Sochi, Russia - The closing ceremony of the Sochi Games brought a flashy and tuneful end Sunday night to the most expensive Olympics in history. Colton Schmidt Jersey . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. They opted for human rings this time, the last one opening several seconds after the first four on the floor of the stadium. It echoed the hijinks from Vancouvers closing ceremony four years ago, when a leg of the cauldron that failed to come up during the opening ceremony was finally raised into place. Sundays ceremony at Fisht Olympic Stadium included a handoff from Sochi to Pyeongchang, South Korea, host of the 2018 Winter Games. Near the end, the cauldron that was lit 16 days earlier by Russian Olympic greats Vladislav Tretiak and Irina Rodnina was extinguished after one of the games mascots, an animatronic bear, blew out a flame in the center of the stadium, a single tear dripping from its left eye. Earlier, after a childrens choir conducted by Valery Gergiev sung the Russian national anthem, flag bearers for each country entered the stadium together rather than country by country like in the opening ceremony. The athletes who stuck around for the festivities also came in together, as is customary for the closing ceremony. American ice hockey forward Julie Chu, who competed in her fourth Olympics, carried the U.S. flag. "So proud to represent Team USA (and) our amazing athletes. Humbled," Chu tweeted as she waited to enter the stadium. Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse, who won their second womens bobsled gold medal in a row, were co-flag bearers for Canada. Figure skater Maxim Trankov, a dual gold medalist in Sochi, carried Russias flag. Pop music played, but the ceremony also included a heavy dose of classical music and ballet like the opening ceremony, and a nod to Russian novelists and poets. All of it was done as temperatures hovered in the 40s, a cool close to the so- called Spring Olympics, where the weather was famously mild, with temperatures even climbing into the 60s on some days. That led to some strange scenes, including cross country skiers cutting the sleeves off their uniforms and American skier Julia Mancuso filming a surfing video for NBC on the Black Sea. There was a serious side to the warmer weather, of course, which wreaked havoc on some courses for the snow events. Snowboarders complained about slushy conditions on the halfpipe and the New York Times detailed a clandestine operation by organizers to purchase more salt needed to keep some courses properly iced. Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen set the all-time Winter Olympics record during the games by winning his 12th and 13th medals, both golds. But Russia led the overall medal count with 33, including 13 gold medals to fall one short of the Winter Games record of 14 set by Canada four years ago at the Vancouver Olympics. The U.S. finished second with 28 medals, nine fewer than the Winter Games record 37 they captured in Vancouver. Norway was third overall with 26 medals and Canada won 25, including 10 gold -- the last secured by the mens hockey team on Sunday in a win over Sweden. The Russian anthem played for the last time at the closing ceremony during the medal ceremony for the mens 50-kilometer cross country race. Alexander Legkov led a Russian medal sweep of that event Sunday morning. Sochi organizing committee head Dmitry Chernyshenko called the games "a great moment in our history ... a moment that will never be forgotten." "This is the new face of Russia, our Russia," he said. "And for us, these games are the best ever." Russian President Vladimir Putins $51 billion Olympics were the subject of snickers early on when media and athletes arrived to find some accommodations lacking. Journalists relayed stories of unfinished rooms, broken door handles, missing shower curtains and even stray dogs in their media villages. One was told not to use the water in her bathroom, which was said to contain a dangerous chemical. U.S. bobsledder Johnny Quinn became an Internet sensation after tweeting a picture of his bathroom door, which he had broken through after becoming locked inside. The Twitter account SochiProblems had more than 330,000 followers by the time of Sundays closing ceremony, but the criticism so prevalent in the first days died down, giving way to wide praise of Sochis venues. IOC President Thomas Bach, presiding over his first games, said the athletes left a legacy of "peace, tolerance and respect" and urged, as IOC heads often do, that countries around the world follow the example. Bach thanked Putin for what he said was the Russian presidents "personal commitment to the extraordinary success" of the games. "We leave as friends of the Russian people," said Bach. News broke during the opening ceremony that a plane had been diverted to an airport in Turkey after a passenger on board allegedly issued a bomb threat and tried to have the aircraft redirected to Sochi. The incident further raised fears that Russias first Olympics in 34 years could be the target of a terrorist attack, but the games passed without any such incident. The host country faced criticism in the run-up to the games after passing laws last year aimed at keeping gay "propaganda" away from children, and officials remained adamant throughout that political protests should be kept away from Olympic venues. In the highest-profile incident of its kind, two members of the punk band Pussy Riot were among several people detained for several hours as they planned to film a protest video in Sochi. They set up a day later to film again, but were interrupted by Cossacks who attacked them with whips. The games went without a positive doping test until the final weekend, when there were six. In the last case, Swedish hockey star Nicklas Backstrom was scratched from the gold medal game Sunday after testing positive for a banned substance found in allergy medication his NHL team said he has been taking for seven years to combat severe allergies. The Washington Capitals said the medication was approved by the Swedish national team. Patrick DiMarco Jersey . Ryan Callahan trade talks caught a lot of people off guard. Details are now emerging about why the Rangers would consider such a move. Darren Dreger: He wants a lot of money. Its been widely reported that Callahan is looking for a seven-year term around $6 million per year. That is not accurate. Im told that it is more than $6. Thurman Thomas Jersey . Chris Capuano. Shane Greene. And now, Esmil Rogers. http://www.shoptheofficialbills.com/Elite-Kyle-Williams-Bills-Jersey/ . Or how his team has defended Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Or just about anything that has happened on the court in the first-round playoff series. Instead, Rivers and his players spent Saturday talking about how they would respond to an audio recording of a man identified as Clippers owner Donald Sterling telling his girlfriend not to bring black people to games.Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - The so-close-and-yet-so-far-away feeling for NFL prospects might be epitomized by Zach Zenners hotel window at the East-West Shrine Game this week. My window looks out on the ocean, the three-time All-American running back from South Dakota State said Wednesday morning from St. Petersburg, Florida, but I havent been there yet. Oh, surely there must be time for some pleasure amid all the business. I just got done taking a Troutwine test, Zenner pointed out. Well then, that fun performance profiling surely reflected Zenners intelligence and intangibles such as competitive desire and mental toughness. Perhaps his reaction time on the test mirrored his acceleration on the field. A color will be spelled out, like the word red, for example, Zenner explained the psychological evaluation. But the color of the word red will be black. And youre supposed to identify the color of the word. You read red, but the color of the word is black, so you need to select black. Its all in a day in the life of a player trying to make a bigger name for himself at a college football all-star games. A player from an FCS program, like Zenner, has been a star for a while, but in the buildup to the NFL Draft in May, he has to overcome the stigma of playing on the smaller-school level. There are so many success stories, of course, but the perception still remains. Just this past Saturday, Coastal Carolina All-American linebacker Quinn Backus represented the FCS level well by claiming American team MVP honors with six tackles and an 87-yard pick-six at the Medal of Honor Bowl in Charleston, South Carolina. The three biggest all-star games are up next. The Shrine Game and the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl in Carson, California, will be played Saturday, while the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, will follow on Jan. 24. Zenner will get a long look from NFL teams. What must be particularly intriguing to them is the 6-foot, 220-pound back is the only Division I player, and just the second in NCAA history, to rush for at least 2,000 yards in three different seasons. He has a patient, north-south style, but can find another gear in the open field, as evidenced by five runs of 75 yards or more in his college career. Hes also a solid pass catcher. Zenner is one of 11 FCS players at the Shrine Game. At last years game, an FCS quarterback, 2013 Walter Payton Award winner Jimmy Garoppolo from Eastern Illinois, was named the offensive most valuable player. Its been great being here, its been an honor, its been interesting and a good experience so far, Zenner said. I think Im doing OK. The interviews go pretty fast because I dont have any, like, previous arrests or anything to explain. On the field Monday, I was a little rusty, but yesterday I had a better practice. So, hopefully, Illl have another good one today. E.J. Gaines Jersey. It takes a little bit to get used to. I think everyone did well in college. But I was part of a high school all-star team, so Ive been in a similar situation. Its the same thing as getting to a college for the first time. Everyone was the big dude in high school. Its a similar feel except at a higher level. While Zenner is focused on fulfilling his NFL dream - he also will participate at the leagues annual scouting combine in Indianapolis next month - he has a pretty good fallback plan. As part of the National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete Class, an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship awaits him for medical school. The inaugural recipient of the Mickey Charles Award, which honors academic achievement by an FCS student-athlete, Zenner carried a 3.86 grade point average before completing his undergraduate work at SDSU last month. But, oh, does the Minnesota native ever wish he could find time to get to the beach this week. I want to take advantage of it, but I wont have time today, he said. Maybe tomorrow, I might. FCS Players in Upcoming All-Star Games All Times ET East-West Shrine Game Saturday, Jan. 17 Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida 4 p.m. (NFL Network) East Roster (head coach Mike Singletary): Derrick Lott, DT, Chattanooga; Dean Marlowe, FS, James Madison; Tre McBride, WR, William & Mary; Davis Tull, DE/OLB, Chattanooga; Tye Smith, CB, Towson West Roster (head coach Jim Zorn): John Crockett, RB, North Dakota State; Kyle Emanuel, DE, North Dakota State; Tevin McDonald, FS, Eastern Washington; MyCole Pruitt, TE, Southern Illinois; Xavier Williams, DT, Northern Iowa; Zach Zenner, RB, South Dakota State NFLPA Collegiate Bowl Saturday, Jan. 17 StubHub Center, Carson, California 4 p.m. (ESPN2) American Roster (Mike Holmgren): Tony Bell, SS, UT Martin; Antoine Everett, OG, McNeese State; Jerry Lovelocke, QB, Prairie View A&M; Zack Wagenmann, DE, Montana National Roster (Mike Martz): Malcolm Agnew, RB, Southern Illinois; DeAndre Carter, WR, Sacramento State; Ace Clark, SS, Western Carolina; Nick Easton, C, Harvard; Channing Fugate, FB, Eastern Kentucky; Jake Rodgers, OT, Eastern Washington; DeAnte Saunders, CB, Tennessee State; Ross Scheuerman, RB, Lafayette; Corey Simmons, TE, Northwestern State Senior Bowl Saturday, Jan. 24 Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Mobile, Alabama 4 p.m. (NFL Network) Accepted Invites (head coaches Ken Whisenhunt of the North roster and Gus Bradley of the South roster): Nick Boyle, TE, Delaware; Imoan Claiborne, CB, Northwestern State; David Johnson, RB, Northern Iowa; Dezmin Lewis, WR, Central Arkansas; Kyle Loomis, P, Portland State; Robert Myers, OG, Tennessee State; Jaquiski Tartt, S, Samford; Lynden Trail, OLB, Norfolk State; Tyler Varga, RB, Yale Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '