we will lose.Russia is the dominant force in the sport and would enter 17

HOOVER, Ala. -- People are talking about the Tennessee Volunteers as potential Southeastern Conference contenders again.After making steady progress the past three years under coach Butch Jones and bringing in three straight highly rated recruiting classes, the Vols are again regarded as legitimate contenders in the SEC Eastern Division.Many of the questions Jones and his players faced Tuesday at the leagues media days concerned dealing with hype and divisional front-runner status. Its a fairly dramatic change from a few years ago.I remember standing up here at the podium three short years ago, and the room was half filled and nobody was talking about Tennessee football, Jones said. Thats why you coach. Thats why you play, is to be in a program like the University of Tennessee where everybody is talking about you. Thats what you work for. Now its what you do with that opportunity.Tennessee hasnt won an SEC title since the 1998 national championship team. The Vols last played in the SEC title game in 2007, largely falling behind Georgia, Florida and other programs at times during that stretch.Jones has led the Vols on a climb from five wins to seven to nine during his first three years. They finished second in the East last season after blowing a fourth-quarter lead in a 28-27 loss to eventual division champion Florida.Now, quarterback Joshua Dobbs is trying to help continue the rise. Dobbs calls the hype outside noise but enjoys being part of Tennessees resurgence under Jones.The biggest thing it shows is just how far weve come from when guys like me, Cam (Sutton) and Jalen (Reeves-Maybin) were freshmen, Dobbs said. There wasnt much talk about Tennessee. Thats the biggest thing. Its good to see that Tennessee has definitely risen and Tennessee is back to where traditional Tennessee has been.Having an experienced quarterback in a league filled with unproven starters helps raise the expectations for Tennessee. The Vols have also got a 1,200-yard rusher in Jalen Hurd and defensive standouts like defensive end Derek Barnett and cornerback Cameron Sutton.Now, the challenge for the players is living up to the hype. So far, so good, according to Jones.They have not looked up, he said. They have not blinked, and theyve just been focused on their own self-determination, becoming a better football player and becoming a better football team. Thats really what you can do. David Luiz Chelsea Jersey . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field. Jorginho Chelsea Jersey . According the Toronto Star, a knee injury will keep Sundin out of the lineup, which includes former teammates Gary Roberts, Darcy Tucker, Tie Domi and Curtis Joseph. http://www.chelseafcproshop.com/Kids-Cesar-Azpilicueta-Jersey/ . 8 Iowa State on Saturday, sending the Cyclones to their third consecutive loss. The Longhorns (14-4, 3-2) got their biggest win of the season with their third in the row in the Big 12. Emerson Jersey .com) - The red-hot Los Angeles Kings will try to extend their winning streak to a season-high seven games when they visit the Edmonton Oilers for Sundays clash at Rexall Place. Chelsea Jerseys .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have placed centre Cody Hodgson on injured reserve and recalled two players from their AHL affiliate in Rochester. LONDON -- As the clock ticks down to the opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, international Olympic leaders are facing a seminal moment.With the credibility of the fight against doping on the line and the image of the Olympic movement at stake, the IOC will hold a crucial meeting Sunday to consider whether to ban Russia entirely from the Rio Games because of systematic, state-sponsored cheating.Short of a blanket ban, the International Olympic Committee could leave it to individual sports federations to decide on a case-by-case basis whether to allow Russian athletes in their events.The doping crisis represents one of the Olympic movements biggest challenges since the boycott era of the 1980s, and how it plays out may well define Thomas Bachs IOC presidency.The IOCs ruling 15-member executive board will meet via teleconference to weigh the unprecedented step of excluding Russia as a whole from the games. Bach and others have spoken of a need to balance individual justice versus collective punishment.Time is of the essence, with the games set to open in Rio on Aug. 5.Russias track and field athletes have already been banned by the IAAF, the sports governing body, following allegations of state-directed doping -- a decision that was upheld Thursday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.Calls for a complete ban on Russia have intensified since Monday when Richard McLaren, a Canadian lawyer commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, issued a report accusing Russias sports ministry of overseeing a vast doping program of its Olympic athletes.McLarens investigation, based heavily on evidence from former Moscow doping lab director Grigory