Offtopic/fun » The Associated Press.ddddddddddd

IRVINE, Calif. -- Lamarcus Joyner left a big impression on the practice field at UC Irvine last week even without making the hard hit.Joyner diagnosed the swing pass and sped to the spot where Tavon Austin intended to cut up-field.The crowd gasped and waited for the inevitable collision, only for the third-year Los Angeles Rams cornerback to leisurely step past Austin without contact. It was a decision Joyner wouldnt have made early on in his career.He hit everything his first year here, coach Jeff Fisher said on Tuesday. Anything that was moving he hit, even if we did have pads on, and now he is learning to settle down a little bit.Joyner is also getting the chance to make his case for the starting spot left vacant when Janoris Jenkins signed with the New York Giants as a free agent in March.After mostly defending slot receivers since being selected in the second round of the 2014 draft, Joyner is working more on the outside during training camp.The Rams are being cautious in bringing back E.J. Gaines, who was projected to start opposite Jenkins last season before suffering a Lisfranc fracture in his foot, freeing up reps for Joyner and Coty Sensabaugh.The change in assignment is nothing compared to how varied Joyners responsibilities were at Florida State.During Joyners previous visit to the area for the 2014 BCS national championship game at the Rose Bowl, then-Seminoles defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt marveled at Joyners ability to play any of the six positions in the FSU secondary. Joyner started 27 games at safety during his sophomore and junior seasons before moving to corner.Hes just an all-around good football player, Pruitt said.The Rams scaled back Joyners role from his college days in his first two seasons, putting his focus instead at nickel back. But Joyner has no issues with how he has been used.Football is football, Joyner said. Im going to give my heart and soul wherever they put me. If that is at O-line, defensive end, cornerback, slot, it doesnt matter. Im going to play 110 percent.Fisher likes how Joyner has performed as a slot defender, where he had 54 tackles and two sacks in 2015. Since the Rams usually have five or more defensive backs on the field to account for the proliferation of multiple-receivers sets and spread offenses, Joyner will be busy no matter where he lines up.If he could end up getting the job done outside, thats only going to make us better, Fisher said.If he does, Joyner would do so without the prototypical size NFL teams now desire in a starting cornerback. Listed at 5-foot-8 and 184 pounds, Joyners desire to prove himself might have fueled his initial recklessness during practice. That approach, however, is long gone.Its not Little League days where you have to show everyone that you are tough every second, Joyner said.Still, Joyner enjoys reminding Austin and everyone else that he can deliver the big hit whenever he chooses.You just get to let the guys know that you would have made the play, and come Sunday you do make those plays, Joyner said. Thats the fun part.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFLFake NMD Human Race For Sale . Peter Gammons, an analyst for Major League Baseballs network and website, drew the ire of hockey fans on Sunday when he criticized the two NHL teams on Twitter for their physical game the night before. Wholesale NMD . -- Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar will be out for roughly four weeks after tearing his left hamstring. http://www.cheapnmdonline.com/adidas-nmd-mens-clearance.html . PETERSBURG, Fla. Cheap NMD Online . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. Adidas NMD Womens Cheap . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race.MOSCOW -- Russia is confident that most of its Olympic team will be able to compete in Rio de Janeiro, but the countrys efforts to reinstate banned athletes are a mixed bag.Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko on Friday told local media that 272 of the countrys athletes had been approved by international sports federations, out of an original team of 387. Mutko added that the number could rise.More than 100 Russian athletes have been excluded by sports federations, including a blanket ban on the track and field team and more than 30 rejected under new International Olympic Committee rules.After the World Anti-Doping Agency accused the Russian government of directing a vast doping cover-up, the IOC said it would not allow Russians to compete in Rio if they had previously been banned for doping, were implicated in the alleged cover-up or had not been tested often enough internationally.Most federations have not excluded Russians on the basis of a lack of testing, but rowing is the exception, having barred 19 Russians, most for insufficient tests. Testing in Russia does not count under IOC rules because of the repeated allegations made against Russias drug testing agency and national lab, both of which have been suspended.An appeal is being prepared against World Rowings decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Russian Rowing Federation head Veniamin But told The Associated Press.dddddddddddd That could send the 19 to Rio days before the Games start, if the case is heard and approved in time.Theyre now in Portugal, But said. Theyre training, and theyre ready to go.World Rowings approval process left just six rowers eligible to compete for Rio, meaning Russia could compete in only one event, the mens four. Reserve crews from around the world have rushed to Brazil to compete.There was good news for Russia on Friday, when the Russian Taekwondo Union said it had received notification from the World Taekwondo Federation that all three of its entries could compete in Rio.However, Russias best-known track and field athlete, two-time Olympic gold medalist Yelena Isinbayeva, said she had been refused in her final attempt to make the team for Rio following the blanket ban on Russia in that sport.Isinbayeva had applied again for an individual exemption but was refused by the IAAF, tracks world governing body.Unfortunately they didnt make an exception for me, she wrote on Instagram. They didnt admit me for the Olympics in Rio. The miracle didnt happen. ' ' '