EUGENE, Ore. -- Reigning Olympic 400-meter champion Sanya Richards-Ross calls them gold-medal moments, when a complete stranger walks up to her and thanks her for a career thats included plenty of celebrations, along with some tears.Those moments are priceless for Richards-Ross, even more so with the 31-year-old retiring after the Rio de Janeiro Games. Shes a long shot to make the American squad at the Olympic trials because of a painful big toe thats haunted her for years and a hamstring ailment that recently surfaced.Richards-Ross insisted shes OK if she doesnt make the team -- that its just as much about soaking it all in one last time.Still, that competitive nature is hard to switch off. The four-time Olympic gold medalist and American record holder wont go without one final kick down the back stretch.As an athlete, youre optimistic until the very end. I cant help but be that way, said Richards-Ross, who begins Friday with a first-round heat. If Im in it, I can win it. If I dont, Im grateful that I made it this far.Its been a stroll down memory lane for Richards-Ross since she arrived in Eugene earlier in the week. She and her dad went to the track and took a casual trip around it. Her dad has been by her side through her triumphs (her crowning achievement, 400-meter gold at the 2012 London Olympics) and her heartaches (finishing third at the 2008 Beijing Games when she struggled down the stretch and was later found crying underneath the stands). Not only that, but the health concerns, too -- she spent five years fighting a painful autoimmune disease called Behcets syndrome, only to discover it may have been misdiagnosed.To walk the track with my dad and reflect on this amazing journey Ive been on felt perfect, Richards-Ross said. Im trying not to get too emotional, because I need to give everything on the track.Her big toe is a big reason shes calling it a career. Before this season, she had her third surgery, but the pain remains a 10 when she runs. Her shoe company, Nike, designed a spike for her to train in to take the pressure off her foot and it helps, but the pain persists.Theres a quality of life thing where I dont want to run to the point that I cant walk, she said. I want to run with my kids one day and not say, `Well, I used to run but that was only when I was young.Shes long been the gold standard in the 400 since her days at the University of Texas. She was a member of the last three 4x400 relay teams that captured Olympic gold, but an individual Olympic gold eluded her until London.Richards-Ross would love nothing more than to defend her crown in Rio, but its going to be difficult with a field that includes Allyson Felix -- even if she has a sore ankle -- up-and-comer Courtney Okolo and Francena McCorory, to name a few. Making matters worse, Richards-Ross hurt her hamstring in a race a few weeks ago, limiting her practice time. This after finishing seventh, more than 2 seconds behind the winner, during the Prefontaine Classic in late May at Hayward Field.Just taking it one race at a time, said Richards-Ross, whos trained under legendary coach Clyde Hart.Shes already thinking about her post-race career. At the top of the list, shed like to start a family with her husband, NFL defensive back Aaron Ross. Shes also in the process of writing a book, owns several businesses -- including a luxury car service with her husband and a salon with her sister -- and wants to launch a broadcasting career.Be the female version of Michael Strahan, because he transitioned so well, said Richards-Ross, who lives in Austin, Texas. I want to do something with as much fire and passion as I did my sports career.While theres a chance she could be in the U.S. relay pool if she doesnt finish in the top three, theres also a chance this could be it. If it is, Richards-Ross said shes not sure how she will punctuate her final big race on the track.Its impossible to rehearse for something like this, Richards-Ross said. I want to be in the moment and whatever my emotions lead me to do, thats what Im going to do.As for how she wants to be remembered, thats simple: Giving every race everything she had.I hope that fans were inspired by my effort, Richards-Ross said. As I was leaving the track (Tuesday), this father tapped me on the shoulder and said to me, `Sanya, youve been such a good role model for my daughter. `Another gold-medal moment. Justin Verlander Jersey . -- Aldon Smith believes he is on the path to being sober for good. Ryan Pressly Jersey . The Brazilian goalkeeper signed a loan deal with the Major League Soccer club on Friday as he looks to get playing time ahead of this summers World Cup in his home country. http://www.customastrosjersey.com/custom-cy-sneed-jersey-large-1276y.html . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Ken Caminiti Jersey . The 43-year-old closer, in his 19th and final big league season, has said hed like to play the outfield. Yankees manager Joe Girardi says hes thinking about allowing Rivera to do it this weekend, when the Yankees finish their season with a three-game series at the Houston Astros. Roy Oswalt Jersey Large . Badenhop was 2-3 with a 3.47 ERA in 63 relief appearances for Milwaukee this season. He is 18-20 in his career with three saves and a 3. Ric Flair has called himself the stylin, profilin, limousine riding, jet flying, kiss-stealing, wheelin n dealin son of a gun throughout much of his 40-plus year professional wrestling career.But he can probably add death cheating to that catchphrase.Two-time WWE Hall of Famer told the Dan Le Batard Show on ESPN Radio Thursday afternoon that he once survived getting hit by lightning.Flair said the incident occurred at an airport in Richmond, Virginia, back in the 1970s, where he was in town to have a match with Ricky Steamboat at the Richmond Coliseum.?I got off the plane and was walking, he said. I didnt go 10, 15 feet when all of a sudden I felt this pressure boom, and man, my umbrella shot 50 feet in the air.I thought, What the hell? Lightning hit the top of my umbrella, bounced off and hit the guy in the eye five feet behind me and killed him. Right there. I just stood there looking at the guy and froze, it scared me to death. People were running out the door to get the guy.Flair was then jokingly asked by Le Batard how he was was still alive.I dont know, Flair replied. Ive always wondered what kind of a lawsuit that was, because it was really a big deal, hence probably the steel tips coming off umbrellas at that point.Flair, 67, said that his body is in no pain despite the wear and tear of a career that saw him compete in just about every major U.S. promotion.Im blessed guys, all my friends are banged up, and Im having a good time, he added.But it was a trip to work for a Japanese wrestling promotion that Flair told Le Batard spawned the best drinking story of all time.Flair said he had been working in the Florida wrestling territory for a week in the 1980s, on barely six hours combined sleep for the entire stay, before he had to fly out from Tampa to Chicago, and then on to Tokyo.I started saying I wasnt gonna do it, because I had to land in Tokyo and wrestle three consecutive one-hour matches, Flair said. So all the way over, I drank bloody marys, booze, beer, everything, for thirteen-and-a-half hours.When I got there, and I had talked mysself out of this, I could hear them calling me down in baggage claim.dddddddddddd. I said screw this. I walked over across to the next gate and said, Im going back to the States, whens your next flight? They said, Wheres your bags? I said, I dont care, Im just leaving them here. And then he boarded me, Tokyo to Seattle, Seattle to Chicago, then back to Charlotte.Well I was so flipped when I got down on the plane, I started drinking again. I was looking around for someone to talk to. I said, Hey, you mind if I talk to you? The guy said no. For eight hours we drank and talked. I got him hammered. I said, I think Im having a nervous breakdown. He said, I think maybe you are. And anyway, he sent me a Christmas card for five years making sure I was OK!I got all the way back to Charlotte -- and youre not gonna believe this -- I hadnt slept yet, right? And I got off the plane and there was my wife, and they said youve got to go all the way back. I had to go all the way back, Charlotte to Chicago to Tokyo, and wrestle an hour that day. I still made it back!But Flair, who has been divorced three times and separated from his fourth wife in 2012, credited his current fiancé Wendy Barlow with helping him put his party lifestyle behind him, saying the turbulence in his life has all been self-inflicted.Im not gonna lie to you. The worst thing ... wrestling was easy, its what I did to myself from 11 to 3 or 4 [a.m.] depending what city I was in, he said. But that was my coping mechanism. I just got exhausted.I found one that can put up with me, he added of his fiancé. Yes, Im very happy. I do get lonely. Im not a guy that will sit home and drink. I never drink when Im at home. I like the action. I like to be in the action, and a lot of women dont like that. Wendy, I call her two-drink Louie, but shell at least stay with me. And Ive gone from nightclubs to Carrabbas. A big night [for me now is] at Carrabbas. Wendy, can we stay til 9? ' ' '