Rodchenkov, affirmed allegations of brazen manipulation of Russian urine samples at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, but also found that state-backed doping had involved 28 summer and winter sports from 2011 to 2015.Bach said the findings showed a shocking and unprecedented attack on the integrity of sports and on the Olympic Games and declared the IOC will not hesitate to take the toughest sanctions available against any individual or organization implicated.Russia also faces a possible ban from the Paralympic Games. Citing evidence in McLarens report of doping among Russian Paralympic athletes, the International Paralympic Committee said Friday it will decide next month whether to exclude the country from the Sept. 7-18 event in Rio.The decision for the IOC is loaded with geopolitical ramifications.Never has a country been kicked out of the Olympics for doping violations. And Vladimir Putins Russia is a sports powerhouse, a huge country seeking to reaffirm its status on the world stage, and a major player in the Olympic movement. Many international Olympic officials and federation leaders have close ties to Russia, which has portrayed the exclusion of its track athletes and calls for a complete ban as part of a political, Western-led campaign.Putin, citing the U.S. and Soviet-led boycotts of the 1980 and 1984 Games, said the Olympic movement could once again find itself on the brink of a division.Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev wrote an open letter to Bach on Friday to plead against a blanket ban.I am worried and deeply upset by the possibility that in the case of a ban on Russian athletes competing in the Olympics, the innocent will be punished along with the guilty, Gorbachev wrote. For me the principlle of collective punishment is unacceptable.ddddddddddddBach and other Olympic officials have repeatedly cited the difference between collective and individual punishment.It is obvious, Bach said last week, that you cannot punish a badminton player for infringement of rules or manipulation by an official or a lab director in the Winter Games.For many in the anti-doping community, however, the choice is simple: The extent of state-backed doping in Russia has tainted the countrys entire sports system and the only way to ensure a level playing field is to bar the whole team, even if some innocent athletes will lose out.Former WADA president Dick Pound, a senior IOC member from Canada, accused Bach of dithering and failing to live up to his zero tolerance line on doping. He said the IOC will face a backlash if it decides against a full ban.I think it will go down very badly, Pound told The Associated Press. I think there will be an athletes revolt, a public revolt, maybe even the sponsors. Youve got to take control of it, and show your leadership. The hesitation makes it looks worse and worse.If the IOC hands the authority to the sports federations, they may not have all the information they need from the McLaren report to act. Some sports, such as gymnastics, were not cited in the report and feel there is no justification to ban Russians. And the federations all have different rules.Wrestling accounted for 28 of the 312 positive tests that were covered up by Russia between 2011 and 2015, according to McLarens report. Nenad Lalovic, president of wrestlings international federation, said he asked WADA to send him specifics but had yet to receive anything.This is madness, he said Saturday in a telephone interview with AP. What can I do without any evidence? Do I have time to process these cases? Do the accused have a right to appeal? Its a legal minefield. If I try to ban someone, they will take us to court and we will lose.Russia is the dominant force in the sport and would enter 17 athletes for the Rio Games, where the wrestling competition starts on Aug. 14. Lalovic, a Serb who is also an IOC member, claimed the investigation had created an atmosphere of hysteria and he criticized former WADA president John Fahey of Australia for calling for an outright ban.Im not here to defend Russia, Lalovic said. They have to pay. But everyone has to take responsibility, including WADA. Its a no-win situation. Whatever decision the IOC makes, they will look bad.WADA and many national anti-doping agencies and athletes groups have led the calls for a total Russian ban from Rio.A coalition of 14 national anti-doping agencies sent a letter to Bach saying the IOCs initial response did not meet his pledge of the toughest sanctions available. The group called on the IOC to suspend the Russian Olympic Committee and set up a task force that could allow certain Russians to compete under a neutral flag if proven to be clean.Any Russian Olympic sport athlete who had not been subject to independent testing in recent months should not be in Rio, Richard Ings, former head of Australias anti-doping agency, told the AP.---Follow Stephen Wilson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/stevewilsonap. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/stephen-wilson ' ' '