Some of the sports stories The Associated Press is covering Wednesday. A full Sports Digest will be sent by about 3 p.m. All times EDT:- MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin lashes out at discrimination against the countrys banned track and field athletes at a Kremlin send-off ceremony for its depleted Olympic team.- On the one hand, Brazil is thoroughly mixed. On the other, there is searing racial inequality in a place often portrayed as a racial democracy, or race-blind. The myth of a race-blind country has been losing force, but theres still a yawning gap between black and white. Diversity and inequality will line up side-by-side at the Olympics, just as they did at Brazils World Cup two years ago.- How does the mom of the worlds fastest man, Usain Bolt, help him keep his cool? We say things that will make him laugh, Jennifer Bolt says as her sprinter star offspring faces down what just may be his last Olympics.- NEWARK, Del. -- The U.S Olympic womens basketball team plays France in an exhibition game at the University of Delaware. Game starts 7:30 p.m.- TOKYO -- While Rio Olympic organizers are under immense pressure to finish preparations before Aug. 5, their Tokyo counterparts are already facing skyrocketing costs for an event four years away.- SPRINGFIELD, N.J. -- Sergio Garcia is all grown up and still doesnt have a major to show for it. Even with a recent run of first-time major champions, the talented Spaniard has learned to accept that it might never happen to him. All he wants at the PGA Championship is a chance.- SPRINGFIELD, N.J. -- Wheres the Beef? All around New York City, chowing down on burgers and pastrami, before heading to Baltusrol and signing autographs for hours. The whirlwind that has carried Andrew Johnston into the golfing limelight shows no signs of slowing down as he prepares for his first PGA Championship.- SPRINGFIELD, N.J. -- Jason Day has low expectations as the defending champion at the PGA Championship, some of that by design. Because of three straight tournaments and his need to keep his energy level high, he didnt see Baltusrol for the first time until the eve of the final major.- CLEVELAND -- Stephen Strasburg, beaten for the first time this season in his previous start, takes the mound as the Washington Nationals wrap up their interleague series against Carlos Carrasco and the Cleveland Indians. Game starts 12:10 p.m.- ARLINGTON, Texas -- Yu Darvish struck out 11 in his last game but is winless in his two starts since coming off the disabled list for the Texas Rangers. The right-hander is 1-8 in his 10 career starts against Oakland. Game starts 8:05 p.m.- SPARTANBTURG, S.C. -- The NFC champion Carolina Panthers are plenty optimistic about their chances of returning to the Super Bowl as they report to training camp, but are also aware there is plenty of work to be done.- Other team stories from training camp. Cheap New Orleans Pelicans Jerseys . Laudrup revealed Thursday he was notified of his dismissal in "the briefest of letters which gave no reasons why such hasty and final action was deemed necessary. Cheap Utah Jazz Jerseys . On Mar. 16, coming off a "fight of the year" performance at UFC 154 the previous November, St-Pierre faced Nick Diaz at UFC 158 in what would be his eighth defence of the welterweight title. Using his superior athleticism, St-Pierre cruised to a five round, unanimous decision victory setting up a much-anticipated title defence against number one contender Johny Hendricks. http://www.cheapnbaoutletjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-indiana-pacers-jerseys . John Lucas, signed as a mentor for rookie Trey Burke, showed he can score if required, scoring 12 points of his 16 points in the second quarter as Utah built an 18-point lead. Cheap Golden State Warriors Jerseys . Vettel, who has already clinched his fourth straight F1 title, enters the finale with a chance to equal Michael Schumachers 13 victories in a year and match the record of nine consecutive wins by Alberto Ascari in the 1952 and 1953 seasons. Cheap Phoenix Suns Jerseys .com) - The women will also have a new champion at the Australian Open. True power rankings might be more up-to-date when looked at week-to-week. However, without an active global league, the optimal window in Counter-Strike for power rankings is closer to a month. A month is enough to consider a couple of offline tournaments, as well as some online results. HLTV.org and Duncan Thorin Shieldss world rankings take a longer-term view of usually around three to six months, so these power rankings will focus on a significantly shorter time period.Online play is only taken into account when and where needed, i.e. when there are no offline results or teams are otherwise dead even, and even with such a short time frame the latest results are more important than ones from four weeks ago, to focus on teams forms. With these guidelines in place, let us take a look another round of ESPN Counter-Strike: Global Offensive power rankings. These come just in time for DreamHack Winter and ECS Season 2 Finals, where many of these ten teams will be competing for their share of the prize money.1. [Brazil] SKDespite failing to win an event since Fernando fer Alvarengas return from his surgery, the defending major champions boast the best recent resume in Counter-Strike, with two second places at their latest events and an older semi-final exit at Epicenter: Moscow. They also made the playoffs at ELeague, though admittedly after losing to Astralis. Finally, the squad topped the Esports Championship Series (ECS) Season 2 in North America, qualifying for the Finals in Anaheim with a top seed. Currently the team to beat, but partly thanks to the relative inactivity of Virtus.pro.2. [Sweden] Ninjas in PyjamasPatrik f0rest Lindbergs side won Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Oakland over SK in the grand final, building on the semifinal finish at ESL Pro League Season 4 Finals in Sao Paulo - though the latter was with Mikail Maikelele Bill, before Jacob pyth Mourujarvi returned from his injury. The Swedes also made playoffs at ELeague, where they will face off with Astralis next week for a spot in the final four at yet another event. NiP will not be at DreamHack, but still have a shot at qualifying for ECS Season 2 Finals, and will attend the major qualifier in mid-December. They often perk up after roster moves, so it remains to be seen where this team stabilizes after more events with pyth.3. [Denmark] DignitasThe Daness placing has been hurt by time as their Epicenter: Moscow win is nearly expired now. The team also had a poor showing at ESL Pro League Season 4 Finals, and had to skip IEM Oakland due to scheduling issues with their ELeague group. But inactivity can only hurt you so much in an era where many teams seem all but equal to one-another. Topping its ELeague group helped, even versus easier opponents, but Mathias MSL Lauridsens team needs a good result in at least one of DreamHack Winter and ELeague playoffs to hold onto this ranking going forward.4. [Poland] Virtus.proThe Polish side of Janusz Snax Pogorzelski took down SK at Epicenter: Moscow to place second and topped the ELeague group over NiP, but have not attended tournaments since. The team chose to not attend ESL Pro League Season 4 Finals (EPL) at the last minute, and withdrew from IEM Oakland. Traditionally the Poles have been at their best at the largest events, and with the $1,000,000 ELeague playoffs in the horizon next week, are expected to be nearing the peak of their powers. They could skyrocket to the top of the list by end of next week, but right now they are hurt by their inactivity.5. [Denmark] AstralisLukas gla1ve Rossanders team has only attended two tournaments after he joined, topping group C of ELeague over SK and placing top four at IEM Oakland, losing to the same SK team in a close series. It is still early with gla1ve having joined in late October, but eaarly signs are promising - the new Astralis could finally go back to competing for titles, something superstar Nicolai device Reedtz seems destined for.dddddddddddd The Danes will next be tested at ELeague in the quarterfinals against NiP, and are hoping to secure a spot at the ECS Season 2 Finals in Anaheim in the final rounds of online play.6. [USA] Cloud9While the best team from North America went out in groups at IEM Oakland, it had 17-19 and 14-16 losses against FaZe and NiP, respectively, which could have gone either way and catapulted the squad into the playoffs. Worryingly, the iBUYPOWER Masters loss the previous weekend to Immortals shook the ground below them, but none of this is enough to discount the title at EPL Season 4 Finals with series win over SK. Timothy autimatic Tas team needs results at DreamHack Winter and ECS Season 2 Finals to stay afloat though, or we may need to reconsider whether the honeymoon period might be over.7. [Europe] FaZeWhen gla1ve joined Astralis, the Danish side benched Finn karrigan Andersen, who had led them since January 2015. Now karrigan leads FaZe, who also brought back Fabien kioShiMa Fiey in November to replace Norwegian Joakim jkaem Myrbostad. With jkaem the team placed 7th-8th at EPL Season 4 Finals and qualified for ELeague playoffs, and with kioShiMa they qualified for IEM Oakland at iBUYPOWER Masters, and placed top four at the event. The team is trending up, but after withdrawing from DreamHack Winter this week will need results at ELeague, or to qualify for and to do well at ECS Season 2 Finals, to keep up the momentum. Otherwise they are in the danger of slipping out ahead of the major qualifier.8. [Brazil] ImmortalsBrazils number two team took a huge gamble on former SK coach Wilton zews Prado, but after some of weak results, culminating in last place finishes in Sao Paulo at EPL Season 4 Finals and ELeague, chose to replace him with former SK player Lucas steel Lopes. The team proceeded to win iBUYPOWER Masters over Cloud9 - though admittedly in a match with little at stake - and then placed top six at IEM Oakland, with a 4-1 record in the group stage. Immortals is similar to Cloud9 on a smaller scale - honeymoon period producing elevated results, which they now need prove can become the new norm. Its next shot will be at ECS Season 2 Finals.9. [CIS] Natus VincereThe fall of Na`Vi after the ESL One New York championship and the top four placing at Epicenter: Moscow has been odd to watch - and no matter how you cut it, the results have simply not been good. NaVi skipped ESL Pro League Season 4 Finals and failed to qualify for ELeague playoffs, and last weekend went out in 9th-10th place at IEM Oakland. In short, its fair to say they have a lot to work on ahead of the major in January. Na`Vi missed out on ECS Season 2, and will not have meaningful offline tournaments before the major, giving them plenty of time to practice.10.[North America] OpTicThe second North American team, and fourth team residing in the Americas, to be on the list is OpTic, whose roster also features a Spaniard in Oscar mixwell Canellas. OpTic placed 5th-6th in Sao Paulo, won Northern Arena over G2, and qualified for ELeague playoffs by besting EnVyUs. This seems to be a team on the rise, with slowly improving results ever since they first turned heads during ELeagues inaugural season earlier in the year. OpTic is also heading to DreamHack Winter this week, qualified for ECS Season 2 Finals, and will also attend the major qualifier to close out the year. Busy period ahead as they try to scale up their ranking.For more CS:GO analysis and discussion, check out Tomi on Twitter @lurppis_. cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '