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If you had any doubt that Blizzard Entertainment was going all-in on esports, look no further than Fridays announcement of Overwatch League, to be launched in 2017.Blizzard Entertainment, a division of Activision Blizzard, has a long history of tournament support for its games, but to run a league, something that takes place over the long haul, reflects a new level of support for Overwatch. Overwatch, still a young game with more than 20 million players within six months of its release, has already attracted a number of high-profile pros, especially the Overwatch Open that debuted on cable television rather than simply the streaming community.This is about doing what we can to allow Overwatch esports to achieve its full potential, Blizzard Entertainment president and co-founder Michael Morhaime told ESPN.com. And I think we have a big opportunity with Overwatch since the game is newly launched, we dont have an existing ecosystem and we can really design our league upfront in a way thats best for players and teams.Leagues indicate a deeper level of support, from the length of time they run to the need to establish the infrastructure necessary to support their continued play by the competitors involved. A league isnt something you can run in a weekend or even a week, so player compensation is necessary to ensure that the best in the world can afford to play.Its really important to us that our players are treated well, Nate Nanzer, global director of Overwatch esports, told ESPN.com. We want to make this a professional career. We dont want to make this a risky bet that a kid makes to go become an Overwatch pro, we want to make this a real professional career.For the debut season of the Overwatch League, Blizzard is taking a page from the playbook of traditional sports, in this case the NFL. Before the NFL runs its draft every year, it holds the scouting combine, which mainly consists of a battery of tests for players seeking to be drafted. These range from purely athletic tests such as the 40-yard dash and the vertical jump to more cerebral ones such as the Wonderlic test.Overwatch League is taking a similar route. Blizzard will host a combine, inviting eligible players who have been high performers in competitive Overwatch to date. And its not just for hanging out and talking. The players will be evaluated in a range of tests and the teams will be given the opportunity to sign players from their résumé and their performance history. When that combine will happen has yet to be announced.On that path to pro, there needs to be a step between I got No. 1 on the ladder and I got signed to an Overwatch team, Nanzer said. And the combine we think is a great opportunity to do that and a great opportunity to start the storytelling around these players.Any player picked up during the signing period will receive a guaranteed minimum baseline salary and benefits package. Blizzard has not yet said how much that compensation package will be. Overwatch Leagues team structure will also guarantee that team ownership and the players involved will share in the revenues generated. Esports is a world in which, occasionally, payout issues from sponsors or individual team turmoil leads to players not getting all the compensation they deserve. Stability is a key factor for a successful league.Speaking of those teams, Overwatch Leagues team structure also reflects traditional sports. Rather than the typical model of players representing their sponsored sports teams, Overwatch League teams will represent individual cities. And the city teams, when established, will remain in the league, eliminating the yearly shuffle as teams try desperately to guarantee their spots in next years league -- that shuffle being something that has occasionally been a driver of controversy in other esports. Blizzard has already dipped its toe into running esports competitions without the traditional teams, such as Heroes of the Dorm, which focused on individual colleges and the Overwatch (and soon, Hearthstone) competitions, which are country-based.We definitely envision a world where if you live in a city where theres an Overwatch League team, you have regular opportunities to go see that team live, Nanzer said. We think by localizing esports we can unlock [local] revenue streams for esports teams that exist for traditional sports teams but dont exist in todays esports ecosystem. ... We also think [localization] is going to create a stronger bond between the fans, the teams and the players.Esports is a young field, so its necessary for competitions to experiment with these different formats to see which ones grab and sustain the public interest. Whether Overwatch League captures the imagination of the viewers or not, theres little doubt that Blizzard is all-in on its newest and shiniest bit of intellectual property.I think the