This year our team is tough and physical, but our team is learning how to be the hunter, not the hunted.

The decision over the weekend by the International Olympic Committee to sidestep a complete ban of Russian athletes at the upcoming Rio Games doesnt mean sports latest doping allegation wont eventually stand side by side with other noteworthy cheating scandals.The IOC is instead relying on the international federations that govern the 28 Olympic sports to determine eligibility of their respective athletes through the implementation very strict criteria.The scandal became public in May after Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, the longtime director of Russias drug-testing lab, revealed to The New York Times that numerous Russians at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi were part of a state-run doping program, including at least 15 medal winners.Those revelations had a distinct (Olympic) ring to them. But as weve seen time and again, breaking rules for a competitive edge comes in many forms. Heres a look at 10 cheating scandals that have rocked the world of sports:Cycling: Lance Armstrong stripped of Tour winsArmstrong captured what had been a record seven consecutive Tour de France titles from 1999 to 2005, but the American cyclist was stripped of those following an investigation by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.Suspicions regarding Armstrongs use of banned performance-enhancing drugs existed throughout his career. U.S. federal prosecutors opened an investigation into doping allegations in 2010, followed by the USADA one year later. Federal prosecutors dropped their case after two years, but the USADA persisted and formally accused Armstrong of doping in July 2012.Months later, backed by a 200-page report, the USADA handed Armstrong a lifetime ban from competitive cycling and stripped him of all victories after Aug. 1, 1998. During a January 2013 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Armstrong finally admitted hed used banned drugs during his Tour de France domination.Figure skating: Tonya Hardings rival attackedHarding will forever be known as the main figure in one of the most bizarre stories in sports history: the attack on fellow U.S. Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan in January 1994.During the 1994 U.S. figure skating championships in Detroit, an attacker struck Kerrigan above the knee with a baton after she stepped off the ice following practice. Kerrigan was not seriously injured but was unable to continue in the event, which Harding won. Both skaters competed at the Lillehammer Olympics the following month, with Kerrigan winning silver and Harding placing eighth.An investigation ultimately led to a group of conspirators that included Hardings then-husband, Jeff Gillooly. Harding eventually pleaded guilty to conspiring to hinder prosecution of the attackers and received three years probation. The U.S. Figure Skating Association then stripped Harding of her 1994 national title and and banned her from their events for life. Four men involved in the plot, including Gillooly, wound up serving prison time.College football: SMU pays ultimate priceThe NCAA has never taken as drastic of a step as it did in 1987, when it cancelled SMUs football season -- aka the death penalty -- after discovering massive rules violations.At the forefront of those violations was a slush fund used to lure recruits and reward rostered players for good performances. The Mustangs would have been allowed to play an abbreviated season in 1988, but SMU chose to sit out a second consecutive year after school officials determined it would be impossible to field a competitive team.SMUs football program was hamstrung for decades following the sanctions, producing just one winning season in the next 20 years and failing to qualify for a bowl game until 2009.Golf: Young Vijay Singh alters scorecardSingh was young and broke when he was accused of one of golfs cardinal sins in 1985, altering his scorecard so he could make the cut at the Indonesian Open.The alleged misdeed occurred after the second round, when the Fijian subtracted a stroke from one of the holes. Not only was he disqualified from the tournament, but the 22-year-old was suspended from the Asian Tour indefinitely.Singh managed to keep his career alive and was playing professionally in Europe by 1989. He joined the PGA Tour at age 30 in 1993 and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2006.Singh continued to steadfastly deny the accusations, telling Golf Digest in a 2001 interview, Why should I admit to cheating? Just so you people in the press wont keep bringing it up? I cannot do that. That would be dishonest in itself.Baseball: MVP Ryan Braun bustedPrior to the 2008 season, Milwaukee Brewers slugger Braun signed the largest contract in Major League Baseball history for a player with less than three years experience. Four years later, he was fighting off performing-enhancing drug allegations that would eventually lead to a 65-game suspension.Braun totaled 161 home runs over his first five seasons but then tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone following his 2011 