into the clash with the Cowboys and he will take the same

RIO DE JANEIRO -- In order to reach the starting blocks of the Olympic 50-meter freestyle final, Anthony Ervin had to get down on one knee. It wasnt a formal prayer, but rather a humble and fearless admission that he wasnt done learning at age 35.In pursuit of a third Olympic appearance 16 years after his first, Ervin migrated to Charlotte in the spring of 2016 to train with veteran head coach David Marsh and a stellar training group at the SwimMAC Carolina Elite club.Ive got no pixie dust, Marsh told Ervin, but he was happy to have him. Ervin commands respect among his fellow athletes for his fluid technique in the pool and the wisdom gained from diverse and sometimes wrenching experiences during a eight-year hiatus from the sport. He makes people around him laugh, he makes them think, and he makes them stare in wonder at the way he arrows through the water.Ervin was in need of help with one crucial flaw: His dive. Like a gymnasts early bobble on the balance beam, fractions lost on the start can cancel out the other 20-plus seconds of brilliant execution in the 50 free.The best in the water, the worst off the blocks, Marsh said. Tonys so good up on the surface of the water. We want to get him up there quick as we can.Marshs club has the use of a contraption called a Kistler machine, which overlays a starting block with force plates and measures a swimmers acceleration out of the dive through the first 15 meters. The coach tried adjusting Ervins feet, making subtle changes to pressure and weight shift.Finally, he decided to strip things down. Marsh took Ervin to the deep end of the pool, put a kickboard on the ground and had him kneel, point his hands and plunge, just as the coach would with a 10-year-old. Diving 101, Marsh said. Then we progressed to standing up -- literally, he did dives like a novice swimmer. We took it all the way back there, and somewhere in there, we found it.The deconstruction gave Ervin an average of about three-tenths of a second over the first 15 meters -- a pinch of pixie dust that has helped propel him into Friday nights 50-meter final, within reach of an individual Olympic medal for the second time since he tied Gary Hall Jr. for gold as a raw 19-year-old in Sydney in 2000.Ervin auctioned off that medal for tsunami relief in 2004 after the massive loss of life in Indonesia. He was done with elite sport and all its trappings at that point, done with people trying to mine his mixed racial and ethnic heritage to reach some greater conclusion. He had detoured into a different kind of fast lane, immersing himself in self-discovery via self-destruction, and navigating some riptides along the way.It gains so much momentum from your youth and it becomes an existential question: Did I exist just for this? Ervin told me of the disorientation he felt in his early 20s. What now? Where is the purpose? Sometimes theres no answers at all and theres this silence that can whisk something out of you. He filled the void by self-medicating with drugs, sex, a two-pack-a-day cigarette habit and progressively riskier motorcycle rides that brought him to a literal precipice. Ervin chronicled that journey in a recent memoir, Chasing Water: Elegy of an Olympian, written in alternating sections of first- and third-person with co-author Constantine Markides.Writing about the aftermath of one especially reckless trip, Ervin recalled, In one fell swoop, that sense of invincibility that Ive been feeling for so long evaporates in a snarling hangover of coke and Vodka and acid... I could have and should have died last night.In Berkeley last year, many months before the book was released, Ervin gave me a preview of how forthright it would be, and added, I hope my parents are OK with it. This week, his mother Sherry said she stood behind his right to tell the story but hopes he writes a sequel, or at least an epilogue. She didnt understand the depth of his darkness, and in retrospect, Im glad, she said on the phone from South Carolina. I wouldnt have been able to do anything about it, anyway. Anthony digs in his heels, and if you push him, he just digs harder.Tony, as hes known nearly everywhere in swimming except the official start sheets, was Sherry and Jack Ervins middle son of three, innately warm and generous and such an avid reader that Sherry found herself unable to carry through with the sternest punishment she tried to impose -- taking away his books. At 11, Ervin was diagnosed with a mild form of Tourettes Syndrome that had to be managed with medication.As a teenager, Ervins original spirit and his athletic talent alchemized into one ropy, elegant world-class sprinter who endeared himself to a series of coaches -- all of whom are invisibly embedded in his stroke.He will never fit into anyones system, but benefits from everyones system, said Mike Bottom, the University of Michigan head coach who was one of Ervins early mentors at Cal. Ervin returned there to train with mens and womens head coaches Dave Durden and Teri McKeever in his 2011 comeback, and also did a stint at Dave Salos Trojan Swim Club at the University of Southern California before alighting in Charlotte last spring.Teaching inner-city kids to swim was an important part of Ervins journey back to the pool, which makes it all the more fitting that he was willing to go back to a childhood space with Marsh to rebuild his dive. But that was just the final tweak after years of internal work to travel at great speed with little effort, as the coach put it.It shows on land as well. At the U.S. Olympic swim trials in Omaha last month, hundreds of children, senior citizens and adults in between lined up for an autograph and a few words from the man with the high-wattage smile and the inked arms. Behind Ervin was a giant cover image of his book, which depicts him underwater in the lotus position, floating taut but somehow comfortably -- which sums him up in general. He has transitioned into being a more public person without artificial packaging, a true feat in the world of Olympic sport, where narratives are often enhanced with a little helium.Maybe youve just gotta drink some of your own Kool-Aid to know youre gonna make it through, Ervin said, speaking of the dips and spikes of any athletes life, and specifically about himself. After all, you did become an Olympian, against all those odds. Neil deGrasse Tyson said its OK to encourage others to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, but if you do, just remember, some people have no boots.That being said, anyone whos an Olympian or an Olympic champion, they have their own boots.With understandable pride, Sherry Ervin said her son has already won by getting to Rio, whatever the outcome. He already has a 4x100 freestyle relay gold at this meet that is a tribute not only to his talent, but also the years hes put into enhancing team chemistry as a co-captain.His ambition is to finish well, and hes not finished yet, Marsh said after Ervin qualified for the 2016 team in Omaha. After all these years in the water, that finish could come down to the open mind that gave him a fresh start. Fake China Jerseys . Blackwood, 28, has played the last three seasons in the San Diego Padres system, including the past two summers with Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League. Cheap Jerseys From China . 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Chad Townsend shunned the outside world as he bounced back from his playoffs benching to play a lead role in Cronullas preliminary final win.And the Sharks halfback will do the same in the lead up to Sundays NRL grand final against Melbourne.Townsend was dragged by Sharks coach Shane Flanagan in the qualifying win over Canberra.For the two weeks in the lead-up to the preliminary final clash with North Queensland the Sharks junior tuned out of social media, turned off the TV, shunned the internet and ignored the newspapers.It enabled Townsend to take a clear head into the clash with the Cowboys and he will take the same approach to avoid the hype of grand final week.Ive cut out the social media, Ive cut out the news and everything like that for a couple of weeks now. Its cleared my head. Mentally and physically, Ive felt pretty good ever since, Townseend said.dddddddddddd.Ill continue to do that until the end of the season. Its an exciting time of the year but its also very easy to be distracted by the hype I guess.I can change that by focusing on what I do with the training and the time I put in.Townsend paid credit to halves partner James Maloney, who will play in his third decider in six years on Sunday, for helping him regain his confidence.Jimmy has a lot of big game experience and thats something Ive drawn off him, Townsend said.Hes played Origin and grand finals and to me - at the clutch moments - hes really been there for me.Im really trying to learn off him in those moments. 100 per cent he helps ease the pressure on me - thats been a key factor in my season. ' ' '