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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Connor Fields saw this day coming. His 14-year-old self did, anyway. Thats when, seven years into a blossoming BMX racing career, he took a black Sharpie into his parents garage and predicted the future. I wrote, One day I will become an Olympic champion, on one of the walls, Fields recounted Friday afternoon, moments after becoming the first American to win Olympic gold in BMX racing. I cant wait to go home to my moms house and take a picture holding this medal up next to those words.When Fields, now 23, scribbled that promise, BMX racing was not yet an Olympic sport (it debuted in 2008). But he believed the day wasnt far off, and he knew he wanted to be a part of the team once it was. Of course, there were times when Fields forgot that brazen childhood prediction, when his 19-year-old self was too disappointed in his finish at the London Games to believe he still had gold buried inside or when, after injuring his wrist in May, his 23-year-old self doubted 2016 would be his year.I would be lying if I said there werent dark times or there wasnt doubt in my mind, Fields said. It was all a blessing in disguise. They say adversity makes you stronger if you let it. I think thats true.Four months ago, Fields had surgery to repair a break in his left wrist and missed the latter half of the season. He watched as Nic Long, who finished fourth in Rio, secured his spot on the U.S. team with a third-place finish at the world championships. Then Fields gritted his teeth as the remaining field of hopefuls duked it out at the U.S. trials. 2012 alternate Corben Sharrah won that race, but if he hadnt, USA BMX director Jamie Staff would have had a hard time making a case for using his coachs pick on Fields instead of Sharrah, who just missed making the final in Rio.Those were the hardest months, Fields said. Because it was out of my control.Since being named to the team, Fields has been focused and confident, saying his seventh-place finish in London taught him the importance of gearing up for every race; no matter how well you ride in semis, a medal is not guaranteed and, above all, start strong.London taught me that the Olympic race comes down to two races, Fields said. Theres the race to get into the final. And then in the final, everything is wiped off the board. Once I was in the final, my mindset changed. I was going for first, second, third or broke. I was in a good mental place. As I was walking up to the start, my coach said, Remember how you felt in London? Remember how bad that sucked? Heres your chance. Go get it.Trailing eventual silver medalist Jelle van Gorkom of the Netherlands out of the gate, Fields said he saw daylight heading into the second turn before instincts hes honed over 16 years of racing took over. I found the hole and got in front, he said. When I exited the last corner, I realized I was winning, and 70 meters in front of me was an Olympic gold medal. I was like, Get to the line. Get to the line. Get to the line. Then I just dropped to my knees. I couldnt believe it.Fields win is an historic one for an American team that enters each Olympics with the great expectation that comes with representing the country that gave birth to the sport. But until Friday, the U.S. had yet to win an Olympic gold medal, and this same five-rider team failed to medal at all in London. Rio marks the USAs most successful showing yet. Returning Olympian Alise Post took silver, the best finish for an American woman at the Games, and Long and Brooke Crain finished fourth.We had great results as a team, Post said. This was 100 percent different than in London. We were all first-time Olympians the last time around. Were more experienced now and it showed. Im so proud of our team.When asked by a reporter if there were times this season when Fields believed this moment wouldnt be possible, that his hand would never heal in time, he said his hand wasnt healed. Its still broken, he said I knew if I crashed again, I could damage it permanently. But I had confidence in myself. If Im not going to bet on myself, who is?Fields grew up in Las Vegas. When he isnt training with the U.S. team in Chula Vista, California, he lives in Vegas in the house he bought shortly after the London Olympics and is a part-time student at UNLV. But listen to him talk, and its clear the city influenced more than his college selection:Once I got into the final, I smiled to myself and said, Here we go. I put all my cards on the table and had the best start of my life.They say adversity makes you stronger if you let it. I didnt even know Id be here until two months ago, I changed coaches four months ago. I was injured. But at the end of the day, you have to bet big to win big. I bet on myself today. When they said Olympic champion and my name, it was surreal. If only my 14-year-old self could see me now.USA Soccer Store . -- Nate Robinson has played for seven teams, so beating one of them is no longer a rare occurrence. Wholesale USA Soccer 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. https://www.cheapusasoccer.com/ . No. 13-seeded John Isner and No. 21 Philipp Kohlschreiber were among six players who dropped out of the tournament on Tuesday, joining No. 12 seed Tommy Haas and two other players who withdrew on Monday. Custom USA Soccer Jerseys . -- Lou Brocks shoulder-to-shoulder collision with Bill Freehan during the 1968 World Series and Pete Roses bruising hit on Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star game could become relics of baseball history, like the dead-ball era. Cheap USA Soccer Jerseys . No. 13-seeded