timing is very good to start up a league like this because were sort of reaching this tipping point in esports, Morhaime said. Theres a ton of interest and a ton of demand. ... We want to provide an experience that spectators have been wanting and I think they deserve. Salomon Baratas España .C. -- Chris Thorburn thinks one of the reasons the Winnipeg Jets have been successful under new coach Paul Maurice is that theyre playing together as a team. Zapatillas Salomon Baratas España . Ryan Garbutt had a goal and two assists as Dallas snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. http://www.baratassalomon.es/ . "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. Comprar Salomon Baratas . Burke is expected to miss two to three months after breaking a finger in the teams third preseason game. Tinsley, a 10-year veteran, spent the last two seasons in Utah, where the point guard averaged 3. Zapatillas Salomon Baratas . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. DUSSELDORF, Germany -- If the story of Caroline Larssons life in 2011 were a film, you might exit the movie theater scratching your head, mumbling about far-fetched plots, because her tale involves fear, pain, loss and redemption, all prefaced by a terrifying natural disaster.But there is nothing fictional about her story, and despite the central incident of that year being the amputation of her right leg due to cancer, Larsson has no doubts: They took my leg, she says of 2011, but they gave me life.This week, had the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the International Golf Federation been on the same wavelength (their classifications of ability are out of sync), the Swede might have been preparing to tee it up in Rio de Janeiro at the Paralympics. Instead she competed in the pro-am of the Ladies European Tours ISPS Handa European Masters at GC Hubbelrath.Oh, yes: Larsson still plays golf. She didnt let cancer stop her from doing that -- or anything else for that matter.The story begins early in 2011, in the city of Christchurch, shortly after Larsson, then 22, had caddied for her sister, Louise, in the New Zealand Open. Louise was a rookie on the Ladies European Tour that year; Carolines great hope was to become one herself in 2012.Prior to flying home the two girls made an everyday decision that might have saved their lives: They chose one restaurant instead of two others. In the earthquake that hit the city during the meal, many buildings in the area collapsed while their restaurant, which they swiftly fled, stood standing.The streets were bobbing and weaving like the sea, explains Caroline. Sometimes they even cracked beneath us, opening wide like huge chasms. People were running, screaming and crying. Debris from collapsed and lurching buildings was falling to earth with ear-splitting crashes.We were led to an open area, away from buildings. There was this great mass of people standing in complete silence, staring at the city, a totally devastated landscape.For three nights, the sisters slept in their rental car, sometimes shaken by appalling aftershocks, desperately waiting for the airport to reopen, and eventually it did (not before another aftershock caused a final panicked evacuation).In all, 185 people died that day, over 2,000 were injured, 164 of them seriously. Larsson says: We were in shock, but we knew we had been so lucky.A month later, Larsson entered the hospital for the removal of a lump. She was daunted by the prospect, and it was painful, but she was assured it was a precautionary measure and remained appreciative of her good fortune. After all, 2011 still had much to offer.In April, the doctor called her back and all appeared well until a nurse entered the room with a glass of water and a handkerchief.I was immediately alert to danger, says Larsson. Then the doctor said chondrosarcoma, the word that shattered my world, a rare cancer.She was told amputation of her right leg was the only option after doctors found five malignant tumors in her thigh.Her initial reaction was panic.I could feel the blood in my veins sting and burn as my anger spread, she says, but the fury passed and she embarked on a startling journey that began with a trip to London, a weekend break with a very individual detail. I decided not to buy a card for public transport -- I wanted to walk and walk. To walk everywhere. I did everything on two legs one last time to appreciate it.Ahead of the operation she was determined not to be overwhelmed by the imminent loss and pain. In her blog she wrote: My gut feeling was calm. I did a little meditation exercise which helped me appreciate what was in front of me. I will not delve into it deeper, but I felt such peace. I felt I could handle it, that everything will be fine. Yes, I felt it 100 percent. I understand that people might perceive me as positive or suspect I am repressing bad thoughts every day and dare not be sad, but it really is not so.Larsson was emphatically not kidding herself.The news was good, she says. The cancer hadnt spread. If it had, then the amputation would have been pointless. But I had a golden chance to live on. Id paid a price, but what an opportunity. In those days there was no limit to my happiness. I was so thirsty for the world.Five days after surgery, when she spied a golf club in the gym during a recovery session, the physio warned her against swinging it. She waved the concerns away and immediately knew it. I still lovedd the game, she says.dddddddddddd. And I knew what I wanted to do -- it was two and a half months until the national championship, I wanted to defend the four-ball title with my sister.But before then she hit an unexpected wall -- the disbelief of others. Two weeks after the operation, she sat on her bed, devastated.I was surrounded by doubt and fear, but it wasnt that the doubters were wise about my misery -- they were the cause of it. I couldnt take the negativity. It was my loneliest moment, and then my mom came in the room to show me a magazine article about another amputee who had embraced life. It rebuilt my self-belief.And with it the process of returning to the golf course.I dont think anyone believed I would make the championship, she laughs. My family, coach, friends, they just thought it was a good target and Id eventually realize it wasnt going to happen.They were still coming to terms with Larssons newfound strength. It was tough, yes. The surgery and the cruel pain were a real struggle, but there were positives because I dared to see the problems, dared to feel the pain, dared to ask for help.When her mother expressed the wish that it had been her leg, Larsson told her: Mom, you wouldnt have coped and I have, so its fine.Larsson is easily approachable and open about her fears and resilience -- but she also has a sense of humor. After hearing that another article implied that losing the right leg was better for her golf swing, Larsson thought about the theory, then leaned forward.Yes, its true, she whispered with a smile that continued to grow. But I didnt really have a choice, did I?And then she laughed with delight.With the philosophy fear less, live more powering her ambition, Larsson -- just 10 weeks after the amputation -- teed it up alongside her sister in a group with the Hedwall twins, Caroline and Jacqueline.At this point, Caroline Hedwall was the No. 1-ranked golfer on the Ladies European Tour and was on course to make her Solheim Cup debut the following month, when she would be a standout performer in Europes thrilling defeat of the United States.The other Caroline, in contrast, had yet to complete 18 holes since the operation and had lacked the time to have a sports prosthesis fitted; she was hitting on one leg (the field had happily permitted her to use a cart).On the first hole, Larsson not only gave herself a long look at birdie, but, with Swedish TV filming, drained it. The other three failed to equal her score and Larsson laughs at the outrageousness of it: I think Caroline Hedwall missed her putt because there were tears in her eyes.The Larssons went on to win, an achievement that can only be described as absurd and audacious in its brilliance. Since then Caroline has competed in disabled golf tournaments around the world, including America, and on the Scandinavian Nordea Tour (a feeder circuit for the LET).Playing with Germanys Sophia Popov, a Symetra Tour regular, in the pro-am this week, Larsson says: I played well even though I havent had much practice. I was a couple over par, so I was surprised and happy.She has inspired people and been inspired. A mystery benefactor, who read of her tale, purchased an expensive Genium prosthetic leg. An attached note read: I want you to have the chance to achieve your dreams. My wish is that you might have the opportunity to help someone else in the future.She achieves this with motivational speaking, which has taken on a growing significance in her life. In classic Larsson style, the talks, which focus on embracing loss as opportunity, also cover the difficulty of carrying glasses of water on one leg.She dearly wishes that golf was in the Paralympics this week, and she is involved with forcing change.Golf is such an accepting sport for people with disabilities, says Larsson, who is working with Allianz, a partner of the IPC, on a project called Golf to Paralympics to raise awareness. I just hope the rest of the world can cooperate together to figure it out.ISPS Handa, title sponsor of the European Masters, is a Japanese charity that is also lobbying for blind and disabled golf to be included in the worldwide festival of sport.Unfortunately it seems set in stone that even Tokyo in 2020 is out of reach for golfs Paralympic aspirations, but should that change, Caroline Larsson would grace such a stage. ' ' '