accept the offers from their former teams by Mondays 5 p.m. EST deadline: outfielders Jose Bautista (Toronto), Yoenis Cespedes (Mets), Ian Desmond (Texas), D

In the three major titles currently at the forefront of competitive gaming -- League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and Dota 2 -- the words North America can sometimes be seen in a joking context.Words uttered with futility.Large clubs, little talent.During the qualifiers running up to Dota 2s world championship in Seattle, The International, the head coach of two-time Majors champion OG, Sébastien 7ckingMad Debs, posted out on social media:Watching [European qualification] all day and then watching this s***show [NA qualifiers], I cant believe the ratio to qualify is actually highest in this one, its bulls***.To be fair, from an outsiders perspective, he was correct. North America did look like a mashup of recently shuffled teams, amateur clubs and high-level amateur players banding together for maybe their one shot at making Seattle. In Europe, which had produced every finalist team at a Major this year going into The International with OG, Team Secret, and Team Liquid, the competition seemed fierce to make it through the daunting qualifiers onwards to Seattle. Staples to The International such as Team Empire and Virtus.pro failed to qualify, while intriguing upstarts like Ad Finem from Greece were ousted.Feel free to put together another one of your s*** teams and come lose in the NA qualifier next year, responded defending world champion captain Peter ppd Dager of Evil Geniuses, never shy about sharing his opinion on matters.For all the laughter at the expense of North America, ppd and Evil Geniuses were the one bastion of credibility for the North American fans. EG, following the 2014 tournament where it ended up third, ran through the gauntlet of clubs at The International 2015 to hoist the Aegis as a primarily American team in front of the home crowd fans. After watching South Koreans dominate in StarCraft II and League of Legends while the Europeans (and now Brazilians) devoured all the Counter-Strike hardware, the American fans had a team they could fully get behind with the ability to win it all.This year, especially after those comments for the world to see, ppd could have ended up looking like a fool. Evil Geniuses had won the year prior, but nothing is a sure thing in the world of esports. Its especially the case in the topsy-turvy scene of Dota 2. The squad, which had recently reacquired former players Saahil Universe Arora and Ludwig Zai W?hlberg, was forced to work its way through the open qualifiers due to changing the roster after the Manila Major.The team climbed its way up the rungs of the ladder to eventually qualify for the tournament, but there were still some worries if it could perform. Universe was considered the MVP of the team from last years run to the Aegis, yet he left the team in the middle of the year to follow fellow team member Arteezy Babaev to the Shanghai Major-winning Team Secret, which was putting together an all-star roster. Zai, also a former EG member who left the team to join Team Secret, had been out of professional play for almost a year, having decided to put pro-gaming on hold until he graduated from high school.Rumors even swirled after Arteezy and Universes departure that 17-year-old prodigy Syed Sumail Hassan and veteran Clinton Fear Loomis would also leave the world champion organization; however, those reports never came to fruition and the two stayed on the team. There was upheaval and drama abound for Evil Geniuses, just like a majority of the North American teams across the three major competitive gaming titles.Yet despite the lukewarm debut of the new starting five at SL i-League StarSeries Season 2 (the team came in a disappointing fifth out of eight teams), Evil Geniuses thus far at The International has looked the part of a defending champion. It did well in the group stages to get second place for an automatic bid into the upper bracket, and the campaign at the main event up to this point has been awe-inspiring.Newbee was EGs first victim at the KeyArena in Seattle with a convincing sweep, and then the upper bracket semifinal versus EHOME could, and probably will, go down as one of the best series in The Internationals six-year history. In the first game where it appeared as if Evil Geniuses were done and ready to roll over into game two with as Mega Creeps converged on the squad from all corners of the map, the pride of North America didnt break. The Chinese powerhouse continually attempted to knock down the heart of the EG base, but, again and again, the five Evil Geniuses held strong, playing like a team that had been together the entire year.One. Two. Three times. On and on EHOME went to knockout the kings, and it broke open the door. EHOMEs Wang Old Chicken Zhiyong went for a desperate individual backdoor play after all four his teammates were wiped away from the map by EG, but, like all the other attempts, it didnt succeed. As cool, calm, and collected as you like, the winners of last years International fended off everything thrown at them and stampeded down to the Chinese teams base to take home the victory in one of the most memorable games in Dota 2 history. Seventy-five minutes in game one led to a relatively quick win for EG in game two, with EHOME never finding its bearings again.It feels a lot like last year, answered ppd in an interview immediately following the sweep over EHOME. Two of my teammates left last year, and that sucks, but then we come to TI and I see all these European teams losing, and I find myself against China in the winner bracket. So Im hoping well have something similar to last year, but well have to wait in see.Evil Geniuses has made it to the top three of the last three Internationals.At those events, EG has played 10 matches -- one against Complexity, a fellow North American organization, and nine against Chinese teams. Each of those tournaments, EG started in the upper bracket and never ran into a European team. Today, its 10th match against a Chinese team will commence, as the team will play the unpredictable and zany Wings Gaming.You can say ppds salty or arrogant, but his words have been backed up on the largest stage in competitive gaming. All of the teams based in Europe or from the European qualifiers have been eliminated, meaning 7ckingMads comments lack merit. Here PPD and Evil Geniuses sit in the upper bracket finals, facing another Chinese team as the crowd chants USA! USA! USA! endlessly behind them with Europe mysteriously nowhere to be seen.Not too bad for a team playing from a joke of a region, right? Zapatillas Baratas Outlet España . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. Zapatillas España Baratas Online . "Hes going to have hip surgery on Jan. 7, and hell be expected to rehabilitate for four to six months beyond that," Canucks general manager Mike Gillis said Friday in an interview. http://www.barataszapatillas.es/ . Shot outdoors against the stunning backdrop of Banff, Alta., the networks 30-minute original production airs tonight at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2. The four All-Star teams will play for $100,000 in prize money during TSNs annual skins game, airing live this weekend on TSN from The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre. Zapatillas Baratas Outlet . Supported by three-run homers from Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos, the young right-hander went seven strong innings in the Washington Nationals 8-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. Zapatillas Baratas España Online . Vettel was 0.168 seconds faster than Red Bull teammate Mark Webber around the Suzuka circuit. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was two tenths of a second off Vettel. "The car balance is decent, but I think we can still improve," Vettel said. PRO FOOTBALLLAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Star receiver Alshon Jeffery was suspended for four games without pay for violating the NFLs policy on performance-enhancing substances, the latest staggering blow for the reeling Chicago Bears.Jeffery posted on Twitter that he took a supplement for inflammation containing a substance banned by the league.I take full responsibility and Im deeply upset with myself for not doing the proper research on this supplement, he wrote. I want to apologize to my family, the Bears organization, my teammates, and Bears fans.His suspension was another dose of bad news for a team that lost several players to injuries in an embarrassing 36-10 loss at Tampa Bay that left the Bears with a 2-7 record. Now, they will have to get by without arguably their best player, starting with Sundays game at the New York Giants.PRO HOCKEYGLENDALE, Ariz. -- When the city of Glendale backed out of an arena lease deal with the Arizona Coyotes last year, it put the future of the franchise in doubt yet again.Turns out, Glendale may have done the Coyotes a favor.The Coyotes announced a proposal to build a 16,000-seat arena near Arizona State Universitys main campus by 2019, a deal that would put the team in the heart of the Phoenix areas population and financial center.The new arena will be on a 58-acre parcel within Arizona States Athletic Facilities District, less than two miles from campus. The NHL arena will include an attached 4,000-seat multi-sport arena that would be used for Coyotes practices as well as by ASU athletics and youth hockey teams.BASEBALLNEW YORK -- Mets second baseman Neil Walker and Philadelphia pitcher Jeremy Hellickson have accepted $17.2 million qualifying offers, giving up free agency to stay with their teams.Eight other free agents did not accept the offers from their former teams by Mondays 5 p.m. EST deadline: outfielders Jose Bautista (Toronto), Yoenis Cespedes (Mets), Ian Desmond (Texas), Dexter Fowler (Chicago Cubs) and Mark Trumbo (Baltimore), designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion (Toronto); closer Kenley Jansen (Los Angeles Dodgers); and third baseman Justin Turner (Dodgers).Walker and Hellickson are signed players now and could be eligible for free agency again after next season.UNDATED -- Corey Seager won the NL Rookie of the Year award unanimously.Michael Fulmer took the AL honor -- and that vote wasnt all that close, either.Seager and Fulmer were announced as the winners when votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America were made public. Seagers victory was almost a foregone conclusiion after he hit .dddddddddddd308 with 26 home runs and 72 RBI this year for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Fulmer, on the other hand, had to hold off a late challenge from New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez, who hit 20 home runs in only 53 games.Fulmers season-long contributions for Detroit won out. The right-hander went 11-7 with a 3.06 ERA in 26 starts for the Tigers. He ended up receiving 26 of 30 first-place votes from the BBWAA, outdistancing Sanchez by a total of 142 points to 91.COLLEGE FOOTBALLJEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- Carson-Newman coach Ken Sparks has retired, ending a 37-season career in which he won 338 games to rank fifth on the NCAAs all-time list.Its been an unbelievable journey, Sparks said during a news conference at the athletic complex that has been named after him.The only coaches with more career wins are John Gagliardi (489), Joe Paterno (409), Eddie Robinson (408) and Bobby Bowden (377). Sparks went 338-99-2 and had the most wins of any active coach.Sparks, 72, had continued coaching even after announcing in 2012 that he had cancer. Sparks said Monday that he was at peace and indicated his health issues played a role in his decision to retire now.SOCCERCOMMERCE CITY, Colo. -- Colorado Rapids goalkeeper Tim Howard will undergo season-ending surgery Thursday for an injury he sustained in last weeks World Cup qualifier between the U.S. and Mexico.Howard will miss the Rapids appearance in the MLS conference championship against Seattle this month.Howard was diagnosed with a right adductor injury. He is expected to be sidelined four months.Surgery is set for Thursday in Los Angeles by Dr. Michael B. Gerhardt.OTHERSEATTLE -- Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is joining the investment group looking to build a new NBA/NHL arena in Seattles stadium district.Lead investor Chris Hansen said Wilson is a young, smart and passionate entrepreneur, and is joining the group as a business partner.Hansens been the primary investor in the project, with members of the Nordstrom family and former Seattle SuperSonics team president and minority owner Wally Walker also part of the investment group.Hansen last month announced his intention to privately finance the proposed project in exchange for tax breaks.The city has acknowledged Hansens intent while also opening a request for proposals for a possible renovation of KeyArena, the former home of the SuperSonics. The proposals are due in early 2017. ' ' '