Wartezimmer » Bhany now?Lang: Oh, they already have. I feel

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Two weeks away from the Olympics, nearly two out of three Brazilians believe that hosting them will cause the country more harm than good, an opinion poll said Tuesday as worries grow over crime and budget cuts.Half of the people surveyed by Datafolha pollster oppose the big sporting event. The disapproval has doubled in three years, and the frustration is even greater in south and southeast Brazil, which includes the host city Rio de Janeiro.The popularity of the Games has dropped dramatically as Brazil weathers a two-year-long recession, and unemployment and inflation shoot up.Rio de Janeiro is one of the hardest-hit states. Plunging oil prices and a massive kickback scheme at state oil company Petrobras have depleted the states accounts so severely that the states acting governor declared financial disaster in June. The move gave officials the freedom to manage shrinking resources without breaking fiscal laws and opened the way for the federal government to send an aid package of $860 million to pay for security during the event.About 85,000 police and soldiers will be working during the Games, twice the security contingent of London 2012, but experts worry about public safety after the event ends. Rios murder and robbery rates have already gone up this year.More than half of Brazilians think that the citys security problems are a cause of shame. Officers have staged protests to complain about salary delays and poor working conditions, with police stations missing basic items such as toilet paper.At a recent demonstration in the airport, one group of police held signs in English reading Welcome to Hell.The state has also been skipping payments to teachers and retired workers.On Monday, teachers protested outside the training camp for Brazils soccer team, showing banners to the arriving players that read Money only for Olympics. No money for public education.Two tramcars of Rios new light-service rail system built downtown as a legacy project for the Games were vandalized on Monday with spray-painted messages: Fancy Transportation. Trashy Hospitals. What kind of country is that?The amount that was spent on the Olympics could have helped hospitals that are closing, said Jessica Azevedo, a 23-year-old woman who works downtown. They should have thought about public health and education first. Thats where we are suffering.Datafolha interviewed 2,792 people between July 14 and 15 in 171 cities. The margin of error was 2 percentage points. Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. Wholesale Custom Jerseys .S. hockey team after paying his dues as an NHL general manager for more than three decades and giving up a lot of his free time to help USA Hockey. https://www.wholesalejerseys2020.com/ . Radwanska, making her debut in the Seoul tournament, hit eight aces in a match that lasted 1 hour, 4 minutes at Olympic Park tennis stadium. "It was definitely a very good match -- I was playing really good tennis," Radwanska said. Cheap Jerseys 2020 . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months. Wholesale Custom Jerseys . -- Playing time has been limited for Maxim Tissot this season, so the Montreal Impact defender made the most of his first scoring opportunity on Saturday. The past three days have been a whirlwind for Brittany Lang. Since Sunday, after winning the U.S. Womens Open in Cordevalle Golf Club in California in a playoff, she has done countless interviews, responded to hundreds of congratulatory texts and found herself in Toledo, Ohio, for the next stop on the LPGA Tour.In her 10-year career on the LPGA Tour, she has played steadily and represented the U.S. four times in Solheim Cup. Her best finishes in majors have also come at past U.S. Opens with a second-, fifth- and seventh-place finish. So it should be no surprise that her first major win took place at the U.S. Womens Open.I spoke with Lang and her husband Kevin Spann, who nervously watched her during the final round. The couple famously got engaged at the North Texas Shootout in Dallas when Spann proposed to Lang as she walked off the green after missing the cut. Exactly how did he ask? He said, Can I watch you play golf the rest of our lives?Needless to say, he will continue to watch her in a lot more majors:espnW: I have to start with this: you were the first player to come up to me during my rookie year on the Tour and say, Hey, if you need anything, let me know. Ill show you the ropes. That moment with you in the locker room in Hawaii was actually one of the highlights of my year because I felt so welcomed, like I belonged. I became a forever fan of yours from then on out.Brittany Lang: Well, I knew you were from Oklahoma, so I thought, Im going to like this chick, because I love people from there (Langs husband is from Oklahoma).espnW: Youve been playing well the last few weeks prior to the big win. What was your feeling going into the U.S. Open? Did you have in the back of your mind, I could this win this?Lang: You know, I always thought I would win a U.S. Open. I knew I had the physical ability, so Ive been working hard on my mental ability. Ive gotten mentally stronger, Ive played well all year, and when I played in Arkansas a couple weeks ago I thought, Man, Im playing so good. Im hitting it long. Im putting the best Ive ever putted. Then I played a round back in Texas with my husband right before the Open and I said, I dont say this very often, but I love where my game is right now.Kevin Spann: You know, people were texting me during the tournament when they were watching it on TV and kept saying, She looks so calm and confident and so sure of herself. Ive kept telling her that shes playing good golf and to keep doing what shes doing and that it would eventually pay off. She was really comfortable with all the clubs in her bag, too, which I think played a huge part in her success during the week.espnW: Brittany, why do you think you havent felt that great about your game before?Lang: I know Ive always had so much physical ability, but it has come down to working on my confidence. I did not believe in my ability, which held me back. I committed during the tournament to be in my process no matter what happens. I focused on hitting my targets, not worrying about the crowds or the TV cameras, and specifically on what I was doing in that moment. To know that I went through with it, and committed to my process -- that has given me so much confidence.espnW: When you knew you were going to be in a playoff against Anna Nordqvist, did you feel calm or nervous? She shot the low round of the day at 5 under, so did that come into your mind at all?Lang: I wasnt nervous. Judging by the crowds, it kind of felt like I was winning, and I thought I had gotten it done. Then I heard I had to be in a playoff, I was kind of like, Oh my god. More golf? I also know what a great player Anna is, and I knew it was going to be a tough task, so I knew I had to stay committed to my process. But to be honest with you, I was pretty tired, which I think worked out in my favor becaause I didnt have the energy to be super nervous.ddddddddddddespnW: Kevin, you looked pretty nervous during the playoff. It was like I could feel the tension through the television.Spann: It was so nerve-wracking.espnW: Brittany, I?know Anna is a really good friend of yours. When she was assessed a two-stroke penalty for grounding the club in the sand on your second playoff hole, did that change your strategy?Lang: First of all, Anna is a really great of friend of mine and a great player. It was really sad for it to happen the way it did. As Ive said before, you want to win because you birdie a hole, not because someone gets a penalty. But when I heard she was penalized, I put my lob wedge back in the bag and my brother [and caddie] said, We gotta hit the sand wedge out to the right and avoid all trouble on the left. It was the right thing to do in a situation like that.espnW: What did winning the U.S. Open mean to you?Lang: Number one, Im an American and this is my countrys Open. Ive always had a huge respect for the USGA ever since I played my first Open at Cherry Hills. I love how they set the courses up. They make it tough but fair. Also, its every American girl golfers dream to win the U.S. Open. When we grow up playing we say, This putt is to win the U.S. Open. We never say, This putt is to win the British Open.espnW: Kevin, whats been the best moment for you on the golf course with Brittany? Her accepting your marriage proposal or her winning the U.S. Open?Spann: When I asked her to marry me, I knew she was going to say yes. We had talked about it before and I knew where we were headed, which was exciting. On Sunday, I didnt know that she was going to win the U.S. Open. There was this element of accomplishment because shes always told me, Look, if I could win any tournament on this planet, its a lifelong dream of mine to win the U.S. Open. For her to literally accomplish her lifelong dream, and to realize she actually did it, that was the most exciting moment for me. You know, she called me Tuesday morning and said, Hey babe, Im the U.S. Open champion. And she kept saying it over and over again, and Im like, I know you are. But shes just so excited, and she deserves to be.espnW: During the trophy presentation, the president of the USGA, Diana Murphy, accidentally called you Bethany four times. You looked a little uncertain as to whether you should go up and accept your trophy. Do you think a lot of the girls are going to start calling you Bethany now?Lang: Oh, they already have. I feel so bad for Diana, though, because its so not a big deal to me. But Ill admit, I was confused because I didnt know if I should go up there.espnW: What are your post-celebration plans?Lang: Im so excited to get back to McKinney, Texas, and see everyone who has supported me over the years. I wont get my trophy back for a few weeks, but when I get it, we are definitely going to have some parties and everyone will get to see it. When I won my first tournament on the LPGA at Manulife, so many people came out and said, Weve been following you since you were a little girl, and its like, really? It just amazes me that people care that much and its really cool.espnW: Do you think youre going to use the fact that youre a U.S. Open champion to win arguments with your husband?Lang: I think if I do anything, it will be when were playing golf together. If I tell Kevin, Hey, that breaks right, and he says, No, it breaks left, Ill probably say, Excuse me, but are you a U.S. Open champion?Spann: Actually, I think if shes wanting to get her way with something Ill be more likely to say, Alright, alright. Whatever you want, cause youre the U.S. Open champion. ' ' '