en point to the indirect benefits of hosting the Games -- the so-called halo effect that results when hundreds of foreign reporters descend on a host city like soldiers

I didnt notice the scarcity of Americans in Rio de Janeiro until I started looking for them, wandering around the Olympics like a lonely tourist in search of an English-speaking friend.At smaller events like judo and diving, the U.S. was barely represented in the stands. Most of the ticket holders I approached at a womens basketball game, including two men in Magic Johnson jerseys and one woman carrying a tiny American flag, turned out to be Brazilians with an affinity for the stars and stripes. At the more crowded track and field and gymnastics venues, I followed the sound of USA cheers, only to realize they were being led by fans speaking Portuguese.On Monday, minutes before the individual balance beam finals, I chased down a guy wearing an Uncle Sam hat (a New Yorker!) and asked him if he had seen other Americans in the crowd.Theres not that many, which is surprising, he said. I think the U.S. press really scared everyone.The IOC claims that the 2016 Olympics will draw between 350,000 and 500,000 international visitors who have scooped up about 25 percent of the tickets sold so far (the organizing committee did not respond to a request for information on how many were sold to fans from the U.S.). But over the course of two weeks in Rio, I heard the same question from bartenders, hotel workers and restaurateurs: Where were the Americans?While a smattering of tourists from the States roamed the streets near the biggest venues, they were hard to find in neighboring areas like Lapa, Leblon and Botafogo. Max Prata, a vendor selling Rio-themed tank tops and hats on a street corner in Copacabana, said he had only encountered a handful of visitors from the States.There is a lot of American confusion, he said. Around the world, people have information on the Zika, the favelas. They need to see its tranquil.In recent months, the news coming out of Brazil has been anything but. The political scandal, financial meltdown and public health crisis all converged to form a category 5 news hurricane, shaking the countrys tourism industry to its core. Even with the Olympics, the World Trade and Tourism Council estimates that the industrys contribution to Brazils GDP, which has historically been larger than the banking and mining sectors, will shrink by nearly $2 billion this year. While flights and bookings jumped this month, several American travel agencies reported unusually low interest in the Games.This is one of the first Olympics where I didnt have a rush of people wanting to go, said Eric Hrubant, owner of CIRE Travel in New York. I had literally none.Of course, the economic benefits of Olympics tourism are always oversold. The Games organizers, eager to justify the absurd amounts of money spent on stadiums destined to rot away like abandoned carcasses, throw out laughable numbers assembled by bought-and-paid-for consultants. Said numbers are widely touted, then forgotten, like so many of the promises leading up to the event. In the wake of the 2014 World Cup, spending by foreign visitors actually dropped compared to the previous year, according to the countrys Central Bank.When pressed with these figures, Olympics backers will often point to the indirect benefits of hosting the Games -- the so-called halo effect that results when hundreds of foreign reporters descend on a host city like soldiers on a reconnaissance mission, airing stories and images that will hopefully lure tourists from their home countries. When the IOC picked Rio to host the Games seven years ago, tourism minister Luiz Barretto said the country would use the Olympics to market itself to the entire world.This will provide immense increases in Brazilian tourism and for our economy in the long run, he said.Over the last two weeks, viewers in the U.S. and elsewhere have glimpsed Rios sparkling beaches and soaring mountain views; theyve also seen heavily armed military officers lingering near tanks and watched around-the-clock coverage of swimmer Ryan Lochtes robbery at gunpoint. Theyve read about crime in the favelas, raw sewage in the bay and excruciating traffic in the streets.Its likely that the breathless reports on the Zika virus leading up to the Olympics actually exacerbated the slowdown in tourism. Alison Buerling, a Latin American travel analyst with the market research firm Euromonitor, said countries like Mexico, which were also impacted by Zika, benefited from less coverage.Brazil is on the world stage in a way that it wouldnt be if they werent hosting the Olympics, she said.This is the great gamble of the Games. Back in 2009, when the Olympics were awarded to Rio, the president of the countrys tourist board called the event an advertisement campaign that will change the image of Brazil for at least four years. In a perverse way, she could be right. Hosting the Olympics is a little like putting on a party and inviting the entire world; no matter how many doors you close and hallways you cordon off, visitors will find their way into the darkest corners of your house. http://www.packersrookiestore.com/Packers-Justin-Vogel-Jersey/ . "It was nerve-wracking, but we pulled through," said Collaros, who threw four touchdown passes to lead the Toronto Argonauts (8-4) to a 33-27 win over the Calgary Stampeders (9-3) in front of 28,781 fans at McMahon Stadium. http://www.packersrookiestore.com/Hoodie/ .Y. -- Leading 3-0 with only 11:25 left, the Colorado Avalanche committed a seemingly meaningless penalty to give the New York Islanders a power play. http://www.packersrookiestore.com/Packers-Kenny-Clark-Jersey/ . The Americans, skipped by John Shuster, seized the advantage in the eighth end by scoring five points for a 7-3 lead. The Czechs pulled two back in the ninth, but Shusters team of third Jeff Isaacson, second Jared Zezel and lead John Landsteiner ended with another point to secure the last Olympic berth on offer. http://www.packersrookiestore.com/Packers-Kyler-Fackrell-Jersey/ .Y. - Free agent outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, fresh off winning the World Series with Boston, reached agreement with the rival New York Yankees on a seven-year contract worth about $153 million, a person familiar with the negotiations said Tuesday night. http://www.packersrookiestore.com/Packers-Davon-House-Jersey/ . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors. HAMDEN, Conn. -- Nate Hickman scored 23 points and Luke Petrasek added 18 points and 14 boards to help lift Columbia past Quinnipiac 86-78 on Monday night.Columbia (2-1) shot 51.8 percent from the floor compared with 32.4 percent for Quinnipiac (0-2).Petrasek had a dunk and a layup and Hickman added a layup and the Lions tied the score at 23 with 8:44 left before halftime. Columbia then used a 25-7 run to build a 48-30 lead at the break.The Lions led in double digits for the majority of the second half.ddddddddddddMikey Dixon led Quinnipiac with 17 points, Chaise Daniels had 4 points and six rebounds and Abdulai Bundu contributed 13 points and nine rebounds. Quinnipiac missed 14 free throws on the night.Its Columbias first-ever win in the four-game series. The schools hadnt played each other since a 63-51 Bobcats win on Dec. 23, 2009. 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