Matt Emmons sat in a beer garden near the shooting range trying to wash away one of the biggest gaffes in Olympic history when he felt a tap on the shoulder.Looking up, he saw Czech shooter Katerina Kurkova and her father, there to offer condolences and express admiration for how he handled himself after failing on sports biggest stage. They gave him a four-leaf clover keychain, wished him luck in the future and walked away.The pair ran into each other a few more times over the next year or so, their interactions expanding, the relationship growing. They decided to start dating. Three years later, they married.From darkness, Emmons had found a light.Had I not made that mistake, maybe I retire from shooting, maybe I dont marry Katy, Emmons said. I wouldnt change a thing.Emmons started his career with a gold medal in prone rifle as a 23-year-old at the 2004 Athens Olympics, doing it with a borrowed rifle after his was sabotaged. He picked up medals at the next two Olympics and is one of the favorites in 50-meter three-position at the Rio Games next month after setting a world record three-position rifle this year.Emmons also has a pair of Olympic-sized gaffes on his resume.The first came at Athens, where Emmons needed only a mediocre score on his final shot in three-position to earn his second gold of the games. Instead, he shot at the target next to him -- called cross firing -- and received no score at all, dropping him from gold to eighth in an instant.That led to meeting his future wife, but misfortune struck again at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, in the same event, no less.Emmons had another large lead heading into his final shot, mediocrity again enough for gold. This time, he accidentally hit the trigger as he lowered the gun sight toward the bulls-eye and missed his mark, a mishap that dropped him to fourth.As he had in Athens, the affable Emmons handled disappointment well, focusing not on the letdown, but on the familys three-medal haul; he won silver in prone, Katy gold in 10-meter air rifle and silver in three-position.Though he would occasionally get irritated after hearing crude remarks about his failures while at shooting events, Emmons never really thought about the two blunders others tried to define him by.Emmons fully closed out that chapter, at least mentally, in 2012 when his sports psychologist suggested he watch the finals. Emmons doesnt like to watch himself shoot, but agreed.Turns out, it wasnt nearly as bad as he thought.It put things in perspective, Emmons said. Those failures, those mishaps, the things that Ive learned in the process have made my life, my athletic career so much richer, so much more fulfilling than anything I could have done had I won those medals.Emmons perspective had already taken a shift with a health scare two years earlier.While preparing for a trip to Singapore, where he would serve as an ambassador at the 2010 Youth Olympics, Emmons didnt feel right and went to the doctor. Because he was leaving in three days, the doctor sped up the process, ordering x-rays and an ultrasound of his neck.The ultrasound revealed a nodule on his thyroid gland. He was told to cancel his trip and go back to the doctor for a biopsy. It could be cancer.You hear cancer and you think, `Oh my god, Im going to die, Emmons said.After a tense weekend, Emmons had the biopsy and was told though the sample was too small, it looked like cancer. Word spread quickly through the shooting community and Emmons heard from Dr. Yuman Fong, an ENT whose daughters were Emmons teammates.Following Dr. Fongs suggestion, Emmons flew to New York to have surgery at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, just a few hours drive from his parents home in southern New Jersey.During four hours of surgery, doctors removed Emmons thyroid and 24 lymph nodes, eight of which turned out to be cancerous. He later underwent radiation treatment, but was back shooting within two months. Emmons began winning again and eventually qualified for the 2012 London Olympics.He really has an incredible resiliency, Katy Emmons said from their home just outside Pilsen, Czech Republic, where theyve lived full-time the past three years.Emmons needed it again less than a year before the London Games.He and Katy split time between the Czech Republic and the United States, living near an indoor shooting range in northern Minnesota. When the range abruptly closed, the family -- they have three kids -- had to pack and move to Colorado Springs, near the U.S. Olympic Training Center.Even with the personal turmoil heaped upon his health issues, Emmons kept his focus in London, earning a bronze medal in three-position, the event that tripped him up twice before.Thyroid cancer, moving my family, overcoming the mistake I had made in 2004 and 2008, to be in exactly the same position three Olympics later, working through it and getting a medal out of it was huge, Emmons said. I was like, `boom, monkeys off my back, I feel so much better now. Shoes UK From China . -- Adam Snyder returned to the San Francisco 49ers this season because the offensive lineman thought it was his best opportunity to win a championship. Shoes UK Online Store . After dropping their final six games of December, the Wild opened the new calendar year with four consecutive wins. Following