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Nashville, Tenn. -- Five established and successful women administrators in collegiate and professional athletics spoke of their career experiences and challenges during a roundtable discussion, Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Women in Athletic Leadership.The forum was hosted by Vanderbilts Department of Athletics to stimulate thought and progress in the promotion of additional diversity in the athletic workplace. Current student-athletes from area colleges dotted the audience composed primarily of local coaches and administrators and members of the general public.The panel included Michelle Kennedy, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Financial Officer of the Nashville Predators, Tiffany Daniels, Associate Commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, Beth DeBauche, Commissioner of the Ohio Valley Conference, Teresa Phillips, Director of Athletics at Tennessee State University and Candice Lee, Deputy Athletic Director at Vanderbilt University.The administrators were initially asked a variety of questions by Carolyn Peck, a national champion head coach now an associate coach on Vanderbilts womens basketball staff. Later in the program, the floor was opened to questions from the audience.There were many topics covered, including their thoughts on being immersed in a male-dominated enterprise, how to increase female participation in coaching and administration and the steps necessary to improve and/or change the current culture.Perhaps not surprisingly, this panel of strong leaders expressed a generally optimistic and encouraging message, seemingly agreeing that while much work is left to be done to promote more opportunity for women, progress is being made on a number of fronts.Several panelists were asked, for example, how they felt working in a culture that up to the relatively recent past was almost exclusively a mens only club. They cited hard work, mastery of basic skill sets, attention to detail and a firm belief in their own abilities as keys to their success.Ive never felt oppressed, never felt held back because I am a woman, Kennedy said.Commissioner DeBauche urged women not to assume that quality positions will automatically go to male candidates and to get themselves in the mix after confessing that it took her two inquiries from college presidents seeking commissioner candidates while she was at the NCAA that eventually went to women to realize she could become one herself.Daniels, a former University of Georgia student-athlete, said raising a generation of confident young women is vital.I never felt there was anything I couldnt do, Daniels said. I have a mindset that you are not going to out-work me and I want my two young daughters to believe there isnt anything they cant do either.Lee addressed the question of a lack of women in the college coaching ranks, citing a number of challenges including a pipeline issue of qualified candidates and misconceptions some women have regarding the work-life balance required in athletics. She observed that work-life balance in athletics seems to be more emphasized to women, perhaps sending a discouraging message.DeBauche interjected that there needs to be a change in the perception of what a successful coach looks like, noting the concept that successful coaches must sleep in their offices sends the wrong message.Phillips, like Lee and Kennedy a former Vanderbilt basketball student-athlete, talked about athletics as being a big family and affording opportunities to build life-long relationships. Phillips spoke several times from her varied role as a former coach, current administrator and as the mother of a current student-athlete.Panelists agreed that while encouraging young women to be confident and actively follow their dreams, it is equally important to educate young men that their female counterparts are worthy of significant roles and will play a major role in the athletic departments of the future.Discount Nike Dunk . Miller reached right to deflect Mikhail Grabovskis attempt with just over 2 minutes remaining in regulation, and then made two more saves in the shootout Sunday to give the Sabres a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals. Cheap Nike Dunk .ca! Kerry, Two nights after the Scott-Eriksson incident in Buffalo, the Bruins returned home to play San Jose. In that game, Zdeno Chara put a check on Tommy Wingels that clearly targeted his head. http://www.cheapnikedunk.net/ . -- Arizona knocked off some quality opponents, rolled over a few overmatched ones and grinded out victories even when things didnt go so well. Wholesale Nike Dunk . The team also announced Tuesday that the Braves will wear a commemorative patch on the right sleeve during the season. The patch, shaped like home plate, carries the number 715, Aarons autograph and a "40th Anniversary" banner. Cheap Nike Dunk China . - Blake Griffin had 30 points and 12 rebounds, J.During this most divisive election year, there have been questions about whether Donald Trump, 70, and Hillary Clinton, 68, are too old to hold this nations highest office. Athletes in this age range are long retired -- and their coaches often are too. Grandparents at this age are being asked by their children if perhaps they might not need to be driving long distances or getting behind the wheel at night. ?John Force is 67 years old, and last weekend he earned a record-extending victory by driving his Chevy Funny Car 319.45 mph, covering the 1,000-foot dragstrip in 3.965 seconds.Juan Ponce De Leon died 495 years ago this month after being shot in the thigh by a poisoned arrow during his second trip to Florida, a place he had named, where he had continued to search for the fountain of youth. Poor Ponce was looking in the wrong place. The fountain of youth is located a full continent away from the Florida coast. Its in Yorba Linda, California, and the liquid that flows through it is not water. Its nitromethane -- with a little Peak antifreeze mixed in for good measure.On Sunday afternoon in Denver, Force gulped from that fountain on live television, earning his unmatched 144th career NHRA finals victory and checking off the mind-bending 29th season that he has won at least one national event. This win might set the stage for an autumn run at a 17th Funny Car championship.There are more statistics to list, but there isnt time. Force is already on to the next race, this weekend at the Sonoma Raceway. Thats cool, because theres really only one stat that matters here. Its the one number that automatically puts all the others into perspective. Those 67 years.His children arent demanding that he hand over the keys. On Sunday in Denver, he defeated one of his four daughters, 28-year-old Courtney. His grandchildren arent begging him to slow down and drive them to the toy store. On Sunday, long after the grandstand had been emptied, Force was making one more run up and down the Denver dragstrip, this time at a near crawl, piloting a scooter with his toddler grandson riding in his lap.This is who John Force is now. He has always been a prodigious talker. But now his legendary 300 mph rants are packed with reflection and philosophy.We are all put here on this earth to do something, whether its to be the governor of a state or the guy who empties the governors trash cans, he said earlier this year. I used to think I was put on this earth to be nothing. Then I thought I was put on here to be a football player. Well, you know what? I wasnt great at football and I really wasnt great at being nothing. Then I thought I was put here to go 300 miles per hour, setting myself on fire and blowing myself up for these fanns out there.dddddddddddd I am pretty good at that. ...But now I realize thats just part of my purpose. These kids, these grandkids, my wife, thats my purpose, man. I tried racing when I didnt include them as much. Thought I was having fun. I wasnt. Now were having fun. And Ill be doing that until my time here is done.For mere mortals, that time would have been done multiple times over. He isnt being hyperbolic when he speaks of setting myself on fire and blowing myself up. Hes done both multiple times. So many times that in the 2011 Body Issue of ESPN The Magazine -- the one that fills its pages with photos of youthfulness titled Bodies We Want -- there was a two-page spread of Force, then 62, buck naked with descriptions of the scars that crisscross his skin like a Rand McNally Road Atlas. Burned off fingertips, a knee that looks like a zipper, and a sewn-up hole where a bone used to be sticking out of his wrist.It was titled The Body You Dont Want.Force has lost blood, skin and his closest friends. Still, he races on. In 2007 his protégé Eric Medlen was killed via a brain injury so horrific that it has been hard for physicists, let alone physicians, to describe. Force didnt walk away. Instead, he led a wave of safety innovations that have changed the sport, even while rivals questioned every step of the process.Forces physical aches and pains are nearly matched by the pitfalls of his business. It wasnt so long ago that his auto manufacturer unexpectedly walked away. So did his sponsors.People say to me, Why in the world do you keep digging out of holes to keep doing this? he said earlier this spring, when he was mired in the one-year winless streak that was eventually snapped in Denver. Ive been digging out of holes my whole life. I had polio when I was kid. I grew up in a trailer. Yeah, Ive won a lot of races, but you know what? I raced for a dozen years before I even won a race. Why do I keep going? Because my life came without a safety net, man. If I dont keep swinging on that trapeze deal like I do, guess what? Splat.Force is an astronaut without NASA. Hes a stuntman whos never heard Cut! Hes Evel Knievel played with the fast-forward button pressed to 8X. Out here, away from the drag strip, we might wonder why he keeps going. But down there, on Nitro Alley, where the fans line up six-deep, wearing gas masks and 20-year-old John Force T-shirts, screaming his name and laughing along to every diatribe, they never ask when hes going to stop.They just want one whiff of that nitro, one quick shot of 300 mph wisdom. One quick sip from Ponce De Forces Fountain of Youth. ' ' '