Russia now says it does not admit a doping conspiracy involving its Olympic athletes. The denial follows a New York Times article in which a Russian official was quoted as saying a conspiracy exited.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Russia now says, no, it does not admit to a vast doping conspiracy involving its Olympic athletes. This denial follows yesterday’s New York Times article in which a Russian anti-doping official was quoted as saying indeed there was an institutional conspiracy. It was the first such admission to come out of Russia. The New York Times is standing by its story.

Joining us to discuss this foggy situation is NPR’s Tom Goldman. Hey, Tom.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: Hi, Ari.

SHAPIRO: So yesterday’s Times story seemed like a breakthrough. After months of denying reports of widespread doping, Russia finally said, yes, it happened. And now the Russians are backtracking. What are they saying today?

GOLDMAN: Yeah, well, the woman who’s the acting head of RUSADA – that’s the Russian Anti-Doping Agency – she says her quotes in the article were taken out of context. They were changed by The New York Times reporter. She says she was merely quoting from the second part of the McLaren report. Now, that was the report released earlier this month. It provided lots of evidence and facts showing widespread doping in Russia from 2011 to 2015.

And the report uses the language – and I’m quoting here – “an institutional conspiracy existed across summer and winter sports athletes.” The head of RUSADA says she was just quoting that and not asserting it herself. And in fact, RUSADA said in a statement – and I’m quoting here – “it does not have and cannot have the authority to admit or deny such facts.” And the whole thing is under investigation in Russia.

SHAPIRO: How does The New York Times respond to that?

GOLDMAN: Well as you mentioned, sticking by its story, the reporter says all the quotes were accurate.

SHAPIRO: So then what is the impact of Russia essentially going back to where it was before yesterday’s Times article, rejecting any notion that the doping was widespread or state-sponsored or, as the McLaren report says, an institutional conspiracy?

GOLDMAN: Yeah, well, basically a glimmer of good will appears to be lost. You know, there was a feeling by those in the anti-doping community that even though Russians were still disputing the state-sponsored element of the doping allegations – and there’s a lot of evidence to show it was state-sponsored – they were making an admission in the Times article, and that could help put them in a better light and help them get back into the fold of international sport.

Remember, Ari; the Russians had been pariahs recently in sport. Athletes were banned from both the Olympics and the Paralympics in Rio. There have been events taken away from Russia this month. There are proceedings underway right now to determine whether more than two dozen Russian athletes who competed in the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014 were doping and need to be sanctioned. So with today’s denial, it seems to reaffirm Russian sports’ pariah status.

SHAPIRO: Why would this Russian official backtrack, especially if yesterday’s article seemed to put them in a better light?

GOLDMAN: Far be it for me to know what goes on in the mind of Russian officials, Ari.

SHAPIRO: (Laughter).

GOLDMAN: You know, the Russians truly feel aggrieved by this doping story. Now, in The New York Times article yesterday, one of the officials quoted brings up the Fancy Bear computer hacking incident of several years.

SHAPIRO: This is a Russian group of hackers.

GOLDMAN: Yes, exactly, and the hacking revealed this widespread use of exemptions by many of the world’s athletes, including Americans – basically athletes getting the OK to use banned drugs because of medical conditions. Now, these exemptions are legal, but the Russians believe those exemptions allowed all those athletes to cheat, and the Russians simply needed to stay up with all of the people they call cheaters.

SHAPIRO: That’s NPR sports correspondent Tom Goldman. Thanks, Tom.

GOLDMAN: You’re welcome, Ari.

Copyright © 2016 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Monday is Boxing Day in the UK and Ireland, as well as many former British colonies. We learn about the origins of the holiday and how it is marked now.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

It’s the day after Christmas which means for the British, Australians, Canadians and people in a handful of former British colonies, it’s Boxing Day. Boxing Day is always celebrated on December 26th, the day after Christmas. So what is it exactly? Well, in Britain, it’s a bit like Black Friday. Government offices are closed. Stores are wide open. We called up Selfridges’ department store in London and reached manager Luke Bayliss. He had to duck into a store room to escape the noise and crowds.

LUKE BAYLISS: It’s our first day of sales and mark downs. We had people queuing up – big groups of people have come in of up to 20, you know, (unintelligible).

SHAPIRO: We asked Bayliss if he knew where Boxing Day came from.

BAYLISS: I have no idea (laughter).

