NEWS » fourth and final Champions League place

RIO DE JANEIRO -- For some at the Rio Games, theres gold, silver and bronze.Or perhaps theres Golduck, Shellder and Bulbasaur.Pokemon Go -- which has been available in some parts of the world, including the United States, for about a month -- has just now arrived in the Olympic host city of Rio de Janeiro. Available this week in Brazil for the first time, not coincidentally on the eve of the Rio Olympics, the game involves players using their smartphones to track down the virtual creatures.Ive never run this much in my life, said Gabriela Alves, a Rio native who had her phone out and was collecting Pokeballs -- a key component to the game -- in downtown Rio on Thursday. Is this what Olympians feel like?Well, maybe its what some of them feel like.It was a cause of some lament among Olympians who arrived in Rio to find that Pokemon Go wasnt there to greet them. U.S. diver and 2012 silver medalist Abby Johnston tweeted that the worst thing about the Olympic village was how she couldnt find a way to play the game there. A few days later, that issue is solved.Some members of Germanys field hockey team said they caught a special Pokemon character in the athletes village, though it turned out that they were only posing for a photo with world No. 1 tennis player and fellow Olympian Novak Djokovic. And star mens Olympic gymnast Kohei Uchimura of Japan told media from his country that he racked up a $5,000 phone bill using so much data trying to play the game leading up to the games.Its one of those things that pulls out the child in you, New Zealand rower and 2012 gold medalist Eric Murray said, revealing that hes an avid Pokemon Go fan. It was pretty cool because you go around and catch Pokemon, which is what they did in the cartoon, and its fun.The smattering of people inside the Olympic Park on Thursday could find some Pokestops (where you collect Pokeballs and other items) and Pokegyms (where players, after joining a team, can compete against others). When the Olympic action starts in earnest on Friday, it seems like a certainty that Pokemon Go will be part of the spectacle.But in parts of Rio, its already a very big deal.Pokemon! I started to play Pokemon yesterday, said Ronaldo Banto, who works in a Rio hotel and spent his free time Thursday morning running around with his phone playing the game. Now Im trying to find some Pokemons here. Im loving it.Banto was drawn to a park, given that the app was telling him activity could be found there. He met up with a few other people who were already there and the group -- most of whom had never met previously -- spent a few minutes together reviewing notes and talking about the game.For others, its a new way to pass the time before seeing the Olympics.My kids downloaded it on my phone because they left theirs on the plane, so I guess I better learn now, said Michelle Birney of Los Angeles, who brought her two daughters to Rio for the Olympics to see soccer matches and family members.While she spoke, her two girls ran a cobblestone square, looking down at their phones and almost colliding with a man playing the same game.If Pokemon ever gets in the Olympics, maybe they have a shot, Birney said. Cheap Astros Jerseys China . 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. 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CHICAGO -- A single sheet of paper sat on Willson Contreras chair in front of his locker when the Chicago Cubs rookie showed up for practice on Friday. It was a form letter asking players to list the names of people picking up the four tickets set aside for family members ahead of the NL Championship Series opener.Someone asked Contreras who would be picking up his.Nobody, the 24-year-old catcher said, trying to force a grin.Behind that rueful smile is a long story. Baseball provided Contreras a path out of the tough times back home in Venezuela and swept him to the top of the major leagues. But even that lofty position hasnt enabled him yet to get his parents, Olga and William, a visa to follow him to the United States. Their application for a temporary visa to watch him during the playoffs wasnt successful, either.Everybodys back home, Contreras confirmed. Its hard to get them here at this time of the year.They will be watching on TV from a new home he bought them, in a neighborhood with security guards. It was there that they saw their older son drive a tying single up the middle in Chicagos opening-round clinching win against the Giants.Contreras even has food delivered to their home, so his parents dont have to venture out to the grocery store, where long lines await. But fears about their safety never slip his mind for long.Hopefully, Conteras added a moment later, next year, theyll be here.Wait until next year has been the Cubs unofficial motto for a century and counting. Yet it carries just as much longing for the young Venezuelan as the most grizzled denizen of the citys North Side. Contreras made it to these shores a half-dozen years ago, followed soon after by younger brother, William, who is playing in the Braves organization. The boys never forget on whose shoulders they stood, making that huge step possible.At this time last year, Contreras was playing Double-A ball in Tennessee and he paused to carve Ernesto into the dirt before each at-bat, honoring the grandfather whod died back home barely two months earlier. This fall, he worries about his parents safety in a cash-strapped country where kidnapping the relatives of a famous baseball player is viewed as a lucrative business.In 2011, kidnappers there grabbbed Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos and held him for ransom; fortunately, Ramos was eventually rescued.ddddddddddddWe dont talk about it that much, but we know what each other is going through, said Albert Almora Jr., another rookie whose locker is close by. Sometime, after a game, you can come here and see certain guys text messaging and you know theyre talking to family -- Willson, with his folks, in my case, its my dad. Hes fighting prostate cancer. ... So we make it a point to check in with each other every so often.Cubs manager Joe Maddon knew Contreras situation when the team called him up from Triple-A at midseason. As if learning to call games for a veteran and sometimes-finicky staff and bullpen wasnt hard enough, the manager had planned to pile more on his plate. Maddon wanted the one-time infielder to try his hand at first base and the outfield as well as behind the plate.Contreras rewarded Maddons faith by homering in his first big-league at-bat. His teammates made him feel right at home by shooing him out of the dugout soon after, reminding Contreras he still had to warm-up the relievers back in the bullpen. But hes made a good argument for deserving a regular spot in the lineup by hitting no matter which glove he was wearing. But just as impressive, Maddon says, is Contreras ability to compartmentalize all those jobs while still keeping one eye on his family a continent away.As a parent and as a manger, if my kids arent having a good day, then Im not. But when your family is down there, its hard to stay right here, Maddon recalled recently.Having his fiancee here has brought a bit of home along with him. So has finding a handful of seafood restaurants and long walks along Lake Michigan, which is as close to the beach near Contreras home in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, as hes likely to find for the moment.It will have to do.Im able to separate my personal situation from the game and I know that everybody back home is OK, Contreras said finally. So Ill be fine.---Jim Litke is a sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org and https://Twitter.com/JimLitke ' ' '