Für unsere Gäste » A few days before Evo started

CHICAGO -- The most popular grandpa in Chicago these days just might be a 39-year-old with three young children who happens to play for the most dominant team in the majors.Oh, and he does not actually have any grandkids.Even so, David Ross might as well be a grandpa by baseball standards. And as his career winds down after 15 years, hes getting a grand send-off with the Chicago Cubs. While a long-suffering franchise eyes its first World Series championship since 1908, a lifelong backup catcher is being treated like a star on his way out the door.I was at dinner last night, Ross said. Somebody yelled across the restaurant, `Hey grandpa! when I walked in. Im like, `How we doing? Hows it going? A lot more attention. Its unique, different for me.Yes, its quite a time to be Grandpa Rossy.Grandpa Rossy? Well, that started in spring training.Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo were at dinner with Ross and some other players when the two young sluggers decided to have some fun and open an Instagram account documenting his final season.Grandparossy-3 started with three pictures posted on Feb. 21 -- of Ross posing at a sporting goods store with a Cubs shirt and mitt in one hand and pants, batting gloves and knee pads before his last first day; of a black-and-white Ross baseball card from when he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers in a nod to his age; and of the three of them at a Phoenix Suns game. The account has grown to one with 136,000, and the retirement tour spurred such a demand that the Cubs are selling Ross t-shirts at Wrigley Field for the first time since he joined the club before last season.Its his last year playing baseball, Bryant said. We wanted ... to make him feel really special, that we really care about him and are gonna miss him.Even better, theyre having fun along the way.The Instagram account became a vehicle for Ross to post pictures from the road and of his family and teammates. There are shots of him playing, working out and hanging with Rizzo in Las Vegas.There are videos, too. One from spring training shows Ross in a G-PA ROSSY No. 3 jersey walking hunched over in the clubhouse using a bat like a cane as Rizzo and Bryant help him.Almost there, Rizzo says.You can do it, Bryant chimes in.In another, Ross and Rizzo perform an acoustic rendition of Vanilla Ices Ice, Ice, Baby, with Ross on guitar and vocals and Rizzo on a conga drum.The Cubs organization also jumped on the Grandpa Rossy phenomenon and produced a series of videos with Ross to generate All-Star votes for his teammates.In one, Grandpa Rossy uses a rotary phone to implore fans to dial (hash)votecubs and call in their vote. In another, he encourages them to fax it.Teammates also gave Ross a motorized scooter during spring training to help him get around.At first, we kind of felt bad calling him grandpa, Bryant acknowledged. Hes like 38 years old. Thats pretty young for a normal person. Hes enjoyed it.It hasnt been all jokes and gag gifts. There have been sweet gestures, like this one compliments of Jason Heyward: Suite upgrades for Ross and his family on the road.For Heyward, who signed with Chicago in the offseason, it was a way to thank someone who helped him when he was breaking into the majors with Atlanta six years ago. He learned quickly that Ross had a way with words, like that time the Braves were playing an exhibition game against the Mets before his rookie season.Heyward took his turn in batting practice and went inside. Ross wanted to know why he wasnt shagging fly balls instead.If theres something thats not happening and needs to happen, hes the person to say something about it the right way, Heyward said. When he speaks, its probably a good idea to listen because hes saying something thats gonna help you as an individual and hes definitely saying something thats gonna help the team.Jon Lester, who played with Ross in Boston, said, He knows how to push you the right way.That in part helps explain why the Cubs consider Ross, a career .229 hitter on his seventh team who has never played in more than 112 games and has logged more than 200 at-bats only two times, so important.It goes beyond the raw numbers. He is a steady hand behind the plate and in the clubhouse, a player who won a championship with Boston in 2013 and is trying to help a team loaded with stars from Bryant and Rizzo to Jake Arrieta and Lester finally bring home a championship to Wrigley Field.I look back on what I bring and my skillset and how I got this much time in the major leagues, it blows my mind, Ross said. I try to appreciate that and not take that for granted.He is someone manager Joe Maddon saw as a perfect fit from the moment he found out. Maddon was driving around Tampa and pulled into a parking lot to call Ross.Fun, passionate, aggressively wanted to win, great teammate. All that stuff came through in that phone conversation, Maddon said.Now, a career that started with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2002 nears the end, Ross is soaking it all in and having some fun along the way. He started keeping a diary documenting the season in a leather notepad his wife gave him and now makes a few entries a month on his phone, instead, usually during flights.Its time to go home, its time to be a family, its time to start a different chapter in my life, Ross said. I love baseball, dont get me wrong. I love playing, I love competing, I love these guys. Theres a perfect atmosphere here. Yeezy Boost 700 Bestellen . -- Stanfords Kevin Danser knelt on one knee and hardly moved on the sideline as Michigan State celebrated its Rose Bowl victory and his Cardinal teammates made their way to the locker room. Adidas Alphabounce Kopen . "I dont know that were close," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "I just think, right now, the acquisition cost just doesnt work for us right now. I dont know if I can quantify how far off or things like that that they might be but I would say we continue to have dialogue. http://www.nmdbelgie.com/ . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side. Adidas Continental 80 Heren . -- Nathan Pancel scored twice as the Sudbury Wolves defeated the North Bay Battalion 4-2 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Adidas NMD R1 Dames Sale . Emery skated the length of the ice and fought an unwilling Holtby during the third period of the Flyers 7-0 loss Friday night in Philadelphia. He was given 29 penalty minutes, including a game misconduct. But Emery did not face even a disciplinary hearing with NHL senior vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan because rules 46. Its the 2015 North American League Championship finals, and players on Team Solo Mid and Counter Logic Gaming sit anxiously in their seats, knees bouncing erratically from excess adrenaline. Sitting among an ocean of fans is Hawaiian native (and high ping survivor) Matt Matt Elento, support player for Team Liquid. At the time, Matt was playing for Team Liquid Academy, TLs challenger team, and arrived in New York with no money and nowhere to stay (he crashed at a friends place). Afterwards, Matt returned to the West Coast reinvigorated.I was amazed at how many people were there, he said. I was just amazed that all these guys that I played with almost every day in solo queue. It was pretty natural to think I wasnt that far off from them. That if I took the time and effort, I could be on the same stage that they were on. That was a real inspiration for me. So everyday, I would grind in solo queue.Part of the beauty of esports is that aspiring gamers arent handcuffed by the same restrictions as beginner athletes. Theres no need for a pitch, a referee, a net, or even daylight to practice. Theres something magical in its accessibility -- all an aspiring pro needs is their gaming device of choice -- and with a passable internet connection and indelible passion, it gives the impression that anyone can achieve that goal.Its not uncommon for talented gamers to be gifted at multiple different titles. Some common factors for success include wide champion pools and possessing lightning-fast reaction times. Still, in terms of entering the pro scene, experiences vary widely across game titles. Unlike traditional sports, a games boon or bust is partially in the hands of the game developer and how they decide its played, viewed, and monetized.While having an involved publisher can be problematic, it comes with benefits as well: a strong amateur scene, clear paths to success, more consistent compensation and an avid viewership. The opportunities for pros in different esports vary wildly. In a game that has an online ranking system like League and Dota 2, its easier to measure who is performing at a competitive level. For a console games like the Super Smash Bros installments, the route is far more treacherous; players jump from tournament to tournament in order to climb the standings. It costs money to travel to national events. Without proper sponsorship or sister teams to play on, it can be difficult for amateur players to get noticed. While tournaments certainly arent lacking in entrants, the monetary obstruction might still be diverting some of the fighting game communitys potential talent pool.Matt says League was one of the few games he had regular access to as a kid. I played Runescape, a browser-based MMO game, he said. I had an N64 growing up, but for the most part I wasnt into console games because we didnt have a console. The main reason I had to play Runescape was because I couldnt afford online memberships. It was just the game I was able to play.The fighting game communitys competitive scene (though blessed with a passionate fan base) has struggled to get the support its pros need. This is partially because of their publishers hands-off parenting style. At the Evoluution Championship Series 2016, the largest game fighting tournament in the world, Nintendo only offered setups for gamers to use and not all of the custom options were unlocked on the systems provided.ddddddddddddIn League, teams have a strong structure in place: coaches, support staff, managers, some even have a team chef. Immortals, a professional League of Legends team, has a sports psychologist on staff, who is tasked with the immense job of making sure that players are not only successful, but healthy and happy. Famed Immortals top laner, Heo Huni Seung-hoon, credits his teams strong backbone for the success theyve found this split.First of all, we have a personal coach, and I think that helps a lot. Having a personal coach, being healthy and being happy. It helps you to be successful outside of your country, Huni said. Having a healthy mentality -- it makes you successful outside of the game.Coaching was banned at Evo 2016 from the quarterfinals onward. Organizers felt that it gave players an unfair edge. They arent wrong -- it is an advantage -- though not an untoward one. A few days before Evo started, Team Liquid hired their first-ever Super Smash Bros coach, Luis Crunch Rosias. Days later, his longtime friend Juan Hungrybox DeBeidma finally secured gold after years of just falling short.For the fighting scene to truly evolve, tournament organizers need to accept that players need structure to perform at their highest level, so they can continue to improve as games change.Michael Sherman, Competitive Programs Specialist at Riot Games, says that Leagues collegiate system is growing. As of this coming fall, there will be seven different schools offering League scholarships in North America, which could set esports players up for careers within the community post-pro play. And while uLoL has no current plans to attach itself to competitive, the collegiate space is expanding--all four teams in the campus series finals had coaches. According to Sherman, should the college community ask for it, Riot would be ready to explore the implementation of a more direct process from college to pro gaming.The way I like to think of it, is that you dont sign someone up for little league to go professional one day. Sherman said. So, we like to think of college as an opportunity to scratch that competitive itch while staying in school. I cant speak for the challenger scene, but we do think of them as parallel paths. Were doing everything we can to help accelerate its growth.By contrast, opportunities to play fighting games at a competitive collegiate level are essentially nonexistent. Undoubtedly, pros in the fighting game community have been dealt a short hand, but as the scene continues to grow, so does the opportunity for players.I kind of think about how my progression as a player. It looks like anyone could have done it. There were plenty of other players who were in the same position as I was, you know, playing the game for fun, Matt said. I definitely think people should be motivated in whatever situation theyre in. Like, skys the limit. ' ' '