RIO DE JANEIRO -- On Sunday night, right after the flame has been extinguished in Rio de Janeiro, another Olympic project will burst out of the starting blocks.Its the launch of the Olympic Channel, a $450 million venture designed to keep Olympic sports and athletes relevant in the years between each games and attract new, younger audiences to a sports movement that has recently been battered by corruption and doping scandals.The digital channel, which will operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, will go live after the closing ceremony of the Rio Games, providing a mix of live sports events, documentaries, archive footage, news and highlights. Its an undertaking that is still in evolution and whose success, or failure, will depend on whether todays generation finds it relevant or tunes out.This is just the starting point, not the end point, Yiannis Exarchos, the head of the new channel, said in an interview with The Associated Press. We want to be able to surprise people and make it look different. Its not an institutional tool. This is about telling stories in a way that can bring younger people to the world of sports.The project was approved in December 2014 as part of International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bachs Agenda 2020 modernization program. The free channel will be available worldwide via a mobile app and online across mobile phones, tablets and other devices.The channel is based in Madrid, home of the Olympic Broadcasting Services, the IOCs television arm. Nearly 100 staff from 25 countries are currently working at the channels headquarters in Spain.Exarchos said the channel has already prepared more than 600 pieces of original programming, including 100 hours of high-end documentaries and premium content. Much of the content will be material from the Rio Games, which will be become available in full at the end of the year when global TV rights deals expire.Beyond producing feel-good stories, the channel has another, more challenging goal -- encouraging young people to get off the couch and play sports. That sounds counterintuitive from a channel that gives kids another excuse to stare at their screens.Were trying to push video to make people active, Exarchos said. For me this will be the criteria of success. Its not enough for the channel to be popular. It would be even happier if we demonstrate that these people go out and start doing sports. The channel needs to help in that. Lets see.The channel already has formal agreements with 27 of the 35 summer and winter Olympic sports federations. The IAAF and FIFA are not among those, though Exarchos noted that was because both had a lot on their plate this year, referring to corruption and doping issues. But he said soccer and track and field are super eager to get involved with the channel.The channel has signed up 11 sports events that will be shown live between September and December, including triathlon, canoeing, rowing and an Olympic ice hockey qualifying tournament.What the channel wont do is compete or pay for broadcast rights. It doesnt air the Olympics themselves, which are shown by networks like NBC in the United States after paying billions of dollars to the IOC for exclusive rights. Many sports federations also have rights deals in place for their own international events.Exarchos said the Olympic Channel has huge synergies with NBC, which holds U.S. rights through 2032, and that the American market is a key target.The channel will offer documentaries that feature inspirational, dramatic or emotional stories of some of the biggest athletes in the world, he said, adding they wont be presented in a didactic way.`That may be a little bit of a surprise to those used to a traditionalist story line, he said. It will be presented in way that can be enjoyed by younger people.At the channels disposal is the IOCs rich trove of archive footage, much of it never seen before by the public, and some going as far back as the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. About 42,000 hours of footage that was stored at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, has been digitized and will form a core of the channels content.We dont simply replay the archive, Exarchos said. We work with it, creating fresh ways of looking at it, sometimes even in a funny or bonkers way.The channel will be offered originally in English, but localized versions in other languages are also in development.The IOC is kicking in more than half of the $450 million to finance the channel for the first seven years. The international federations and national Olympic committees are paying the rest. Exarchos said he expects the channel will break even within seven years.Why launch the channel at the close of the Rio Games? To keep the spirit going and stave off the letdown associated with the day after each Olympics, Exarchos said.Its a big opportunity to reverse the emotional down of this day, he said. It will be very much linked to the games and the end of the games.--Follow Stephen Wilson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/stevewilsonap. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/stephen-wilsonCheap NBA Jerseys Authentic . 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FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Geno Smith went from starting quarterback to backup -- again -- the moment Ryan Fitzpatrick walked through the door -- finally -- with a new deal.For the last several months, Smith was in the awkward position of technically being the starter while Fitzpatrick and the Jets were locked in a contract stalemate. On Wednesday night, Fitzpatrick changed all that by agreeing to a one-year, $12 million deal and reclaiming his job.I mean, Im not disappointed, Smith said after the Jets first training camp practice on Thursday. Im kind of pissed off, but its not a detrimental thing. Its not something where Im pissed off at anyone because we all want to be out there.Instead, Smith will again be relegated to a backup role behind Fitzpatrick.That just adds fuel to the fire, Smith said, but not in a negative way. I dont want that to become a headline or something like that because its not what Im trying to say. Its more as a competitor, as a quarterback, knowing what Im capable of and really believing in myself, knowing the work that Ive put in over the offseason, you know, you want to be out there.But youve just got to kind of play the cards that youre dealt, control what you can control and continue to get better.Simply, Smith is motivated and humbled.A year ago, he was preparing to be the starter with Fitzpatrick as his backup. A punch from then-teammate Ikemefuna Enemkpali broke Smiths jaw in the locker room last August, putting Fitzpatrick in position to claim the job.Fitzpatrick galvanized the locker room, set the franchise record with 31 touchdown passes and got New York within a victory of the playoffs. Smith, meanwhile, was left as a spectator with an uncertain future.As the contract situation with Fitzpatrick dragged on this offseason, Smith moved closer to being the starter again. He immediately slipped a spot on the depth chart when the Jets re-signed Fitzpatrick, making the deal official shortly before practice Thursday.I kind of always knew that was a possibility, Smith said. So, it was not like one of those shocking things. We always knew that was going on.Smith is in the last year of his rookie deal after being drafted in the second round out of West Virginia in 2013. That means he could be a free agent nexxt offseason if the Jets choose to not re-sign him.dddddddddddd.Im auditioning for this team and 31 other teams in the NFL, he said. The way that you handle all of this says something about yourself and your character. Ive got little kids back home watching to see how I react and everyones going to see how I react. Im not going to allow this situation -- because its not the worst situation Ive been in -- to deter me from my ultimate goal.He started as a rookie after Mark Sanchez was injured in the preseason and also held that role in 2014. Smith was inconsistent throughout, showing flashes of being a playmaker mixed with shortcomings consistent with a young quarterback.In three seasons, Smith has thrown 27 touchdown passes and 35 interceptions. He has looked increasingly more comfortable working in Chan Gaileys offense, and some have wondered if Smith would be able to thrive, as Fitzpatrick did, if he were the starter.I really dont want to talk about how much better I am, Smith said. Id rather go out there and prove it on the field. Nothing that I can say to the media, to you guys in front of cameras, that can be written will show that. I have to go out there and play when the time comes and its got to show between the white lines.Brandon Marshall has been supportive of Smith since they spent time together as roommates last offseason. While Marshall set team records with 109 catches and 1,502 yards receiving with Fitzpatrick throwing to him last season, the veteran receiver has been impressed with how Smith has handled himself.Genos done an amazing job developing as a man off the field, a leader and a teammate, Marshall said. Like Ive said before, when this kid gets his opportunity, hes not going to look back.Until that day, Smith will continue to look forward, preparing as if hell be a starting quarterback again.If didnt do that, I would be doing myself a great disservice, Smith said. I know how far along Ive come since the time I walked into this building for the first time. 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