RIO DE JANEIRO -- On a corner outside the athletes village, a soldier carrying an automatic weapon tried his best to keep from smiling as he posed for a cameraman trying to put a face on security at the Olympics.All is not quite fun and games just yet in Rio, though beleaguered organizers are hoping that changes soon. Most competitions begin Saturday and, barring a potential disaster, the discussion may actually turn from the problems of Rio to sports from badminton to basketball in an extravaganza that only the worlds biggest sporting event can bring.It will happen in a city of astonishing beauty and incredible poverty. It will happen despite worries about everything from virus-carrying mosquitoes to gun-toting criminals.And it will happen with some athletes eyeing each other carefully, not knowing if the playing field is truly level.The Rio Olympics open with a lot more at stake than gold medals and national pride. Not since Los Angeles rescued the troubled movement with a stripped-down version of the games in 1984 has there been more trepidation about the future of the massive sporting event.Some issues, like the Zika mosquitoes, were out of the control of the International Olympic Committee. Others were things they simply failed to control, like the rampant dopers who have made a mockery of the Olympic movement itself.Bowing down to Vladimir Putin and allowing Russian athletes to remain in the games may have prevented a full-blown Cold War from breaking out among Olympic nations. But it also highlighted a schism between Olympic officials and those running the World Anti-Doping Agency, bringing into question their commitment to clean sport.It also exposed the IOC as a spineless organization more bent on self-preservation than on ensuring cheaters are not allowed in any Olympic sport.Disappointing, but hardly surprising.These are the same people, you might remember, who awarded the first Olympics in South America to Rio in 2009, buying without question the promise that in seven years Rio would somehow clean up waters long polluted by raw sewage and build mass transportation systems to whisk people around town.Instead, the citys highways are a logjam and on Saturday athletes will row their way through the slimy and dangerous waters of Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon, where hastily erected barricades and garbage collection boats will be on duty so that television viewers from around the world wont have to see just how filthy the water really is.Its enough to make some of the stuffed shirts at the IOC a bit unsettled.How worried should we be? Prince Albert of Monaco asked his fellow IOC members this week.Plenty worried, though about seven years too late. Every Olympics has its issues -- few thought Athens would ever be able to pull off the 2004 Games -- but there are so many facing Rio that there will be a collective sigh of relief if everything has gone off mostly as planned when the Olympics end in just over two weeks.Indeed, IOC President Thomas Bach envisions clear sailing for the Olympic movement if that happens.If this model stands such a stress test like it had to here in Brazil, then you can see that this model is more than robust, Bach said.NBC for one isnt worried. The Olympics have long been little more than a long-running prime-time summer TV show and the network that paid $1.2 billion for the games says it will make money on this edition.Rather than cutting into ad sales, the stories about crime, Zika and Brazils economic and political woes have actually increased them. And the backdrop for these games will be a directors dream, with stunning views from venues around the city, including beach volleyball on the famed Copacabana Beach.The billions in TV revenue have padded the IOC coffers and increased its appetite for adding sports to an already bloated program that for some incomprehensible reason now includes golf. The newest for Tokyo will be sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding, efforts to lure younger viewers into the games while traditional track and field and other sports are in decline.It may turn out that Bach is right. Barring a terrorist attack or mass illness of rowers and sailors, Rio -- for all its myriad of problems -- may be remembered as a success.Proof that no matter how incompetently theyre managed, the Olympics are simply too big to fail.----Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. 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"Its just a formula for success in baseball when you do those different things," manager Joe Maddon said after the Tampa Bay Rays won their season-best seventh straight game on Wednesday night, beating the struggling Minnesota Twins 4-3 on Ben Zobrists RBI single with two outs in the 13th inning. "Thats pretty basic, good stuff that everybody attempts to achieve," Maddon added. "But thats why were winning as many games as we have." Zobrist lined a 1-2 pitch from Ryan Pressly (2-1) into the gap in right-centre field, ending a 4-hour, 47-minute game that featured 35 strikeouts -- 19 for Rays pitchers. Tampa Bay climbed to a season-best 12 games over .500. The second-place Rays also improved to 9-1 during a stretch of 14 consecutive games against the Twins, Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros -- teams with the three worst records in the American League. The Twins have has lost 10 of 11, including four straight. They tied a franchise record by fanning 19 times for the first time since 1968. "A long night," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "A lot of pitches thrown by both teams. A lot of missed opportunities." Cesar Ramos (2-2) got two outs, escaping a jam with runners at first and third in the 13th to get the win. Yunel Escobar singled with one out in the 13th and took second with two outs on Presslys errant pickoff throw. After Luke Scott walked on a full count, Zobrist singled. "Ive had some timely hits, but its been up and down the lineup," Zobrist said. "You think about the hits Luke Scott had today and the hits hes had lately, and you cant say enough tonight about our bullpen, shutting it down with men in scoring position and getting a lot of big strikeouts." Pedro Florimon hit a two-run, third-inning homer and Clete Thomas had a RBI single in the fifth to give the Twins a 3-1 lead against Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson. Kelly Johnsons two-run homer off Minnesota starter Kevin Correia made it 3-all in the sixth. The game ended just before midnight, just over 12 hours before the teams wrap up a four-game series Thursday afternoon. "When you win a game like that, theres a residual energy. When you dont win a game like that, you have to go looking for that energy," Maddon said. "It doesnt mean you win the next day, but it definitely makes it easier to walk in thhe door.dddddddddddd" The Twins wasted opportunities to take the lead in the ninth and 11th. They failed to take advantage of a pair of singles to begin the ninth against closer Fernando Rodney, and let reliever Jamey Wright off the hook when Oswaldo Arcia grounded out to strand runners at second and third base in the 11th. Arcia also couldnt get the potential go-ahead run home in the 13th, striking out after Joe Mauer singled and moved to third on Ryan Doumits two-out single off Ramos. "He was just swinging out of the zone, going a little crazy there. A young kid trying to do too much," Gardenhire said of the 22-year-old Arcias struggles. "Trying to hit an eight-run homer. ... All we need is one guy in, and hes swinging like a mad man. ... Thats what happens with kids. Youve got to live with it." Tampa Bay nearly won it in the 10th. Wil Myers singled with two outs, and running on a 3-2 pitch would have scored easily from first base on Johnsons line drive that Twins centre fielder Aaron Hicks leaped to catch before crashing into the wall. Hellickson had won four consecutive starts, matching the longest streak of his career, before Wednesday night. The 26-year-old right-hander allowed three runs, six hits and struck out eight in six innings. Correia limited the Rays to three singles and Escobars second-inning sacrifice fly until James Loney singled to open the sixth. Johnson, in the lineup because of his history of success against the Minnesota starter, followed with his fifth home run in 25 career at-bats against Correia. NOTES: Evan Longoria went 1 for 4 with an infield single, two walks and a pair of strikeouts. The Tampa Bay star is 6 for 44 with no extra-base hits over his last 14 games -- the longest extra-base hit drought of his career. ... Johnson went 2 for 3 against Correia and is 9 for 25 lifetime against the right-hander. ... Florimons homer was his first since June 9 at Washington. ... Since being promoted from Triple-A Durham for the second time this season on June 1, Rays LHP Alex Torres leads all American League relievers whove worked a minimum of 15 innings with an 0.42 ERA. Hes allowed one earned run in last 21 2-3 innings, while limiting opposing hitters to an .085 batting average. ... Tampa Bay RHP Alex Cobb, out since being hit in the right ear by a line drive on June 15, is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Thursday. ... Minnesota 1B Justin Morneau singled in the ninth for his 1,276th career hit, tying Gary Gaetti for seventh on the Twins all-time list. Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jersyes Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '