Kritik und Lob » hose men didnt simply make baseball deals. T

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Leticia Romero isnt alone at the Rio Games, just close to it.The Florida State guard, who is playing for Spain is one of two current college players in the Olympics. The other is UConn guard Kia Nurse, who has been making headlines for Canada. Neither is a stranger to international competition, but this is the first time for both to be on the grand stage. They are flourishing.The college guards have already helped their countries advance to the quarterfinals and will square off Sunday when Spain faces Canada with second place in the group on the line.While youth has dominated at the pool and gymnastics, its rare to see on the basketball court. The U.S., which is trying for a sixth consecutive gold medal, hasnt had a college player on its roster since 1988 when Vicky Bullett and Bridgette Gordon helped the Americans win gold.For me its a dream coming true, Romero told The Associated Press after Spain clinched a spot in the quarterfinals. At 21 years old, I never thought Id be here in the Olympics. Im very lucky to be here to learn from this team. Its amazing how they play and practice every day, thats going to help me next season when I come back to Florida State again and for the future.The two will meet again on the court when Florida State hosts UConn on Nov. 14 to open up the college basketball season.Playing UConn for me is a great thing, said Romero, who is Spains fourth leading scorer despite playing just 13 minutes a game. Im looking forward to that too, but Im here right now and focused on the Olympics.Romero and Nurse said they dont really know each other off the court, but definitely have a healthy respect for one another. They will be in similar situations next year in college, taking on big leadership roles for their teams. They have been soaking in the ways that the veterans on their Olympic teams have been doing it.I try and learn everything I can from them, said Nurse, who is leading Canada with 11.8 points a game. Incredible leaders and teammates. You get to learn and see your weaknesses exposed all the time. Im an upperclassmen already, which is extremely odd to me. I have to step into a leadership role up there and try and take away from these guys how they do it.Romero said she is trying to watch teammate Laia Palau.Im amazed by how she manages everything, Romero said. How she organizes the team, does everything for the team, makes everyone close to each other. For me coming to Florida State, I want to be that kind of player that can bring everyone together and make everyone a better player.The pair have had a great time away from the court too. They both got to participate in the opening ceremonies, an experience neither will forget.It was crazy, Romero said. I cant even describe it. To be there, just something I always watched on TV and its a dream. I was telling (Florida State coach) Sue Semrau it was like a one-minute walk, that felt like 5 seconds. Watching the people the crowd, my teammates, everybody. All the teams it was overwhelming.Semrau flew down to Rio to watch her point guard play.She is playing with the level of confidence that I havent seen before, Semrau said in a text to the AP. Im excited to see her continue her growth at Florida State and beyond.Romero also got to fulfill another lifelong dream while waiting to enter the stadium, a photo with tennis great Rafael Nadal. This coming a few days after she got a chance to meet Felipe VI the King of Spain.Its a big deal both. But I would rather take a picture with Nadal, she said laughing. Hes one of my heroes, but the King of Spain is a big deal too.Yes, its good to be an Olympian.---Online:AP Summer Games website: http://summergames.ap.org/---Follow Doug on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinberg Cheap Jacksonville Jaguars Jerseys . LOUIS -- Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig says hes recovered from a foot injury and ready to be put on St. Cheap Houston Texans Jerseys . -- There were a lot of firsts for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. https://www.cheapjerseys-wholesalechina.com/?tag=cheap-tampa-bay-buccaneers-jerseys . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed. Cheap Denver Broncos Jerseys . 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. Cheap Atlanta Falcons Jerseys .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Wait. What just happened here? I had the craziest dream. I dreamed we just saw a trade deadline where the Cubs and Indians went for it -- and meanwhile, the biggest sellers in baseball were ... hold on, this cant be right .... the Yankees?Yeah, it feels like a dream. But Im pretty sure it just happened. And if it did, you know what that means? It means the world has officially turned upside down. And its going to take a little while to digest that.The Chicago Cubs made a series of deals that sent a clear message: This is the year. The Cleveland Indians made a trade for Andrew Miller that sent the same message: Our time is now. And the New York Yankees unloaded at the deadline instead of loading up -- for the first time in almost 30 years. Wow. Did I just write that paragraph?No one has ever said those words, said one incredulous scout Monday, as the deadline dust was settling. No one has ever typed those sentences. Its amazing.Said those words? Typed those sentences? Heck, no one has ever lived on that planet.But every season, the earth keeps spinning. And now it has spun us into this unfamiliar place -- where the Cubs and Indians look like your official World Series favorites ... and the Yankees are saying, Wait til next year. Or, Wait til whenever we can finish clearing about $7 billion in ugly contracts off our payroll.Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer and the Cubs attacked the deadline like Michael Jordan once attacked the rim. Saw they needed to build a bullpen that could protect a one-run lead in October -- and bam, reeled in Aroldis Chapman, Joe Smith and Mike Montgomery.Thats why Theo is a Hall of Famer, said one rival executive afterward. He recognized it. And he did it.A few hundred miles to the east, the Indians of Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff were following the same script. They paid a huge price (and took on big dollars) to go get Andrew Miller. But it isnt just their bullpen that isnt the same because of it. Its their clubhouse -- and their whole city. Which was already buzzing with LeBron Fever.Now theyre like that high school football team that goes running through the hoop before the kickoff, said the same exec. They just busted through that hoop and theyre going for it.Meanwhile, the Yankees of Brian Cashman had to make a totally different decision, but one just as momentous. It was their time, all right -- their time to move on, move veterans and move forward. Once they were through dealing away Chapman, Miller and Carlos Beltran, they suddenly had a system with six of Keith Laws top 50 prospects in baseball. And if it hurts YES ratings for a couple of months, whatever. Now, at least, they can see the future.As difficult as it was for Brian Cashman to do what he did, said another longtime executive, he did the right thing. Theyve played over 100 games. They were a .500 team. The game tells you who you are. And thats what they were -- a .500 team.But prospects give the Yankees something else, too -- a reminder that in baseball, not all the currency can be measured in dollar bills.They still have money, said a third exec. So this winter, if they want to spend money to sign a closer -- say, Kenley Jansen -- theylll always be able to do that.dddddddddddd But now they also have prospects as currency. And I fully expect theyll take that currency and use it this winter to make deals, at a time when there isnt much in free agency.But we can reflect more on the details of what just happened and where its leading some other time. Right now, its more important to reflect on the bigger picture here.To the people who run these teams, the trade deadline isnt some giant rumor fest, the way it is for you and me. Its an important moment in time. Its a moment when the best GMs in the business dont just weigh who theyre trading and what theyre giving up. They need to have a special feel for the meaning of this moment. And that feel leads to the most powerful decisions they can make.The biggest thing we talk about, said one of the execs quoted above, is that you truly never know. You dont know whats going to happen next year. So I think its important to know when its time to make those decisions. The worst thing you can do sometimes is worry about the future. When your team is good enough, the only thing you can really worry about is now. And sometimes that means you have to just go for it.Knowing when that time has arrived isnt a skill these guys can learn in some sports management school. Its more like a sixth sense, a voice only they can hear that points them toward doing things they might not ordinarily do. But they have to be listening to hear it.It comes to you in a quiet moment, said another of the veteran execs quoted above, where you figure out, This is what I have to do. But you owe it to your organization to do what you did. You owe it to your players. You owe it to your fans. And you owe it to yourself. But if youre honest with yourself, you do know it. People know what needs to be done.Its what Dayton Moore did in Kansas City last July. We know how that worked out. Its what Alex Anthopoulos did in Toronto last July. We know how that worked out. Its what Sandy Alderson did in New York. We know how that worked out.Those men didnt simply make baseball deals. They made This Is Our Moment deals. And this July, it was the Cubs and Indians turn to make those moves.The Cubs have been waiting over a century for their moment to arrive. The Indians have been waiting more than half a century. So its a message that had to be delivered loudly and emphatically enough for everyone to hear -- and understand what they just heard.So I cant say this loudly enough: The tuned-in people who run the Cubs and Indians just told the world: Our time is now. And it wasnt a dream. It happened. In real life. With real earth-rattling deals involving real people.Its the Cubs year? Its the Indians year? And those things are happening in the same year? Holy Rocky Colavito. The planet we live on just spun in a way no living human has ever witnessed before. So we might have to call this the coolest trade deadline ever -- just as soon as we process what happened.Yeah, think how crazy that is, said one of the execs. And think about special it is. ' ' '