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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has shown no symptoms of a concussion in the aftermath of Thursdays opener against Denver that would prevent him from playing in Sundays home opener against San Francisco.The only thing Ill say is hes sore in terms of playing-the-game sore, coach Ron Rivera said Monday of Newton, who took four helmet-to-helmet hits in the 21-20 loss to the defending Super Bowl champions. Not anything else sore.Hes tough, hes resilient. Hes moving around pretty good today.But at least one of Newtons teammates remains upset that the officials called only one penalty against Denver for helmet-to-helmet hits. That came on Carolinas final drive and was negated by an intentional grounding penalty on the NFL MVP.Hes treated like a running back -- and hes not, Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen?said of Newton. Hes a quarterback that happens to be big. And fast. And strong.Olsen and Rivera agreed that Newton doesnt get the benefit of such calls because at 6-foot-5 and 260 pounds, hes bigger than most quarterbacks and carries the ball a lot in the read-option offense.Newton rushed 11 times against Denver.Thats what drives me nuts, Olsen said. They say, Oh, but he runs the ball so much. Every single one of those times he was playing quarterback. I dont give a s--- if he ran the ball 10 plays in a row as a running back. When he is a passer, he is a passer. Period.Im not saying Cam should get different rules than anybody else. Just call the rules for every single person that is a quarterback. Period.Rivera agreed.The hard part is the hits that a lot of people are concerned [about] was when he was a passer, he said. It came about because he was a passer, and as long as hes behind the line of scrimmage hes afforded quarterback protection.Olsen and Rivera each noted plays in Sundays games in which the defense was flagged for a helmet-to-helmet hit that was far less violent than some of those Newton took.Olsen mentioned specifically a roughing-the-passer penalty called against the Bengals in which the defenders hand brushed the helmet of Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.Its almost insulting, Olsen said. Its insulting.Rivera wondered whether the officiating became stricter because of what happened to Newton.There were a couple that I watched that I thought, Hmmm. OK, Rivera said.Rivera sent several of the helmet-to-helmet hits to Newton that werent penalized to the league office. He hasnt gotten a response yet.Rivera doesnt know when the NFL or NFL Players Association will conclude its investigation into whether the team and league responded appropriately under the concussion protocol by not taking Newton out of the game to evaluate him.He hopes a ruling is made by Wednesday so we can start focusing on San Francisco.The Panthers could be subject to fines or even the loss of draft picks if it is determined they didnt respond appropriately.Rivera defended his staff, reminding that Pro Bowl middle linebacker Luke Kuechly was taken from the game late in the first half of last years opener and missed the next three games with a concussion.Our guys are very aware, and they understand the rules, the protocol, Rivera said. Its just unfortunate some people dont understand what the protocol is.Ozzie Smith Jersey . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. George Hill stole a bad pass and was going in for a layup, and Pierce hustled back and appeared to be trying to wrap him up. Eric Hosmer Jersey . -- Cam Newton pranced into the end zone, placed his hands over his chest and did his familiar Superman pose. http://www.padressale.com/padres-garrett-richards-jersey/ .1 million pounds ($61.2 million) on Saturday, giving the beleaguered English Premier League champions a major lift. Rickey Henderson Jersey . Cote was eligible to become a free agent Feb. 15. Cote helped running back Jon Cornish run for a league-high 1,813 rushing yards en route to being named the leagues most outstanding player. Aaron Loup Jersey . The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling "puts an end to my dreams of being a top player," the 27-year-old Troicki said in a statement. "I worked my entire life for it, and it has been taken away from me in one afternoon by a doctor I didnt know," said Troicki, whose ranking peaked at No.RIO DE JANIERO -- Its the phrase thats uttered at the start of every Olympics and consists of just four little words -- Let the Games begin. But Friday night, even more than usual, they felt like four of the most potent words in the vocabulary of sports because of what they signaled.Finally, blessedly, and not a moment too soon for Rio de Janeiro, its 2016 Summer Olympic Games have been officially handed off to the athletes now -- not the stumbling organizers and their bumbling contractors, not the IOC fat cats who are too busy picking shrimp cocktail from their teeth to ban all the drug cheats. Or the rock-throwing protesters who bedeviled the running of Brazils Olympic torch relay and showed up by the hundreds again Friday night, prompting security forces to disperse them with tear gas less than a mile from where teams from a record 207 nations marched onto the floor of Maracana Stadium to take part in a