this didnt exist, but we did think it

[riluowanying123]

As mountain biker Lea Davison prepares for her second Olympics, two things give her peace of mind. First, this isnt her first rodeo, er, singletrack. As a wide-eyed newbie in London four years ago, the Jericho, Vermont native never expected to medal and was happy with her 11th-place finish. Now, with a silver medal from this months UCI 2016 Mountain Bike World Championships in the Czech Republic, shes feeling much more confident going into Rio.The second calming thought is knowing that no matter what happens at the Games in August, the 33-year-old already has an enormous fan base of 7- to 16-year-old girls -- girls whove learned mountain biking as part of the nonprofit Davison created called Little Bellas.It makes it easier to have this whole army of little girls who are just so excited that Im there. It really puts it in perspective, says Davison, who is the director and co-founder with younger sister, Sabra (who she lovingly calls Sabe), of the Little Bellas. Since its inception in 2007, the nonprofit has helped more than 2,000 girls across the country get on a bike.And those new bikers are unequivocal fans. One time, Davison recalls having a subpar finish in a team relay race, but the girls didnt care at all. Sabe was like, Lea, I was watching the live feed with our overnight campers and they were like, Wow, Leas in ninth! Just to hear they were so psyched means that results dont really matter. Its the fact that Im out there, doing this, and I have this opportunity to meet these little girls and have an impact. I would say that helps take the pressure off.Today, Little Bellas offers 24 non-competitive programs in eight states and sees about 500 girls, on average, a summer. The younger girls focus on getting comfortable on bikes over time and having fun on the trails. As the girls get older, they shift to more serious biking, with training in nutrition, maneuvering challenging terrain, and becoming a mentor and role model to others. Though Davison is a full-time athlete, she serves as a sounding board for executive director Sabe, helping to devise the curriculum and teaching the girls to ride.Her dedication to the Little Bellas has been no different this Olympic year. Though its definitely a balancing act, she admits, especially leading up to the world championships and Rio. I could be exhausted from a three-to-four-hour training ride, and feel like, Ugh, how am I going to go to the Little Bellas tonight? Ill eat lots of snacks and drag myself over. Once there, Im surrounded by so much energy that its never a problem. Im like, OK, here we go! Its really fun.Part of her own grueling training program includes motor pacing, which means drafting behind her coach of 11 years, Andy Bishop, on a motorized scooter. Well go out for two to three hours. Its really intense, but its really the best training, especially for Rio. Davison got to preview the fast and technical, mostly man-made mountain bike course in Rio during a two-day Olympic test event last October. Its very much a power course, she says of the race route that features rock gardens, drops, jumps, and significant climbs.Davison has also added more strength training in the gym than ever before. In the offseason, she lifted six times a week, focusing on activating her muscles with a level of instability, by doing exercises like single-leg moves on a Bosu ball. The goal: to force muscles to find balance, which is crucial when shes out on the trail. Harnessing this kind of strength has been a huge part of her Rio build up.Despite the tight schedule and the stress of the upcoming Games, she swears its all worth it. Helping a little girl develop confidence is motivating to me. That helps me balance it all. Also, my sister and I started this program, so its our baby. Were extremely invested in it. And, really, I wouldnt be able to do this without Sabe -- she runs the show and creates this platform for me to make an impact. She adds, Theres a village behind every Olympian. Sabe is the mayor of that village [for me].Davison will compete in Rio on Aug. 20, and with two world championship medals (a bronze in 2014 and the most recent silver), she could end up on the Olympic podium as well. And you better believe the Little Bellas will be tuning in to cheer her on. Were planning a viewing party at this local college where the auditorium seats 100. Were a little worried it wont fit everyone. Were also having a Little Bellas send-off at the airport when I leave for Rio, says Davison, who will also have a welcome home party when she returns -- with or without a medal. Fake Vans Shoes Suppliers . -- Ken Appleby made 32 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 2-0 win over the Belleville Bulls on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action. Wholesale Vans Authentic . The 29-year-old Baines has established himself as one of the top attacking full backs in the country and was the subject of two bids from United during the last off-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that keeping Baines at the club is a "massive boost and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and football knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad. http://www.clearancevans.com/ . NBA officials ruled the court unplayable in the Bucks final exhibition game on Oct. 25 because players were slipping, and the game was cancelled midway through the first period. Discount Vans Shoes . Batiste, who briefly signed with the Eskimos