Offtopic/fun » to take and miss that kick.These guys cou

A Brazilian police official has told The Associated Press that American swimmer Ryan Lochte fabricated a story about being robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro.The official said Lochtes teammates Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz, who were pulled off a plane going back to the United States late Wednesday, told police that the robbery story had been fabricated.The official, who has direct knowledge of the investigation, spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about an ongoing investigation.He said that around 6 a.m. Sunday, Lochte, along with Conger, Bentz and Jimmy Feigen, stopped at a gas station in Barra da Tijuca, a suburb of Rio where many Olympic venues are located. One of the swimmers tried to open the door of an outside bathroom. It was locked.A few of the swimmers then pushed on the door and broke it. A security guard appeared and confronted them, the official said. The guard was armed with a pistol, the official said, but he never took it out or pointed it at the swimmers.According to the official, the gas station manager then arrived. Using a customer to translate, the manager asked the swimmers to pay for the broken door. After a discussion, they paid him an unknown amount of money and left.Earlier Thursday, authorities told ABC News there is video of the gas station incident.?ABC News also reports that the swimmers offered 100 Brazilian reals ($31) and $20 to compensate for the damage.Unfortunately, the swimmers told one lie after another, a Brazilian police official who had reviewed the video images told The New York Times. Weve been able to determine that there was no armed assault.Lochte first lied about the robbery to his mother, Ileana Lochte, who spoke with reporters, the police official told the AP. That led to news coverage of the incident and prompted police attention.A police news conference to discuss the investigation is slated for 2 p.m. ET Thursday at DEAT, a precinct that is part of the civil police in Rio de Janeiro.Conger and Bentz arrived at DEAT around 12:30 p.m. ET Thursday for questioning.International Olympic Committee spokesman Mario Andrada said during a news conference Thursday that neither Lochte nor his teammates need to apologize for the incident.We have to understand that these kids came here to have fun. Lets give these kids a break, Andrada said. Sometimes you make decisions you later regret. They had fun. They made a mistake. Life goes on.Andradas comments were made before the reports that a robbery did not happen.Conger, Bentz and Feigen remain in Brazil, as authorities have ordered the seizure of their passports. A Brazilian judge also ordered Lochtes passport be seized, but he said he has already returned to the U.S.Brazilian authorities said in a statement Thursday that Conger and Bentz were taken off the airplane.?A police source told ESPN Brasil that the swimmers were interviewed for just more than three hours at the airport, with a Brazilian lawyer and representatives from the USOC and the U.S. Consulate present.Stephen Conger, the father of Jack Conger, told ESPN on Thursday that his son slept in a hotel Wednesday night and was guarded by U.S. government personnel. Jack was never under arrest, according to his father. Its more a political ordeal than a criminal one, he said.Stephen Conger said the plan is for Jack to be on a plane home Thursday night. He said hes shared text messages with his son, but said Were as in the dark as anyone about what happened. I dont know if there was a robbery or not.NBC spoke with Lochte on Wednesday night and reported that he said he had left Rio and already returned home, as originally scheduled.Lochte backtracked on his initial comments to the network made Sunday, saying the barrel of the gun he had said was placed to his forehead was instead pointed in his direction. He also said the taxi wasnt pulled over but that the swimmers were robbed after making a stop at a gas station.He said when he was interviewed by police about the incident that no one had suggested he needed to stay in Brazil, nor had any officials expressed doubts over his account of the robbery, NBC reported.Brazilian authorities continued pressing the American swimmers over the ever-changing account of the robbery. Police said the swimmers were unable to provide key details in early interviews and they found little evidence to support the robbery claim. The swimmers said they had been intoxicated and could not remember what type and color of taxi they rode, where the incident happened or what time the events occurred, police said. The police official said officers grew suspicious when they reviewed security video of the swimmers returning to the athletes village and saw them wearing watches.The office of Judge Keyla Blanc, who ordered the passports seized, said there were discrepancies in the statements by the swimmers.Lochte told USA Today that he and his teammates didnt initially tell U.S. Olympic officials about the robbery because we were afraid wed get in trouble.Information from ESPNs?Shaun Assael?and?ESPN Brasils Gabriela Moreira was used in this report.Fake Jerseys Cheap . Marincin has played in two NHL games so far this season with two penalty minutes. The 21-year-old has three goals, four assists and a plus-5 rating in 24 games with the American Hockey Leagues Oklahoma City Barons this season. Wholesale Jerseys . Jon Montgomerys gold medal in skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre and his subsequent auctioning off of a pitcher of beer in the village square elevated him to folk-hero status. https://www.fakejerseysfromchina.com/ . -- Most satisfying to Russ Smith about No. Cheap Jerseys . LOUIS -- Alexander Steen scored a power-play goal with 59. Cheap Jerseys From China . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night.GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Above all else, Cardinals-Seahawks was painful enough on the eyes to advance the notion that bad prime-time football -- not just surreal prime-time politics -- is contributing to the NFLs ratings decline. I mean, who really wanted to watch two kickers secure a tie at the end of overtime by making like a couple of extras off the set of The Walking Dead?How in the world did Arizonas Chandler Catanzaro miss wide left? And then a few minutes later, how in the world did Seattles Steven Hauschka miss really, really wide left? Pete Carroll raised his arms in sweet triumph after the first wayward kick, and then looked like hed seen a ghost -- or at least a replay of Malcolm Butlers Super Bowl interception in this very stadium -- after the second.But even if the NFC West standings wont reflect it, there has to be a winner declared in every tie. And the heavyweight champ-eeeeen of this tie was Richard Sherman.In the locker room after this bizarre 6-6 game, Sherman did not act like anyones idea of a champ. He emerged from behind a curtain with his arm wrapped around Bobby Wagner, leaning on the linebacker as he winced and moaned and limped across the room to his stall. Sherman slumped into his chair in beaten-man form, and lowered his head as teammates and staffers whispered to him.He shook and shivered like a man who had just been pulled from arctic waters. Carroll sat down beside him, and others patted him gently on the back. A team publicist said Sherman was cramping up and in no condition to talk to the media at his locker. The cornerback had a little trouble putting on his watch, his gray hoodie, and his headphones as he prepared to exit stage left. Soon enough he rose from his chair, wrapped an arm around a staffer, and limped out of the room.This was the picture of an athlete who had no blood, sweat or tears left to give. Sherman had gone head to head with Larry Fitzgerald, one of the greatest receivers of all time, and won the most fascinating battle of an otherwise maddening night. In the second quarter, Sherman stopped Fitzgerald short of a first down, raised his fist to the University of Phoenix Stadium roof, and forced the Cardinals to settle for a field goal. In the fourth quarter, Palmer put Fitzgerald in position to get blasted, and blast the receiver Sherman did before turning to his sideline to celebrate the pancake hit.In overtime, Sherman was on top of Fitzgerald on an incomplete pass over the middle that inspired calls from the crowd for a penalty flag that (rightfully) never came. In the end, though, he wasnt on the receiver full time, and Sherman helped hold Fitzgerald to just 70 yards -- on nine catches -- over five quarters.Two hundred games,, including playoffs, Fitzgerald would say.ddddddddddddI have never played in a game as crazy as this one before.Richard Sherman, a crazy talent, was the best player on the field, even if his 245-pound buddy, Wagner, delivered the highlight of the night by making a Bob Beamon leap over the offensive line and blocking a field goal attempt with his chest. Never mind the padded stats of Russell Wilson and Carson Palmer in the end. Neither quarterback threw a touchdown pass, and both were swatted around the ballpark pretty good by defenses with vile intentions.Wilson had 60 passing yards after three quarters and had the damnedest time escaping the rush, in part because hes dealing with lingering leg issues. He tried a keeper on a zone read early in the game, and when he hobbled left and straight into the clutches of Tony Jefferson he looked about as nimble as an aging Joe Namath on two bum knees.It was fitting that Seattles lone scoring drive in regulation was started by a blocked punt and covered a grand total of zero yards on four plays. The Seahawks offense was a few country miles beyond pathetic. Wilson isnt the same player, and Seattle isnt the same team, when he cant advance the ball with his legs (hed rushed for 2,430 yards in his first four seasons, and for 33 yards on 22 carries so far this year).Hes busting his tail to do everything he can, Carroll said.The ever-reassuring coach worked his locker room Sunday night, reminding Hauschka of his past contributions and confessing to others that he had no idea how to make sense of what he called an amazing football game. Mostly Carroll was telling people that he was overjoyed with his teams effort, with Kelcie McCrays game-saving shoestring tackle of J.J. Nelson, and with the ensuing goal line stand that forced the Cardinals to take and miss that kick.These guys couldnt walk off the field, Carroll said of his players. Theyre so drained.Nobody was more spent than Sherman, the same guy whose sideline meltdown last week against Atlanta could be compared to Jack Nicholsons in The Shining. Sherman is a big personality with big opinions. He is also one of the smartest and most thoughtful athletes in professional sports.But if you were watching close enough here, despite the fact that Nelson broke away from him on that near touchdown, you could see just how great of a football player Sherman really is. Fitzgerald could go down as a top five all-time receiver. If the game was a draw, their game within the game was not.So Sherman walked out of the Cardinals ballpark a winner. Even if he could barely walk. ' ' '