John Isner and No. 21 Philipp Kohlschreiber were among six players who dropped out of the tournament on Tuesday, joining No. 12 seed Tommy Haas and two other players who withdrew on Monday.The 10 schools that make up the Big 12 are bound together by a deal committing their television rights to the conference through the 2024-25 school year.That grant of rights ends with the expiration of the conferences $2.6 billion television contract with Fox and ESPN. The question hanging over the Big 12 has always been: When that TV deal runs out, will the conference end, too? Will Texas and Oklahoma, the conferences flagship programs, remain satisfied with being the Big 12s big dogs, or will they seek potentially sweeter deals elsewhere.Expansion wasnt going to change that, so the Big 12 declined on Monday to add two schools from a group of 11 that included BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and Connecticut. The conferences leaders then tried their best to put forth a unified front and positive outlook for the future.No ones looking to walk away from this conference, said Oklahoma President David Boren, the chairman of the Big 12s board of directors. Any feelings to the contrary is just mistaken. They dont understand the strong commitment that we all have to it.Claiming commitment is nice. A legally binding contract is better, but until the Big 12 starts negotiating another television deal or a revision to the current one, locking up the conference beyond 2025 is not a discussion that is taking place, Boren said.When the appropriate proposal is on the table, well be able to go to the open market at the appropriate time and I think negotiate very successfully, Boren said. I think the product of that will be cooperation from all of our schools.The Big 12 still has much to figure out in the near- and long-term.First up, the 10-team conference with a nine-game round-robin schedule must decide how to best implement a football championship game, which returns in 2017. Almost all available solutions are square-peg, round-hole conundrums, but the conference thinks it needs the game to better its chances at the College Football Playoff and raise more revenue.The addition of the conference title game gives the Big 12 an opportunity to open discussions with Fox and ESPN and increase the annual payout from the networks by about $25 million per year.Boren and Commissioner Bob Bowlsby declined to address reports that ESPN and Fox are willing to consider extending the rights contract and buyout a clause that called for a large increase in rights fees if the conference expands.A Big 12 cable network is not on the horizon. As Boren said, the market has spoken and it has said no. But cable is not what it used to be and having a network does not necessarily mean putting games on television.I still wish and hope someday, who knows which form of technology it will take, we will perhaps someday have a branded conference network of some kind, Boren said.The Big 112 paid out $30.dddddddddddd2 million to each of its members this year, a record amount and third most among Power Five conferences. Still, long-term projections have the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference pulling away in the revenue race from the Big 12, Pac-12 and Atlantic Coast Conference in the coming years.Bowlsby said figuring new ways to generate more is one of the conferences top priorities.But I dont know that theres anybody thats demonstrated a direct correlation between the amount of money spent and the number of championships that you win, Bowlsby said. I guess it would be fair to say that wed not like to get 10 or 15 years henceforth and find out if there was a delta, there isnt any way we could fix it and it would make a difference in how competitive we were. But we reside in very fertile recruiting grounds. We have great coaches. We have great venues and great traditions. I think were always going to be concerned about revenue.Revenue is not necessarily a problem for Texas or Oklahoma. According to USA Today, Texas brought in more than $183 million last year, second most in FBS among public schools. Oklahoma was eighth at $134 million.Texas and its Longhorn Network have been a source of tension in the Big 12 and helped drive some schools away. Despite the Longhorns recent struggles on the football field, there is not a conference in the country that would not open their doors to Texas. The Pac-12 already tried to lure the Longhorns away unsuccessfully once. Texas is one of the few schools that could probably make football independence work in the way Notre Dame does.I look forward to working with Commissioner Bowlsby, chairman Boren and the other conference members to make the Big 12 even stronger in the years to come, Texas President Greg Fenves said in a statement.Oklahoma doesnt quite have Texas star power, but the Sooners would not have much problem finding a home, either. Sooners fans have made it known they are ready for a change and it was Boren that helped make the Big 12 seem unstable by pushing the need for expansion.On Monday, though, it was Boren touting the Big 12s unity and unanimity when it came to not expanding. ESPN reported Tuesday that those were agreed upon talking points.I think we all left the room feeling a much stronger sense of commitment to the conference, commitment to each other, that all of us are Big 12 people, were proud to be part of this conference, and we want to always be a member of this conference as far as were concerned, Boren said. We want to see it be all it can be.At least for eight more years.---Follow Ralph D. Russo www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP ' ' '