a loss to Colorado on Saturday, Minnesota rebounded the following night to blank Nashville 4-0, but then had the tables turned on them Tuesday. https://www.shoesukonline.com/ . -- The Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake played to a 0-0 tie Saturday night that left the top of the Western Conference standings unchanged. Shoes Online UK Review . Tracey comes to the Blue Bombers after spending over a decade with Queens University. Most recently he was the schools assistant football coach. Wholesale Shoes UK Free Shipping .Y. -- Canadas Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse have another World Cup gold medal after winning the two-women bobsled race on Saturday in Lake Placid, N. MIAMI -- The San Francisco 49ers, who have been playing since 1946, are on the verge of taking their losing to a new level.A loss Sunday at Miami would be the 49ers 10th in a row, a franchise record. The lone victory came 2+ months ago in the season opener, and their 1-9 record has earned them the nickname the one-and-Niners.If fans dont take them seriously, how can the Dolphins?The challenge is if the players read the paper or watch the news, Miami offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen said. We always really emphasize, `Just worry about us. Dont worry about the opponent. Its just a nameless, faceless opponent. Lets go play good football. If we do, things are going to be OK.That approach has worked just fine in recent weeks for the Dolphins (6-4), who try Sunday for a sixth consecutive victory , which would be their longest winning streak in 11 years.Here are things to know about the matchup between teams headed in opposite directions:GREAT EXPECTATIONS: No team is a bigger favorite Sunday than Miami, heady stuff for a franchise that hasnt made the playoffs since 2008.Hopes of ending the drought are on the rise, even though the Dolphins havent exactly dominated, coming from behind in the fourth quarter of each of their past four games. And a wave of injuries has left the offensive line in a mess .But the players deny theyre susceptible to an upset against the woeful 49ers.I dont think its a trap at all, running back Jay Ajayi said. All were looking at is the Niners. The playoffs are so far away. With records, you can buy into all that stuff, but we were 1-4 a few weeks ago. So when we turn on the tape, we see a team that plays hard and is a physical team, and they have talent over there. Well be ready to play.Credit Ajayi for finding ways to compliment a team that ranks last in the NFL in defense, last in run defense and third worst in offense. They 49ers are 0-5 since Colin Kaepernick took over at quarterback for Blaine Gabbert.Ultimately we have to be the ones that change the outcome of these games and change the path that were on, Kaepernick said. We have to stay focused on that task, and not let what has happened in the past affect that.TALE OF TWO HALVES: Kaepernick has been a completely different quarterback in the first half than the second. He has started fast, completing 73.5 percent of his passes with 11 yards per attempt, six TDs, ttwo interceptions and a 126.dddddddddddd2 passer rating in the first two quarters. He has fallen off after that, completing 38 percent with 4.2 yards per attempt, one TD and a 55.2 rating in the second half.We have to execute in the second half, coach Chip Kelly said.BIG VOID: The Niners struggling defense lost another key player when safety Eric Reid went down with a season-ending biceps injury. He joins LB NaVorro Bowman (Achilles tendon tear) and DL Arik Armstead (shoulder) on IR for a defense that has allowed the second-most yards and points this season.Reid is particularly hard to replace because of his versatility. He has lined up at inside and outside linebacker, covered tight ends and played both safety positions. He ranks second on the team with 62 tackles. Second-year safety Jaquiski Tartt will be called on to replace Reid.Hes got great range and ball skills, coordinator Jim ONeill said. Hes got a knack for reading the quarterback.WATCHING THE HIGHLIGHTS: Ajayis productivity has declined each of the past three weeks, but he leads all running backs with an average of 5.6 yards per carry and confesses to enjoying replays of his breakaway runs in team meetings.Its fun watching the tape, because during the play you dont really know everything thats going on, he said. I kind of black out during plays anyway. So its always cool watching the big plays over and seeing the little things -- the receivers extra effort, and people on the sideline getting excited.PENALTY PROBLEM: The Dolphins rank second in yards penalized with 77 per game, and theyve been flagged 40 times in the past four games. The coaching staff shrugs off some penalties -- but not post-whistle personal fouls, which have been a problem.Its a fine line. We like how theyre playing. We really like the aggressiveness, Christensen said. But losing your poise will lose games. Were getting to a point where a mistake can eliminate you from contention or from a playoff game.---AP Sports Writer Josh Dubow in San Francisco contributed to this report.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL.---Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Steve-Wine. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/steven-wine ' ' '