spots from last year. Hopes were high entering last s

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Go to bed, my grandmother implored. It is late, and these Olympics are very far away.I was 6 years old, a boy in working-class Sao Paulo already obsessed with the Olympics, staying up to watch the 1988 Games in Seoul, South Korea. Grandmother Lazinha -- we called her Zica -- was right. It was indeed late for a kid. But what she also meant, I understand now, was that no one living in the Brazil of those days was expected to go very far. Nor was my homeland itself.Now the games are here, and with that debut comes a renewed sense of possibility and hope -- a feeling that perhaps Brazil has finally arrived. Yes, there is economic and political turmoil, Zika, crime and the many other blemishes outsiders see. But for us brasileiros, hosting the games itself is like winning gold. As one volunteer, an unemployed engineer, said to me after the opening ceremony: We can do great things here, too.It wasnt always that way.As I watched my first Olympics on TV, Brazil suffered even more than it does now. There was hyperinflation, with everyday items costing up to 600 percent of their worth. After decades of military dictatorship, we had returned to civilian leadership but under an unpopular president we blamed for the economic crisis.A renowned economist referred to us as Belindia, a country where the rich lived like those in prosperous Belgium and the poor like the worst off in India. And yet ... we have always been far more complex, and better, than that.Flash forward to 1992. Im 10. The Olympics were in Barcelona that year and still a personal obsession as I began to dream of a career as a journalist like my uncle. At home in Brazil, my mother was a maid. And a manicurist. And a door-to-door saleswoman. The state school I attended in the South Zone of Sao Paulo was not that bad, but others in the same region were more a territory for gangs than places for learning. Brazil was still stumbling.That year, our Congress impeached President Fernando Collor over a money-for-influence scheme. Protesters then, like now, took to the streets to demand an end to government corruption. Those Olympics in Spain were truly a world away for us. With inflation still high, my mother would run to the supermarket each payday to stock up on supplies for the month, not knowing if the cost of milk might skyrocket the very next day.In those next few years, change did come. Brazil adopted a new currency and an economic plan that brought some stabilization and growth.By the time the Atlanta Games opened in 1996, my family had saved so much that we started a little restaurant near Rio de Janeiro. College, and my dreams of reporting, seemed closer. When Sydney played Olympic host in 2000, I was teaching English and taking a college preparatory course. Two years later, I managed to enter a good private university. Then came Athens in 2004, and the chance at a sports internship that included a special assignment: Helping to cover the Olympics from afar.From 2004 to 2008, Brazil improved so much that we started feeling overconfident. Social programs and a minimum wage policy dragged tens of millions out of poverty. We felt as if we were about to become a global player. Amid a commodities boom, we spent big on flat-screen TVs, cars and expensive vacations. Lost your job? You could get another quickly.Thats what led me to wave goodbye to steady work and pay my own way to Beijing for the Summer Games of 2008. I wasnt even accredited to cover sports, so instead I wrote about protests and Brazilian spectators as a freelancer. All I wanted was to tick that box and tell my grandmother that the Olympics were indeed far, but I could now go there. And so I did.It only really sank in that I was at the Olympics the night Usain Bolt won gold in the 100 meters, setting a world record. I was in an area of Beijing called Sanlitun, and I celebrated with fans from all nations. In a way, that seemed to be what the Olympics are all about: an excuse to bring different people together.When I returned home, the global economic crisis began and Brazil, like everyone else, was hit -- although not nearly as hard as others. When the world sneezed, Brazil usually caught pneumonia. Now the world had pneumonia, and Brazil only a cold.Another remarkable thing happened that year: Rio de Janeiro was picked as a finalist to host the 2016 Olympics, alongside Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid. In modern times, Brazil had bid -- and lost out -- on the games three other times, for 2000, 2004 and 2012. We Brazilians never thought we really had a shot, especially against President Barack Obamas city of Chicago.So on Oct. 2, 2009, when then-IOC President Jacques Rogge opened the envelope and the card inside read Rio de Janeiro, back in my newsroom in Sao Paulo I yelled: YEAH!Because I walked the same rocky but successful path of so many Brazilians of my generation, I never felt that the International Olympic Committee was making a concession when it awarded the games to Rio. We did not get this honor because the IOC took pity on us. It was a deserved victory for a country that was more promising then than it is now. As