MVP campaign. He successfully appealed those charges, even publicly attacking the credibility of MLBs drug program.Braun hit a career-high 41 home runs in 2012 and was runner-up in the National League MVP voting, but in the middle of the following season, he struck a deal with MLB after evidence of his past PED use continued to mount. His suspension was the first resulting from the leagues investigation into the Biogenesis clinic, which also led to 13 other players being banned for at least 50 games, including New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez.Baseball: Cardinals executive hacks AstrosChris Correa, a former executive with the St. Louis Cardinals, will have up to 46 months in federal prison to ponder the decision he made to hack into databases belonging to the Houston Astros.Correa was sentenced earlier this month on five counts of unauthorized access of a protected computer in 2013 and 14.The FBI said Correa, when he was the Cardinals director of baseball development, figured out the password of a former St. Louis front office employee who had been hired to a similar position by the Astros. Correa was able to access databases that contained confidential information, such as which players the Astros were considering drafting and their trade discussion notes with other teams.Marathon: Rosie Ruiz takes the trainRuiz stepped out of the shadows, literally, to win the womens division at the Boston Marathon in 1980, only to be stripped of the title in one of the most brazen shortcuts in sports history.Ruiz stepped off a subway about a mile from the finish line of the 26.2-mile race and darted onto the course, where she acted as if she ran the entire way while recording the fastest womens time in Boston Marathon history. Looking rather fresh compared to the other participants, she immediately raised suspicions.During the ensuing investigation, two Harvard students came forward and claimed they saw Ruiz bolt from the crowd toward the end of the race. Those eyewitnesses, along with other evidence, prompted marathon officials to disqualify Ruiz and taint her as one of the all-time boldest cheaters.Little League baseball: Danny Almonte age scandalAlmonte was a pitching phenom at the 2001 Little League World Series, but his size and fastball proved too good to be true. It was later uncovered that he was 14 years old while dominating the tournament for players ages 11-12.Almonte stood 5-foot-8 and allowed just three hits over three starts, including a perfect game, while leading his Bronx (New York) Little League team to third place in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. By then, a rival team from New York already had hired a private investigator to look into the Bronx players ages, but it wasnt until two weeks after the tournament that Almontes authentic birth certificate from the Dominican Republic was accessed by Sports Illustrated.Ultimately, Almontes team was forced to forfeit all of its wins in tournament play, its records were removed from the books, and both Dannys father and the teams manager were banned for life from Little League.Olympics: East German doping ringThe domination of the East Germans during international competition came to an end with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Along with it came the veil that covered their decades-long dependence on performance-enhancing drugs.In an effort to improve the communist countrys image and earn bragging rights over the rest of the world, East German officials distributed and administered anabolic steroids to its elite athletes, some of whom had little or no knowledge what they were taking.At the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, the East Germans took home 37 gold medals and 102 overall, compared to 36 golds for the U.S. and 94 overall.The East Germans will go down as the pioneers of doping, and many former athletes suffered serious health problems as a result. However, the records set and medals won remain in the books.NFL: Patriots and their gatesThe New England Patriots doubled up on scandals in the past decade. They were disciplined by the NFL for illegal videotaping of opponents in 2007 and then accused of using underinflated footballs during their 2015 AFC Championship game victory over the Indianapolis Colts.The videotape controversy, better known as Spygate, ultimately resulted in a $500,000 fine for head coach Bill Belichick, another $250,000 for the Patriots and the loss of their 2008 first-round draft pick.The highly contested air pressure controversy, aka Deflategate, lingered for more than a year before being resolved earlier this month. Quarterback?Tom Brady denied wrongdoing, but he accepted a four-game suspension after failing to convince the courts to overturn the punishment handed down by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. The league first imposed sanctions on Brady and the team in May 2015 after concluding that the superstar QB was generally aware of a scheme to deflate balls below the permitted limit. The Patriots didnt fight the penalty levied against them of a $1 million fine and the loss of two draft picks. Cheap Air Max Australia .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have recalled forward Kevin Porter and defenceman Chad Ruhwedel from the minors as part of a five-player roster shuffle made by the NHLs worst team. Sale Air Max 90 Australia . There was no hesitation from the 40th-ranked Pospisil, from Vernon, B.C., who admitted that he cut back on his training sessions over the last few days to conserve energy as the long ATP season finishes next week at the Paris Masters. http://www.airmax90saleaustralia.com/ . Vaives lawyer Trevor Whiffen claims the former 50-goal man wasnt provided with a copy of the claim beforehand and that he would not have agreed to the allegations made against the NHL had he been asked to review its contents. Cheap Nike Shoes Australia Online . Uniteds eighth defeat of a wretched campaign means Liverpool, which currently occupies the fourth and final Champions League place, could go nine points clear of its fierce rival by beating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. Charlie Adam scored both of Stokes goals at Britannia Stadium either side of Robin van Persies equalizer, with a miserable day for seventh-place United capped by first-half injuries to centre halves Jonny Evans and Phil Jones that forced them off. Wholesale Air Max 90 Australia . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. SMU coach Chad Morris is still looking for a signature win to jump-start the Mustangs program. An upset of No. 11 Houston would certainly qualify.SMU hosts the Cougars on Saturday at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas. The Mustangs have lost three in a row, including an emotionally-draining 43-40 overtime defeat to Tulsa two weeks ago.It was as hurt as Ive seen the locker room (after the Tulsa loss) since Ive been here in 18 games, Morris said during his Monday press conference. I firmly believe this program is exceptionally close, extremely close. We just need a break.SMU (2-4, 0-2 AAC) had a bye week to get over the loss, but theres still plenty to fix if the Mustangs are to knock off the talented Cougars. Tulsa rushed for 315 yards against the Mustangs, who are 91st against the run, surrendering 195 yards on the ground per game. They are last in the AAC in total defense.It demoralizes you, Morris said of the inability to stop the run.Houston (6-1, 3-1 AAC) will test the Mustangs shortcomings on defense. The Cougars are averaging 200.0 yards on the ground and could get top running back Duke Catalon back.Catalon missed the last four games with a concussion, but was cleared to return to practice this week and could play Saturday.Houston coach Tom Herman told the Houston Chronicle this week that if Catalon shows signs of another concussion while at the school, they are going to shut him down.With Catalon out, even more of the offensive load has been put on the shoulders of quarterback Greg Ward Jr., who has already carried the football 100 times for 414 yards and six touchdowns in seven games. Ward also has completed 70.1 percent of his passes with 11 touchdowns.Hes our best player, Herman said of Ward. When the game is on the line, I want the ball in the hands of our best player. Were continuing to find ways to run the football without him having to read people or be the designed character. But if we need to win the game, well use him.Behind the 396 yards of offense ffrom Ward, Houston was able to bounce back from its upset loss to Navy two weeks ago with a hard-fought win over Tulsa last week.ddddddddddddhe loss to Navy likely derailed the Cougars hopes of crashing the four-team playoff, but Houston is still in line for a New Years bowl. A showcase game against No. 7 Louisville on Nov. 17 is sandwiched between the Cougars remaining four AAC games.Herman says he isnt having any trouble keeping his team motivated.The motivation is easy because every week there is something about how we are overrated or not good enough, Herman told reporters this week. We were the underdogs, we were this and we were that. The chip on our shoulder never had to be manufactured. It was there organically from last year, which creates a toughness and edge about you.This year our team is tough and physical, but our team is learning how to be the hunter, not the hunted. We are learning to be the overdog instead of the underdog.The Cougars are heavy overdogs this week against an SMU team that has lost eight players for the season to injury, including senior starting quarterback Matt Davis to an ACL injury in the first game of the season.Were as healthy as we can be, Morris said.Freshman quarterback Ben Hicks has completed 51.9 percent of his passes with six touchdowns and nine interceptions since taking over for Davis.Hicks starts behind one of the youngest offensive lines in the nation and keeping him upright will be a priority against the Cougars, who have 19 sacks on the season.I expect it to be physical and the only thing we can control is how we respond, Morris said.Houston has won 10 of the last 11 games against SMU, including last seasons 49-28 victory. Ward picked apart the Mustangs in the win, completing 16 of 18 passes for 243 yards with a rushing and passing touchdown.No one has stopped him yet, Morris said of Ward. ' ' '