SHAPIRO: So we had to go to other sources. We looked into it, and it turns out there are a few competing theories. Some historians say the name originates in Victorian times when churches passed around a donation box and asked congregants to open up their pocketbooks. Others say it’s much older than that. Back in the 1500s, servants had to work on Christmas. The next day was theirs. Their employers would send them home with boxes of leftovers, gifts and holiday bonuses.

And there’s a third theory. Boxing Day is the day when blacksmiths and other tradespeople would receive boxes of money or gifts from their customers, a kind of end-of-the-year tip. Samuel Pepys, whose diary is considered an authoritative source on what life was like in England in the 17th century, he references the practice in a December 19, 1663 diary entry.

KEVIN: (Reading) And thence by coach to my shoemaker’s and paid all there and gave something to the boys’ box against Christmas.

SHAPIRO: Today, aside from shopping, Boxing Day is traditionally big for sports like soccer and fox hunting.

TOM HUNT: Boxing Day has been for centuries the highlight of the calendar year for hunting.

SHAPIRO: That’s Tom Hunt of the Countryside Alliance, a group that supports fox hunting in the U.K. The practice is currently illegal if the fox is killed.

HUNT: I think, actually, a lot of it’s just got to do with the fact that, you know, everyone’s been with their families on Christmas Day. Often, there’s been a bit of excess in terms of eating and everything else, and I think, you know, a bit of hunting on Boxing Day is a fantastic way to get some countryside air.

SHAPIRO: So whether you are shopping, fox hunting or just enjoying the day off, from all of us here at NPR, happy Boxing Day.

Copyright © 2016 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Owen Delaney is an avid runner who decided to make his runs a little more festive this year. He used his GPS app to create Christmas-themed art.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHUCK BERRY’S “RUN RUDOLPH RUN”)

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Owen Delaney is an avid runner. A couple weeks ago, he looked at a map of his local park in London and he saw all the normal things – trails, a fountain but also an opportunity.

OWEN DELANEY: It just popped into my head the idea of running in the shape of Rudolph’s face.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “RUN RUDOLPH RUN”)

CHUCK BERRY: (Singing) Run, run, Rudolph. Santa’s got to make it to town.

CHANG: He used Strava, a social network that allows athletes to manually plot their routes and – if they’re feeling creative – to draw some GPS art. And by GPS art, we mean he deliberately ran a route in the shape of a picture. The first picture he did was Rudolph with the park fountain as a nose. And he went on from there.

DELANEY: Then Santa’s face, then the sleigh, I think – a Christmas tree, snowflake. I did another reindeer face in a different park that didn’t work so well. And today I did Christmas stockings for my two kids and a carrot to leave out for Rudolph (laughter) and a glass of sherry for Santa.

CHANG: But it wasn’t always easy. He can’t stop to correct his work. Delaney says he has to do the run all in one go. And sometimes, he has to veer off the beaten path just a little bit.

DELANEY: If you look at the Santa one, the eyes are a little bit messy ’cause that wasn’t on paths. That was out through the bracken and the fields.

CHANG: After today, Delaney says he plans to return to his regular runs. But who knows what the future holds?

DELANEY: Maybe something for Easter, something for New Year perhaps. We’ll have a think on the New Year after Christmas and come up with some ideas maybe.

CHANG: He almost makes running sound festive.

Copyright © 2016 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

President Vladimir Putin denies his government sponsors sports doping, but some competitions have pulled out of Russia after new evidence emerges from an international inquiry.

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

It’s time for sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

WERTHEIMER: Russia has lost hosting privileges for three international sporting events after a report showing extensive evidence of state-sponsored doping. Russian President Vladimir Putin, though, is denying his country’s government ever supported sports doping. NPR’s Tom Goldman joins us on the line to tell us where this story’s heading. Good morning, Tom.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: Hi, Linda.

WERTHEIMER: First of all, let me start with what Putin said at a press conference yesterday. He denied Russia was involved in state-sponsored doping, but did acknowledge his country has a doping problem. Is that an important distinction?

GOLDMAN: It is. It’s the difference between saying we do some doping like everyone else but denying that what they do in Russia is above and beyond. Well, what Russia has done is way beyond. There have been in-depth reputable media accounts coming out of Germany and the U.S. over the past few years detailing a Russian doping system, and then the scathing McLaren report this year prompted by those media accounts.

The report is chock full of physical evidence and facts – you can read them online – detailing a doping conspiracy involving over 1,000 athletes, the FSB – Russia’s security agency – and officials in the Ministry of Sport, which is part of the Russian government. That’s what’s meant by state-sponsored doping, and it directly contradicts Putin’s claim yesterday. Linda, the world knows what’s going on. As – and as you mentioned, Russia is losing sporting events because of it.

WERTHEIMER: Which ones? Which – what were the events pulled?

GOLDMAN: Well, earlier this month, the bobsled and skeleton world championships scheduled for February in Russia were moved to Germany. A couple of days ago, a top speed-skating event was moved. We don’t know where yet. And two biathlon events were moved – voluntarily by the Russians, I might say. In fact, the Russians were praised by the International Biathlon Federation for being proactive and taking the matter seriously. These actions are happening because of the McLaren report and the threat of boycott by athletes if the events stayed in Russia.

WERTHEIMER: So do you think there’s a chance that Russia might lose the very big event in 2018, the World Cup soccer championship? Will that be taken away?

GOLDMAN: Probably not. Very slim chance of that for several reasons. Economist Andrew Zimbalist, who’s written about the high cost of World Cups, says Russia has built from scratch seven soccer stadiums already for the 2018 event. There have been billions spent on stadiums and infrastructure. Politically, there doesn’t appear to be the political will to punish Russia from the heads of major sports organizations. Anti-doping historian John Hoberman told me those leaders live in an ethics-free zone.

The president of FIFA, soccer’s governing body, Gianni Infantino, already has said the World Cup isn’t moving and that FIFA isn’t the world doping police. And, you know, finally, don’t expect wealthy soccer players to threaten boycott like the Olympic athletes have done recently. They’ve got too much to lose.

WERTHEIMER: I also wanted to ask you about the NFL games this weekend.

GOLDMAN: Ah, yeah.

WERTHEIMER: What should we be looking for as we head toward the playoffs?

GOLDMAN: Well, you’ve got 12 games on this Saturday before Christmas. And certainly we’ll know a lot more at the end of today than we know right now. There are four teams in the playoffs – New England, of course, Seattle, Dallas and Oakland. We need eight more. And it may take until the end of next weekend before the field of 12 is complete.

But there are lots of interesting games today. Just to pluck out two, Minnesota is playing a suddenly red-hot Green Bay team, which looked done a month ago but now has won four straight. And the Miami Dolphins started the season one and four. Now they’ve won eight of their last nine. And they have a chance to make the playoffs, which would be quite a turnaround.

WERTHEIMER: What about a chance for those Cleveland Browns? Could they possibly make it?

GOLDMAN: (Laughter) Make what, Linda? You mean just win a game against San Diego? You know, there’s always a chance, you know, any given Sunday or Saturday, in this case. But there could be a more cosmic reason for the Browns’ winless streak to end. As you know, today is a rare confluence of Christmas Eve and the beginning of Hanukkah. There’s an alignment of the calendars and maybe of the heavens, which might be what’s needed for the Cleveland Browns to win a football game.

WERTHEIMER: NPR’s Tom Goldman. Thank you, Tom.

GOLDMAN: You’re welcome.

Copyright © 2016 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

@K_DILLON20 For those who dont think the NFL player bankruptcy epidemic has anything to do with veterans passing down the culture..exhibit A

— Adam Podlesh (@Adampodlesh08) December 20, 2016

Made a sandwich for lunch.

— KJ Dillon (@K_DILLON20) December 20, 2016

Say Jaylon Smith went 5th overall. He’d get a fully guaranteed 4-yr, $23.5M deal. Wound up with a 4-yr, $6.5M ($4.5M guar) deal instead.

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) December 19, 2016

All these young guys deciding to skip their bowl games ?.I would do anything to play one more time with my brothers in that scarlet and gray

— Ezekiel Elliott (@EzekielElliott) December 19, 2016

North Carolina Central had a chance to tie Saturday’s game with Grambling State but a player was penalized for celebrating in the end zone. The Celebration Bowl was decided by excessive celebration.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning. I’m Steve Inskeep with the dramatic end to a bowl game. Grambling State played North Carolina Central and was leading 10-3. NC Central scored a touchdown – 6 points – which made it 10-9 with an extra-point kick to tie. But an NC Central player was penalized for celebrating in the end zone, which made the extra-point kick longer. And it was blocked. And the game ended 10-9. So the Celebration Bowl – that’s what it was called – was decided by excessive celebration. You’re listening to MORNING EDITION.

