and Dawn Harper-Nelson (100 hurdles). Ha from corse178's blog
Its better than what I thought was going to happen, honestly. Cheap Authentic Jerseys China .Thats how Johan n0tail Sundstein, one-role player and founding member of OG, described the outcome of the roster shuffle season. After every International, Dota 2 teams begin to unscramble and reassemble, piecing together new squads and losing dead weight in order to better themselves in response to the 2016 season. After a disappointing 9-12th place showing at TI6, OG was on tenuous ground.Post-TI shuffle is always weird, Sundstein said. You can never try and fully predict whats gonna happen. You can have a couple of ideas and you might get some of them right. But its just a very unpredictable thing. How it turned out, though, was pretty good in my opinion.The former OG was an all-star team, the victor of two Majors and poised for the top. Now only Sundstein and captain Tal Fly Aizik remain; but in the gap left by the shuffle, the team has found new talent, and already took third at one international LAN. OG may have been wounded, but it continues to be a contender headed into the 2017 season.Pocket acesThe key to OGs new look is its newcomers. Sundstein and Aizik are joined by three players who all bring their own quirks and abilities to the table. Jesse JerAx Vainikka is the most recognizable quantity, coming off a breakout season on Team Liquid to play four-role support. Sundstein described Vainikka as one of the best support players of last year, but for Vainikka himself, hes still finding his footing on the squad.While Vainikka returns to a comfortable role, Gustav s4 Magnusson is challenging himself with a new venture into the offlane. It was a shift Magnusson said hes been thinking about for some time, but moving to OG gave him the chance to leave his comfort zone in the mid lane. From my perspective, I view S4 as one of those guys that keeps track of the map, said Sundstein of Magnussons new role. I see him shine a lot more on heroes that punishes teams for a lack of focus, or when they split up, because he has such good control of whats happening everywhere, not just next to him. If I had to put a role on somebody who had that quality, what role would fit them best is offlane. Right now all the initiation happens from the offlane: Slardars, Clockworks, Nyxs, the jumpers are usually in the offlane. So for me, its kind of natural. Its been very natural having S4 as an offlane player.Magnusson echoes Sundsteins sentiments; the playstyle that he excels in lies more in the offlane, and so hes taking up the challenge. For me, the offlane role and the heroes that are being played there fits me perfectly, so thats a big reason why I wanted to switch the lanes, said Magnusson. I thought more about the heroes [themselves] rather than the lane when I made the decision. Playing it now, Im enjoying the challenge to perform and show people that you can do something different with enough practice. Im very hard on myself because I feel like thats how I will improve the most.With two aces from other teams, it might be fitting that OG would seek a third. Instead, the team went in a different direction for the mid lane vacancy. A relatively unknown player at the time, 17-year-old Anathan ana Pham, was sitting on the Invictus Gaming bench when OG captain Aizik first took notice of him. After TI6, Aizik recalled the conversation and got in touch.I couldnt think of a veteran player who was not already on a team that I would be extremely happy in having, so having some new talent was the next go-to idea, Aizik said. I wanted someone who is dedicated, talented and also daring. I saw all these qualities in [Pham], despite his young age.Many players, especially in the mid lane, are young upstarts. Look at EGs Syed Sumail SumaiL Hassan or Abed Abed Yusop, who made a name for himself on Execration at TI6.When I was younger, I used to play [Pham]s role, said Sundstein. I was the guy who was gonna focus purely on mechanical skill, purely on my own read on the game. Back then, you arent really trying to replicate scenarios as a player, at least not intellectually. Youre doing it all instinctively. All you do is play. All you do is mechanics. Youre, in a way, in-tune with the game, and that goes away the older you get.Pham was the wild card for OG, so bringing him on was certainly a gamble for the team. He had some impressive showings against Newbee as a sub for IG, but lacked seasoned experience. For Pham, theres been some culture shock, from getting adjusted to American pubs (which he says are less team-oriented than Chinese pubs), to overcoming the distance hes traveled. Jumping from his homeland of Australia to China for a year with IG, and now to the West to play with OG.Homesickness strikes me occasionally, but I guess thats part of the job, said Pham. When I first joined OG, it was quite a shock to myself. Entering that level of Dota is challenging for me. This is the first time Ive played pro Dota in an English-speaking environment, and its definitely much easier. There is a lot of room for me to improve, but I feel like my journey has been going really well.Beyond the metaThese aces came together for a third-place finish at MDL, a solid outing for the team where it took games off Newbee, Team Secret, EG and Vici Gaming. Despite a 2-1 loss in the losers finals to Evil Geniuses, Sundstein is content with his teams performance regardless of the outcome.All tournaments are unique, said Sundstein. Our performance against the teams at MDL, the way we lost games, the way we won games, it was very good for me. I found myself being very happy after the tournament.Where OG will seek to improve over the coming weeks, and even throughout the year, looks very different from previous seasons. In many different patches, the game was defined by heroes that were strong on the patch, and the pros who could play them. All pro players nowadays have a strong understanding of the game and individual heroes. The mechanics arent an issue anymore; its what teams are doing once mechanical skill isnt a defining factor.What I think is really important for us is how to take it to the next level, in terms of getting on the same page, working on communication, said Sundstein. And then the biggest thing, for me, is how youre feeling mentally, how youre mentally going to prepare yourself, work on atmosphere. These things are what I think is gonna matter most for us.Even during the offseason, the players of OG have been hard at work. The last couple months since the conclusion of TI have been quiet from a tournament standpoint. This is usually a time when players might take time off. Sundstein says hes been working on renovating his new apartment, where he and his girlfriend will be staying. Furnishing, new locks, all the trials and tribulations of new property ownership - but he still finds time to boot up Dota 2.I dont think any pro player really escapes the game, said Sundstein. They might want to take some time off, but I dont think any of the tier one players actually spend more than one week without playing a single game.For players like Sundstein, Aizik and the rest of OG, they have reached the upper tier of Dota teams. The issues of the past, like making enough tournament winnings to survive or struggling to juggle competition with a day job to support yourself, are gone. Theres only one goal in mind: the Aegis in Seattle. Already, OG is juggling scheduling, planning tournaments and boot camps.Building a green dreamThe unofficial motto for OG has been Dream Green, a saying for fans to put their hopes towards the teams success. But the green dream has been something else for founding members Sundstein and Aizik, as well as manager Evany Chang. Its been a lot harder than I anticipated, Sundstein said. Its been very hard, trying to create an org that you want while being a player. But I stand by what we do. We did it to try and do the right thing, and going into tournaments with your own organization, knowing that youre not dealing with some people you might not want to be dealing with, its a much nicer feeling. I do not regret what we did, but like I said, its been a lot harder than I originally thought.Sundstein has been in the scene for many years now, and has seen the ups and downs, the good and bad. For Sundstein, he has his own vision: an organization needs to have something to offer to players, to better them both inside and outside the game, and avoid taking advantage of its players. An organization might poach one of the best teams, and give them half of what they deserve, or half of what the organization should be offering them, said Sundstein. The organization might be making a lot of money off this one team, knowingly, but they get away with it because young players, young scene. This scholarship, this opportunity, isnt what its supposed to be yet.Team manager Chang, who has also dealt with hardships in the past, reiterated the teams drive to help players in the long run. She says she hopes to see OG establish itself among top names, such as EG and TL, with continued hard work from the organization.When it comes to victories, though, Sundstein doesnt seem as dead-set on the prize. The success will come. Winning is not everything, Sundstein said. I think thats a stupid thing to say, because I feel like a lot of games are being ruined by this idea of points, ranked matchmaking systems, MMR, tournament placements, of being above others. I think thats becoming too much, and people are forgetting theyre actually playing games. Cheap China Jerseys . The move comes after the Canadiens were approached by the Buffalo Sabres for permission to speak to Dudley - a former Sabres player and head coach. "The Sabres called for permission and I appreciate that, Im flattered, Dudley told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun of ESPN. Jerseys NFL China . They had already blown a double-digit lead, fans were hitting the exits, and a long seven-game road trip waited at the end. http://www.wohlesalejerseysauthentic.net/ . The mixed zone is not a place to make friends. EUGENE, Ore. -- LaShawn Merritt considers his 200-meter races to be more of