MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Something had been missing from the Kansas State defense most of last season.It only took three plays this season to realize it.On the third snap of Friday nights opener against Stanford , defensive back Dante Barnett announced his return with authority. He darted up from his spot in the secondary and met Heisman Trophy candidate Christian McCaffrey, knocking him back for a 5-yard loss.One of the nations best defensive backs was back.It felt like a welcome-back moment, he said Tuesday, as the Wildcats took an early break in their schedule. They are off this week before playing their home opener against Florida Atlantic on Sept. 17, when they debut the latest round of renovations to Bill Snyder Family Stadium.It will be the first time Barnett has played at home since last years opener, when he hurt his shoulder against South Dakota. His status was in limbo from week to week until he pursued and was granted a medical redshirt, allowing him to return this season.He wound up making four tackles against the Cardinal, two of them for loss.I had missed so many games so being back out there in the first drive, making that tackle, it brought excitement to me, Barnett said. I was happy.So were the Wildcats, who had to press unproven youngsters into duty last season. By the time the Liberty Bowl rolled around, freshman Duke Shelley had locked down one cornerback spot, sophomore Kaleb Prewett had taken over for Barnett, and freshman Kendall Adams was backing him up.Still, while may have been absent from the field, his presence was always felt. He hung around the meeting rooms, was also around the practice field and he was on the sideline during games.It was very tough because Im a competitor, Barnett said. I hate missing games, missing games was tough on me. Im watching my friends play -- which I was proud of -- but wanting to get out there and knowing I couldnt was tough for me.In some ways, the senior had become another assistant coach.You wouldve never known he was out, Adams said. Besides not having him out there physically, he was in all the meetings and practices and talking to us before and during the game.Kansas State coach Bill Snyder welcomed his defensive captains return, knowing that Barnett could help fix a defense that allowed 285.5 yards passing and 25 touchdowns a year ago.The Wildcats only allowed Stanford to throw for 167 yards in their opener.I think it was significant to have him back in the lineup for a lot of different reasons. Snyder said. He played well. He did not really have assignment errors. He played reasonably well against both the run and the pass. I think his leadership, his guidance and his direction of his teammates was beneficial for us in the ball game.All of which was somewhat anticipated. Barnett may have missed last season, but it appears nobody forgot about him: Hes on early watch lists for the Bednarik Award and the Nagurski Trophy.Snyder said this week that besides the physical presence of getting Barnett back on the field, the leadership void that opened up last year was filled -- and that may be his biggest value.Especially when the Wildcats begin playing the pass-happy teams of the Big 12.I think he brings a degree of leadership that wasnt very prolific last year, after we lost him Snyder said. I think the players had an expectation of having him back, they see that as a positive. Theyre looking for him to perform well, which he did. Kyle Juszczyk Super Bowl Jersey .25 million option on reliever Jose Veras. Emmanuel Sanders Super Bowl Jersey . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. https://www.49ersrookiestore.com/49ers-Marquise-Goodwin-Jersey/ . -- Anaheim Ducks defenceman Luca Sbisa will be out at least six weeks with a torn tendon in his right hand. Mitch Wishnowsky Super Bowl 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. Frank Gore Super Bowl Jersey . Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. RIO DE JANEIRO -- On Sunday night, right after the flame has been extinguished in Rio de Janeiro, another Olympic project will burst out of the starting blocks.Its the launch of the Olympic Channel, a $450 million venture designed to keep Olympic sports and athletes relevant in the years between each games and attract new, younger audiences to a sports movement that has recently been battered by corruption and doping scandals.The digital channel, which will operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, will go live after the closing ceremony of the Rio Games, providing a mix of live sports events, documentaries, archive footage, news and highlights. Its an undertaking that is still in evolution and whose success, or failure, will depend on whether todays generation finds it relevant or tunes out.This is just the starting point, not the end point, Yiannis Exarchos, the head of the new channel, said in an interview with The Associated Press. We want to be able to surprise people and make it look different. Its not an institutional tool. This is about telling stories in a way that can bring younger people to the world of sports.The project was approved in December 2014 as part of International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bachs Agenda 2020 modernization program. The free channel will be available worldwide via a mobile app and online across mobile phones, tablets and other devices.The channel is based in Madrid, home of the Olympic Broadcasting Services, the IOCs television arm. Nearly 100 staff from 25 countries are currently working at the channels headquarters in Spain.Exarchos said the channel has already prepared more than 600 pieces of original programming, including 100 hours of high-end documentaries and premium content. Much of the content will be material from the Rio Games, which will be become available in full at the end of the year when global TV rights deals expire.Beyond producing feel-good stories, the channel has another, more challenging goal -- encouraging young people to get off the couch and play sports. That sounds counterintuitive from a channel that gives kids another excuse to stare at their screens.Were trying to push video to make people active, Exarchos said. For me this will be the criteria of success. Its not enough for the channel to be popular. It would be even happier if we demonstrate that these people go out and start doing sports. The channel needs to help in that. Lets see.The channel already has formal agreements with 27 of the 35 summer and winter Olympic sports federations. The IAAF and FIFA are not among those, though Exarchos noted that wass because both had a lot on their plate this year, referring to corruption and doping issues.ddddddddddddBut he said soccer and track and field are super eager to get involved with the channel.The channel has signed up 11 sports events that will be shown live between September and December, including triathlon, canoeing, rowing and an Olympic ice hockey qualifying tournament.What the channel wont do is compete or pay for broadcast rights. It doesnt air the Olympics themselves, which are shown by networks like NBC in the United States after paying billions of dollars to the IOC for exclusive rights. Many sports federations also have rights deals in place for their own international events.Exarchos said the Olympic Channel has huge synergies with NBC, which holds U.S. rights through 2032, and that the American market is a key target.The channel will offer documentaries that feature inspirational, dramatic or emotional stories of some of the biggest athletes in the world, he said, adding they wont be presented in a didactic way.`That may be a little bit of a surprise to those used to a traditionalist story line, he said. It will be presented in way that can be enjoyed by younger people.At the channels disposal is the IOCs rich trove of archive footage, much of it never seen before by the public, and some going as far back as the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. About 42,000 hours of footage that was stored at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, has been digitized and will form a core of the channels content.We dont simply replay the archive, Exarchos said. We work with it, creating fresh ways of looking at it, sometimes even in a funny or bonkers way.The channel will be offered originally in English, but localized versions in other languages are also in development.The IOC is kicking in more than half of the $450 million to finance the channel for the first seven years. The international federations and national Olympic committees are paying the rest. Exarchos said he expects the channel will break even within seven years.Why launch the channel at the close of the Rio Games? To keep the spirit going and stave off the letdown associated with the day after each Olympics, Exarchos said.Its a big opportunity to reverse the emotional down of this day, he said. It will be very much linked to the games and the end of the games.--Follow Stephen Wilson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/stevewilsonap. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/stephen-wilson ' ' '