didnt make any sense,” he said. “The temptation to try to do something is always there. I think as you get closer to the draft the temptation actually even incre

MOSCOW -- A depleted Russian team departed for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, missing dozens of athletes who were excluded amid the countrys doping scandal. Fred Evans Jersey.Team members left on a charter flight from Moscows Sheremetyevo International Airport to Brazil, a day after an emotional farewell ceremony with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.More than 100 athletes from what was originally a 387-member team have been barred from competing in Rio by international sports federations under sanctions that most Russian athletes consider unfair.Were after medals. Thats it, handball player Anna Sen said. We need to fight for those athletes who were disqualified.Volleyball player Sergei Tetyukhin, a four-time Olympic medalist, will be Russias flagbearer for the opening ceremony in Rio, according to an Instagram post by pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva.Isinbayeva has become a de facto spokeswoman for Russian athletes excluded from the Olympics and gave a tearful address to the team in the Kremlin on Wednesday.Today, as never before, we need to stay united and become a family, the 40-year-old Tetyukhin said, ignoring what he called provocations addressed at our team and our mighty country.No track and field athletes were among the contingent heading for Rio, since the entire track team is banned from competing, except for a single U.S.-based long jumper, following revelations of widespread doping.The track team did, however, attend the ceremonial farewell with Putin on Wednesday, when the Russian president branded restrictions his country as pure discrimination.Hours after the plane carrying the Russian team took off, the track and field team gathered across town in a small stadium for what was billed as an Olympic consolation event.World champions competed against regional-level athletes in front of around 150 spectators in an event hastily organized after the track teams ban was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport last week.Isinbayeva watched from the sidelines, vowing defiance and legal action.You cant break Russians, she said. People have tried to break us down, but its never worked. ... What doesnt kill us makes us stronger.She added that she plans to file another appeal to CAS and the European Court of Human Rights.My conscience is clean, said long jumper Vasily Kopeikin, another athlete barred from Rio. Time will show those people who suspended us.Kopeikin added that he would not watch any Olympic events in which Russia was not taking part.While Russia avoided a blanket ban from the Games at a meeting of the International Olympic Committee board Sunday, the IOC imposed new restrictions on Russia. International sports federations must remove any athlete previously banned for doping or who was implicated in last weeks McLaren report alleging a mass cover-up of failed drug tests.Some federations have taken a tough line, with exclusions of much of Russias team from events such as rowing, canoeing and swimming. Other sports, such as judo and tennis, have allowed the entire Russian team to compete in their sport. These rulings must still be ratified by the CAS.Russias weightlifting team has been dogged by doping cases and faced further embarrassment Wednesday when retests of samples from the 2012 Olympics saw four Russians, including three medalists, test positive. The entire lifting team risks being banned from the Rio Games because of the large number of failures in retests from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.Putin last week called for the creation of a new state-backed anti-doping commission to draw up future strategy. In a clear sign of coordination, it was set up within hours under Vitaly Smirnov, a former Soviet sports minister and IOC member.Smirnov told local media Thursday that the new commission would be independent of the government, despite containing several senior figures with links to the Kremlin. Smirnov also insisted the government was not involved in doping, despite allegations in World Anti-Doping Agency reports that Sports Ministry officials oversaw a mass doping program and a cover-up.We will welcome the arrival of WADA, and we rule out any attempts at interference by the state or other structures, he said in comments reported by the Tass news agency. In Russia there is not and never has been any state support for doping. Nick Kwiatkoski Jersey. -- Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar will be out for roughly four weeks after tearing his left hamstring. George Blanda Jersey. The lawyers filed a 33-page amended complaint Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, expanding on the suit originally filed Oct. 3 in New York Supreme Court. Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz last week refused to compel Selig to testify in the grievance, and Rodriguez then walked out of the hearing without testifying. http://www.custombearsjersey.com/custom-...arge-1636t.html. Nine days before the opening ceremony, organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said Wednesday that Sochi is "fully ready" and will deliver safe, friendly and well-run games that defy the grim reports that have overshadowed preparations.NEWARK – With some uncertainty at the position, Dave Nonis took steps to address the Leafs strength down the middle, both now and in the future. Nonis sprung to acquire Game 6 hero Dave Bolland from Chicago on draft day, also selecting 6-foot-5 Rimouski pivot Frederik Gauthier with the 21st overall pick. The moves work to address a position of instability within the organization, most immediately with the acquisition of Bolland, a 27-year-old Toronto native who won his second Cup with the Hawks earlier this week. “It doesnt mean that were not [stilll] looking to try to shore up that area because from our standpoint, it still is an area of, I wouldnt say weakness, but were not incredibly deep down the middle and thats why it was important to get him,” said Nonis, minutes after the deal for Bolland was announced. Centre-ice had been, and still remains to some degree, a position of uncertainty. Tyler Bozak, the Leafs number one middleman in 2013, is