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RIO DE JANEIRO -- The taekwondo competition at the Rio Games on Thursday morning was sold out. Not a single seat was left for grabs at the 10,000-capacity arena, where fans spent between $21 and $43 to gain access.But the arena never totally filled.The crowds, or lack thereof, will unquestionably be part of the legacy of these first Olympics in South America, where some events were raucous and others seemed downright sleepy. Despite organizers insisting that most tickets were sold, it wasnt uncommon to see Usain Bolt running in an arena that had perhaps more empty blue chairs than fans -- even after he took to Twitter with a video urging people to buy tickets.Make sure you buy tickets and come out and watch, Bolt said. Its going to be great.Bolt has more than 4 million Twitter followers. Most of them, apparently, werent listening.When U.S. 1,500-meter runner Jenny Simpson won bronze earlier this week, the track stadium was maybe 25 percent filled. She noticed, but insisted it didnt take away from her moment.The physical crowd that is there never compares to the people that you took along the journey with you and theyre watching through their television screens and certainly now the internet, Simpson said. So the physical presence doesnt excite or deter.Rio Games officials insist that more than 80 percent of all available tickets were sold, and that their goals on that front will be met. But that stat hasnt passed the eye test throughout the games, and an Associated Press review of the remaining 100 event sessions starting Thursday afternoon showed roughly half -- including the closing ceremony, the womens soccer gold-medal match and all remaining sessions in track and field -- had tickets remaining.I got tickets for wrestling because they were the lowest price, said Luiz Hernandez, a Colombian who was with friends inside Olympic Park this week. We got them to come in here and hang out. We wound up giving them away because we just wanted to be in here.Hernandez said he paid 160 Brazilian real for four wrestling tickets, or about $49. His girlfriend, he said, spent at least 10 times that much in the Olympic Megastore -- without those tickets, their group would not have been able to access.In other words, they spent a little money so they could spend a lot of money. And they waited an hour in line just to get in the crammed store inside Olympic Park, where crowds have been sizable throughout the games. (Throughout Brazil, there are more than 100 other stores, all smaller than the one in Olympic Park, selling games souvenirs and open to the public.)Shes happy, Hernandez said.Theres been no shortage of theories -- or excuses, depending on perspective -- about the empty seats in Rio. Some events start too early, others start too late. Some tickets were too expensive. Too many sports seemed foreign to Brazilians. Blocks of seats ordinarily set aside for international fans either werent sold or claimed. Traffic scared away locals. Would-be visitors were scared away by pre-Olympic stories of disease, dirty water and crime.Theyre probably all valid factors, on some level.Combine that with how Rio organizers say 11 percent of the advance-purchased tickets -- and 55 percent of the tickets given out for free to needy kids in the Rio area -- werent used, and its easy to see how the crowd issue became an issue.I dont want to go too long into this because it might sound as an excuse, Rio Games spokesman Mario Andrada said. I believe we faced this issue without looking for excuses, but rather looking for explanations.But Andrada said the games broke the financial target for sales even while the attendance numbers lagged, something he attributed to high-priced tickets getting sold early to marquee events.Numbers mislead, Andrada said.The cheapest available ticket to track and field Thursday morning was about $31, the most expensive about $109 -- and for the night session, with Bolt set to try for a third straight gold in the 200-meter dash, the top price was nearly $300. For diving, the prices ranged from $75 on the low end for the morning session, $281 on the high end for the afternoon session. Plenty of those seats were available.But for volleyball, a sport wildly popular among Brazilians, tickets were gone even with a steep price. The best seats for the mens beach final Thursday night were all sold at $375 each.The mens gold-medal soccer match at Maracana had a top ticket value of around $300; that was also sold out, organizers said. But the closing ceremony may have empty seats -- the two cheapest levels of tickets ($62, $187) have all been sold, but the three most expensive tiers ($437, $655 and $936) all were available.Officials steadfastly insist empty seats wont hurt Rios legacy.We cannot regret something, Andrada said, that we cannot fix. Vapormax Hombre Baratas . 8 Kansas to a 64-63 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night. The freshman from Vaughan, Ont. Nike Air Max Plus Tn Baratas .C. Lions has come to an end. Banks told TSN on Jan 2 that he had no interest in playing out the option year of his contract with the Lions in 2014, and he again made that clear in a conversation with Lions GM Wally Buono last week. http://www.vapormaxbaratas.com/vapormax-plus-baratas-venta.html .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. Nike Air Max Plus Tn Se Baratas . -- Its been a long road back for Sean Bergenheim. Vapormax Off White Blancas . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. CINCINNATI -- For the better part of eight seasons, Jay Bruce was a model of stability and professionalism for the Cincinnati Reds organization.On Monday afternoon, Bruce was traded to the New York Mets in a deal designed to further the Reds rebuilding efforts.When Cincinnati begins a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night, a No. 32 jersey will be conspicuously absent from the large locker on the far left-hand corner of the clubhouse.Over the past nine seasons, we couldnt have asked for a better person to represent our team, our city and Major League Baseball, both on and off the field, Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said in a statement.During these difficult last few months, he has answered questions about his future almost daily, while continuing to handle himself with the class and professionalism he has shown since the day we drafted him.In exchange for Bruce, Cincinnati acquired infielder Dilson Herrera and left-hander Max Wotell. Herrera, 22, originally was signed by Pittsburgh in 2010 and was acquired by the Mets in August 2013. Wotell, 19, was the Mets third-round pick in 2015.This was a very difficult trade for us to make because of how our fans, ownership and everyone in our organization feel about Jay, but we acquired two quality players who better fit the direction our organization is heading, Jocketty said.Herrera is considered one of the brightest young stars in the game today. Wotell fits in with the other good, strong arms weve been trying to stockpile in our minor league system.The Cardinals, who begin play Tuesday in second place in the National LLeague Central behind the Chicago Cubs, made a deal to bolster their bullpen at Mondays non-waiver trade deadline, acquiring lefty Zack Duke from the Chicago White Sox.ddddddddddddThe Reds and Cardinals will play six times over the next nine days, beginning with this weeks three-game set. Coming into Tuesdays series opener, St. Louis is 18-4 over the past 11 series at Great American Ball Park.Cincinnati will try to reverse that trend on Tuesday behind right-hander Dan Straily who went from a long reliever to being among the Reds most dependable starters.Opponents are hitting just .207 against Straily, who will make his first career start against St. Louis. He leads the Reds staff in innings pitched (122), strikeouts (97) and quality starts (12).The Cardinals counter with Adam Wainwright, who has overcome a rough start to the season to post a 1.77 ERA in July, which ranks ninth among all major league pitchers.St. Louis is 14-3 in his last 17 starts and has won six of his last seven road starts.Cincinnati has had success against Wainwright, however. His 4.44 ERA against the Reds is the second-highest against any opponent. Wainwright allowed two earned runs in six innings in a 3-2 win against them on June 9. On April 16, Cincinnati roughed him up with a season-high seven runs allowed.Hes been good, very good, St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. The fastball execution has been very sharp here lately. Good movement on the cutter sinker and that makes the curveball better. ' ' '