NEU » ryone in the Bears 1-3-1 zone knows his r

Lessons learned from the fallout over David Reynolds infamous description of a womens team have steeled Renee Gracie to make her own Bathurst 1000 statement this year.For the second straight year, Gracie and Swiss star Simona De Silvestro will team up as a wildcard entry in the only all-female line-up at next weekends Great Race.They are full of confidence after completing a two-day testing session on Wednesday at Winton Raceway in their new Nissan.But Gracies preparation began almost 12 months ago in the aftermath of Reynolds sexist description of her team.Gracie and De Silvestro in 2015 were the first all-female team to contest Bathurst in 17 years but their entry was overshadowed by fellow driver Reynolds dismissing them as the Pussy Wagon, earning a whopping $25,000 fine.In the media frenzy that ensued, Gracie realised she could not continue juggling drives in both the second-tier Dunlop Series and Bathurst 1000 races like she did last year at Mount Panorama.As a result, Gracie - ranked 16th in the Dunlop Series - has ditched her regular drive in the second-tier category at Mount Panorama to concentrate solely on her Bathurst 1000 tilt.Last year, it was quite hectic with media requests and then, after David Reynolds comment, there was a whole new level of attention overnight, Gracie told Supercars media.I could not focus on what I needed to do which is crazy considering I was at one of the worlds trickiest tracks.By dropping the Dunlop drive (at Bathurst), I can now concentrate on what I need to do with no distractions.I would love to race both but I have to look at the bigger picture.De Silvestro will partner Gracie at Bathurst before becoming the first full-time female Supercars driver in 2017, starting a three-year deal.Gracie backed the former IndyCar driver to excel next year - after a tough initiation.She is in for a bit of a shock on our street circuits like Adelaide, she said.At Bathurst, there is room for error.At Adelaide (first round), there is no buffer, no sand traps, just concrete walls.There will need to be a massive adjustment but she is the right person for the job.Gracie and De Silvestro finished 21st in a Ford at the 2015 Bathurst 1000.Gracie hoped their Bathurst result would help set up De Silvestro for Supercars success from 2017 and beyond.I hope she does well. It would mean a lot not just for motorsport but for women in general, she said.The more women do what people say they cant, the better - its empowering.She is flying the flag, leading the way for women. Swell Bottles Wholesale . -- Five former Kansas City Chiefs players who were on the team between 1987 and 1993 filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming the team hid and even lied about the risks of head injuries during that time period when there was no collective bargaining agreement in place in the NFL. Swell Bottles Clearance . A forerunning sled crashed into the worker Thursday at the Sanki Sliding Center. The unidentified worker broke both legs and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. http://www.swellbottlesclearance.com/swell-bottles-liberty.html . -- The boos poured down on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at the end of a horrible first half. Swell Traveler Sale .com) - Manchester City midfielder David Silva is expected to miss the next four weeks because of a calf problem. Swell Drink Bottle Sale . -- Ty Montgomery had 290 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, and fifth-ranked Stanford held on to beat No. WACO, Texas -- For once, the beginning of basketball season brought with it a welcome change deep in the heart of Texas.While Baylors football program is stuck in a quagmire of scandal off the field and a five-game losing streak on the field, the Bears basketball team ascended from unranked to No. 9 in the Associated Press poll this week.Baylor already defeated then-fourth-ranked Oregon at home this went to the Battle 4 Atlantis to pull off an impressive string of victories over VCU, Michigan State and Louisville.All of that serves as context as No. 7 Xavier comes into the Ferrell Center on Saturday afternoon for a top-10 nonconference hoops matchup that will draw the eyes of the college basketball nation.Baylor (7-0) tips off at the same time as its football team kicks off on the road at West Virginia, but that coincidence wasnt even mentioned in Bears coach Scott Drews pregame press conference on Friday.Instead, Drew spoke about how fortunate his program is to have two top-10 nonconference opponents come into Baylors arena in the same season. Before this year, Baylor played only two top-10 nonconference opponents at home in its history.The chance of having two top-10 home games in nonconference, youve got a better chance of hitting the lottery, Drew said. Its a great opportunity for us to play at home against a real quality opponent. For both teams, your RPI is not going to go down if you lose and, if you win, its a great gain.Like Baylor, Xavier (7-0) is undefeated against a slate of quality opponents. Unlike Baylor, the Musketeers havent faced a team with a national ranking attached to it yet this season.Xavier defeated Missouri, Clemson and Northern Iowa twice during a stretch of four games last month.Now the Musketeers play their first game on an opponents home floor this season -- all sevenn of Xaviers previous contests were either at home in Cincinnati or at the Tire Pros Invitational in Orlando -- as well as their first ranked foe.ddddddddddddXavier coach Chris Mack knows his team will be fully focused on Baylor.Theres so much respect for the type of program that Baylors had for several years, Mack said. (Our players) saw what they did down in the Bahamas. Theres no trick, theres no science for getting our guys up for the game.With hype and motivation equal on both sides, the game could come down to whether or not Xavier can hit shots against Baylors treacherous zone defense. The Bears deploy 7-foot forward Jo Lual-Acuil and 6-10 forward Johnathan Motley in the interior. And Mack said everyone in the Bears 1-3-1 zone knows his responsibility to limit open looks.Were going to have to find soft spots in the zone and were going to have to make some shots, obviously, and then were going to have to try to rebound and get second opportunities, Mack said. Baylor makes it tough. Theyre big and they put that 7-footer under the rim. Its a challenge but we wouldnt have it any other way.The Musketeers will try to attack the zone and crash the boards with a quartet of tall guards and 6-10 center Sean OMara.Drew seemed to be just as concerned about stopping Xaviers lineup on the offensive end as Mack was about combatting the Baylor zone.We havent faced a team with as much height across the board, basically a team of four guards at 6-6, athletic, can shoot it, post it, drive it, Drew said. With that, it also makes it difficult to defend because, with a lot of shooters, you never know which one is going to be hot that day. Its easy to see why theyre such a good team. 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