RIO DE JANEIRO -- The president of cyclings world governing body defended the Olympic road course on Saturday, calling it a fair test and suggesting those who crashed pushed past their limits. Brent Barry Jersey .Brian Cookson addressed a number of issues during a wide-ranging news conference at the Rio de Janeiro Games at the midway point of the cycling program, including doping, the schedule of the track cycling program and several road racing issues.But perhaps the biggest hot-button issue through a week of competition was a road course that some had labeled too dangerous. One particularly nasty descent caused riders such as Italian star Vincenzo Nibali to go down and left Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten in the hospital.Weve had discussions about the number of crashes and the circumstances, Cookson said. It is my belief and our belief at the UCI that the courses were in the bounds of what was reasonable.Van Vleuten spent several days in the hospital with a concussion and three small fractures to her spine. She flew home to the Netherlands on Friday to continue her recovery.Its the riders responsibility to make the right decisions, Cookson said. I went to speak with Annemiek in the hospital and talked to her, and in her case, it was an error of judgment there.Cookson was also asked about the silver medal won by Olga Zabelinskaya in the time trial. It came just days after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled a ban on Russian athletes who had been barred from competing for prior doping offenses was unenforceable, allowing Zabelinskaya to compete.The Russian cyclist who finished second in the time trial was entitled to be here under the rules of the [World Anti-Doping Agency] and the IOC, Cookson said. Im guessing she will not be the only previously convicted doped athlete at the Games.Cookson has been working to clean up the sport after years of doping, including Lance Armstrongs admission of guilt a few years ago. He said the positive test of a Brazilian cyclist in an out-of-competition test the week before the road race was a sign of progress.Ive said this many times before, cycling has been leading for many years in the fight against doping in sport, Cookson said. Whether there is a small number of athletes trying to cheat, I hope not, but if they are, we will catch them and we will sanction them.In other issues:? Cookson said the UCI is still examining the blood bags from Operation Puerto, the Spanish police investigation into a doping ring led by Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes. Cookson otherwise declined to comment on the ongoing investigation, saying only that when we have something to report, we will.??The UCI is confident WorldTour teams will compete in the team time trial at the world championships in Qatar. Several teams announced plans to boycott the event, in part because they are required to compete at their own expense.??Cookson said he was open to smaller teams in major events such as the Tour de France, but he warned that I think some of the bigger teams would object to that, and there are pros and cons to the details of that. Its something I wouldnt rule, out but lets move forward gradually.??The UCI hopes to expand the cycling program at future Olympics, though Cookson did not say whether it would be merely an expansion of the track program or the addition of another discipline, such as downhill mountain biking or freestyle BMX competition. Desmond Mason Jersey .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage. Dick Snyder Jersey . Shot outdoors against the stunning backdrop of Banff, Alta., the networks 30-minute original production airs tonight at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2. The four All-Star teams will play for $100,000 in prize money during TSNs annual skins game, airing live this weekend on TSN from The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre. https://www.supersonicsjerseys.com/1180s...upersonics.html . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. Liberty Universitys recent decision to hire former Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw is being met with ire from students and alumni.McCaw is coming off a tainted tenure at Baylor. According to a?Nov. 11 statement released by the school, McCaw and former Baylor football coach Art Briles failed to report an allegation of a 2012 sexual assault involving five football players to Baylors judicial affairs office.?On Nov. 2, Baylors former?Title IX coordinator said?McCaw asked her for immunity for football players when she started investigating allegations of sexual assault. (Briles has since sued Baylor officials for libel and slander.)McCaw is also named in a lawsuit filed by a former Baylor student who was raped by a football player who is now serving 20 years in prison for his crime, and an investigation by a Philadelphia law firm found that 17 women since 2011 reported incidents of sexual and domestic violence allegedly involving 19 football players, Baylor regents told The Wall Street Journal in late October. Four of the cases reportedly involved gang rapes.Prior to his resignation, McCaw presided over a football program that went to a bowl game every season from 2010 to 2015, the team winning three of the six.You look at what Baylor was able to do during [McCaws] tenure, it fits perfectly with where we see our sports programs going, Liberty president Jerry Falwell Jr. said in a Nov. 28?statement.I cant think of an athletic director in the country who is more sensitized to the importance of complying with the intricacies of Title IX than Ian McCaw, Falwell said in a separate Nov. 29 statement.Many connected to Liberty dont share Falwells confidence. Almost two weeks after his hiring, alumni, students and athletes contacted by espnW remain concerned by McCaws past and their universitys decision to seemingly put athletics before the Christian values it holds so dear.Libertys mission statement emphasizes a commitment to the Christian life, one of personal integrity, sensitivity to the needs of others, social responsibility and active communication of the Christian faith.Liberty alumnus Nick Tarter, the pastor at CityLife Baptist Church in Bethany, Oklahoma, grew up on Big 12 football as an Oklahoma fan and closely followed the Baylor scandal. Seeing McCaw get another chance, let alone at his school, felt like a punch in the gut, he said.To me its not even a question of whether hes been implicated in the investigation at Baylor, Tarter said. He didnt stand up and stand in the way of those things as they were coming down the pipeline. There is a stain on everyone who was involved.Liberty, located in Lynchburg, Virginia, put out a blanket order that all requests for comment on McCaw be sent to spokesman Len Stevens. When asked for a comment from Falwell, Stevens provided espnW with his previously released statements. Libertys Title IX coordinator also didnt return interview requests, and McCaw declined an interview request via the athletics department.Multiple requests for comment sent to members of the board of trustees were also rebuffed. A secretary at the parish of trustee Dr. Allen McFarland said all members were told to direct comments to Stevens.No student contacted by espnW wanted to speak on the record about McCaw for fear of retaliation. But interviews and a confidential online survey with more than two dozen Liberty students showed that almost none support Falwells decision. Every student said bringing in McCaw hurt the universitys public image.More than a dozen alumni conntacted by espnW said they dont support McCaw, and three said they wont be contributing money to the university as long as McCaw is in charge of the athletics department. Danny Fortson Jersey. One Liberty student said the administration uses the following rationale to sell McCaw: Good Christians believe in repentance, and McCaw deserves a second chance. That stance is then twisted to frame any stand against McCaw and Falwell as an immoral act, the student said.Its manipulative -- its abusive, honestly -- and Im surprised by the number of students that have fallen into that mindset here as well, the student said.A former Liberty athlete said if she was still playing, shed seriously consider leaving the school because of the McCaw hire.Many student-athletes disagree with Jerrys decision to force [former athletic director] Jeff Barber to resign and hire Ian McCaw, but we are afraid to speak up because we fear we will lose our athletic scholarship and no longer be allowed to play our sport here, said another current Liberty athlete, who also asked to remain anonymous.Falwell has a history of retribution at Liberty. After Falwell offered public support for Donald Trump during his presidential campaign, Liberty board member Mark DeMoss criticized the move in a Washington Post article. DeMoss had been on the board of trustees for more than 25 years and was involved with the university for more than 40. He was classmates with Falwell during their time at Liberty. DeMoss was asked to resign from the executive board following his statement.Falwell also reportedly blocked the publishing of a column in Libertys student newspaper that condemned Trumps commentary on locker room talk.?McCaw left his post at Baylor four days after the university decided to make sweeping changes across the athletic department and its administration. In May -- less than a year after law firm Pepper Hamilton began its independent investigation of the university, in which it found widespread failures in the schools Title IX process and voiced concerns about the tone and culture within Baylors football program -- Ken Starr was removed from his position as Baylor president, Briles was suspended indefinitely with intent to terminate his contract, and McCaw was sanctioned and placed on probation.[McCaws] decision to resign was his own choice. It was in no way a forced resignation or firing by Baylor, Falwell said in the Nov. 29 statement. If he made any mistakes at Baylor, they appear to be technical and unintentional, out of line with an otherwise distinguished record.McCaw isnt the only ex-Baylor official at Liberty. Former Baylor Title IX investigator Ian McRary, who left that post in January, was named associate general counsel for Liberty in February.Upon hiring McCaw, Liberty cited Baylors 58 Big 12 conference titles during his tenure. Liberty football sold out its 19,200-seat stadium once this past season, didnt make the FCS playoffs and averaged a little less than 3,000 empty seats per home game.McCaw said the goal of FBS football is very much at the forefront for Liberty, a Big South program now under his direction.I went there because I do believe in the things theyre saying about character and preparing people to impact the world from a Christian worldview, said Tarter, who got his graduate degree in theology from Liberty. Do we care more now about trying to build a good football program? ' ' '