the midst of the Roaring Twenties against the New York Giants

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Will Rodriguez put his collectible cup down just for a second, then -- swoosh! -- it was swiped.He owned one of the hottest souvenirs of the Rio de Janeiro Games: A plastic Olympic gymnastics beer cup.That was a good one, Rodriguez, of Dallas, lamented.Yes, the Olympics has yet another cupping craze, though this one involves the swirling orange, blue and green color patterns on a yellow cup that include the name and silhouette for more than two dozen sports.The most common sight at Olympic venues arent medals draped around necks, but fans walking around with arms full, fixated on finding the next beer stand and hoarding empty cups.Beer here!Sure, but fans are chugging -- and sometimes just dumping -- their half liters (about 17 ounces) of Skol lager simply for the empty cups. Then its back in line to put another 13 Brazilian reals (about $4) on the growing beer tab. That totals at least 300 reals for the set.The cups are suddenly fueling the merchandise machine and have been traded, sold, and yes, even stolen, as fans clamor for hard-to-find sports such as gymnastics and soccer this deep into the Olympics.About an hour before boxings Sunday evening session started, fans lined up 25 deep at some cerveja stands ready to go another round.The long lines werent necessarily because of slow pours from the can into the cup. Once at the front of the line, fans would shake through stacks of cups until they found the one sport they wanted.Boxe! Boxe! Boxe! one fan shouted in Portuguese in his search for boxing.No! No! the server shouted, as he pointed to one of the other stands at Rio Centro.So off the man went, without a beer, with a more pressing mission on tap for the night.Trampoline, tennis, equestrian, taekwondo and water polo were the most common cups found Sunday at the complex thats home to boxing, table tennis, badminton and weightlifting.Brazilian native Sergio De Oliveira, now of Hoboken, New Jersey, wore his Team USA hat and shirt and gripped his equestrian (hipismo) cup.De Oliveira and husband Terry Miles are trying to collect the cups of all 14 events theyve seen at the Olympics.De Oliveira had no idea that when he bought a gymnastics cup at the opening ceremony, the hunk of plastic would soon spark a memorabilia frenzy.It was huge we got it all, Miles said.Miles doesnt drink, leaving all the beer guzzling to De Oliveira.They have about 10 cups so far, but had yet to find their No. 1 target -- archery. They also wanted synchronized diving.But dont expect the couple to auction the cups on eBay to recoup the 130 reals and counting theyve spent on their collectibles. They are keeping most of them and will share a few with friends back in the United States.Carmen Pruneda, of San Antonio, Texas, had no interest in sipping any light blonde lager.Im looking for cups, but I dont drink beer, she said.Pruneda has traded pins for cups, and cups for pins. She hit a bit of good luck when a woman dropped a cup on an escalator. The woman asked Pruneda if she was a collector. When she said yes, the stranger gave her both of her cups, boosting Prunedas total to six.One beer server said it was forbidden to just buy a cup.The trinkets are a steal compared to other Olympic merchandise. Olympic hats are going for about 60 reals, T-shirts for 80 to 100 and keychains are 35. One man bought a beach towel at the souvenir stand -- a soft landing spot for the three cups he then stuffed inside his shopping bag.Come to think of it, those purple circles dotting Michael Phelps shoulder and back from his cupping therapy do look like coasters.Maybe he wouldnt mind serving as a true arm rest for the cups at the next Olympic bash.While stuffed trash bags and overflowing bins of Skol aluminum beer cans are a sore sight at the games, theres not a plastic cup around to recycle.It has been a good way to keep litter down, Rodriguez said. Los Angeles Angels Pro Shop . The parade and rally were held to celebrate the Saskatchewan Roughriders 45-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday in the CFLs championship game. Angels Jerseys 2020 . Jay Feely kicked a 41-yard field goal in overtime, and the Cardinals edged the Tennessee Titans 37-34 in overtime after blowing a 17-point lead late in the fourth quarter. https://www.cheapangels.com/ . It was the kind of score that might make everyone else wonder which course he was playing. Except that Graeme McDowell saw the whole thing. Crouched behind the 10th green at Sheshan International, McDowell looked over at the powerful American and said, "Ive probably seen 18 of the best drives Ive seen all year in the last two days. Angels Jerseys 2019 . -- On the field, it was business as usual for Jameis Winston and No. Los Angeles Angels Store . -- Tony Stewart is 20 pounds lighter and has a titanium rod in his surgically repaired right leg. Sorry, Chicago Cubs, youre not the only team in this years baseball playoffs that gets to play the misery card.The Curse of the Billy Goat is a good one.Extra credit, for sure, for going more than a century without winning the World Series.But