Talk » teams arent bowl eligible yet, but they ca

RIO DE JANEIRO -- A near-diplomatic incident -- as Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes termed it -- came to an end on Wednesday ahead of the Olympics.The Australian delegation gave the mayor a tiny boxing kangaroo doll as the sign of a truce. It also said its now happy with its rooms at Rios Olympic Athletes Village.The 700-member delegation refused to check in three days earlier because of water and gas leaks, electrical shorts, malfunctioning toilets and general filth.The unfinished village, built at a cost of about $1.5 billion, marks the first organizational crisis of South Americas first Olympics, which open in just over a week. Attention now shifts to dozens of venues, which will be filling up in the next few days with thousands of athletes hoping to practice. Problems here could make village problems seems small.It was almost a diplomatic thing, the mayor said, speaking to Australian officials and members of the mens field hockey team at the 31-building village.Paes apologized and acknowledged Australias was the worst building.Australia was right, he said. It was not in good shape. That was a mistake of the organization. What we have to do now is go ahead and organize it. Theyve got their building now, and I hope things go well from now on.As his offering, Paes gave delegation head Kitty Chiller the keys to the city, and a doll representing the official mascot Vinicius.Australian officials said about 50 athletes were living in the village on Wednesday accompanied by almost 100 additional staff members.Rio organizers said 2,902 people occupied the village on Wednesday -- 849 of them athletes.The village will accommodate 18,000 athletes and staff at its peak, but many delegations are still away at private training venues for a few more days. The crunch should come next week in the run-up to the opening ceremony on Aug. 5.After battling leaks for a week, Australia complained openly on Sunday. Dozens of other delegations also flagged up problems about their rooms, with many calling in their own workmen to fix the problems.The complaints led to hundreds of cleaners, plumbers, safety inspectors and electricians working 24-7 to resolve the issues.On Wednesday, Brazilian labor inspectors said they would fine the Rio organizing committee nearly $100,000 (about 315,000 reals) for hiring workers without proper contracts required by law. Inspector Hercules Terra told the Globo network that about 630 workers did not enjoy benefits that protect them from workplace injuries.The same inspector also said the organizing committee was going to be punished for withholding documents that would show how the employees were hired.Paes was asked four times about who would pay any bills run up by teams trying to fix their own problems. He walked away without answering, which Chiller also noted.He left immediately after that question, she said. Well sort all that out afterwards.Chiller promised to speak out again if things are not ready.Everything that weve ever said, and everything I will continue to say is about making sure that we have the best possible environment for our athletes, she said. And well stop at nothing to ensure that we get that. Whatever that takes.---Adriana Gomez Licon contributed to this report.---Stephen Wade on Twitter: http://twitter.com/StephenWadeAP .His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/stephen-wadeDamon Severson Jersey . The 26-year-old Ireland striker, who has four goals this season, has signed a three-and-a-half year contract with his new club. Andy Greene Jersey . Louis Blues teammates who would also be participating in the Olympics, Alex Pietrangelo felt right at home, no different in some ways to the travel experience of any old road trip – save for the length of the journey, that is. http://www.devilssale.com/authentic-kyle-palmieri-devils-jersey/ . McCarthy, a player who played some games in the second tier for Wigan at the start of this season, would go on to shine inside Evertons midfield, outplaying the man he was brought in to replace, on one of the grandest stages in English football. On Saturday, it was fitting that Manchester Uniteds most recent dagger into the chest was delivered by Frenchman Yohan Cabaye, a wonderfully gifted central midfielder who put on an outstanding effort for Newcastle at Old Trafford. Ken Daneyko Devils Jersey . Rob Manfred, baseballs chief operating officer, testified last week during the grievance filed by the players union to overturn Rodriguezs 211-game suspension. A person familiar with the hearing, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press on Saturday that Manfred testified the sport wasnt concerned whether Bosch distributed performance-enhancing drugs to minors because MLBs interest was his relationship with players under investigation. Mirco Mueller Jersey . Zvonareva, who won the tournament in 2009 and 10, couldnt handle her opponents big groundstrokes in only her third event back after 17 months out with a shoulder injury. Zvonareva made her comeback in January in Shenzhen and played in the Australian Open but lost her first matches at both tournaments.Eastern Michigan reached a major milestone in its remarkable turnaround.The Eagles are bowl eligible for the first time since 1995 after a 48-41 victory over Ball State on Tuesday night. The last time EMU actually played in a bowl was in the 1987 California Bowl.There are now 58 teams bowl eligible, with 80 slots available. There are 32 teams that cant finish .500 and thus cant go to a bowl unless sub-.500 teams are needed to fill open spots.Oregon (3-7) is one of those teams that cant finish .500 after a loss to Stanford. The Ducks havent missed a bowl since 2004.EMU (6-4) went 1-11 last season, and in April, a student and faculty report called on the school to consider dropping football altogether -- or perhaps stop playing it in Division I. The Eagles were one of a couple noteworthy teams to become bowl eligible this past week. Central Florida (6-4) also did -- a significant achievement after UCF went 0-12 last season.Army (5-5) can still finish two games above .500 but is in a complicated spot. The Black Knights have two games against FCS opponents on their schedule -- a win over Lafayette on Oct. 15 and next weekends matchup with Morgan State. Team spokesman Matt Faulkner said only the Morgan State game can count for the purpose of bowl eligibility.Armys regular-season finale against Navy will likely be moot in terms of Armys bbowl prospects, since it takes place Dec.dddddddddddd. 10, after bowl matchups will likely be set. Faulkner said if Army beats Morgan State, the Black Knights would have to wait and see if there are any open spots -- a situation similar to what 5-7 teams will face.Here are the 37 teams (not counting Army) that are still on the bubble. These teams arent bowl eligible yet, but they can still finish .500 or better and move into the bowl picture:Akron (5-6)Arizona State (5-5)Arkansas State (5-4)Ball State (4-6)Boston College (4-6)California (4-6)Central Michigan (5-5)Charlotte (4-6)Cincinnati (4-6)Colorado State (5-5)Duke (4-6)Georgia Southern (4-6)Indiana (5-5)Kansas State (5-4)Kentucky (5-5)Louisiana-Lafayette (4-5)Louisiana-Monroe (4-6)Maryland (5-5)Miami, Ohio (5-6)Mississippi (5-5)Mississippi State (4-6)North Carolina State (5-5)North Texas (4-6)Northwestern (5-5)Notre Dame (4-6)South Alabama (4-5)South Carolina (5-5)Southern Methodist (5-5)Southern Mississippi (5-5)Syracuse (4-6)TCU (5-4)Texas (5-5)Texas Tech (4-6)UCLA (4-6)UNLV (4-6)UTSA (5-5)Vanderbilt (4-6)---For more college football: http://collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister ' ' '