Talk » podium again.DiRados upset denied Hosszu a

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Panthers quarterback Cam Newton said hes not worried about the long-term effects of repeated hits to his head.However, his father has concerns.The leagues MVP took four helmet-to-helmet shots in Carolinas 21-20 loss to the Denver Broncos, although only one of the hits drew a flag and none resulted in any penalty yardage.Despite the well-publicized effects of repeated concussions to NFL players, Newton said Wednesday his focus is solely on winning football games .Thats it, winning, Newton said Wednesday when asked about his long-term health. ... Im not here to worry about retirement plans. Im not here to worry about pensions. Im not here to worry about workers (compensation). Im here to win football games, simple and plain.The All-Pro quarterback added, this is a contact sport. This is a physical sport. I play the game for the right reasons. Whatever coach asks me to do Im going to do it to win football games.Newtons father, Cecil Newton, told The Associated Press that his 27-year-old son is too young to fully comprehend what multiple hits to the head can do over a long period of time. He wants to see his son protected more on the field by NFL game officials.Cam is in that superhuman mindset right now, Cecil Newton said. ... He will understand player safety far more critically 20 years from now.Cecil also believes hitting his son has become a badge of honor for some defenders.I think some players feel like they have arrived when they hit Cam, Cecil Newton said. Going out of your way, playing dirty and pushing the legal stuff to the limit, I question what your intentions are.Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall was fined $24,309 and safety Darian Stewart $18,231 for helmet-to-helmet hits Newton, a person told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the NFL hasnt announced the fines. Neither player was suspended, the source said.Newton had no reaction to the fines, saying theres no need to look back.He said he doesnt feel the need to lobby for his health, even as his teammates and coaches have done that for him.Among those was his Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen, who said game officials treat Newton like hes running back instead of a quarterback just because of his size. Newton is 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds and has run for more touchdowns than any quarterback in NFL history.I dont think you can talk about player safety and then have what unfolded, Olsen said of the NFL. You cant talk out of both sides of your mouth. Player safety sounds great. Its a great offseason rallying crying. It sounds awesome. But we got zero yards out of any of those hits.Said left tackle Michael Oher: Well I wish some calls could have gotten made in the game. But maybe in the future he will be treated more like a quarterback.Newton returned to practice on Wednesday, Carolinas first since losing the Super Bowl rematch to the Broncos when Graham Ganos 50-yard field goal sailed wide left in the games final seconds.Newton wore his typical long black sweatpants, long-sleeve black shirt and a red No. 1 practice jersey on the field and lined up with the first-team offense.He said hes ready to play in Carolinas home opener Sunday against the 49ers, who are coming off a 28-0 shutout win over the Los Angeles Rams.When asked how he feels, Newton replied, Unbelievable.I dont think there is a game that goes by that any NFL player doesnt feel sore, Newton said. Its a contact sport and we have to plan accordingly to get back to 100 percent.The league and the NFL Players Association are investigating the hit from Stewart that occurred with 36 remaining in the loss to the Broncos.Newton was slow to get up from the hit but remained in the game.The quarterback said the teams training staff handled the situation appropriately.Coach Ron Rivera said that Newton has passed all of the concussion tests the teams medical staff has administered since he took the shots to the head.I was asked on the sideline about awareness and my ability to keep going from the referee, as well as the training staff, Newton said. There is no doubt that everything will work out in itself. There is no question that I took a couple of hits to the head but I dont think I showed any signs of being concussed. It was no wooziness and guys kind of stumbled and I see where it affects their play afterward. ... I understand I was kind of hurt, but that comes with football and it being a contact sport.---AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Stapleton in Denver contributed to this report.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFLSteve Howe Dodgers Jersey . Haas said he "felt a lot of pain" in his right shoulder when he slammed his racket to the ground in frustration after losing his serve at 3-3 in the first set. Gavin Lux Jersey . -- Five former Kansas City Chiefs players who were on the team between 1987 and 1993 filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming the team hid and even lied about the risks of head injuries during that time period when there was no collective bargaining agreement in place in the NFL. https://www.cheapdodgersonline.com/3305h-carl-crawford-jersey-dodgers.html . Numbers Game examines the deal that sees Michael Del Zotto and Kevin Klein switch places. The Predators Get: D Michael Del Zotto. Carl Crawford Dodgers Jersey . 