ZHUKOVSKY, Russia -- Russias top athletes reacted with anger after the news broke Thursday that their track and field team would remain banned from next months Rio de Janeiro Olympics.Two-time Olympic champion pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, the teams biggest star, wrote on Instagram that without Russia, historically a track superpower, only pseudo-gold medals would be on offer at a devalued Rio Olympics.The Court of Arbitration for Sports decision -- to reject an appeal against an earlier ban -- marked the funeral for track and field, Isinbayeva told state news agency Tass.At a competition near Moscow that had been scheduled as a final tune-up before the games, most athletes saw the ruling as fundamentally unjust, and based on unfair allegations of mass doping and government cover-ups.Its a big blow for me personally and for the athletes, said world high jump champion Maria Kuchina, who would have been a strong contender for gold at her first Olympics.Three hours after news came through that Russias appeal against the ban by the International Association of Athletics Federations had been rejected, Kuchina leapt 2 meters in front of the sparse crowd. The jump would have been good enough to have won the gold medal at the European championships earlier this month -- if she and the rest of the Russian team had not been suspended.Despite all the difficulties and problems, we kept training, she said. Today I showed that Id be in contention for the Olympic podium, regardless of the news today.A string of reports from the World Anti-Doping Agency and an IAAF taskforce that focused on widespread doping in Russian track and field, along with alleged cover-ups involving high-ranking government officials, have done little to convince Russian athletes that their team deserves punishment.A lot of the facts arent confirmed, its complete slander and theyre still putting pressure on us, said Vera Rudakova, one of the worlds top young hurdlers.Bans for individual dopers are fair, but not the exclusion of a whole team, hurdler Timofey Chaly argued.Its dishonest, he said. There are people who decided for themselves that they can dope and maybe somehow theyd get away with it. That didnt happen and they got bans, thats fair.Russias ban contained a bitter irony for former European javelin champion Vera Rebrik, who switched allegiance from Ukraine to Russia in 2014 after her home region of Crimea was annexed by Russia. She will now miss the Olympics because of her new nations ban.I dont know whether to laugh or cry, she told state TV.A minority of Russian athletes think the cloud has a silver lining.A ban from Rio could be the incentive needed for Russia to take action, according to hammer thrower Sergei Litvinov, a strident anti-doping voice on the Russian team.He told The Associated Press that Russian athletics officials failed to act on doping in time and hopes that this situation can encourage the management to push through reforms. Litvinov says the next step for international authorities should be to investigate what he believes are Russian-style organized doping schemes in other countries.I want all (doping) systems to be shut down. Not just ours, but all of them, Litvinov said.As it stands, Russias once-vaunted track team could be reduced to just a single athlete at the Rio Olympics.Long jumper Darya Klishina was exempted from the ban by the IAAF because she lives and trains in Florida at an academy run by sports marketing company IMG and has been tested for years by the U.S. anti-doping agency, not Russias scandal-hit equivalent.However, some Russian fans have turned on her since she received permission to compete, calling her a traitor and demanding she refuse her Olympic spot in solidarity with banned teammates.But those same teammates want Klishina to succeed.Kuchina said Thursday she will obviously support Klishina.I dont think shes a traitor, Rudakova said. The IAAF gave us its criteria and Dasha was lucky that it worked out for her...Well cheer her on, she added, using Klishinas nickname.The IAAF has also allowed Russian doping whistleblower Yulia Stepanova to race, but the 800-meter runner is struggling with injury and has not set a competitive time this year.Regardless of their views on Russias doping scandal, almost all of its athletes must now rebuild their careers and hope to return to international competition next season.Outspoken in his criticism of dopers, Litvinov even asked the IAAF to give him more doping tests.Now in the same boat as his less strident teammates, he says all thats left is to try not to lose motivation for next year. Kendall Sheffield Youth Jersey .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. John Cominsky Falcons Jersey . 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NEW ORLEANS -- The decision to go for a two-point conversion with less than a minute to play on the road against the?Saints?was not up for debate on the Oakland Raiders?sideline.Not even when considering that settling for the safer extra point attempt could have tied the game, while missing on the two-point conversion likely would have lost the game.?I was thinking that were here to win; lets win it right now, Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said.So with 47 seconds remaining, Oakland quarterback Derek Carr dropped back and lofted a fade pass to the left side of the end zone to receiver?Michael Crabtree, who was being covered by undrafted Saints rookie cornerback Ken Crawley. Crawley was?in the game because Delvin Breaux was knocked out earlier with an ankle injury.Crabtree came down with the ball, and the Raiders had a 35-34 lead over the Saints that would hold up for a come-from-behind,?season-opening victory after Saints kicker Wil Lutz missed a 61-yard field goal attempt as time expired.Saints quarterback Drew Brees called it a ballsy move by the Raiders, while coach Sean Payton said the call wasnt unexpected and on the road, in a game like this, I probably would have done the same thing.Del Rio later poked fun at an ESPN Stats & Information tweet that compared the Raiderrs win probability had they kicked the PAT versus attempting the two-point try.dddddddddddd.?Del Rio gave his instructions to go for two before the Raiders started their 75-yard game-winning drive, which culminated when Carr threw a 10-yard touchdown strike to Seth Roberts.And I just said, OK, no problem, Carr explained. When I got the call, I took a deep breath, made sure my footwork was right and just lobbed it up for Crab. ... I say lob it up, but obviously trying to put it in a certain spot where he can make a play.For Crabtree, it was sweet redemption in the Superdome.It was just over three years ago when Crabtree could not catch three straight fades in the opposite end zone from Colin Kaepernick?--?any of which, had they been completed, would have given the San Francisco 49ers a Super Bowl victory over the Baltimore Ravens.Crabtree, who signed as a free agent with the Raiders last offseason, admitted he had trouble sleeping Saturday night with a game in the Superdome on the horizon.I mean, we practice that so much it becomes routine, Crabtree said. Last play, you know, ended bad [in the Super Bowl]. This time, the last play ended good. ' ' '