Für unsere Gäste » Olympics: Michal Martikan of Slova

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Virginia wide receiver Keeon Johnson wishes he would have worked harder after a fast start to his career at Virginia. Instead, he went from having a prominent role in the Cavaliers plans to being an afterthought.Now, in his final season, the 6-foot-3, 215-pounder is trying to make up for lost time.After my first year, I kind of didnt grind as hard as I should have and I kind of got complacent and things like that, Johnson said. That can always come back and bite you in the end. Thats one thing I learned from it.A coaching change gave him new life, and a resolve to get back to working hard to be at his best. And it has paid off early in the season as Johnson has a team-high 17 catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns.In each of the previous two seasons, he managed just 13 catches per year.The Cavaliers (0-3) will look to get their first win on Saturday when they host Central Michigan (3-0). The Chippewas victories include a last-play win over then-No. 22 Oklahoma State.Johnson is eager to get back on the field and continue his career resurrection.It feels good. The biggest thing for me is just to have fun, Johnson said. Its my last year. Its going by way too fast so I just try to make every play, every rep count in practice. From winter workouts in the cold up to camp when its hot outside, you dont feel like doing anything, just try to have fun with it.Defensive end Andrew Brown spoke this week of players who he thought were in the shadows the last few seasons, all but forgotten by the coaching staff, even after making some contributions on the field. Seeing some of them like Johnson and pass-rushing specialist Mark Hall get back in the mix, Brown said, has been uplifting to everyone.Now I feel like this coaching staff is exposing them, finally, Brown said.Johnson, particularly, seems to have become one of quarterback Kurt Benkerts go-to receivers. As Virginia tried to rally last week in a 13-10 loss at Connecticut, Benkert hit Johnson for 34 yards on a fourth-down pass.The rally came up short when the Cavaliers missed a rushed short field goal attempt on the final play. Despite the winless start, Johnson, like many of his teammates, insists the confidence and winning attitude that new coach Bronco Mendenhall is working to instill gains momentum each week.I think everybodys even more focused than they were, Johnson said. You can see it throughout each week. We get closer and closer and everybody, they get hungrier and hungrier throughout the week. We have practice tonight and tomorrow morning were back at it and everybody should be full speed, running around. Theres no negative energy at all. Everybody still has high spirits and up, so thats one positive about the whole situation.Another is Johnson getting a second chance.My first year I was getting the ball a lot, but it came to the point where we were running a lot more than we would throw, he said. Now, in practice, Were throwing the ball a ton of times. Its more reps with me catching the ball and with other receivers as well. Just being able to get those mental reps and all the reps in practice, come game time it becomes easy.---Online: The APs college football page: http://collegefootball.ap.org---Follow Hank on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hankkurzjr Chris Sale Jersey Red Sox . Fred Couples, captain of the U.S. side, put it all into perspective. "We know whos in charge," he said. Reynaldo Lopez Jersey White Sox .ca! Kerry, Two nights after the Scott-Eriksson incident in Buffalo, the Bruins returned home to play San Jose. In that game, Zdeno Chara put a check on Tommy Wingels that clearly targeted his head. https://www.discountjerseysonline.com/mookie-betts-jersey-red-sox-795 . Andrew Luck lost his favourite target and the Indianapolis locker room lost one of its most revered leaders when Reggie Wayne was diagnosed Monday with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will cost him the rest of the season. Ryan Weber Jersey Red Sox . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. Sam Travis Jersey Red Sox . -- Canadian Andrew Wiggins got the ball on the wing, made a nifty spin move and then let go with a soft floater from about 10 feet that swished through the net in Allen Fieldhouse. Whitewater churns into foam as double-ended paddles windmill one-person boats into position. The paddles go up in the air as the boats slide through red or green gates, then the furious wind milling begins again.For a sport that doesnt get the attention of some of the more well-known ones, whitewater canoe and kayak has plenty of action and drama.A few things to look for in whitewater canoe/kayak at the Rio Olympics next month:THE LOWDOWN: The four canoe/kayak slalom events will be held Aug. 7-11, with medals award the final three days. Men compete in single and double canoe, along with kayak. Women compete in kayak only. The races will take place at the Whitewater Stadium in Deodoro on a steep 250-meter course that has between 18 and 25 gates. Green gates are negotiated with the current, red against it. Paddlers are assessed a two-second penalty for hitting a gate and 50 seconds for missing one completely.EUROPEAN DOMINANCE: European countries have dominated the sport since its inception at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and show no signs of letting loose of their stranglehold. In mens canoe slalom (C1), European counties have won every medal but one since the 1992 Barcelona Games, when the sport was put back into the Olympic program after a 20-year absence. Europe has accounted for all but one medal in kayak (K1) and 16 of 18 medals in two-person canoe (C2) during that span. Women have had a little better chance breaking through the European stronghold, with paddlers from the U.S. and Australia combining for six of the 18 medals since Barcelona.AMERICAN MEN: The United States team has two paddlers with solid chances to earn medals in Rio. Kayaker Michal Smolen, who emigrated from Poland as a child, was unable to compete at the 2012 London Games due to questions about his citizenship, but should make a strong run to the podium this time around. Smolen earned bronze at the 2015 world championsships and has times that compare to the best paddlers in the world.dddddddddddd Not bad for someone who was terrified of the water when he first started kayaking at 8. Canoeist Casey Eichfield will be competing in his third straight Olympics and will try to pull off a double, competing in C1 and C2 with Devin McEwan. Eichfield finished fourth at world championships and was in the top 15 his previous two Olympics.NEES RELIEF: Womens kayaker Ashley Nee had a rough road to her first Olympics. She qualified for the 2008 Beijing Games, but injured a shoulder during a test event and wasnt able to completely recover in time for the Olympic trials, finishing fourth. Nee had enough points to qualify for the 2012 London Games, but was edged out by Caroline Queen on a tiebreaker. Nee won the Olympic trials this May, yet still didnt have a spot secured; she had to await a decision by the International Canoe Federation to award the United States an additional athlete quota spot. Now at 27, shes headed to her first Olympics.C1 OPENING: Mens single canoe has been dominated by two paddlers the past five Olympics: Michal Martikan of Slovakia and Frances Tony Estanguet. Starting with the 1996 Atlanta Games, those two won every gold medal in C1; three by Estanguet and two by Martikan. There will be a different champion in Rio after Estanguet retired and Martikan, the only canoe slalomist to win five Olympic gold medals, failed to make the Slovakian team for Rio.KEEP AN EYE ON: Kayaker Jiri Prskavec of the Czech Republic is the type of paddler who could be uncatchable if hes on his game. His father, Jiri, was a two-time Olympian and the younger Prskavec has a chance to make bigger waves in Rio. He was the 2015 world champion and has five medals in world championship competition. ' ' '