rousing opening ceremony.Despite down-to-the-bone budget cuts that left producers of Friday nights show joking We cried -- in fear as they studied more extravagantly funded opening ceremonies, the first Olympic Games held in South America kicked off with a joyous show. It delivered on its planners promise to make up for their relatively modest budget with ingenuity, energy, stirring samples of some of the countrys best indigenous music, and some lighthearted touches that were meant to acknowledge life might not be perfect in Brazil, but theres a lot to love and marvel about here if you suspend judgement and lean in closely enough.From Brazilian recording star Luiz Melodias rendition of Aquele Abraco, the farewell song penned by his legendary countryman Gilberto Gil, to the shows evocation of Brazils ethnic diversity and status as the biggest garden on the planet (this is the home of the Amazon rain forest, after all), the ceremony gave these Games an unmistakable sense of time and place.There were symbolic pleas for peace and tolerance -- a nod to world events beyond Brazil. There were beat-driven Samba, funk carioca, and bossa nova songs that pulled people to their feet and had them dancing in place. In the wide-open spirit of Carnival, Brazils most famous supermodel (Gisele Bundchen) and its most famous transgender model (Lea T) took star turns. There was a street-dancing performance meant to evoke the art that springs from the miserably poor tin-roofed favelas that go staggering up the hills and valleys around Rio like makeshift Lego cities, one red-blocked unit stacked atop another; the segment was intended to be a reminder that beauty and wonder live even in the most unlikeliest and challenging places.Pele, now 75 years old and still the most famous sports star this soccer-crazed country has produced, grew up in one such slum. His absence here Friday because of ill health was felt.But hundreds of other notable athletes did show. Swimmer Michael Phelps, the 22-time Olympic medalist, carried the flag for the American team, which arrived earlier in the lineup than usual because Estados Unidos is the Portuguese spelling of United States. The first-ever Refugee Olympic Team, which this year is commposed of 10 athletes from strife-torn South Sudan, Syria, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, marched in under the five-ring Olympic flag.dddddddddddd Sprinter Etimoni Timuani, the only athlete from the South Pacific nation of Tuvalu, strode in rocking a ribboned sarong, the Austrians wore lederhosen, the Micronesian team wore head wreaths that appeared woven from palm fronds and Chinas team acknowledged their hosts by waving little Brazilian flags as well as their own.Brazilians have understandably been of two minds about hosting these Olympics because of the economic crises and political upheaval that have developed since the IOC awarded Rio these Games in 2008. Times were far better then. Theyre more fractious now. Crime has spiked. The Zika virus remains a concern. Promises that the Games would leave an improved infrastructure and cleaned-up waterways around Rio have not been kept, making the estimated $4.6 billion price of these Olympics (it spikes to $20 billion counting infrastructure costs) feel unconscionable to many.Brazil also has two sitting presidents at the moment because one, Dilma Rousseff, is scheduled to go to trial at the end of this month in impeachment proceedings, which opened the way for the other -- interim pick Michel Temer -- to preside Friday night.(The opening ceremony producers denied at their pre-show news conference Thursday that they had been told to create some sound effects to play if Temer was booed, which he was, when he took the podium to declare the Games open.)IOC president Thomas Bach acknowledged earlier this week that the road to the Rio Games had been long and testing, and the preparations were challenging.In one last flourish, the Olympic flame was brought into Maracana Stadium by Brazilian tennis champion Gustavo Kuerten, handed off to retired basketball star Hortencia Marcari to Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima, the marathoner who lost gold when he was attacked during the 2004 Summer Games. He lit the cauldron.We never give up, we never give up, Rio Organizing Committee president Carlos Nuzman said in a stem winder of a speech to the crowd. Lets stay together when differences challenge us.Much of Brazils troubled backstory will temporarily fade a bit into the background at daybreak Saturday, when the competitions begin in earnest with 16 sports contested and seven gold medals to be won. Over the next 16 days, the conversation will turn more to whether sprinter Usain Bolt can possibly win again, or whether Marta can lead Brazils womens soccer team to a gold medal. Would huge gold medal hauls by American gymnast Simone Biles and multievent U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky justify the talk that they already deserve to be placed among their sports greats?The best antidote for nearly everything that ails the Olympic Games has always been the transcendental contributions of the athletes themselves. There are roughly 10,500 of them here. Like Rio itself, they reliably provoke wonder. And they sure as hell know how to put on a show. ' ' '