Pirate Galaxy » race you have to put tires on. Thats a

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Bob Costas and other top members of NBCs Olympics coverage team veered between optimism and caution in predicting Rio de Janeiros ability to pull off a successful Summer Games and said NBC will cover the good and bad.Other Olympics have taken place without significant difficulties and he hopes it will be the same for Rio, Costas said Tuesday. But he then ticked off the daunting list of challenges faced by the Brazilian city.It would be naive to think it isnt grappling with security worries, pollution and political turmoil along with a deep recession thats occurred since Rio won the Games, Costas said.He spoke to TV critics from Rio by satellite, along with executive producer Jim Bell and correspondent Mary Carillo. The opening ceremony airs Friday on NBC, which is carrying the games on the air and online.Whether any city can carry off the immense event is the question heading into virtually every Olympics, Bell said. Then the athletes arrive, the Olympic torch is lit and that is the story the network tells, he said.But if a host city falls short, he said, then NBC should focus on that.Costas said that any security issues or ill effects from contaminated water will be immediately apparent and have to be addressed. So far, the best advice given athletes competing in open-water sailing or swimming events is to close their mouths and keep their heads above water, he added.I guess some new techniques will be required, Costas said, sarcastically, adding, Im not trying to be facetious here, but its going to be impossible, in some cases, not to address some of the issues that have come up before the Olympics, because they will directly (effect) the competition.Many open-water competition test events have been held and resulted in zero problems so far, Bell said.When Carillo chimed in that she will be helping to cover those contests, Costas asked her if she planned to take a dip yourself.Absolutely not, she replied. She added, however, that shes been told that open-water swimmers in the 2012 London Olympics faced dirtier conditions from goose droppings in Hyde Parks Serpentine lake.According to a 16-month-long study commissioned by The Associated Press, the waterways of Rio de Janeiro remain as filthy as ever just days before the Games begin and are contaminated with raw human sewage teeming with dangerous viruses and bacteria.If illness or other crises arise, does NBC bear some responsibility for what happens because of the large license fee it pays to the International Olympics Committee, the NBC team was asked.I dont think so, Bell replied.Costas expanded on that answer, saying that the Rio Games would happen without NBCs involvement. The argument could be made that the IOC should have considered moving or postponing it, given the problems that began emerging months ago, he said.But once the games were being held, the network that owned the rights to televise those games was going to televise them, Costas said, adding that the question about network responsibility becomes how thoroughly and credibly do we cover it.His expectation is that NBC Sports and NBC News will not shy away from that, Costas said.Asked if NBC could have used its financial-stake clout to influence the IOC, Bell said he didnt think so.You could make the case Zika is a bigger story in Florida than in Rio, where it is winter, and cooler and drier, he said. Is Disneyland responsible for bringing people to Florida?Fernando Valenzuela Jersey . DAmigo scored twice in regulation and added the shootout winner as the Toronto Marlies edged the San Antonio Rampage 5-4 in American Hockey League action. Corey Seager Jersey . A forerunning sled crashed into the worker Thursday at the Sanki Sliding Center. The unidentified worker broke both legs and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. http://www.dodgerssale.com/dodgers-david-freese-jersey/ . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. Joc Pederson Jersey . Mitch Holmberg added a goal and three assists. Connor Chartier also scored for the Chiefs (3-0-0). Luke Harrison spoiled Garrett Hughsons shutout bid with a power-play goal at 13:17 of the third period. The Spokane goaltender finished with 28 saves, including a Brandon Fushimi penalty shot in the second period that would have tied the game 1-1. Clayton Kershaw Jersey . 