defensive lineman Cliff Avril said about the footing. H

RIO DE JANIERO -- Its the phrase thats uttered at the start of every Olympics and consists of just four little words -- Let the Games begin. But Friday night, even more than usual, they felt like four of the most potent words in the vocabulary of sports because of what they signaled.Finally, blessedly, and not a moment too soon for Rio de Janeiro, its 2016 Summer Olympic Games have been officially handed off to the athletes now -- not the stumbling organizers and their bumbling contractors, not the IOC fat cats who are too busy picking shrimp cocktail from their teeth to ban all the drug cheats. Or the rock-throwing protesters who bedeviled the running of Brazils Olympic torch relay and showed up by the hundreds again Friday night, prompting security forces to disperse them with tear gas less than a mile from where teams from a record 207 nations marched onto the floor of Maracana Stadium to take part in a rousing opening ceremony.Despite down-to-the-bone budget cuts that left producers of Friday nights show joking We cried -- in fear as they studied more extravagantly funded opening ceremonies, the first Olympic Games held in South America kicked off with a joyous show. It delivered on its planners promise to make up for their relatively modest budget with ingenuity, energy, stirring samples of some of the countrys best indigenous music, and some lighthearted touches that were meant to acknowledge life might not be perfect in Brazil, but theres a lot to love and marvel about here if you suspend judgement and lean in closely enough.From Brazilian recording star Luiz Melodias rendition of Aquele Abraco, the farewell song penned by his legendary countryman Gilberto Gil, to the shows evocation of Brazils ethnic diversity and status as the biggest garden on the planet (this is the home of the Amazon rain forest, after all), the ceremony gave these Games an unmistakable sense of time and place.There were symbolic pleas for peace and tolerance -- a nod to world events beyond Brazil. There were beat-driven Samba, funk carioca, and bossa nova songs that pulled people to their feet and had them dancing in place. In the wide-open spirit of Carnival, Brazils most famous supermodel (Gisele Bundchen) and its most famous transgender model (Lea T) took star turns. There was a street-dancing performance meant to evoke the art that springs from the miserably poor tin-roofed favelas that go staggering up the hills and valleys around Rio like makeshift Lego cities, one red-blocked unit stacked atop another; the segment was intended to be a reminder that beauty and wonder live even in the most unlikeliest and challenging places.Pele, now 75 years old and still the most famous sports star this soccer-crazed country has produced, grew up in one such slum. His absence here Friday because of ill health was felt.But hundreds of other notable athletes did show. Swimmer Michael Phelps, the 22-time Olympic medalist, carried the flag for the American team, which arrived earlier in the lineup than usual because Estados Unidos is the Portuguese spelling of United States. The first-ever Refugee Olympic Team, which this year is composed of 10 athletes from strife-torn South Sudan, Syria, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, marched in under the five-ring Olympic flag. Sprinter Etimoni Timuani, the only athlete from the South Pacific nation of Tuvalu, strode in rocking a ribboned sarong, the Austrians wore lederhosen, the Micronesian team wore head wreaths that appeared woven from palm fronds and Chinas team acknowledged their hosts by waving little Brazilian flags as well as their own.Brazilians have understandably been of two minds about hosting these Olympics because of the economic crises and political upheaval that have developed since the IOC awarded Rio these Games in 2008. Times were far better then. Theyre more fractious now. Crime has spiked. The Zika virus remains a concern. Promises that the Games would leave an improved infrastructure and cleaned-up waterways around Rio have not been kept, making the estimated $4.6 billion price of these Olympics (it spikes to $20 billion counting infrastructure costs) feel unconscionable to many.Brazil also has two sitting presidents at the moment because one, Dilma Rousseff, is scheduled to go to trial at the end of this month in impeachment proceedings, which opened the way for the other -- interim pick Michel Temer -- to preside Friday night.(The opening ceremony producers denied at their pre-show news conference Thursday that they had been told to create some sound effects to play if Temer was booed, which he was, when he took the podium to declare the Games open.)IOC president Thomas Bach acknowledged earlier this week that the road to the Rio Games had been long and testing, and the preparations were challenging.In one last flourish, the Olympic flame was brought into Maracana Stadium by Brazilian tennis champion Gustavo Kuerten, handed off to retired basketball star Hortencia Marcari to Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima, the marathoner who lost gold when he was attacked during the 2004 Summer Games. He lit the cauldron.We never give up, we never give up, Rio Organizing Committee president Carlos Nuzman said in a stem winder of a speech to the crowd. Lets stay together when differences challenge us.Much of Brazils troubled backstory will temporarily fade a bit into the background at daybreak Saturday, when the competitions begin in earnest with 16 sports contested and seven gold medals to be won. Over the next 16 days, the conversation will turn more to whether sprinter Usain Bolt can possibly win again, or whether Marta can lead Brazils womens soccer team to a gold medal. Would huge gold medal hauls by American gymnast Simone Biles and multievent U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky justify the talk that they already deserve to be placed among their sports greats?The best antidote for nearly everything that ails the Olympic Games has always been the transcendental contributions of the athletes themselves. There are roughly 10,500 of them here. Like Rio itself, they reliably provoke wonder. And they sure as hell know how to put on a show. Nike Air Force 1 Billig . -- Jacksonville wide receiver Cecil Shorts will likely be a game-time decision whether hell play Sunday in the Jaguars home game against the San Diego Chargers. Air Force 1 Herre Norge . Vokoun departed practice on Saturday morning after discovering swelling in his thigh. He was taken to a local hospital where the clot was revealed. The club announced the surgery following a 5-3 exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. http://www.airforce1norge.com/nike-blazer-norge.html . After the whistle, Thornton skated the length of the ice, pulled Orpik to the ice from behind and punched him in the face several times. Air Force 1 Hvit Norge . -- Patrick Reed got an early start in golf. Air Force 1 Norge . Vaives lawyer Trevor Whiffen claims the former 50-goal man wasnt provided with a copy of the claim beforehand and that he would not have agreed to the allegations made against the NHL had he been asked to review its contents. Linda Meech has felt the wrath of Racing Victoria stewards with a double suspension at Flemington.With a strike-rate just shy of 20 per cent on Victorian racetracks this season, Meech is one of the most in-demand jockeys.She was suspended for a total of 14 meetings on careless riding charges emanating from her rides on Styleman in the Planet Ruler Handicap and Runsati in the Fiesta Star Handicap.Meech has six rides at Horsham on Sunday before beginning her suspension and will resume on January 1.Apprentice Ben Thompson, who won two awards at the graduation ceremony following the completion of the RV Appprentice Jockey Training Program on Thursday night including the Victorian Jockeys Association Outstanding Apprentice Jockey award, was outed for 10 meetings for careless riding on Lady Selkirk in the Beachside Handicap.ddddddddddddHis suspension starts after racing on Tuesday and finishes after the day meeting on December 30 allowing him to ride at the Cranbourne meeting that night.The suspensions follow those of Dwayne Dunn and Luke Nolen at Moonee Valley on Friday night. 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