RIO DE JANEIRO -- Like some ghost from the past, the memory of a stinging loss in the Olympic gold-medal volleyball game more than three decades ago returned just in time to save Brazils night. Without it, chances are good that both Alison Cerruti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt would have wound up on a hardwood floor instead of a sand court.Their three-set semifinal win Tuesday over the Dutch pair of Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen advanced the Brazilians into yet another gold medal final and helped soothe their countrymens nerves after Brazils top-seeded womens pair was upset in an earlier semifinal by Germany.Alisons nickname is Mammoth and its easy to see why. He stands 6-foot-8 and takes up enough space to play power forward in the NBA. Schimdts uncle, Oscar, is the greatest basketball player in Brazils history and one of the most decorated international stars of all time. He could shoot without conscience, and even if he thought defense was the interval between his last shot and the next one, he could carry a team and the hopes of an entire nation on his back, including those of his nephew.Oscar is my idol, Bruno said.The long and winding road that brought both Alison and Bruno Schmidt to the beach begins with a volleyball game that was played at the 1984 Los Angeles Games before either of them was born.In the 1980s, basketball and volleyball were like this, five-time Olympic Brazilian volleyball great Emanuel Rego explained, holding both hands palms down at his chest. Maybe basketball was a little bigger because of Oscar. ...Then came the game. It was much talked about. It changed the balance, Emanuel said, turning his right palm up, like that.That game was played at the 1984 Summer Games, pitting traditional indoor volleyball powers Brazil and the United States for gold. The two had traded trophies in international competitions with only the occasional interloper sneaking in between them. After two tight sets, the Americans cruised to a 15-2 win in the third.Soon after, beach volleyball became all the rage. Having begun in Southern California in the 1920s, it took off, according to legend, when it was played at a nudist colony outside Paris a decade later. In the years that Alison and Schmidt grew up, volleyball in the sand was just hitting its stride on both continents. Once again, the United States and Brazil locked horns.Alison, who was born in 1985, wanted to play futbol, which Brazilians like to say is more a religion than sport. When the last spot in a league he wanted to join was taken, he wound up in one of the volleyball programs launched across the country to return Brazil to what the sporting public here viewed as its rightful place at the top.I have to thank my mother, Alison said through an interpreter. That made me a great player.Schmidt was a promising basketball talent until he was 12. But he got tired of always being Oscar Schmidts nephew, always being compared, said Luis Felipe Schmidt, Brunos father, Oscars younger brother, and a member of Brazils military teams for years.I was in the Navy and in 2004, we moved to Vittoria, where there was a big center for beach volleyball, he continued. It was fun, and not so much pressure. ... You get a ball and go to the beach, there was always a game. I used to be Brunos teammate until he became too good.Asked how uncle Oscar responded to news that his nephew was choosing volleyball, Luis shook his head.We never had a real discussion, he said. We are a basketball family, after all. But we are also a sporting family. It also helped that his uncle Tadeu (Luis youngest brother) was a good player and supporter of Brunos volleyball playing.Beach volleyball became a medal sport at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Since then, Brazils mens and womens team have won gold twice and 11 medals overall. The numbers for the United States are six and 9, respectively. The German men won gold in 2012, representative of a push by European teams like the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, as well as emerging Asian power China, to shoehorn themselves between Brazil and the United States.The Brazilians wont give ground easily, if at all. At the end of their tough three-set win over the Dutch pair, Alison fell flat on his face and lay spread-eagle in the sand for nearly a minute before rising to shake hands and hug Bruno and then their opponents.Outside the arena, Luis Schmidt accepted congratulations from several generations of Brazilian greats -- first from Emanuel, then from Bernardo Rajzman and finally a handful of officials from the national volleyball federation. He recalled the days when young Bruno left his basketball at home and sauntered down to the beach in bare feet with a volleyball stuck under his arm.Unbelievable, Luis said finally. Totally unbelievable to see him reach the position he is in today.---Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org and Twitter.com/JimLitke. Trevor Siemian Jersey . Their experience showed Tuesday as the No. 10 Badgers blunted a Saint Louis surge to win 63-57 and advance to face West Virginia in Wednesdays finals of the Cancun Challenge. Mackensie Alexander Jersey . -- Josh Sterk scored once and set up two more as the Oshawa Generals edged the visiting Belleville Bulls 3-2 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. http://www.cheapvikingsjerseyssale.com/?tag=brett-favre-jersey-sale . "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home. Daniel Carlson Jersey . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. Everson Griffen Jersey .5 seconds to play in the game, Kevin Love never stopped believing that they would come out of there with a win.CLEVELAND -- Ryan Raburn twice faked a bunt. There was nothing phoney about his next swing. Raburn hit a three-run homer in the 11th inning off Jason Frasor, giving the Cleveland Indians a wild and sloppy 11-8 win over the Texas Rangers on Friday night. After Asdrubal Cabrera and Carlos Santana singled off Frasor (0-2), Raburn squared to bunt on two pitches and possibly drop a sacrifice before pulling a 2-1 pitch onto the home-run porch in left to rescue the Indians, who blew a 7-1 lead and nearly lost to a Texas team that committed three errors and had three wild pitches. "The bunt was on for the first two pitches, then they took it off," Raburn said. "I was happy they did. The way I feel at the plate, I like my chances better swinging away. I was just looking for a good pitch to hit. He left a slider up and I was fortunate enough to hit it over the wall." As he neared home plate, Raburn flipped his helmet high into the air and was pummeled by his teammates who sprayed him with bottled water as Clevelands fans celebrated. It was the seventh walk-off win this season for the Indians, who began a crucial stretch of 14 of 17 games at home. Frasor was upset with the pitch he threw Raburn. "It was a cookie right down the middle," he said. "I put it on a tee for him." Bryan Shaw (1-2), Clevelands fifth reliever, stranded the go-ahead run at third in the 11th, and the Indians stayed within three games of first-place Detroit in the AL Central. The Indians were in control, lost it and then needed Raburns dramatic homer to avoid a haunting loss. "We may not have the best talent, but we have by far one of the tightest teams," said Indians first baseman Nick Swisher, who homered in the first. "When Raburn was coming around, I just grabbed the two coldest bottles of water I could find and was just launching at him. No one was excited about going to extra innings, but were always going to keep fighting hard and finding ways to win." Ian Kinsler had four RBIs and Nelson Cruz homered for the Rangers, who lost for the 10th time in 13 games. Michael Bourn drove in three runs for Cleveland, which just returned from a disappointing trip to Minnesota and Seattle. The Indians were thrilled to be back at home, where they play their best ball. Despite some inconsistent play, Cleveland is still close to the Tigers, and the Indians are hoping to avoid a repeat of their collapse last season, when they went 5-24 in August and fell from contention. "Our goal was to win the game," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "We took a circuitous route to get there, but we won." Down 7-1 in the fourth, the Rangers kept chipping away and caught the Indians in the eighth. Texas scored one run in the fiffth, two in the sixth and seventh and the Rangers tied it on Kinslers two-out, two-run single off Joe Smith.dddddddddddd David Murphy singled leading off, and one out later, Smith hit Elvis Andrus on the leg. Leonys Martin sacrificed and Kinsler fell behind 0-2 in the count before pushing a single through the right side to score Murphy and Andrus. Texas comeback cost Indians starter Corey Kluber what appeared to be a routine win. He allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings, leaving with an 8-4 lead. The Baseball Hall of Fame wont be asking for any artifacts from this game. The teams combined for five errors and four wild pitches -- three by the Rangers. The Indians led 7-1 in the fourth, but even then the lead didnt look safe against the Rangers, who got a leadoff homer from Cruz in the sixth and then pulled within 8-6 in the seventh off reliever Cody Allen, who gave up two runs, four hits and a walk. Smith couldnt keep the Rangers down in the eighth as Clevelands shaky bullpen -- the Indians have blown 18 saves -- continued to be a major issue. General manager Chris Antonetti said before the game that he would like to add a reliever before the July 31 trading deadline. Indians closer Chris Perez was sharp, though. He pitched two perfect innings, the first time hes gone that long since May 29, 2010. The Indians scored four runs in the fourth to open a 7-1 lead and chase 22-year-old starter Martin Perez. Drew Stubbs and Bourn hit two-run singles in the outburst as Cleveland capitalized on two Texas errors in the inning. The six-run lead, though, was erased by the Rangers, who couldnt quite pull off a comeback win. "We could have very easily given up, but we didnt," Texas manager Ron Washington said. A sudden surge of wildness by Perez helped the Indians open a 3-0 lead in the second. Michael Brantley beat out an infield single and Mike Aviles followed with a base hit. Perez then uncorked consecutive wild pitches to the backstop, scoring Brantley and moving Aviles to third before he came home on Bourns grounder. Swisher, who has acknowledged feeling pressure to live up to the four-year, $56 million contract he signed in December, gave the Indians a 1-0 lead in the first with his 11th homer. NOTES: Cleveland had six walk-offs last season. ... Andrus singled in the seventh, giving him a hit in all 35 career games against the Indians. ... Hoping to clean up their recent rash of miscues, the Indians infielders took dozens of grounders before the game. 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