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NEW YORK -- If you want to glimpse the future of sports broadcasting, you can check out the Rio Olympics in virtual reality. But if you really want to immerse yourself in the competition, just turn on the TV.NBC, BBC and other Olympic networks around the world are offering the opening and closing ceremonies and selected events in VR, giving viewers a 360-degree perspective -- that is, the ability to look up, down and all around -- when they wear special headsets. Its a first in Olympics broadcasting, and NBC itself admits that its more than 100 hours of VR coverage is experimental.Its good that television networks are getting a head start on figuring out what works with the new technology. Watching the Olympics in VR can occasionally transport you, giving you the sense of actually being there in Rio. But those moments are still too few and far between.---THE BASICSTelevision networks are relying on the shared resources of the Olympic Broadcasting Services. In the U.S., viewers need a cable or satellite TV subscription, a Samsung Gear VR headset and a recent flagship Samsung Galaxy phone.The VR schedule has a haphazard feel. It offers preliminary rounds for some sports and finals for others, but focuses on just one sport on any given day. Events are shown a day after the fact, too, apart from one fencing event and two days of mens basketball expected to be live.---THE OPENING CEREMONYFriends who hadnt tried VR before were impressed by the opening ceremony, though the spectacle was less momentous if youd seen enough of VR for its newness to wear off. A few scenes still stood out:- At one point, performers clad in feather-like costumes sashayed and shimmied around me as they introduced the world to Brazils music and dance. Producers had set up a 360-degree camera right next to them on stage, giving the VR audience the sense of being in the show instead of just watching it. Alas, producers then switched to more-distant cameras.- VR cameras captured the parade of athletes from at least two vantage points on the floor, giving me the sense of standing near them as they passed by. TV shots, by contrast, were mostly birds eye views. I even caught one of the stadium marshals next to me -- I mean the camera -- snapping a photo with a smartphone.- While television mostly had aerial shots looking down at fireworks, VR offered a perspective from inside as fireworks shot up from around the entire stadium.But VR doesnt do everything well, as I learned myself while recording 360-degree videos .With no zoom, shots from the stadiums seats felt distant. Television showed close-ups of supermodel Gisele Bundchens runway walk to The Girl From Ipanema, but in VR all you could see was a dark, empty stadium floor. She was just too far away.VR tried to compensate by showing a TV feed within the VR environment, but the virtual monitor got distracting. And when I looked down, all I could see was a computer-generated disk intended to hide the camera rig. It felt like standing on a giant dinner plate -- there as an observer, but not really there.---COMPETITIONThere are currently no commercials or commentators intruding on the VR Olympics; all you get is natural sound from the venue. On the other hand, theres no way to jump directly to a specific match or athlete.Among other drawbacks, athletes sometimes looked like video-game characters. VR video wasnt as sharp as what Im used to on TV, and 3-D rendering might have compounded that feeling of fakeness.In beach volleyball, one challenged play got shown repeatedly on television, but VR offered no instant replays or slow motion.With boxing, coverage switched back and forth between a floor-level camera and one about the height of a street lamp. That forced me to continually tilt my head to look up and down again as though nodding. Let the viewer choose the camera.For mens gymnastics, four cameras covered the six-event all-around finals, meaning you had to turn around to watch two of the events in the distance. Once again, you dont get to control the shot. You might be fixated on the pommel horse when you suddenly get a floor-exercise routine going on at the same time. Track-and-field coverage this weekend will probably have similar issues.For now, VR is most exciting behind the scenes. I could feel the joy as Japanese gymnast Kohei Uchimura won gold and hugged his support staff, surrounded by cameras. You dont get that sense of closeness when its a straight-on television shot. I would love to see warmup areas and locker rooms in VR (for team strategizing, of course). VR works best when the room is small and people are close to the camera.---LOOKING AHEADIts easy to take television sports coverage for granted. Before satellites, TV rarely covered sports live, and cameras were rudimentary. Now, underwater cameras can capture swimmers intensity in the pool, while a computer-generated yellow line shows the world-record pace. Elsewhere, skiers and ice-hockey players have strapped on GoPros. No doubt VR cameras and production will get better.Jim Bell, executive producer of NBC Olympics, said it well just before the Olympics started: It seems like a cool thing, but where it stands right now with the goggles and youve got to put this thing on your head, its not there yet. I kind of like the experience of watching big events like the Olympics on a high-quality television screen, which as we like to say, is as God intended it. Replica Egypt Jerseys . -- The Missouri Tigers might not have a roster full of superstars. Cheap Football Egypt Jerseys . The team says the Spain international has a muscle pull in his right leg. 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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Carolina Panthers arent clear at this point whether Cam Newton will be cleared from the concussion protocol in time for next Monday nights game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.Newton suffered the concussion when he took a legal helmet-to-helmet hit from Falcons linebacker Deion Jones during a two-point conversion run in Sundays 48-33 loss to Atlanta.Players typically arent cleared from the protocol for at least six to seven days because of the amount of testing they have to go through. Having an extra day between games gives Newton a chance if the concussion isnt major.Carolina middle linebacker Luke Kuechly missed three games with a concussion last season.If the reigning NFL MVP is not cleared, the Panthers (1-3) will start Derek Anderson, who was 2-0 against the Buccaneers in 2014 when Newton missed two starts.I have no idea, Panthers coach Ron Rivera said Monday when asked whether hell prepare for Tampa Bay as though Newton wont play. It really is tough to answer the question. Its hard. I dont want to say something that would go against what the trainers are saying, or the doctors for that matter.Carolina offensive coordinator Mike Shula said he would begin forming his game plan for Tampa Bay as though Newton is starting and then adjust for Anderson?when told otherwise.The great thing about it is its easy because of a guy like Derek, Shula said. [Sunday] was a great example. Hes had zero reps as soon as training camp was over. Look how he came in and played.Newton met with doctors Monday morning and was at Bank of America Stadium by the afternoon, but at thhe time of his news conference?Rivera hadnt spoken to Newton since Sunday after the game.dddddddddddd.I did talk to him after the game -- How are you doing? Rivera said. He was, Im fine, Im fine. That was it. He was with his family at that point.Rivera would not speculate on whether Newton could have avoided the hit. Jones said it appeared Newton let up as he approached the goal line, so he tried to make a play.Rivera, a former linebacker with the Chicago Bears, didnt blame Jones for that.As a defensive player, you see the guy coming to the goal line, if in your estimation he hasnt crossed it, youre going to pull the trigger, Rivera said. I think thats what the young man did.The helmet-to-helmet hit came after Newton took several in the opener at Denver. He was not taken out against the Broncos and did not go into the protocol after those hits but was tested after the game.The league and NFLPA launched an investigation after the game to determine whether Newton should have been removed after the final helmet-to-helmet hit that left him facedown on the ground.Asked whether Newton is taking too many hits, Rivera said his quarterback was the one that can answer the question. He said the two-point conversion was a pass play and that Newton had decided to run.Thats who he is, he said. 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