Two weeks ago, after UConns first exhibition game, coach Geno Auriemma made an observation that seems particularly relevant now.I looked out there one time, he said then, and thought, Were really small relative to where weve been and some of the teams were going to be playing. The Huskies won their season opener Monday at Florida State, but it went down to the wire, 78-76. And the Seminoles really didnt throw that much size at the Huskies. The only player over 6 feet, 1 inch who got significant playing time was 6-3 center Chatrice White, who had six points and one rebound in 19 minutes.It will be a different story Thursday as No. 2 Baylor visits No. 3 Connecticut (ESPN3, 7:30 p.m. ET) at Gampel Pavilion. The Lady Bears have two sophomores, 6-7 Kalani Brown and 6-4 Beatrice Mompremier, who might pose quite a challenge for the Huskies.Especially considering what UConn doesnt have anymore: three of the best, most reliable defenders you could ask for in post players Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck and guard Moriah Jefferson. All were exceptional in UConns system and in making big plays individually.But these are the kinds of tests that Auriemma anticipated would be important learning experiences for the Huskies. For that matter, its the same for Baylor, which has a lot of talent at varying experience levels.Senior Nina Davis, at 5-11, has been Baylors rock for her career, but her role was altered last season a bit by the teams increased size. That could be the case even more this season, in particular as Brown and Mompremier continue to evolve as offensive threats. Brown averaged 9.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game off the bench last season, while Mompremier was at 7.2 PPG and 6.1 RPG.Its early, but Brown has been sensational in her first two games this season, with 24 points and nine rebounds against Houston Baptist, followed by 25 and 19 against No. 9 UCLA. If the first performance was tempered a bit coming against a thoroughly overmatched opponent, that couldnt be said for the second.The Huskies have a history, of course, of providing wake-up calls to players riding high and looking unstoppable. No doubt, Baylor coach Kim Mulkey will prepare her team for that. However, its unrealistic to think UConn can be quite the crushing force defensively right now that it has been the past few years.That doesnt mean the Huskies arent going to be very good on that end of the court, improving as the season goes along. Because you know they will. But with their 76-game winning streak on the line against a team that has threats at every spot on the floor -- we need to mention Baylor starting guards Alexis Jones, Alexis Prince and Kristy Wallace, too -- the Huskies will have a lot to contend with defensively.Conversely, can they make it difficult for Baylors defense? Yes, especially considering we might be seeing 6-1 sophomore forward Napheesa Collier blossoming before our eyes as the new go-to scorer and leader. Again, not trying to put too much on one game, but the way she played against Florida State -- 28 points, eight rebounds, three assists and four blocks in 39 minutes -- was quite a statement.UConn has a 3-2 series advantage over Baylor, with all five games having been played from 2010 to 2014. The last time they faced off, Jan. 13, 2014, the Huskies ended the Lady Bears 69-game home winning streak.This is the first time Baylor has played in Storrs, Connecticut, with the Lady Bears previous road games against the Huskies coming in Hartford. Will another streak, this one UConns, end on Thursday? Or will the Huskies show theyre evolving even faster than expected without their superstar trio of Stewart-Tuck-Jefferson?Its a great game to have so early in the season for both teams and for womens basketball fans in general. Air Jordan Shoes Wholesale . -- Tony Stewart is 20 pounds lighter and has a titanium rod in his surgically repaired right leg. Cheap Real Jordans . -- Charline Labonte couldnt have asked for a better homecoming. http://www.cheapairjordanfastshipping.com/ .ca. Hey Kerry, big fan of yours, just finished reading your book. I think that we all saw the Canucks/Flames line brawl just after puck drop. 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Former Bellator fighter Jordan Parsons, who died earlier this year at the age of 25, is the first mixed martial arts fighter to be publicly diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist who first discovered the degenerative disease in the brain of Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Webster after his 2002 death, disclosed his findings on Parsons to The Boston Globe, which published a report on the diagnosis earlier Friday.Parsons (11-2), a featherweight who was three fights into his Bellator career, died on May 4, three days after being struck in a hit-and-run while crossing an intersection as a pedestrian in Delray Beach, Florida.Omalu told The Globe that it is impossible that Parsons CTE was caused by the accident because it is a chronic disease that develops over time.Parsons, who began competing in MMA at age 17 and turned pro three years later, was forced to take a full year off from competing after suffering his first loss in 2012 -- a first-round knockout loss in his eighth pro bout against Lazar Stojadinovic under the Championship Fighting Alliance banner.In his final bout, a split-decision loss to Bubba Jenkins in November 2015 at Bellator 146, Parsons was sent wobbling to the canvas after a kick to the head.The disease can be diagnosed only through postmortem brain autopsies.Omalu also discovered CTE in former pro wrestler Jon Rechner, who performed as Balls Mahoney, as well as early stages of the disease in Brian Knighton, aka Axl Rotten.dddddddddddd Both wrestlers died within months of each other in early 2016 at the age of 44. The former tag team, named The Hardcore Chair Swingin Freaks, was best known for its run in Extreme Championship Wrestling, along with a brief stint in WWE.The diagnoses of Rechner and Knighton come at the same time that WWE faces a lawsuit filed by more than 50 former pro wrestlers who say the company is responsible for repeated head trauma that led to long-term neurological damage.Rechner, who was said to have experienced memory problems before he died of a heart attack in April, is the third professional wrestler who has been publicly identified with CTE and the first since 2009. Knighton was found dead in suburban Baltimore in February after a heroin overdose.Dr. Julia K. Kofler, a neuropathologist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian, conducted the autopsies on Parsons, Rechner and Knighton. The university is affiliated with Omalus charitable foundation, which he created in 2015 before the release of the movie Concussion, a dramatization of the NFLs resistance to his CTE research.As a scientist, a physical, and a person of faith, I bet everybody involved with these sports to come together and identify the problems and find solutions, said Omalu, who told The Globe he reviewed Koflers studies and endorsed her findings. ' ' '