The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 23

Pro football Titans' Rolle says Pro Bowl berth a sign he has arrived 6C PORT High schools 2C NBA 7C fl Scoreboard 7C FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2001 Jackson's career night boosts UT It" rr A time." Jackson scored 22 of her points in the second half and seemed to be in a zone. She and Lawson took over the scoring load as Ail-American Semeka Randall and Michelle Snow had off nights shooting. "With Michelle and me playing like we did, it showed that there are other people there," Randall said "Gwen and Kara did an awesome job. I'm glad I'm on their team." The game started at a dizzying Please see UT, 3C Freshman reserve Diana Taurasi had 24 and AU-Ameri-can senior Svetlana Abrosimova scored 18 to lead the Huskies (17-2). 'To her credit, Gwen Jackson is getting better and better and better every game," UConn Coach Geno Auriemma said "She has been doing that the entire seasoa She just hasn't gotten a lot of attention.

"She is probably the most improved player that I've seen from last year to this year. I thought she was the best player on the floor for long stretches of Scores 28, ties arena record with five blocks By WENDY SMITH Staff Writer KNOXVUXE In a game full of Ail-Americans, it was an unsung hero who played like one. Tennessee sophomore forward Gwen Jackson hit 12-of-15 shots en route to a career-high 28 points to lead third-ranked Tennessee to a 92-88 win over No. 2 Connecticut in front of a crowd of 2L530 at Thompson- Boling Arena "I have to credit my teammates," Jackson said. "They got me the ball, and I was able to make the shots.

They Connecticut tried to keep on our 3-point shooters and that left the post wide open." But Jackson wasn't just scoring. She also had 14 rebounds and tied the Thompson-Boling Arena record for most blocks in a game with five. Sophomore Kara Lawson scored a season-high 23 points and senior Kristen Clement had 10 to lead the Lady Vols (22-1). UT 92 UConn 88 Next game: Tennessee at Alabama. When: Sunday at 2 p.m.

DELORES DELVIN STAFF Kristen Clement (33) erupts in celebration against UConn. 1 5 1 Williams takes Bills job 0 Laying the track wuus Nashville Superspeedway is one of only three tracks in NASCAR with concrete pavement Dover Downs International Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway being the others. While concrete is more expensive to install than traditional asphalt, it requires less maintenance. Driverslike it because its grip doesn't change as much with weather conditions as does asphalt. Pavement work here began on Oct.27 and was finished in seven days.

Here's how they did it The paving machine also used on the "Monster Mile" in Dover, was unassembled in California and shipped in four parts to the site here. Then it was reassembled to fit the Nashville Superspeedway dimensions. As expected, Titans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was selected to coach the Buffalo Bills yesterday, replacing the fired Wade Phillips. Now Titans Coach Jeff Fisher is on the hot seat to name a replacement. It's likely he will move quickly, probably promoting linebackers coach Jim Schwartz.

On6C. rVincretn then Bj Concrete From the conveyer Concrete then vibrated anr3 Concrete placed onto a conveyor trucked to the beltconcrete distributed into hoppers. dumped into a material transfer vehicle. paving operation. struck to grade behind the hoppers as the machine moves around the track Deit on me paving machine.

7 lasers. guided by A ,7, "Pt'fCf mm I. j. in Predswin 3rd straight By JOHN GLENN0N Staff Writer LOS ANGELES Trailing by three goals with 30 minutes left before the NHL All-Star break, the Predators might well have decided to start vacation a little early. About the track Workers poured concrete 6 inches thick to form the 1.33 mile shaped oval track.

Here are the tracks dimensions: Width: Front straight: 55 ft. Back straight 55 ft Turns 60ft. Turns 60 ft. 5 I i1 i i Length: Front straight: Z494 ft. Back straight: 2,203 ft Turns 142:1,220 ft.

Turns 1,220 ft. Pit road: 1,440 ft. Banking: Front straight 9 degrees Back straight 6 degrees Turns: 14 degrees Layers of the track 6 inches of concrete 4 inches of mix stone 4 inches drainage stone 4 inches of mix stone 6 4 Preds Kings 30 inches Instead they put their hard hats on, went back to work and constructed one heck of a comeback. The end result was a 6-4 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in front of 12,639 at the Staples Center, a win that puts the Predators (23-24-7-2) all alone in ninth place in the Western Conference standings at the break just four points back of eighth-olace Edmonton. processed rock Because the track's concrete is laid down in a continuous pour, seams must be cut into the surface to accommodate expansion and contraction.

KENTTRAVIS STAFF Solid limestone bedrock Preds' Marian Cisar one of the runners-upin Rookie of the Month in January. Preds notebook. On4C. gOfi'MP Nashville Superspeedway 2001 schedule April 14: NASCAR Busch Series July 21: Indy Racing League Northern Lights Sorics Aug. 10: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Aug.

1 1 ARCA REMAX Stock Car Series Nov. 25: NASCAR All-Pro Series Ticket information: Call 1-866-722-7210 or 615-547-RACE. are nearing completioa Track lighting is half completed (The July 21 IRL race will be run at night) 28,000 grandstand seats are in place, out of a total of 50,000. Luxury suites and press box are six weeks from completioa 58 covered infield garage bays are completed The infield scoreboard is 95 finished Turf parking with graveled access for 16,000 vehicles is completed The RV parking areas are com- Please see TRACK, 6C Superspeedway on schedule for grand opening in April "We are really pleased with the progress. We are at a point in construction where weather has little effect, which means we won't have any trouble being ready for our April 12-14 opening weekend" The construction update: The 13-mile concrete racetrack is finished Retaining walls and catch fences The victory also sent the Predators into the break with a three-game winning streak and a 6-2-0 record in their last eight contests.

