Infos » eries of run-ins with the law -- mostly involving dr

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Its a bitter grudge that has lasted for years: Aaron Cook vs. Britain.Born and raised in the U.K., Cook is now a citizen of Moldova and will be fighting for that country in the mens 80-kilogram competition in what his British opponent Lutalo Muhammad describes as probably the biggest rivalry in taekwondo.Cook trained at Britains national academy but abandoned it ahead of the London Games after a coaching dispute. When it came to picking the Olympic team, British officials snubbed the top-ranked Cook in favor of 56th-ranked Lutalo Muhammad, who went on to win a bronze.Cook said he was heartbroken and felt cheated out of an opportunity to fight at his home Olympics. Some critics, however, said his diva-like tendencies were unbecoming of the Korean martial art, which values modesty and respect.Last year, Cook switched nationalities after the president of Moldovas taekwondo federation offered to pay for his training and expedite his passport so he could represent the former Soviet republic at international competitions.Muhammad says he would relish the opportunity to fight Cook, especially after he and his family received hate mail and abuse from Cook supporters after his Olympic selection.We are not friends, Muhammad said. Theres always fireworks when we fight.Both 25, they have fought four times and split victories evenly.That makes it even more tasty for a fifth fight, he said.Cook won a bronze for Moldova at last years world championships, losing to Muhammads teammate, Damon Samsun, who took silver. Muhammad was sidelined with a knee injury but defeated Cook at a competition in Mexico, where he also secured an Olympic spot for Britain.Anything between the two athletes should be settled on the mat in Rio, Muhammad said. Still, he called his rival a world-class fighter.Hes always going to be dangerous, Muhammad said. Do I think Im better than him? Absolutely. The place to prove that is in the ring.Cooks explosive strategy, which combines spinning kicks with a relentless attacking style, has been difficult for many competitors to counter, but Muhammad has been more successful than most. Using his height advantage -- he is about two inches taller -- has helped Muhammad neutralize Cooks theatrics, especially when he unleashes lightning-fast head kicks of his own off his forward leg, giving his opponents little time or distance to react.The Cook-Muhammad rivalry will bring more fans to the sport, said Jean Lopez, head coach of the U.S. taekwondo team.Its always good for sport when theres a perceived rivalry between a hero and an anti-hero, he said, without specifying which roles Cook and Muhammad were fulfilling.Other fighters recognize the intense rivalry between the two but warn that it might be counterproductive for them to focus on it at Rio.If you let it get to that stage where it becomes a big rivalry, youll start doing things uncharacteristically, said Safwan Khalil, an Australian taekwondo athlete who knows both Cook and Muhammad well.Competitors sometimes become reckless if their fights are driven more by emotion than by strategy, he added.Khalils advice for Cook and Muhammad is to focus on their first fights Friday, rather than each other, saying that both have formidable opponents in the preliminary rounds.If they happen to win all three matches, theyll meet (in the final), Khalil said. I think theyll worry about that later.Indeed, Cook mostly has refrained from talking about Muhammad recently and appears focused on his second Olympic appearance; he narrowly lost out on a bronze at the Beijing Games in 2008.But for Cook, nothing less than a gold medal in Rio will do.It would just be a lifetime achievement, he said in a recent TV interview. Weve been in it as a family since the start. It would just be really special. Ruben Loftus-Cheek England Jersey . 10 VCU 85-67 on Thursday night at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The Seminoles (4-0) have scored at least 80 points in each of their games. Jordan Henderson Jersey .1 million pounds ($61.2 million) on Saturday, giving the beleaguered English Premier League champions a major lift. http://www.englandsoccerpro.com/Ashley-Young-England-Jersey/ . Boucher previously coached the Tampa Bay Lightning and had a 97-78-20 record over two-plus seasons. 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CANTON, Ohio -- The inclusion of former NFL safety and convicted rapist Darren Sharper on the Pro Footballs Hall of Fame nomination list, shocked some people Friday and has started a national debate over who should be eligible for induction.Sharper, a five-time Pro Bowler, appeared on the list released Thursday because at least one Hall of Fame selector nominated Sharper. He also was nominated last year -- before he pleaded guilty in a case in which he was accused of drugging and raping up to 16 women in four states. U.S. District Court Judge Jane Triche Milazzo sentenced him to 18 years in prison last month.Hall of Fame spokesman Joe Horrigan explained that there is no character clause in the bylaws, which are approved by the Hall of Fames board of directors. To be eligible for the nominating process, a player or coach must be retired for at least five years. Forty-eight voters nominate and select the players, coaches and contributors to appear on the ballot based solely on the contributions they have made to the sport, Horrigan said.To make the first of several cuts, a candidate must be nominated by at least one selector. Horrigan said he didnt know who nominated Sharper this year or last, and that everyone must abide by the rules that are approved by the Halls board of directors.We do have a committee that reviews the process every year, not just from that kind of question, but who can be elected, the number of selections we can have and how the system worked or if it could work better, Horrigan told The Associated Press on Friday. So I would anticipate this would always be part of the question. But I dont anticipate any groundswell (to change the rules) based on this one case.Sharper, who won a Super Bowl with New Orleans in 2010 and also played for Green Bay and Minnesota, is not likely to be elected. But its ceertainly not the first time the character question has been raised in regard to Hall of Fame selections.ddddddddddddOne of the most notable honorees is O.J. Simpson, who has been incarcerated in Nevada for robberty and kidnapping for the past eight years following a 1995 acquittal on the infamous double-murder. Despite calls for his removal more than two decades ago, Simpson remains a member of pro footballs most prestigious club.And linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who has had a series of run-ins with the law -- mostly involving drugs or alcohol -- also remains in the Hall of Fame. He pleaded guilty to charges of sexual misconduct and patronizing a prostitute who was 16 years old. He was sentenced to six years of probation in 2011.We had to abide by our bylaws, and our bylaws do not have any provision for removal, Horrigan said, recalling the debate about Simpson. That was probably the highest-profile case that caused us to have discussions on the incident. But ultimately our board voted that it had to be determined on how he played the game.The public may not see it the same way. Fans and journalists expressed dismay with posts on Twitter on Friday.This is not a character flaw, however. This is something even Sharper described at his sentencing as `heinous, Sporting News columnist Mike DeCourcy wrote after the nominees were released Thursday. This is not someone who was mean to reporters or undermined his teammates or got in one too many bar fights. This is someone who has acknowledged he drugged women -- notice the plural there -- for the purpose of forcing himself on them while they were incapacitated.---Online: AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '