to honor everything Summitt achieved off the court as well as on it. | Forum

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike is preparing for a strenuous workout with the next Summer Olympics headed her way. Cheap Panthers Jerseys .The practice started when she received the Olympic flag Sunday in the official handover ceremony from her Rio counterpart, Mayor Eduardo Paes.I hope the flag is not too heavy, she joked the day before. Although I have trained my muscles to receive it properly.The next three Olympics are in Asian countries that have already held games: Tokyos Summer Games in 2020, sandwiched between Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018 and in Beijing in 2022.This will come as a relief to the International Olympic Committee after two trying games in Sochi, Russia, and Rio.That doesnt mean theyll be easy, particularly for Tokyo.I dont think that you can ever relax, said John Coates, the IOC member who heads the inspection team for Tokyo. There are some big issues, even for Tokyo.Heres a look at some of them.---THE COSTSThe new national stadium is an example of Tokyos rising costs -- or underestimating costs. The original bill was expected to be $1 billion, but the price soared to three times that much in a design by the late architect Zaha Hadid.Organizers scrapped that design and adopted a new one by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma. The cost will still be at least 50 percent more than the original estimate with completion set for November, 2019.I will not leave white elephants for the taxpayers, Kioke told reporters in Rio, just weeks after being elected Tokyos first female governor. The citizens of Tokyo are the taxpayers. We must have the understanding of the taxpayers about whatever we do.Costs are rising elsewhere, too.The Tokyo organizing committees operating budget was 350 billion yen ($3.5 billion) in the original bid document. But officials say it will be revised upward to account for inflation and unexpected costs.This is the budget for running the games themselves, and does not include building roads and other infrastructure.Tokyo organizers say 50 percent of the venues already exist, though they have not made public the cost for building new venues and preparing the city.Constructing scaled-down venues -- following Rios model -- could still be costly in Japan. The buildings must be earthquake-proof, and Japanese taste might not accept stripped-down architecture.---TRANSPORTATIONTokyo proposed compact games in its winning bid three years ago. But venues have been spread out to save money and take advantage of existing structures.Tokyos games are divided into two basic sectors -- a zone around Tokyo Bay, and a so-called Heritage Zone, which is anchored around the new national stadium.The remaining venues are scattered around, from cycling in Izu, southwest of Tokyo, to soccer venues in Sapporo, Miyagi, Saitama, and Yokohama.Youll travel a lot because there isnt the concentration, Coates said. If you go to the heritage area, theyre all stand-alone (venues) largely.Tokyo has a sophisticated transport system, but its crowded and not particularly foreigner-friendly. Coates said getting around might be more complex than Rio, which was difficult in a city sliced up by the sea, mountains and poor roads.They have a very good transport infrastructure that connects all parts of the city, Coates said. I think theyre up for it, no worry about that, but you cant say its going to be easy.Tokyos narrow roads are a problem, and so are the 3 million who commute daily from the outskirts to the citys center.Well have to ask the citizens for various forms of cooperation, Kioke said.---THE EVENTSFive sports have been added to Tokyos program: baseball-softball, skateboarding, surfing, karate and sport climbing. They enter under new IOC rules that allow cities to propose events from their own games.The new sports will add 18 events and 474 athletes to the program. The Tokyo Games will feature 33 sports and about 11,000 athletes, compared to the usual number of 28 sports and 10,500 athletes.The new sports may give Japan some advantages, particularly in baseball and softball, which are very popular in the country.Japan won 41 medals in Rio, topping its previous record of 38. Look for the home nation to get another medal bounce from being host.The competition schedule is sure to create tension. Evening events in Tokyo will take place in the early morning in North America -- and vice versa. This isnt ideal for U.S. rights-holder NBC. Some events might be moved around to work better on television.Japanese Olympic committee President Tsunekazu Takeda faced a similar problem as the sports director of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.Athletes-first must be the concept, he said. We have to be fair to the athletes, but of course I cant make any decisive comments because this has to be negotiated. But I hope the athletes-first concept prevails.---FEMALE POWERTwo female politicians have key roles in directing Tokyos games -- Governor Koike and Tamayo Marukawa, who was recently named Olympic minister by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.Both are former television newscasters, and Marukawa will be the link between Tokyos government and the national government.Koike said Japanese women have done well in sports, but Japanese society has been slower to promote women to leadership positions in business and politics.Women won almost half of Japans 41 medals in Rio -- four gold medals alone in womens wrestling.Our women athletes are having fantastic performances, Kioke said. Unfortunately, the percentage of women legislators in Japan is still low. Ms. Hillary Clinton often refers to a glass ceiling for women. I think weve got an iron ceiling in Japan.---BACH ADVICEIOC President Thomas Bach offered brief advice for Tokyo.Organizing successful games means always being authentic, Bach said. Not taking a blueprint from other games; not thinking you should copy. Make the games a representation of the host country.---Stephen Wade on Twitter: http://twitter.com/StephenWadeAP . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/stephen-wade Womens Panthers Jerseys . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Panthers Jerseys Outlet . Third-seeded Murray had the easiest path to victory on New Years Eve, barely breaking a sweat during his 6-0, 6-0 win over 2,129th-ranked Qatari wildcard recipient Mousa Shanan Zayed. http://www.cheapfloridapanthersjerseyschina.com/ . "Theyve both been real good," said Babcock. "Havent changed our minds." A decision has seemingly been made - Sundays Group B-deciding tilt against Finland ahead - but it could not have been an easy one. Price opened the tournament with a sturdy 19-save performance against the Norwegians, yielding just one goal. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Pat Summitt was remembered as a loving mother, a loyal friend and a tireless fighter as well as a champion coach Thursday in a public ceremony honoring the person who built the Tennessee womens basketball dynasty.She was the epitome of what being great is all about, said Indiana Fever forward Tamika Catchings, one of the dozens of former Lady Volunteers who paid respects to Summitt at a Celebration of Life ceremony at Thompson-Boling Arena.Catchings later added that this is not a goodbye, but until we meet again.The ceremony at Thompson-Boling Arena gave the public a chance to honor Summitt, who won eight national titles and a Division I record 1,098 games in her 38-year coaching tenure. A private funeral was held June 30, two days after Summitt died at the age of 64.The list of speakers included recently retired quarterback Peyton Manning, a former Tennessee football star who called Summitt someone who literally changed history. Manning said the only pieces of sports memorabilia he keeps in his office are two basketballs Summitt signed for his children.Manning discussed visiting Summitt late in her fight against Alzheimers disease, when she couldnt remember Mannings name. He talked about attending Summitts private funeral and hearing from former Lady Vols star Chamique Holdsclaw, who told him that even as Summitts memory faded, the coach still could point to the screen when one of Mannings games or commercials aired on television and would say, Thats my friend who comes to visit me. There goes my friend.Pat Summitt didnt just change the history of Tennessee basketball or made this arena known well beyond the borders of this state, Manning said. She changed the history of the sport she loved -- and of sports in general. She almost singlehandedly made womens sports relevant well beyond mothers, daughters, sisters and grandmothers.Thursdays event attracted Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker and a star-studded list of womens basketball coaches that included Connecticuts Geno Auriemma, who served as Summitts greatest rival. They were among several thousand spectators to honor Summitt at an arena where she orchestrated some of her greatest victories.The stage for Thursdays event included each of the Lady Vols eight national championship trophies plus a stool and whistle used by Summitt, who coached Tennessee from 1974-2012.Fans withstood an afternoon downpour as they waited to enter the arena. The distance traveled by many of them underscored the way Summitt built Lady Vols basketball into a national brand.Patti Stephen drove more than 700 miles from Teaneck, New Jersey, to pay her final respects. She packed a luunch in her car and arrived on campus more than seven hours before the start of the ceremony to make sure she got a seat in the arena. Wholesale Panthers Jerseys. Ive been a Lady Vol fan for a long time, and it felt like I just needed to be here, said Stephen, who wore a T-shirt, hat and a set of bracelets bearing the message We Back Pat. `It wouldnt be the same on TV.Speakers included Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts, current Tennessee coach Holly Warlick and former Lady Volunteers assistant Mickie DeMoss as well as Summitts son, Tyler Summitt.For or all of us that in some way have been influenced by Pat Summitt, she wouldnt just want us to remember her example, Tyler Summitt said. She would want us to go out and follow it. So lets not just celebrate her legacy. Lets carry it on.The ceremony had plenty of somber moments. A videotape that aired during the event showed Warlick and former Lady Vols guard Michelle Brooke-Marciniak in tears as they described what Summitt had meant to them. The event opened with a bagpipe rendition of Amazing Grace.Tyler told me thats his moms favorite song, Roberts said. How appropriate. Two words that describe her (so well): Amazing. Grace.But it also included some laughter.Shelley Sexton-Collier, who played on Tennessees 1987 national championship team, joked that she thought she was playing for Tennessees cross country team because Summitt made them run so often. Warlick talked about how Summitt loved to drive fast and talk her way out of speeding tickets.Warlick also had the crowd break into a rendition of Rocky Top as the arenas video screens showed a tape of Summitt singing that song while wearing a cheerleader uniform before a Tennessee mens basketball game.The list of womens basketball coaches at the ceremony featured Stanfords Tara VanDerveer, North Carolinas Sylvia Hatchell, South Carolinas Dawn Staley, Notre Dames Muffet McGraw, Rutgers C. Vivian Stringer, former Georgia coach Andy Landers and former Texas coach Jody Conradt among others. Also in attendance were current SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, former SEC commissioners Mike Slive and Roy Kramer, Tennessee football coach Butch Jones, Duke football coach David Cutcliffe and former Tennessee football coaches Phillip Fulmer and Johnny Majors.They came to honor everything Summitt achieved off the court as well as on it.The real accomplishment of Pats life is this -- you won 1,098 games and eight national championships, and what people talk about in the end is its not about how much you win but how much you did for others, said DeMoss, now an LSU assistant. Cheap NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys' ' '