Los Angeles (23-21-7-1) has four games in hand on the Predators, but the teams will meet twice more this seasoa The Predators trailed 4-1 midway through the second period and 4-2 going into the final stanza, before goals by Greg Classea Rob Valicevic, Greg Johnson and Tom Fitzgerald produced the victory. Johnson's score came with 5:42 left in the contest, and was the result of a two-on-one rush that saw Panic Kjellberg deliver a beautiful pass between his own legs to set up Johnsoa The Predators also took advantage of Kings' penalties in the third period scoring two goals just over a minute apart to tie the contest Classen netted the first during a five-on-three advantage, grabbing Cliff Ronning's rebound in front of the net and beating Kings goalie Jamie Storr with 14J4 remaining in the third By LARRY WOODY Staff Writer GLADEVKLE, Term. It won't be long until the hills here are alive with the sound of music motor music that is. Finishing touches are being put on $125 million Nashville Superspeedway, with drivers and cars taking to the track for test sessions early next month in preparation for April's season opener. "Everything is right on schedule," said Cliff Hawks, vice president and general manager of the huge motor-sports complex being carved out of 3,000 rolling acres in Wilson County.

Inside Fiacetrack czar Barton Smith is pushing to remove the muzzle placed on drivers by their sponsors and NASCAR. Racing Insider On6C. XFL will be hard pressed to match NFO outrageous story lines Opinion David Climer 'i i i if against Sweeting. But when Sweeting was found not guilty, his response was to write The Ray Lewis Song, which includes a couple of memorable lines: You must play for the Rats, because I heard how you If I knew what I know now, ifd have been three bodies. Eat your heart out Vince McMahoa JT3 David Climer is a senior writer for The Tennessean who writes daily about college sports at www.tennessean.com.

He can be reached at 259-8020 or oUirnertennessean.com. justice for failing to be forthcoming with police and investigators. The NFL's reactioa a fine of $250,000 but no suspen-sioa And in a side note, Lewis' involvement in the case was immortalized sort of, in a rap song by Joseph Sweeting. You might not recognize the name. He met Lewis in the mid-90s when Lewis was playing college football in Miami The two were together last January when a party swung out of control and two men were killed Lewis ultimately testified The local enterprise, in particular, has done a good job of keeping its roster on the up and up instead of succumbing to the trend of scraping the bottom of the barrel.

But when you have a rogues gallery grabbing the headlines, it is guilt by associa-tioa Which brings us to the strange case of the most prominent former double-murder defendant since O.J. Simpson Ray Lewis. Granted Lewis ultimately had the murder charges dismissed He did however, cop a guilty plea for obstruction of orado, will be remembered for hiding in the trunk of a car in an attempt to avoid police. And how about that Mark Chmura trial? The former Packers tight end is defending himself against charges of sexually assaulting a teen-ager who babysat his childrea Some of the testimony is R-rated I know, I know. We should not defame the entire league because of the actions of a few.

The NFL is full of solid citizens who work hard at their craft and play by the rules of society off the field show is playing out on the evening news. The game is still the thing but the NFL continues to supply the kinds of weird wicked story lines that XFL andor pro wrestling script writers can only dream of duplicating. In the last couple of weeks, we have seen former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Rae Carruth dodge the death penalty only to be sent away for up to 20 years for conspiracy to commit murder in the fatal shooting of his pregnant girlfriend Carruth, a former first-round draft choice from Col The XFL markets itself as extreme football, a cutting-edge, tough-guy game where anything goes on the field and a sweaty soap opera is scripted off it It is a familiar formula right out of the playbook of WWF entrepreneur Vince McMa-hoa who learned long ago that any steroid-eating bozo can wrestle but the masses are hooked by subplots involving sex, lies and instant replay. Thus equipped McMahon hopped into bed with NBC and proclaimed it "the birth of a major new player in professional sports." Sorry, Vince, but youVe taken too many piledrivers to the noggia Your half-baked hybrid is too little and too late. Better stick to wrestling because the NFL came off the top ropes and beat you at your own game.

Super Bowls come and Super Bowls go but the real More RB commits to UT stories Search our arctwes Tamessee received forrecenrJy published Free throws push Carolina past Duke Brendan Haywood, a 48 free-throw shooter, nailed two shots from the charity stripe with seconds left in the game to propel fourth-ranked North Carolina past No. 2 Duke 85-83. On 3C onnthor rnmmit- Williams looks to lead another upset of UT Vanderbilt's Anthony Williams, right, was pivotal in one of last year's victories over Tennessee. The Commodores get another shot tomorrow when they visit Knoxville and take on the slumping Vols. On 3C.

ment from a running back yester- Assistant Managing EditorSports: BIB BrarJey, 259-8022 bbradleytenness6an.com Deputy Sports Editor Michael H. Jones, 259-8013 Assistant Sports Edfton Kevin Procter, 259-8014 Assistant Sports Eaton Bob McCteflan, 259-8299 Write us: tnsportstennessean.corn basketball staies. Click day when Derrick Tinsley of Marietta, said he wants to play for the Volunteers. On 2C. RLE wwnr.termesseanxom 2.