9. Price, heading to the 2014 Olympics for Canada, was named the First Star after posting wins in three starts with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .971 save percentage.WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Chris Bueschers unlikely victory at Pocono Raceway last Sunday put an interesting twist into NASCARs Chase for the Sprint Cup.I know we are throwing a wrench at a lot of peoples brackets for the Chase, Buescher said. Its going to be a pretty wild ride to the end.No question.And another twist could be added this weekend on the Watkins Glen International road course.Nobody really expected Pocono to spit a surprise race winner out of the Pennsylvania mountain fog, but Buescher and Front Row Motorsports took advantage of the circumstances to land a provisional berth in NASCARs 16-driver playoffs.A much more likely venue for a shocking result is Watkins Glen. As one of two road races out of 36 on the Sprint Cup schedule, it truly stands out in advance as a wild-card event.The days of one-off road-course ringers are gone, but Watkins Glen gives full-time Cup drivers with substantial road racing experience the opportunity to win their way into the Chase, even if they are not regular front-runners in a series dominated by ovals.In the not-too-distant past, road racing specialists Robby Gordon, Juan Pablo Montoya and Marcos Ambrose grasped the opportunity to win Cup races at Watkins Glen and would have qualified for the Chase had the current format been in effect. More recently, A.J. Allmendinger triumphed at The Glen in 2014 for JTG Daugherty Racing to become the first driver to earn his way into the 16-driver Chase as a road course wild-card winner.For an ex-road racer like Allmendinger and a small team like JTG Daugherty, the road races tilt the playing ground in their favor, allowing them to overcome the greater resources that NASCARs superteams enjoy.With such a perceived advantage, the danger for Allmendinger is to not let the pressure of being a favorite to win get to him.Watkins Glen and Sonoma -- just road course racing in general -- are places where I think a driver can make more of a difference, but youve still got to have the right package, Allmendinger said.Obviously, for a win youre going to take whatever risk you have to, he added. We just have to go out there and do our jobs. Road races also tend to put a premium on fuel and tire strategy, which also occasionally produces a surprise winner.But more often than not, when fuel strategy comes into play, it works in favor of the more experienced teams and drivers and their ability to read the race and react quickly to unexpected developments.Passing is more difficult than it is on most ovals, so track position is king and an experienced driver who gets out front is generally able to defend his position.Maybe thats why the most successful road racers of NASCARs modern era are Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon, who lead the series with five and four wins respectively at Watkins Glen.Fuel and tire strategy is expected to be even morre critical than usual at Watkins Glen this year.dddddddddddd Teams found they could not stretch their fuel long enough to complete this years road race at Sonoma on two stops. More important, Watkins Glen was just fully repaved and Goodyear has brought an extremely conservative tire that has shown very little wear in testing and practice.On Friday, drivers were setting their best times 10 or even 15 laps into a run, with some predicting that the 90-lap race could be completed without a tire change.The biggest thing is pit strategy, said?Kyle Busch, a two-time Watkins Glen winner. Obviously, youve got to pick and choose when youre going to pit and stick to your plan. Whether or not we can still do it on two stops, Im unsure of because Sonoma turned into a three-stop race for us all because the new fuel mileage is a little bit off from where we were last year.The tires are lasting a long time, but its like youre on ice the first few laps, he added. Its a conservative tire, and that way, we are not going to have any tire issues, but it just provides for a lack of grip early in the run.Fellow Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. says he believes the track will continue to pick up speed as rubber is put down over the weekend.The track is definitely a lot more challenging with the new pavement, Truex said. The tires are really hard -- they dont wear out -- which is typical for repave whether its an oval or a road course. So you dont really change tires or wear tires out, you just keep running on them and they get faster and faster and faster.I think its really challenging just to figure out where your car is, because at some point in the race you have to put tires on. Thats a big challenge, but well see where it goes.The other part of the repave is that many of the curbs lining the 2.45-mile, nine-turn course have been raised or reprofiled. That led to some cars getting slightly airborne during practice as drivers worked out just how much of an advantage they could gain by bouncing over curbs rather than going around them.I dont remember all of my old [braking and turn-in] marks, I just remember there are new ones out there and it took me a little while to kind of get my marks right, Toyota driver Carl Edwards?said. I ran over the curbs wrong a couple times and found some slick spots on the curbs.Its fun to show up at a place and have to catalog everything and remember where all the speed is.Even Allmendinger, the 2014 winner and 2015 pole sitter, struggled to adapt. He had a rough first practice session and overcame a loose oil line in the afternoon to set the fastest time of the day.It looks the same but it drives different, he said. Theres a lot of new things around this place. ' ' '