News & Neuigkeiten » punishment beyond the Rio Olympic

BOULDER, Colo. -- Colorado quarterback Sefo Liufau attempted to somewhat downplay the significance of facing Washington State this weekend.Thats just difficult to do.Its just another game, Liufau said, that Id like to treat as a championship game.Because it really is that big.Very few predicted No. 12 Colorado and No. 20 Washington State would be leading their respective Pac-12 divisions this late into the season. The Buffaloes (8-2, 6-1 Pac-12, No. 10 CFP) were picked last in the South in a preseason poll and the Cougars (8-2, 7-0 Pac-12, No. 22 CFP ) tabbed to finish fourth in the North.And yet they meet Saturday with both in line to make the leagues title game.How many times in life do you get to do something that nobody thinks you can do? Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre said. Its a pretty neat situation, I would say.No jitters, either. Not this crew. Not after turning around a downtrodden program and becoming bowl eligible for the first time since 2007.I dont get those (nerves) anymore because Im prepared enough and confident enough in my ability, Colorado safety Ryan Moeller said. Were practicing every week for a test. Youre studying every day, just like you would in school.So when it comes time to take the test, you see questions on the test and youre like, `I know that. Its easy, almost second nature. And thats how it is for us out there.Like Colorado, the transformation of the Cougars has been a captivating story. Theyre trying to win nine straight for the first time since 1930.To think, these two teams had a grand total of two conference wins -- both by the Cougars -- between them two years ago.Coug fans are always great, whether youre down or whether youre up, said quarterback Luke Falk, who was knocked out of the Colorado game last season in the third quarter after a hit. The vibe is just lively.Washington State coach Mike Leach has kept a partial eye on the rise of the Buffaloes. Hes been impressed, especially since this is basically the same squad that went 4-9 a season ago.They are playing harder and more cohesive, Leach said. They dont break out a bunch of bells and whistles and try to outsmart you. They are really sound.Here are things to know before Washington State and Colorado clash in a contest with huge conference implications:HEADS OR TAILS: The Buffaloes are 9-1 this season on the opening coin toss. Thats partly due to Liufau, who always picks tails when hes calling it.Tails never fails, Liufau said.On the flip side, Washington State has an intriguing coin-toss tale as well -- running back Jamal Morrow once appeared as a contestant on The Price is Right. Given that, Leach figured it would be good luck to have him out there for the coin toss. Morrow has been one of the captains for the last 19 games and the Cougars have gone 15-4. The team said Morrow is 7-1 calling the toss.KEEPING THEM HONEST: No longer is Washington State just a fling-it-all-over-the-field offense. The Cougars have a bona fide ground game thats scored 22 rushing TDs this season, which is the most since 1997.People have to play us balanced this year, because of the run threat, Falk said. Its really great this year to lean on that at times.MISSING WEAPON: There are reports that Cougars standout receiver River Cracraft tore his ACL against California last week and is done for the season. Leach wouldnt confirm anything, simply saying, we dont comment on any injuries. Hes a great player and still part of our team.Cracraft has caught 53 passes for 701 yards and five touchdowns this season.OFFENSIVE NUMBERS: Washington State averages 517.5 yards in total offense this season. Colorados defense allows just 308.4 yards per game.Statistically, theyre the best weve faced, Cougars receiver Gabe Marks said. Theyve got some athletes out there.LIUFAUS LEGACY: With one more passing TD, Liufau will tie Cody Hawkins (60, 2007-10) for most in a career at Colorado. Liufau has already set or tied 84 school marks.The guys rally around him, Falk said of Liufau. Hes part of turning the program around.---Associated Press Writer Nicholas K. Geranios in Washington contributed to this story.---More AP college football at www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 .Denver Nuggets Shirts . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void. Custom Denver Nuggets Jerseys .In my heart and mind Im competing for India, luge competitor Shiva Keshavan told The Associated Press in an email interview. Every day Im flooded with messages from Indians all over the world telling me they are supporting me. https://www.cheapnuggets.com/ . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. Denver Nuggets Gear . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif. Nuggets Jerseys China . The scientists believe the small earthquake during a Marshawn Lynch touchdown was likely greater than Lynchs famous "beast quake" touchdown run three years ago, which also came against New Orleans during a playoff game.RIO DE JANEIRO -- The weightlifting competition at the Rio Olympics played out under a cloud of suspicion and scandal so severe that there are fears the sport may get booted out of future games for doping.Competitors who finished outside the medals talked openly about their hopes of moving up in the standings once lab results came back for opponents they found suspicious. Four athletes have withdrawn or been disqualified so far after testing positive, including one who was taking small doses of a substance typically used as rat poison.Russias weightlifting team was banned for bringing what the International Weightlifting Federation called disrepute to the sport. And two more powerhouses, Kazakhstan and Belarus, are set to miss next years world championships over mass doping.It has all led to some deep soul-searching for the sport as leaders hope it not only remains in the Olympics but also cleans up its act once and for all. Once a highlight of the Olympics, weightlifting is on the program for 2020, but there is no guarantee beyond that.I hope we dont have this kind of situation, International Weightlifting Federation president Tamas Ajan told The Associated Press in a recent interview when asked if his sport risked losing its Olympic status. I hope that what weightlifting is doing is good enough and we are on the program.Ajan said he hoped 2015 would be a year of shock therapy that would result in a healthier sport, but competitors in Rio de Janeiro were not confident their sport was clean.Mercedes Isabel Perez of Colombia took fourth in the womens 63-kilogram event, but was practically exuding confidence that shell eventually win a medal.We have to wait for the doping tests, she said. Who knows? Being fourth is the best because if something happens, Ill just climb on that podium.Recent developments show she may have a point.Izzat Artykov of Kyrgyzstan was kicked out of the games and stripped of his bronze medal in the mens 69-kilogram division Thursday after failing a test for strychnine. Its a toxic substance typically used as a pest killer, but in smaller doses, it can help muscular performance.Two Polish weightlifters, one a former gold medalist, were also sent home before competing, and a Taiwanese world record holder withdrew hours before her event over drug test abnormalities.Of 45 medalists from the 2012 London Olympics, at least 20 have failed doping tests at some stage of their careers and as many as 12 medals from London could be reallocated after samples were retested with new technology this year.The weightlifting federation had tried to ban Kazakhstan and Belarus from thee Olympics as well, but Ajan said the International Olympic Committee had been too slow in processing doping cases in time for the ban to meet federation rules.dddddddddddd The countries ended up winning seven medals, one of them a gold medal for Kazakhstans Nijat Rahimov, who only returned from a two-year doping ban last year.He set a world record in the clean and jerk to win gold -- a result he credited to an intense training regimen. But his opponents had doubts, questioning how he could accomplish such a feat so soon after a lengthy suspension.In a very short time it cannot happen like that, Egypts Mohamed Mahmoud said.Ajan said the Soviet Union had left a legacy of steroid use that was hard to uproot.We had to take this decision even if it is painful, Ajan said of banning Russia. To use some forbidden substances, this was a part of the Soviet training methods ... Some countries here from the former Soviet Union, they use the same possibilities. I think in the near future they will stop using everything. We try to give very strong pressure and we continue very strong control also in the future.While most doping cases are from ex-Soviet or Eastern European countries, medal contenders like China, Iran and Taiwan have all also racked up drug offenses.Ajan said his organization tested a higher proportion of its competitors than any other major sports federation, and planned to start storing samples from more competitions for retesting later.Not one sport has done as many things as we have done, he added.Russia, however, will be back at the world championships next year, Ajan said. Asked whether it faced any extra punishment beyond the Rio Olympics, Ajan praised Russia for its academic and scientific approach to training, and the Soviet Union for basically a very strong and good contribution for the sport because performance was increased.Crowds for weightlifting in Rio were enthusiastic, but rarely filled much more than half of the arena near the Olympic Park, something Ajan blamed on spectators getting lost because of a lack of signs. The crowd relied heavily on delegations of athletes and coaches from competing countries, and a big group of fans from Colombia, one of the few countries in the western hemisphere where the sport remains popular.As weightlifting tries to regain its credibility, it will have to try to shift the focus back to superhuman lifts, not chemical boosts, and show that, as Ajan put it: There is much more to weightlifting than only doping. ' ' '