on the verge of unrestricted free agency with the very real possibility looming that he moves elsewhere for more money than Toronto is willing to offer. With that in mind and some additional uncertainty in the contributions of Mikhail Grabovski and Nazem Kadri next season, Nonis looked for assurance in Bolland, who has one year remaining at a cap hit of $3.3 milion. “It wouldnt rule out signing Tyler at all,” Nonis said of Bozak, who is searching for a significant raise this summer. “If we can find a way of getting him signed then we will. Nothing has changed in that regard from our standpoint.” The injection of Bolland, the former London Knight, into a complement that already includes Grabovski, Kadri (restricted free agent) and Jay McClement, means the Leafs could theoretically be set down the middle for the fall; that is if Bozak departs and Nonis cannot land additional help through the trade or free agent markets. “Yeah, no question that was part of it,” Nonis concurred. “To make sure that we had some depth and we would be able to compete with the group that we had. We feel that if we get everybody signed and in, and now with David, wed be in a perfectly good position to start the season.” With Grabovski and Kadri (potentially) slotting in as the first and second line centres – in lieu of any other moves, which remain a real possibility – Bolland could line up in the all-important three-hole for Randy Carlyle, removing some pressure on Grabovski in defensive situations while injecting the potential for more offence than McClement may provide. Additionally, if Nonis and the Leafs opt to upgrade further down the middle, Bollands acquisition allows further flexibility to perhaps move someone else out or otherwise enjoy long-starved depth at the position. “He played behind some pretty good people [in Chicago] and I think Randy, he wont pigeon-hole him as a third-line centre,” Nonis said of Bolland, who dropped to the fourth line spot for the Hawks in the playoffs, behind the likes of Jonathan Toews, Michal Handzus and Marcus Kruger. “I think hell probably be put in maybe a more prominent role with us than he was in Chicago.” Formerly the head man in Anaheim, Carlyle had plenty of first-hand experience in the Western Conference with Bolland, who fits the gritty mold the Leafs coach seems prefers in his players. “I can tell you that Randy is very happy that we brought Dave Bolland in,” Nonis noted. “Hes the type of player that thrives under the way he coaches. And Randy moves people around the lineup and I think thats something that Dave Bolland has done throughout his career very effectively.” A force during the Hawks run to the Cup in 2010 – 16 points – Bolland was hhobbled by injuries throughout the 2013 season – he sat out 13 games – even missing the first five games of the playoffs with a groin issue. Joe Stydahar Jersey. Plugged further down the lineup than he had been in the past, Bolland totaled just a single point in series wins against Detroit and Los Angeles before breaking out with three goals and five points against the Bruins, including the Cup-clinching goal in Game 6. “I think its going to be great,” Bolland said of returning home to Toronto. “I think this is one team like the Blackhawks team thats coming up and is going to do great things – hopefully like we did [in Chicago].” Nonis said discussions with Chicago general manager Stan Bowman had been ongoing for quite some time, the Leafs general manager initiating the deal, which sent the 51st and 117th picks to the Hawks this year as well as a fourth rounder in 2014, shortly after the Cup had been awarded. Toronto now has 12 players under contract for the 2013-2014 campaign, still working on contracts for a restricted free agent class that includes Kadri, Cody Franson, Carl Gunnarsson, and newly acquired Jonathan Bernier. With upwards of $19 million available following the likely compliance buyout of Mike Komisarek, Nonis still has plenty of work ahead. “We think theres more things that we hope to do,” he stated, “whether we can accomplish those between now and September remains to be seen. But were going to try to remain active and see if theres more changes we can make.” In addition to Bolland, Nonis and his scouting staff looked to address the centre position long-term, settling on Gauthier with their first round pick, a big, defense-first centre from the Quebec league. Gauthier projects as a stable, low-risk option down the middle, a player who might line up in a shutdown role for the Leafs one day, though not anytime soon. “Were pretty comfortable that he should round out to a second-line centre top-end, but at least a third line guy that can be very responsible,” Nonis said of Gauthier, who remains a work in progress offensively, nonetheless totaling 22 goals in his first season with the Oceanic. “Hes the type of player that you need to eat up minutes, a big-minute crunching centreman that right now we were lacking.” Of those “indicators” which suggest NHL potential, Dave Morrison, the Leafs head scout, pointed to Gauthiers size, defensive savvy, and ability to process the game. “We just think theres some upside,” Morrison told TSN.ca, also emphasizing Gauthiers competitiveness and skill on the draw, “how much offensively remains to be seen. But were hopeful. Hes still a young guy, a big body thats still growing, still growing into that body.” Nonis said he and his management team looked seriously at the prospect of moving up in Sundays draft, the price-point just too high to justify a move. “The assets to move up didnt make any sense,” he said. “The temptation to try to do something is always there. I think as you get closer to the draft the temptation actually even increases. You have to make sure you check yourself because its pretty easy to do some pretty significant damage by moving pieces out that you think are going to be long-term pieces of the puzzle. “Were there options? There was a couple of options, but they werent going to help the Toronto Maple Leafs, they were going to probably set us back.” The Leafs went on to select Carter Verhaeghe, an Ontario native and centre from the Niagara IceDogs, in the third round, adding Swiss forward Fabrice Herzog in the fifth, P.E.I. Rockets goalie Antoine Bideau in the sixth, and smallish Swedish defenceman Andreas Johnson in the seventh and final round. ' ' '