the Cleveland Indians know a thing or two about postseason disappointment. So do the Texas Rangers. And dont even get us started on Washington and its long-suffering fans.First in war, first in peace, last World Series title?That would be 1924, when the winning hit ricocheted off a pebble in what remains the first and only postseason break to go their way in the nations capital.So, if the Cubbies want to sulk over their two Series titles -- the last of which came in 1908, shortly before William Taft was elected to the White House -- they wont get a lot of sympathy from the city that endured two different versions of the Washington Senators (both of them terrible, for the most part) before landing the Nationals.In Cleveland, they once had a team known as the Spiders that went 20-134. The Indians last World Series championship came in 1948, with World War II still fresh in everyones minds. Theyve been back to big dance only three times since then, losing every one of `em. The last of those was especially galling. In 1997, Cleveland was three outs from the title in Game 7 but lost to the Florida Marlins in extra innings.Texas certainly deserves a mention, even though its only been a part of the big leagues since 1972. In an interesting twist, the second version of the Senators moved to the Lone Star State, but only after forfeiting its final game in Washington when outraged fans stormed the field in the ninth inning.They shouldnt have gone to all that trouble.The Rangers lost 100 games in their inaugural season, 105 in Year 2. When they finally made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history in 1996, they squandered a 4-0 lead at home in the deciding game, losing 6-4 to the New York Yankees.But that little exercise in heartache was merely a warmup for 2011, when the Rangers made it to their second straight World Series (having lost, of course, in their first).With a three games to two lead on the St. Louis Cardinals and up 7-5 in the bottom of the ninth in Game 6, Texas was one strike from its first title when David Freese -- ugh, the mere mention of that name still turns the stomach of Rangers fans -- tripled in the tying runs.On to the 10th, where the Rangers restored their two-run cushion on Josh Hamiltons homer. The Cardinals were once again down to their final strike before Lance Berkman drove in the tying run, again denying a Texas-sized celebration that, alas, would never come.At that point, the outcome was a merely formality. The baseball gods have given the Rangers their chance -- two of theem, actually -- and they had blown it both times.ddddddddddddThe Cardinals scored the winning run in the bottom of the 11th, and then won Game 7.That had to sting, but Indians fans will counter with what theyve endured over the last 68 years. After setting a then-American League record with 111 victories in 1954, Cleveland was swept by the New York Giants in a World Series best known for Willie Mays amazing over-the-shoulder catch in the deepest part of the Polo Grounds, a highlight that still taunts the Indians to this day.It would be 41 years before Cleveland made another postseason appearance, which culminated with another World Series loss, this one to Atlanta, which failed to win the Series any other season in their unprecedented run of 14 straight division titles. Thankfully for the Braves, they got one shot against the Indians.Three years later, Cleveland took a 2-1 lead to the bottom of the ninth against the Marlins, but closer Jose Mesa surrendered Craig Counsells tying sacrifice fly. In the 11th, second baseman Tony Fernandez let an easy grounder slip under his glove for an error, and Florida scored the season-ending run with two outs on Edgar Renterias soft little liner up the middle, the ball skimming off the tip of pitcher Charles Nagys glove and landing just out of the reach of Fernandez.Washington hasnt even been to the World Series since 1933 -- a longer drought than any other big league city, Chicago included. The Senators lone title came in the midst of the Roaring Twenties against the New York Giants, the winning run scoring in the bottom of the 12th of Game 7 on a routine grounder that took a bad hop.That would be the extent of Washingtons good fortune.The following year, the Senators were up three games to one in the World Series but couldnt close the deal against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Washington hasnt been that close to a title since, though their latest team added a worthy chapter to the citys hall of postseason shame in 2012.In the decisive Game 5 of the NL Division Series, at home no less, the Nationals built a 6-0 lead through three innings and were up 7-5 on St. Louis heading to the ninth.With the Cardinals down to their final out, closer Drew Storen walked back-to-back hitters and then surrendered a pair of two-run singles to send St. Louis on to the next round.For Washington, it was a familiar ending.One they know well in Cleveland and Texas, too.Take that, Curse of the Billy Goat.---Paul Newberry is a sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberry(at)ap.org or at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry . ' ' '