cut down on the mistakes.Those incl | Forum

SAO PAULO -- Rugby player Isadora Cerullo never lived in Brazil. Jorge De La Rosa Jersey . Fencer Ghislain Perrier speaks very little Portuguese. Golfer Miriam Nagl played abroad most of her life.Theyll still be parading under the host nations flag at the opening ceremony of the Rio de Janeiro Games come Aug. 5.Cerullo, Perrier and Nagl are among several athletes who will be fulfilling their Olympic dream because of Brazils shortage of athletes in sports it automatically qualified for as host. Without an Olympic tradition to fall back on, the country was left to rapidly recruit an international band of athletes for events such as field hockey, golf, water polo, fencing and rugby.Their ties, in many cases, are weak. Some have lived away for most of their lives but were born in Brazil. Some were born abroad but have Brazilian parents or grandparents. Some had almost no links to the country but were hired by local federations and became naturalized.I would have very slim chances of participating in the Olympics if I hadnt made the switch to play for Brazil, said Nagl, a Brazilian-born golfer who left the country when she was 8 and had always played for Germany. When this idea came up and I realized that I had a chance to make it to Rio, I started dreaming about being at the Maracana Stadium during the opening ceremony.The 35-year-old Nagl, who plays in the Ladies European Tour and is No. 444 in the womens world rankings, said she hadnt given much thought about representing her native country until being contacted by golf officials after Rio was awarded the games.By making the switch, I gave myself a chance to be in the Olympics, but I also thought about how this could be good for Brazil, about how I could become a good ambassador and help the game develop, she said.Nagl admitted she had concerns about how she would be seen in Brazil after deciding to compete for it despite being away for so long.If there is some bad press about it, I will be fine, she said. I know my connection, and I feel its a very strong connection. I feel good about this.Brazil had only two foreign athletes in its delegation at the 2012 London Games -- American basketball player Larry Taylor and Chinese table-tennis player Gui Lin. Now about 20 international athletes will be taking advantage of the many extra spots available for the home nation in Rio.The International Olympic Committee said it is against changes of nationality motivated by money and other unethical reasons, but it allows for switches made within the rules, including when a country has changed international status, when an athlete is a citizen of more than one nation or because of a direct link to a country, such as marriage or permanent relocation. The international federations also must approve the changes in most cases.Rugby is one of the sports in which Brazil lacks tradition but will compete anyway. Hoping to put on a good show in front of the home fans, the local federation launched a worldwide campaign -- entitled Brazilian Rugby Players Wanted -- to attract athletes playing abroad.A few who responded to the campaign will be in Rio, including American-born Cerullo, who has Brazilian parents but had never visited the country until after contacting Brazilian rugby officials. Two Brazilian brothers who lived in France also made it to the team, as well a Brazilian-born athlete who lived and played in Argentina. England-born Juliano Fiori and France-born Laurent Bourda-Couhet, who has a Brazilian mother, will also play.Brazils fencing team earned eight additional spots as hosts and included three international players for the games. Among them are Ghislain Perrier, who was born in Brazil but left the country as a baby after being adopted by a French family, and Italian-born Nathalie Moellhausen, who competed for Italy at the 2012 London Games but chose to be with the hosts in Rio to fulfill the wish of her Brazilian grandmother.I dont have many connections to Brazil, admitted Perrier, who has lived and trained in France most of his life. I spent vacation in Brazil a few times, but I know only a few people there.The fencing team will also have Marta Baeza, who was born in Brazil but had been competing for Spain, and reserve team member Katherine Miller, who was born in the United States.Another foreigner, Hungarys Emese Takacs, tried to make the team but she was dropped after her citizenship was contested in court by a Brazilian athlete who had been left out of the squad. Takacs was accused of faking her marriage in Brazil to become naturalized.She had the legal documents but we always suspected it was a fraud, the Brazilian who had lost her spot, Amanda Simeao, told local media. She was married to a Brazilian but had a boyfriend in Hungary.Takacs denied wrongdoing but lost her battles in court.Another controversial case was water polo goalkeeper Slobodan Soro, a Serbian whose naturalization process was approved just before the games. He and center Josip Vrlic of Croatia were hired to play for Brazil despite not having direct connections to the country. They were among five foreign-born players picked to play for the Brazilian team by Croat coach Ratko Rudic, the gold medalist with Croatia at the London Games.The others were Spains Adria Delgado, who has a Brazilian father; Italian-born Paulo Salemi, son of a Brazilian mother; and Cuban Ives Gonzalez, who is married to a Brazilian. The team also has Brazilian-born Felipe Perrone, who used to play for the Spanish national team before joining the hosts for the Rio Games.They have been playing for Brazilian clubs for some time, this is not something that just happened, said Ricardo Cabral, who is in charge of Brazils water polo team. We created an Olympic project to help the sport develop and make Brazil more competitive. Because of the Olympics in Rio, there is more investment available and we want to take advantage of that to give the sport more visibility.---Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/tales-azzoni Zack Greinke Jersey . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. A.J. Pollock Jersey . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. http://www.cheapdiamondbacksjerseys.com/ . Boucher previously coached the Tampa Bay Lightning and had a 97-78-20 record over two-plus seasons. He was dismissed by the team last March after the Lightning struggled in the lockout-shortened season with a 13-18-1 record. Will Muschamps early offensive struggles at South Carolina might look familiar to SEC fans.Two years after Muschamps tenure as Florida coach ended due to poor offensive performance, his South Carolina attack sits last in the Southeastern Conference and 124th out of 128 Football Bowl Subdivision teams.Muschamp said no one played well offensively in a 17-10 loss at Kentucky last week and are working to improve things this Saturday for No. 9 Texas A&M (4-0, 2-0 SEC).It goes back to what you do well. And thats what were searching for on offensive right now, the coach said Tuesday.The Aggies could make that difficult, especially after a 45-24 victory over then No. 17 Arkansas. Texas A&M has given up just 16 points a game this year, trailing only Florida and Alabama among SEC teams.It has been a mix of inexperience, mistakes and injuries that have waylaid South Carolinas offense. The Gamecocks (2-2, 1-2) played without two of their better receivers in Deebo Samuel and Randrecous Davis in a 17-10 loss at Kentucky last week. It was also the first true road start for freshman quarterback Brandon McIlwain, who enrolled in January.McIlwain, who has not thrown an interception in 91 pass attempts this season, passed for 177 yards while completing 15 of 30 passes. The Gamecocks were tied at 10-all entering the fourth quarter, but managed only 36 yards on 15 plays in the final period.South Carolinas chances ended when McIlwain was sacked for a 19-yard loss on fourth-and-17 at the Kentucky 35.We went back and looked at it and it was all mental mistakes, receiver Terry Googer said. We know we can fix it.Theres little to fix right now for Texas A&M, which started 4-0 for the third straight season. Both those years, though, the Aggies finished 4-5 after their hot starts.We have a little bit of a different feel this year than last year and two years ago, Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said.Two years ago, Muschamp was searching for offensive answwers in his fourth season as Floridas coach. Yasmany Tomas Jersey. Instead, the Gators floundered at 113th nationally in total offense and Florida let Muschamp go.Muschamp got a second SEC chance at South Carolina last December and hired Kurt Roper, his offensive leader the final Florida season.Muschamp said in the spring the Gamecocks had enough good players to compete for an SEC Eastern Division title. But theres been little evidence of that early on.We can beat a lot of teams. We have the talent to play at a very high level, tailback A.J. Turner said. We just have to do the right things and cut down on the mistakes.Those include errors by McIlwain. Turner detailed one play in the fourth quarter where McIlwain kept the ball on a zone read instead of handing off to a running back on what Turner thought wouldve gone for a touchdown. Instead McIlwain managed just a short gain.We got to come together. Weve got to shake it off, Turner said. We cant be worried about being frustrated, being upset about whats happening. Weve just got to work through it.Receiver Davis remains out along with offensive line starters Donnell Stanley and Blake Muschamp said McIlwain has played well overall and will start against Texas A&M.McIlwain, who Muschamp has prevented from speaking with media, has held up well, according to his teammates. Googer said the freshman remains positive and upbeat and keeps leading us.Linebacker Bryson Allen-Williams said McIlwains baseball background -- he was considered a high-round Major League Baseball draft pick before choosing college football -- means he knows how to put the past in the past. If you strikeout, you cant go up next at bat thinking about the strikeout, Allen-Williams said. Youve got to look forward. Thats what he does.---APs college football site at http://collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '