said she believed Douglas would respond to extended time under Karolyis watch following a turbulent period in which Douglas parted ways her coach.Karolyi said there is a very, very strong possibility Douglas will be entered in the all-around.Douglas finished second behind teammate Simone Biles at the 2015 world championships. No female gymnast has repeated as Olympic champion since Vera Caslavska of Czechoslovakia did it in 1968.---3:15 p.m.Not everyone is upset with Olympic housing.The South African Olympic team says it is happy with its accommodations in Rio de Janeiro, calling the apartments excellent.The South African Olympic committee says its athletes have everything they need and have been lucky.The South Africans said air conditioning, Wi-Fi and plumbing were all working well, and they also had a swimming pool.The South African committee says facilities look like being on a par with most Olympic athletes villages, but noted the village wasnt complete.U.S. boxer Claressa Shields wrote on Facebook that USA boxing has been in Rio for five days with zero problems, and that Rio is a beautiful place.---2:14 p.m.Former World Anti-Doping Agency president Dick Pound believes it was a cop-out by the IOC to leave the decision on participation of Russian athletes at the Rio Games to the global sports federations.Pound is a senior IOC member and had been among the most vocal proponents of a total ban on Russia following allegations of state-organized doping.Pound tells The Associated Press he wrote a personal letter last week to IOC President Thomas Bach saying there is simply no alternative to excluding the entire Russian team because of evidence of government involvement in doping.The IOC executive board decided against a complete ban on Sunday, giving the international federations the task of vetting Russian athletes in their own sports.Pound says I think its a cop-out to delegate all this to the federations, adding, its the worst precedent I can imagine.---2:07 p.m.The head of the Russian Rowing Federation says two of his athletes are planning to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after new International Olympic Committee rules barred them from the Rio de Janeiro Games.Federation president Veniamin But tells Russian agency R-Sport that rowers Ivan Podshivalov and Anastasia Karabelshchikova plan to file an appeal to CAS if they are not allowed to compete at the Olympics.Both Podshivalov and Karabelshchikova had previously served doping bans, automatically ruling them out of the games under rules brought in by the IOC on Sunday.The agent of world 100-meter breaststroke swimming champion Yulia Efimova earlier told Russian media he was considering filing a similar appeal.--12:13 p.m.Swimmings global governing body FINA says it will retest doping samples from all Russians who competed at last years world aquatics championships in Russia.The championships were held in the Russian city of Kazan at a time when World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren has accused Russian government officials of overseeing a mass doping cover-up of failed drug tests by Russians.The championships ran from July 24 through August 9, with Russia finishing third in the medal table. The championships also included diving, water polo and synchronized swimming.---11:54 a.m.Swimming governing body FINA has ruled seven Russian swimmers ineligible to compete at the Olympics, including three it says were linked to recent allegations of a major doping cover-up by Russian authorities.Reigning world 100-meter breaststroke champion Yulia Efimova is among four Russian swimmers who FINA says were withdrawn by the Russian Swimming Federation because they previously served doping bans.The International Olympic Committee on Sunday restricted athletes with previous doping bans from representing Russia.FINA says three more swimmers were identified by World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren when he examined evidence that Russian government officials ordered the cover-up of hundreds of doping tests.They are 2008 Olympic silver and 2012 bronze medalist Nikita Lobintsev, bronze medalist Vladimir Morozov and world junior record holder Daria Ustinova.---11:40 a.m.Australias delegation isnt staying in Olympic housing for now.The countrys Olympic team leader says there are electrical and plumbing problems in the complex. A news conference is expected later in the day.The 31-building village is expected to house 18,000 athletes and officials at the height of the games. Six Australian athletes due to arrive Monday and 50 on Tuesday will temporarily stay in hotels or other accommodations.---11:33 a.m.At least eight Russian athletes are set to miss next months games in Rio de Janeiro under new IOC rules prohibiting former dopers from competing.Russias top Olympic official, Alexander Zhukov, said that number could rise.While Zhukov did not name the athletes, competitors in swimming, cycling and weightlifting are likely to be affected.The International Olympic Committee executive board decided Sunday against imposing a complete ban on Russian athletes from the Rio Games over allegations of state-sponsored doping. The IOC asked individual global sports federations to decide on entry of Russian athletes. Wholesale NHL Jerseys Authentic . -- Jakob Silfverberg is making himself right at home with the Anaheim Ducks, scoring four goals in his first four games. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . Note: The Calgary Flames announced Tuesday that Sean Monahan would not be made available to Canadas World Junior team. http://www.wholesalenhljerseys.info/ . -- Yogi Ferrell orchestrates pretty much everything in Indianas offence. Cheap NHL Jerseys . Tuesdays surgery at Atlantas Piedmont Hospital was performed by Dr. Xavier Duralde and Hawks team physician Dr. Michael Bernot. Thursday was great, Sunday was a thrill a minute and Monday ... well, Monday also had games. The NFL is back, and all you want to do is dig into this big, steaming buffet of Week 1 goodness and scoop out the stuff you like.But a weeks worth of evidence isnt all that much when it comes to this NFL stuff, it really isnt. Overreactions may be fun, but its important to think about whats real and whats not -- whats likely to stick and whats likely to fade.With that in mind, heres a look at a few things we think we learned in Week 1, and a few things we dont think will turn out to be worth all that much attention.Wait, arent you?Carson Wentz?Is this it, Philly? Is this finally the guy? Is it finally time to make room next to the Rocky statue for one of a real-life sports hero who inspired your city and lifted it to championship greatness? Wentz looks smooth and poised and made some sweet touchdown throws in his debut, and if the goal was to make the fans forget their team just traded its starting quarterback a week before the season, mission accomplished. This was real success in a real game, and its always easier to build on success than failure.But Id hold off on commissioning that statue for at least a week or so. Just three years ago, Eagles fans would have sworn on a stack of wiz-wit bibles that Nick Foles was the long-term answer. You need to see a kid do this a lot more than once before you can really buy in. Hes not scared, and he has the arm and the touch. He holds the ball a little bit too long, as a lot of rookie quarterbacks do, and how he overcomes that will matter. The NFL people to whom I talked Monday said Wentz looked the part and better than many of them thought he was, but most also pointed out that he beat clearly the worst team in the league. Lets press pause here and see how he looks against one of the top 30. Speaking of which ...Oof, the BrownsThis is going to get worse before it gets better. You roll into Week 1 with 18 guys whove never played an NFL game and expect that not to show up. This is a team built on draft picks it hasnt yet made. Think last year felt long in Cleveland? This year could make 2015 feel like a week and half. And no, the loss of Robert Griffin III doesnt have to make anything worse. It was obvious Sunday that nothing had changed with that guy -- the Browns couldnt protect him, he couldnt protect himself and their best hope was that he could take the lumps until they drafted their quarterback of the future. Josh McCown is a better quarterback right now than Griffin is, but dont let that fool you into thinking this team is a real threat. They play in the toughest division in the league and could legitimately lose every single one of their games.Adrian Peterson?will be just fineFantasy players are losing their minds over Petersons 31 yards on 19 carries. I get it. Im a fantasy player. Losing our minds is our default state. But theres nothing to worry about with Peterson. Buy if you can. Minnesota had the ball for less than half of the game and ran fewer offensive plays than did the Tennessee team it beat by nine points. Thats in part because Peterson faced a stacked box all night and in part because the Vikings defense scored two touchdowns. The Vikings expect to have Sam Bradford at quarterback starting in Week 2, and his ability to deliver on downfield play-action throws will open things up for Peterson in the coming weeks.So will Ezekiel ElliottThe years most-touted rookie averaged 2.5 yards per carry in his debut. Alfred Morris averaged 5.0 in thee same game.dddddddddddd Panic time! Cowboys blew the pick! Right? Of course not. First of all, Morris had seven carries to Elliotts 20, so ... sample size. And second of all, the Giants paid Damon Harrison $9.25 million a year in free agency so that no one could run on them on first or second downs. Harrison doesnt play for Washington. Elliott could get going in Week 2, and certainly will get going sooner rather than later. Dallas bigger problem is that it?wont do anything on offense unless Dak Prescott, the fourth-round rookie at QB, gets something going downfield in the passing game.Are the Giants back?Speaking of that game, it did see the New York Football Giants win a season opener for the first time in six years. This is a team that hasnt finished .500 since 2012, so all of the preseason excitement about New York as a bounce-back team seemed to ignore just how far it?had to bounce. But the NFC East once again looks as if it can be won?by basically showing up. The Giants lost five games last season?in the final two minutes because they couldnt rush the passer in the fourth quarter or pick up first downs in the run game when they had the lead. They did both of those things, on the road against a division rival, Sunday. If they want to feel good about their chances, they should go ahead. The last time the Giants were 1-0, you had Hey, Soul Sister stuck in your head. Thats right. Youre welcome.Is Russell Wilson in trouble?Look, its always possible that Dange-Russ has a line on some kind of bizarre new energy drink that can heal an ankle sprain. But that sure did look ugly -- whether youre talking about Wilson post-injury or the Seattle offense pre-injury. The Seahawks pass protection is an annual issue that Wilson always seems to overcome, and theres no reason to think he cant do it again this year. But man, it sure would be nice if, one of these years, he didnt have to.Arizonas defense has a big holeTheres no bigger Cardinals backer than me. I have them to beat the Bengals in the Super Bowl. I think theyre loaded -- deep in the defensive front, at wide receiver and at many other positions. Brilliantly coached. But their second cornerback is the weak spot on Smaugs underbelly. Right now theyre going with third-round pick Brandon Williams, who was a running back at Texas A&M a year and a half ago. Williams is learning the position, and until he does, more seasoned quarterbacks than Jimmy Garoppolo will be super-excited to avoid Patrick Peterson and take aim at Williams?side.Tone down the Jameis Winston MVP talkUntil we see how he does against a real pass rush. Winston is for real, theres no doubt, and Tampa has every reason to think its got its quarterback of the future. But not every team the Bucs?play is going to make him quite as comfortable as the Falcons did.Sometimes, the obvious is obvious for a reasonThe Patriots won in Arizona without Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Nate Solder, Sebastian Vollmer and Dion Lewis. The Steelers won in Washington without LeVeon Bell, Martavis Bryant, Heath Miller, Markus Wheaton and Ladarius Green. Theres a reason so many people overlooked the absences and picked these teams to represent the AFC in this years Super Bowl. Coaching and depth make you scary even when your best guys are gone. Much respect to both of these perennial powers, even if yours truly did pick the Bengals to win the AFC. Hey, nothing ventured and all that. ' ' '