RIO DE JANEIRO -- After 1,192 days, Brazils run of hosting mega-sports events came to an end Sunday at the Paralympic Games.It began with soccers Confederations Cup in 2013, extended to the 2014 World Cup, ran through IOC President Thomas Bachs goodbye speech last month at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, and finished with the closing ceremony of the Paralympics before 45,000 spectators at Rios Maracana stadium.Awarded when Brazil was a rising economic power, the sports pageants focused unprecedented attention on the country -- much of it unwanted.As the shows went on, Brazil plunged into a deep recession. A billion-dollar corruption scandal buffeted state-run oil company Petrobras, and President Dilma Rousseff was removed from office in an impeachment trial just days after the Olympics closed.This all left a very mixed legacy, Mauricio Santoro, an international relations expert at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, told The Associated Press. We are going to need some years to evaluate what was the impact, the worth of these events for Brazil.By a conservative estimate, Brazil spent about $30 billion organizing the events with a mix of public and private money that included the construction of four white-elephant soccer stadiums for the World Cup. All four are in cities without major teams.Rio fared better with the Olympics, getting a metro line extension, bus lines, and light-rail. But much of the investment was aimed at Rios upscale suburb of Barra da Tijuca -- not at the citys sprawling favelas, or slums. The Olympic Park and Athletes Village there will be molded into high-priced commercial and residential properties now that the games are done.I think the Olympics and Paralympics were a boost to the self-esteem of Brazil, Santoro said. They happened when everything was going so bad in Brazil. The mere fact they happened without serious problems, without an infrastructure disaster, without a terrorist attack, made Brazil feel better about itself.Brazils reputation away from home is another matter. Only a handful of foreign leaders attended the Olympics -- compared to about 100 four years ago in London.The state of Rio de Janeiro is broke and defaulting on bond payments. Some schools have suspended classes, and hospitals are understaffed. Only a last-minute bailout of about 250 million reals ($76.5 million) from the federal and local governments saved the Paralympics from a shortfall in the organizing committees privately funded operating budget.There was a feeling that Brazil is such a big mess, Santoro said. How could you have a good opinion of this country?Organizers bragged about legacy, but failed to deliver on a big promise made to secure the bid: the clean-up of Guanabara Bay, an open sewer that receives much of the citys untreated raw waste.Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes acknowledged the clean-up was a missed opportunity, one the International Olympic Committee overlooked and often defended.The Olympics endured some rough going, plagued by empty seats, organizational glitches and scandals -- one involving American swimmer Ryan Lochte and another in which high-ranking IOC member Patrick Hickey was arrested for scalping tickets. Hickey is still in Brazil awaiting trial and denies any wrongdoing.Bach also skipped the opening of the Paralympics to attend a mourning ceremony for former West Germany president and foreign minister Walter Scheel. His office said he missed Sundays closing ceremony to be in New York to take part in the United Nations Refugee Summit.Police investigators in Brazil want to question Bach about email exchanges he had with Hickey related to Irelands ticket allocation. Hes not accused of wrongdoing, but he could be held if he arrives in Brazil.Against most predictions, the Paralympics were a smoother ride with grassroots support. Arenas were packed with many tickets selling at just $3 apiece, in contrast to the Olympics, where many tickets were sold as part of high-end hospitality packages and often went unused.The Paralympics also topped the Olympics in compelling stories, and in some performances.No story was more moving than that of 37-year-old Belgian Marieke Vervoort, who won a silver medal in wheelchair racing. She has a degenerative spine disease and talked of plans to end her life by euthanasia when she can no longer endure the pain.For me, I think death is something like they operate on you, you go to sleep and you never wake up, Vervoort said. For me, its something peaceful.The top four finishers in the mens 1,500 -- in the T13 class for visually impaired runners -- all had better times than the Olympic champion in Rio, American Matthew Centrowitz. Abdellatif Baka of Algeria won in 3 minutes, 48.29 seconds. Centrowitz ran 3:50.00 in an admittedly slow, tactical race.German amputee long-jumper Marcus Rehm, who jumps with a carbon fiber blade and won gold in Rio, also holds the long jump world record of 8.40 meters. This is better than the winning jump in the Rio Olympics at 8.38 meters.There was tragedy, too, when Iranian Bahman Golbarnezhad, 48, died Saturday after crashing in a road-cycling race.China topped the medal table at the Paralympics, which is increasingly driven by nationalism -- much like the Olympics. Britain, Ukraine and the United States were next on the table.The Paralympics are a high-performance sporting event between countries, IPC spokesman Craig Spence said. The goal is to win the most gold medals here. Thats what every sport is about. Its about winning.---Stephen Wade on Twitter: http://twitter.com/StephenWadeAP . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/stephen-wade Cheap Nike Tanjun Shoes . -- Ken Appleby made 32 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 2-0 win over the Belleville Bulls on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action. Discount Nike Tanjun . Coach Tom Thibodeau says the former MVP will probably start travelling with the team in the next few weeks. Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee at Portland in November and was ruled out for the remainder of the season by the Bulls. http://www.niketanjuncheap.com/ . The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrators decision suspending him for the 2014 season and post-season. Cheap Nike Tanjun Wholesale . In the response filed Wednesday to the complaint by 30-year-old Alexander Bradley, attorneys say the former University of Florida player is invoking his Fifth Amendment right that protects people from incriminating themselves. Wholesale Nike Tanjun Shoes . After a replay, the winner will meet Sunderland in the quarterfinals. Sagbo did well to control Sone Alukos right cross and fire past Brighton goalkeeper Peter Brezovan. Aluko was making his first start in four months after recovering from an Achilles injury. DENVER -- A quick start and timely baskets down the stretch ended Detroits early season woes on the road.Tobias Harris scored 19 points, Marcus Morris had 17 and the Pistons beat the Denver Nuggets 106-95 on Saturday night for their first win of the season away from home.Without a doubt, everyone in this locker room was really focused out there to get this `W today and we came out and accomplished it, Harris said. Its not the road trip we wanted, but we learned a lot from this road trip.Detroit, unbeaten in four home games, had lost five straight on the road before fashioning the wire-to-wire win in Denver, the final stop on a four-game road trip.Thats why this was huge because we have to know how to win on the road, guard Ish Smith said. Its a new year, and were 5-5 and feel good about it.Andre Drummond and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 14 points apiece for the Pistons, who also snapped a seven-game losing streak in Denver a week after beating the Nuggets in their first meeting in Detroit.Emmanuel Mudiay scored 19 points for Denver, which was done in by another slow start after being outscored 36-21 in the first quarter. The Pistons never trailed in the contest and also benefited from 16 Denver turnovers leading to 17 points.It is the same old story, Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. We outscored them 74-70 in quarters two, three and four. But when you spot them a 15-point lead in the first quarter. And we threw the ball over. Our turnovers are an epidemic.Danilo Gallinari added 18 points for the Nuggets, who remained winless in three games at home this season.Gallinaris mid-range jumper pulled Denver to 97-93 with 3:02 left but Drummond came right back to sink a hook shot for Detroit. Harris jumper with 1:07 left stretched Detroits lead to eight points.dddddddddddd.Denver fell behind by as many as 17 points early on but used an 18-6 run late in the second quarter to get back in the game, pulling to 57-49 at halftime.TIP-INSPistons: Drummond added 12 rebounds to complete his seventh double-double of the season. ... Caldwell-Pope has scored in double figures in six of his last seven games. ... Detroit also never trailed in its first win this season against Denver.Nuggets: F Darrell Arthur (left knee soreness) and F Will Barton (left ankle sprain) remain sidelined. Arthur and Barton have each missed the past six games. ... F Wilson Chandler was back in action after missing the previous two games with a sore left hamstring. ... Gallinari has scored 10 or more points in each of the first nine games.SECOND THOUGHTSMalone conceded an experimental switch to power forward from his natural position of center has not been working out well for second-year pro Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets coach said he plans to give Jokic more time at the 5 spot going forward. He had an unbelievable rookie year playing the 5, Malone said. I told him I feel like Ive done him a disservice almost, exploring playing big. There are some good things with that, but I took a kid who had a great year last year, changed his position on him and it hasnt been easy for him. So my hope is to try to get him more minutes at 5. He will play some 4 at times but we need to get Nikola back.UP NEXTPistons: Return home from a four-game road trip to play Oklahoma City on Monday night.Nuggets: Travel to Portland to play the Trail Blazers on Sunday night. Cheap Throwback Baseball Detroit Tigers Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Colorado Rockies Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Houston Astros Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Kansas City Royals Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Los Angeles Angels Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Los Angeles Dodgers Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Miami Marlins Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Milwaukee Brewers Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Minnesota Twins Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball New York Mets Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball New York Yankees Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Oakland Athletics Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Philadelphia Phillies Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Pittsburgh Pirates Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball San Diego Padres Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball San Francisco Giants Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Seattle Mariners Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball St. Louis Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Tampa Bay Rays Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Texas Rangers Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Toronto Blue Jays Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Washington Nationals Jerseys ' ' '