in 2006, has spent time with several NFL teams including the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins. Vans Shoes From China . But Bourque, who has missed three games with a lower-body injury, wont be in the lineup when the Habs travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Wednesday. TORONTO -- Ralph Krueger is the head coach of Team Europe at the World Cup of Hockey, taking time away from his day job as the chairman of Southampton FC of the Premier League. He was previously the head coach of the Swiss national ice hockey team and the Edmonton Oilers during the 2012-13 NHL season. (The Oilers fired him via Skype while he was sitting on his daughters bed.) He also served as an adviser for Team Canada during its successful gold-medal run at the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014.Krueger sat down with ESPN.com on Wednesday for an exclusive interview.A lot of us watching you in action here, one of our major questions has been, how could things have not worked out for this guy in Edmonton? What went wrong with the Oilers?When youre a head coach, there are always multiple levels. One would be, first and foremost, your knowledge of the game and your ability to work with the team. But you always need to fit culturally. I have a certain style culturally as a leader. Obviously, I was a mismatch, because we were moving on the hockey side in the right direction. There was no question the group was just beginning to jell out of that lockout season. And the organization decided to go with a different style of leadership. I did not take that personally ever, which was extremely important in my life after. Im a project person; Im a person who likes to finish projects. Im very loyal to the projects that I commit to, and that was the first one in my life as a leader that was cut abruptly short. But the world has been kind to me after that. I would say I was just a cultural mismatch to where that club wanted to go.You have spoken about how your positive attitude coming out of that maybe allowed that phone call from Mike Babcock to happen. [Babcock invited Krueger to join the Canadian mens hockey team in an advisory role before the Sochi Olympics.]Oh, for sure. There is no way he calls me if I turn negative on that. People always watch for your reaction in those situations. ... I just remember making a conscious decision right there and then to move forward. I tell everybody that winners are born in difficult times. That was the most difficult situation Id ever been in as a leader. Im sure Mike felt that energy over here and then offered me the Sochi role, which kind of catapulted me into a lot of whats happened since then.In hindsight, how important was Mikes phone call in terms of your career?Three months later, Southampton approaches me. Southampton might not have happened if I didnt take on the Canadian job. ... I said, You know what, Im going to do this. I want to win a gold medal. So my full focus became: I want to go home with a gold medal from the Olympic Games. That gave me the space to be available for Southampton. If Mike doesnt pause my career, the space for everything else isnt made. Team Europe doesnt happen, Southampton doesnt happen. You wouldnt know it at the time, but because I committed to [the Olympics], I took a step away instead of just taking the next job, which most guys do. Most guys just jump into the next job and then try to work back to being a head coach. I just didnt feel that was the right thing for me. I was too invested in Edmonton. There was pain, of course. And the main pain was how much Id committed to those kids for three years, and how close I was to them. I only realize it now when I run into [Jeff] Petry on the streets of Montreal or [Ryan] Nugent-Hopkins parents in the hotel here, and were embracing each other three years later. Im realizing now -- I saw Taylor Hall at the world championships and Jordan Eberle -- I see how close we actually were. That was the reason I couldnt coach anywhere else. I was just too connected to those kids.What made you say yes to Southampton? Apart from the passion of the fan bases and the importance of the sports to their national cultures, were talking about pretty different games. What made you say yes?After 25 years of coaching in hockey, and again the scars from the Edmonton experience -- Id be lying if I said there werent scars there -- the freshness of it, the difficulty of it, and the growth opportunity of it. ... There was a fear there that kind of excited me. It was crazy that I took that on as a non-football person. The club was in complete, total disarray in regard to its leadership structure. Its culture was a mess at that time. My wife wasnt really sure what I was doing. I think part of me throwing myself into that, I was doing Sochi and the Olympics, so I didnt feel the risks were terminal because it was parallel. I started in October, the Olympics were in February, but we didnt announce my chairmanship until March. Somehow the comfort of Sochi and still being involved in hockey gave me the courage to take this on. I was thinking if in six months the English drive me out of the country, I shouldnt be dead here as a professional. It was a calculated risk. Sochi gave me that opportunity to dip my foot into those waters. As I kind of hoped, by winning the gold there were some NHL offers, but by that time I felt Southampton was going to work. Its the first time Ive actually talked about this. Im realizing now that Sochi was a big reason why I