Copyright © 2016 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Slate’s Mike Pesca has a word for the National Football league this year: mediocrity. Mike make his case and also previews today’s big games.

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

It’s time for sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

CHANG: It’s Sunday. And if you’re a football fan, you’re probably getting ready to watch your team this afternoon. Not to upset you, but our friend Mike Pesca has a word for this year’s NFL, and it is mediocrity. He’s the host of slate.com’s podcast “The Gist” and he joins us from Slate Studios in New York to tell us more.

Thanks for being with us, Mike.

MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: Sure.

CHANG: OK. So what is so mediocre about football this year?

PESCA: Huh, well, I can’t explain it by throwing out phrases like point differential, standard deviation – I won’t do that.

CHANG: No idea what you mean.

PESCA: I will just say this. Yes. The biggest reason is the eyeball test. You look at these teams, you don’t get the impression – even the great ones, or the ones who have the best record, you don’t say to yourself – my God, who could beat the Patriots or the Cowboys or the Raiders or the Chiefs? Because not only have teams beat them, they don’t look forceful. And they don’t look so omnipotent from week to week.

I will cite – there is a site called Football Outsiders, and every year, they do a very advanced number-crunching. And they say the best teams in the league this year are the worst best teams we’ve ever had. And they’ve also saying that the worst teams – now the Browns are a winless team. They could go un-winned, which is the opposite of undefeated, this year. But compared to the other two teams that didn’t win a game, they’re much, much better than that.

But it really is this clustering in the middle, where teams – even the great teams – aren’t blowing out the bad teams. And it doesn’t seem like the games are crisp on every play and with every – on both sides of the ball. And that’s what I mean by mediocre, and I do think the fans are feeling it.

CHANG: Wait – so basically, you’re saying that the best teams aren’t as good as they think they are. And the worst teams aren’t as bad as we think they are. But isn’t that the case any year?

PESCA: Well, I would say this – if the NFL were just a league of 32 coins and there were a bunch of flips, the bell curve would dictate that there’d be some teams with really good records and some teams with bad records and some teams with 800 records. And that’s what we’re getting.

But it’s not – it’s a little bit different from most years because the Patriots, who are the best team – there have been other Patriot teams that win by an average of 12, 13 points – usually, the best team in the league will win by double-digit points. That’ll be their average margin of victory. Last year, the Panthers and the Cardinals both had an average margin of victory of double-digits points. This year, the Patriots aren’t at that point. That’s just one of the many factors to say the greats aren’t the greatest.

CHANG: So does your theory of mediocrity explain why TV ratings are down?

PESCA: I think it plays into it. I think that you look at all these matchups, and maybe it’s not unbelievably exciting, especially early in the season when you’re not sure if teams are going to be good. Now with playoffs on the line, there’s a lot of incentive for, say, if you’re a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan. Even if your team was bad, now it’s pretty good. Well, now if they beat the Dallas Cowboys, that means a lot in terms of their playoff chances.

But I would say this – the overall ratings decline has been a little bit exaggerated. A lot of that is “Thursday Night Football.” My big theory is those games are terrible. Also, they wear awful uniforms.

CHANG: (Laughter).

PESCA: There was this Seattle drag show I recently heard about that would find the uniforms of the Seattle Seahawks demure by comparison if you look at what they were wearing on Thursday.

(LAUGHTER)

CHANG: OK. In the 20 seconds we got left, let’s talk about the big games being played today. Which ones are you keeping an eye on?

PESCA: I mentioned Tampa Bay and Dallas.

CHANG: Yep.

PESCA: New England and Denver will be a good game. Whoever wins the Lions against the Giants, they’re going to the playoffs. But let’s also look at the Bills and the Browns because if the Bills lose to the winless Browns, I believe their coach will get fired. Also, people of Buffalo are being offered $10 to shovel out the stadium.

CHANG: OK.

PESCA: You also get a free game ticket. However, they’re selling for six bucks on StubHub.

CHANG: Mike Pesca, host of “The Gist” podcast at slate.com.

Thanks, Mike.

PESCA: You’re welcome.

Copyright © 2016 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Full statement from gopher players pic.twitter.com/FxKe9vcjTu

— Peter Cox (@peterncox) December 17, 2016