a nation, Brazil should have the opportunity to show our rise, resilience and, yes, the shortcomings that remain.Friday night, when the fireworks went off and the games of the 31st Olympiad were declared open, I saw it all from the press box -- where I helped write the story of the first Olympic opening ceremony in my beloved Brazil. I felt proud, but tense. I wanted us to put on a good show. We didnt hide our flaws even as we exhibited what we do best through our love of music and dance, and in the message about our environment.Brazil celebrated the Olympics as it needs to be celebrated.My grandmother did not live to see the games come to our native soil, but I am sure that if she were here, shed smile knowing that the Olympics are no longer so very far, and that Brazilians like me helped make faraway so close.---Mauricio Savarese is an Associated Press reporter who writes about politics, crime and, yes, sports. He is a native of Sao Paulo, based now in Rio de Janeiro. He has covered, in person, three Olympics: Beijing, London and, now, Rio.Cheap Nike Air More Uptempo Shoes . Duchene scored two goals and had an assist, helping the Colorado Avalanche beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Friday night to match the best 10-game start in team history. Nike React Element 55 For Sale . Fred Couples, captain of the U.S. side, put it all into perspective. "We know whos in charge," he said. http://www.nikereactsale.com/epic-react-flyknit-shoes.html . It just didnt show when he hit the ice. Berra made 42 saves and Kris Russell scored at 1:32 of overtime, lifting the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night. Nike React China . Vokoun departed practice on Saturday morning after discovering swelling in his thigh. He was taken to a local hospital where the clot was revealed. The club announced the surgery following a 5-3 exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Nike React Element 87 Trainer . Tuesdays surgery at Atlantas Piedmont Hospital was performed by Dr. Xavier Duralde and Hawks team physician Dr. Michael Bernot.This story is part of ESPN The Magazines Oct. 31 NBA Preview Issue. Subscribe today!Philadelphia EaglesOverall: 86 Title track: 95 Ownership:?65 Coaching: 102 Players: 92 Fan relations: 80 Affordability: 87 Stadium experience: 94 Bang for the buck: 76 Change from last year: -13When voting for the Ultimate Standings was completed in late August, the buzz surrounding the Philadelphia Eagles was near an all-time low. Jaded as a result of how things ended with Chip Kelly and uninspired by the QB pairing of Doug Pederson and Sam Bradford, fans were bracing for a boring year that was viewed as more of an obstacle between them and the start of the Carson Wentz era. That helps explain why the overall number fell 13 points, and why the Eagles failed to score well in just about every category. Since then? Well, Wentz has been thrust into the starting role, and a better-than-expected start to the year might have people rethinking these numbers.Whats goodEagles owner Jeffrey Lurie saw an 11-point jump in the approval ratings, up to 65th, the Eagles best showing. Lurie has been nothing if not active over the past year: He dramatically changed courses by firing Kelly not long after giving him full personnel control, then turned to the familiar by bringing in Andy Reid protégé Pederson as his successor. He wrote check after check -- $280 million in total, nearly double the next-highest teams total -- in guaranteed money for players this offseason. And he signed off on an aggressive plan to attack the quarterback position, which included trading up twice to snatch Wentz with the No. 2 overall pick in this Aprils draft. There iis a real sense that Lurie, now 65 and Super Bowl-less since buying the team in 1994, is taking a more hands-on approach.ddddddddddddhats badA lack of identity likely factored into the players ranking dipping 32 spots from last year. Hopes were high entering last season after Kelly blew up the roster and brought in his own guys -- a group that included Sam Bradford, DeMarco Murray, Byron Maxwell and Kiko Alonso. Howie Roseman, back in charge of personnel, worked to reverse just about every move Kelly made. Safe to say, there are a lot of unwearable player jerseys buried in closets across the Philadelphia area right now. That No. 11 Wentz jersey seems like a keeper, though, and chances are this rating will experience a spike by the time the 2017 Ultimate Standings are released.Whats newCoaching took a major hit, plummeting 69 points from 33 to 102. That speaks to the optimism surrounding Kelly last year after a pair of 10-6 seasons, the level of disappointment across the region when that experiment crashed hard, and the skepticism with which the Pederson hire was met. Pederson has acquitted himself pretty well in the early going, however, and, after being duped by the Kelly hype, Eagles fans are almost ready to put themselves out there again. Almost. If nothing else, it can be said that having three QB experts on the staff (Pederson, offensive coordinator Frank Reich and quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo) has been good for the development of Wentz.Next: Dallas Cowboys?| Full rankings ' ' '