didnt -- its not like I just dove in at the end of the pool. I kind of played in two worlds at the same time at quite a high level.Yeah. Fairly high. The English Premier League and the Olympics. Those are fairly high levels.Winning tthe gold medal actually helped me in Southampton.ddddddddddddI came in as the chairman and they saw I was a consultant with Team Canada. And the English media, in January, was kind of chuckling at me. In March, they werent.Is the gold medal hanging on your Southampton office door?Its actually not. Im funny that way. Its at home, in my home in Switzerland. That gold medal is just in my heart. I rode the elevator yesterday with Carey Price and Sidney Crosby. ... I warmed up Price the first day [in Sochi], and then it kind of worked. I ended up warming him up so much that I had really bad golf elbow. I couldnt move my arm for six months after the Olympics. I have a terrible shot, but I think he kind of liked it, because he didnt know where the pucks were going. It became a bit of a joke. My elbow was my big sacrifice to win a gold medal.So was it strange being in an elevator with them, coaching the opposing team?No. No. It was warm. It was very warm to be in the elevator with them. Now, of course Im always with the team Im with. I love Team Europe and we want to beat them. If this Team Europe experience is my last hockey experience, I couldnt ask for anything better. Its just been so much fun.I would be remiss if I didnt ask you about the Sam Allardyce situation and what appears to be a burgeoning corruption crisis in English football.Oh my God. I have to tell you, really, absolutely shocked and shuddered. Our whole board is shocked and upset by it. Multiple messages through the day yesterday and this morning. Weve been a club thats been driving, wanting to get control of the evolving agent world around us, and we believe were going to have ears now. Southampton is built on a completely honest and open culture and on values. The reason I took the job was the unbelievable value structure and foundation of our owner, Katharina Liebherr. ... Thats why I embraced this, was to be able to lead and be the de facto owner of an organization where it was driven by culture. So were extremely upset by this. We see it as a shocking evolution that -- I wouldnt say were so na?ve to believe that this didnt exist, but we did think it wasnt part of our English football culture. Were going to use this, for sure, as a club, to fight for change and to fight for more regulation. We are all for regulation, and we are one of the most disciplined clubs in English football in terms of the way we deal with agents and youth academy players. Staying within the rules is something we really -- everything we do is based on that. We will react, for sure. Its going to become a major thing for me when I get back. Absolutely top of the agenda.You made it very clear at the beginning of this tournament that you were not using this to come back to hockey. But Las Vegas [the NHL expansion team], because youre a project guy, seems like an interesting opportunity for someone like you. Would you be open to such an opportunity?Its a good question. My answer is the same: Im always really present where Im present. Right now Im here with Team Europe. I believe the players never felt the chairman of Southampton in that dressing room. Maybe away from it--Like when you were watching the West Ham game in the room?OK, it might have maybe been there a little bit. I tell you quite honestly, once Im back in the Southampton environment, theres so much to do there. I love the project. ... But how could I say never? Ive never said, No, no, no, never. Ever. What Ive said is that right now Im looking forward to being the chairman of the Southampton Football Club, and that remains. This doesnt change that. I knew I loved hockey. I never said I didnt. People say, Youre in football now, so that means you don t like hockey. Ive had people calling me a traitor.Youre allowed to have multiple loves.Yes. I love to go to the theater in London. I love music. I have a Van Morrison concert at the end of October thats a big green mark on my calendar. The question is always, when you speak about the NHL, people are branding me as a coach. Im now the chairman of Southampton. So possibly theres another entry someday, in a different kind of role. Im open. As long as Southampton is my growth opportunity, I will stay there. If the time comes for change, where and when, who knows?A lot of your reputation -- I know the Canadian gold medal is a big exception -- but a lot of your reputation is leading overachieving underdogs. Thursday, once again youre in that role. What do you expect out of your team, and do you ever look over at the Canadian bench and think, I wouldnt mind standing behind those guys?You know what? Really I dont. Ive always measured winning by potential. Always. Always. The group youre with, how close to their potential do they get? Thats the marker. Ive never been a person focused on only measuring success in the superficial realm. Ive never been that. Ive always been about potential. We started with Team Europe on Sept. 1. The only thing I asked of our staff was lets create an environment where this group goes home and feels like they reached their potential. I dont think weve reached it yet. Looking at the game tomorrow, I believe very confidently youre going to see another step tomorrow. Whether that gives us the W or not, Im not sure. But we are going to have a serious shot to win. ' ' '