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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.RIO DE JANEIRO -- A stunner at the Rio Olympics: Michael Phelps was beaten.Rather handily at that.The most decorated athlete in Olympic history couldnt pull off one of his patented comebacks in the 100-meter butterfly, easily held off by a swimmer a decade younger.Twenty-one-year-old Joseph Schooling of Singapore got off to a blistering start, building a lead that not even Phelps could overcome.After winning four gold medals at these games and looking unbeatable, Phelps finally ran out of steam in what was the final individual race of his career unless he decides to come out of retirement again.The 31-year-old Phelps still has a chance to leave Rio with 23 golds in his career. But hell have to do with some help from his teammates, swimming in the butterfly leg of the 400 medley relay on the final night of swimming Saturday.Phelps wound up in a three-way tie for silver along with two longtime rivals, Chad le Clos of South Africa and Laszlo Cseh of Hungary. They all touched in 51.14 -- a half-body length behind Schoolings winning time of 50.39.A three-way tie is pretty wild, Phelps said. Joe is tough. Hats off to him, he swam a great race. Its kind of special and a decent way to finish my last individual race.Phelps quickly swam over to congratulate Schooling, who seemed stunned by what he had done.It hasnt really sunk in yet, Schooling said. Im sorry if I dont seem like Im full of emotions right now. I dont know what to believe, like, whether I actually did it or Im still preparing for my race.Phelps, he added, is a guy that will go down in our history books as the greatest of all time of any sport. Im just honored and glad to have that moment and that privilege to race alongside Michael and Chad and all those guys.While Phelps loss left the crowd in shock, Katie Ledecky got them on their feet again with another dominating performance, handily breaking the world record in the 800 freestyle.And two other Americans won gold, too. Anthony Ervin capped a remarkable personal journey with a gold in the 50 freestyle -- 16 years after he won his first individual gold in the same event at the Sydney Games. And Maya DiRado knocked off the Iron Lady in the 200 backstroke, pulling off a furious rally on the final lap to beat Katinka Hosszu. Bronze went to Canadas Hilary Caldwell.Ledecky joined Debbie Meyer as the only women to sweep the three longer freestyle events at the same Olympics. Meyer took the 200, 400 and 800 at the 1968 Mexico Games, and Ledecky matched that performance with a couple of world records as well.Ledecky was mmerely racing the clock as she powered away from the field to touch in 8 minutes, 4.dddddddddddd79 seconds, eclipsing the mark of 8:06.68 that she set at a grand prix meet in Texas back in January.Then, Ledecky played the waiting game, hanging on the rope for a while to let the rest of the field finish.Jazz Karlin finally touched in 8:16.17 to claim the silver, just ahead of Hungarys Boglarka Kapas grabbing the bronze in 8:16.37.Some 23 seconds after Ledecky touched the wall, the last of the eight finalists chugged to the end of the grueling race.Ledecky was barely breathing hard.I hit all my goals right on the nose this week, she said.Ledecky also became only the third American woman to win four gold medals in a single Olympics, following fellow swimmers Amy Van Dyken and Missy Franklin.While Ledecky, at 19, is the youngest member of the U.S. team, Ervin is the oldest at 35.In the blink of an eye, Ervin went from one end of the pool to the other in a furious dash, edging the defending Olympic champion, Florent Manaudou of France, by a mere hundredth of a second. Another American, Nathan Adrian, took the bronze.Ervin won his first gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, tying teammate Gary Hall Jr. for the top spot. Then, Ervin walked away from swimming, skipping the next two Olympics while he embarked on a journey to find his purpose in life.Turns out, it was swimming all along.Ervin returned to make the American team in 2012, but failed to win a medal in London. Now, improbably, hes back on the top of the podium again.DiRados upset denied Hosszu a fourth gold in Rio, and capped off a remarkable one-and-done Olympics for the American.Shes already got a job lined up in Atlanta after the Olympics and made it clear she would be retiring no matter the results. She certainly has nothing to complain about after winning two golds, a silver and a bronze in Rio.This whole day has been kind of crazy because its all of these little last things that Ive gotten to do, like my last warmup with the girls at the training pool today, DiRado said. I wrote my parents an email this morning just saying thank you and I started bawling on my bed and then my roommates came in and comforted me. I tried to keep it all under control, but theres been a lot of tears these last 24 hours.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry . ' ' '