a lark than anything else.Think of the possibilities if they ever become a serious pursuit.Already qualified for the Olympics in his real race, the 400, Merritt pulled away for an easy victory in the opening round of 200-meter qualifying at the rain-soaked U.S. Olympic Trials on Thursday, posting the nights third-best time at 20.09 seconds.He already has the worlds best time this year, at 19.78 seconds, and if world-record holder Usain Bolts hamstring injury turns out to be worse than expected -- well, who knows what could happen?Its not really a serious thing for me, said Merritt, who also owns the fastest time at 400 meters this year. I just want to have some fun with it, and if I have the ability to do it, I figure Ill do it. Ill try to make it as light as possible.Among those who take the 200 more seriously are worlds silver medalist Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay, Mike Rodgers and Wallace Spearmon, who is trying to return to the upper-echelon of this race after struggling with injuries. All made it through their first-round heats with ease.Allyson Felix also views it as more work than play, and is trying to become the first woman to win Olympic gold in both events. Felix is already qualified at 400 meters and begins her quest in the 200, her specialty, on Friday.Merritt could become the first man to win a 200-400 Olympic double since Michael Johnson in 1996. But his specialty is the 400 and he still has some goals there.Among them: World record, he said. He won the Olympic gold in 2008, but pulled out of the first round in 2012 with a hamstring injury.In his world, the 200 is mainly good training.And yet, watching him pumping his fists as he hit the stretch, then steadily pulling away for a .44-second cushion over the second-place finisher, it was easy to see why hes at least giving this a try.If anybody can do it, LaShawn can do it, Gatlin said. To watch him run is amazing. I know hes got it in the tank. So lets see him put it out there.Gatlin, a more seasoned veteran than Merritt at both the distance and the art of the double, saved energy in his opener, especially with rain starting to soak the track at Hayward Field. He ran the 200 in 20.32 and finished .05 behind Ameer Webb. But all these prelim times go in the wastebasket almost as soon as theyre recorded.JJust play it smart, Gatlin said. Cheap NFL Jerseys. Im on to the next round. Almost a blueprint of what I did in the 100. Go faster. Rise to the occasion.Other happenings on Day 6 of Olympic Trials:SHOT DIVA: Michelle Carter (Twitter handle @shotdiva) already had her Olympic spot wrapped up. Then, she won the meet on the last throw of the night, just like she did at the world indoor championships this spring. Her mark of 64 feet, 3 1/4 inches beat out Raven Saunders and knocked Felisha Saunders into third. Veteran Jill Camarena-Williams finished fifth in what she said would be her last Olympic Trials. She also said, I always wait to see Michelles last throw. I would never, ever leave.TRIPLE JUMP: Two-time NCAA champion Keturah Orji, who once dreamed of being an Olympic gymnast, will get a chance at another kind of title. She won the womens triple jump and will head to Rio. On the mens side, Christian Taylors quest for an Olympic repeat is on track. He needed one jump to make it through qualifying and will try to secure his spot Saturday.THE TOUGHEST JUMP: Stephanie Garcia was in the mix for an Olympic spot in steeplechase until the final lap. First, she got passed for the third position. Then, in her quest to catch up, she stumbled over the last barrier and went tumbling. Emma Coburn, Courtney Frerichs and Colleen Quigley earned the trips to Rio. Garcia said she still recorded a victory of sorts: I knew if I didnt make it, then I was going to make those who did work very, very hard.MORE MEDALS: Among Olympic medal winners who made it through their qualifying rounds Thursday were Leonel Manzano (1,500), Bershawn Jackson (400 hurdles) and Dawn Harper-Nelson (100 hurdles). Harper-Nelson, the 2008 gold medalist, was in the same heat with American record holder Keni Harrison, but barely noticed. I tell my husband, `Tell me what lane Im in and what heat. The rest doesnt matter, Harper-Nelson said.QUOTABLE: With [Jamaicas] rules, hopefully theyll let him in. If not, it might be the first time the Olympic committee sends a personal invite to an athlete to come to the games. Theyd lose some money if he didnt show up. -- Wallace?Spearmon, on the chances of Usain Bolt making the Olympics despite his recent hamstring problems. Wholesale NFL White Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Throwback Wholesale Jerseys China Wholesale NFL White Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Throwback Jerseys Cheap NFL Autographed Jerseys Wholesale NFL Autographed Jerseys Youth NFL Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Authentic Jerseys China Womens NFL Jerseys Wholesale Throwback Jerseys Youth NFL Jerseys Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Discount NFL Jerseys ' ' '
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