Bewerbungen » emarks: Soto, 36, of Mexico, a former junior lightw

Theres the likes of NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille ONeal and multitime NBA champion Rick Fox investing heavily in esports, and then theres L.A. Rams offensive guard Rodger Saffold. Saffold, who co-founded Rise Nation, not only is one of the few athletes to own an esports team but also is still playing full time in the NFL. As the aforementioned investors are all retired from professional sports, this means Saffold finds himself in a challenging but perhaps uniquely advantageous situation. And hes using his background as an athlete, and as a gamer, to lead his team to victory.ESPN caught up with Saffold before his match against the Minnesota Vikings to get some insight into what its like to be an active professional athlete and owner of an esports organization.First, Saffold has always enjoyed playing video games. I love puzzles for your brain, Saffold said. When I was growing up, thats what I did. But it wasnt until college that Saffold found the thrill of competitive first-person shooters. I would even say before college; I started playing Call of Duty, and then Call of Duty [4]: Modern Warfare came out... I just was so overboard on it, I could literally play the game all day long, he recalled.As Saffold entered the NFL, he kept a close eye on the world of video games. When I started figuring out that esports was growing, and I saw they were all over the internet on Twitch -- when I saw that there were these huge events -- I was like, OK, I need to get into this. Thats when Saffold, along with his friend and business partner Kahreem Horsley, started Rise Nation. They leveraged industry connections to form their first Call of Duty team and, in their freshman outing, were able to qualify for the Call of Duty Championship 2014: U.S. Regional Final. There, the team made a valiant effort but ended up placing seventh. This was still a remarkable result, considering the high caliber of competition, and it convinced Saffold that he had a legitimate stake in esports.But being fully invested in sports and esports is a challenging proposition. Its tough to do the day-to-day operations, said Saffold. Most of your day is pretty much filled up with, you know, football. Saffold does have the structures in place to manage Rise Nation while hes playing, but that doesnt mean he ignores the team. Rather, he can use his time where its most effective. When it comes down to when I get a chance to speak to the players, when I get a chance to speak with the sponsors, it really shows that Im dedicated to this and that Im giving them time.Saffolds background in the NFL might offer certain advantages when coaching his team. The best thing I can do for these players is show them the intangibles, Saffold said. Being a leader, grinding [through practice maneuvers]... they always say prior proper planning prevents piss-poor performance. Even with Saffolds sports background, however, esports can still feel like unfamiliar territory at times. Actually, [compared to] most of these organizations that already have their business plans together, I feel like Im a step behind them.Owning an esports team while in the NFL has given Saffold the curious role of de facto esports ambassador to his fellow athletes, since hes investing his time and energy into something thats far from the norm. Luckily for Saffold, his teammates are very supportive. I always get questions like Hey, how is our team doing? [and] like Hey, whats going on, whats going down this weekend? he said.Well, this weekend the Call of Duty World Championships are being held in Los Angeles at the Forum. Sixteen teams are competing for an impressive prize pool of $1.6 million, big enough to perk the ears of even non-esports fans. I got a lot of my teammates on the list to come and enjoy and see what I got involved in, Saffold said. Thats kind of my job, to try to broaden the horizons of athletes to kind of get into this and see a new sport forming.Considering that the Forum will have a few players from the Rams roaming around, its quite possible that more athlete-led esports organizations could start to appear in the scene in the future. Theyre definitely curious, Saffold said, but once I tell em what you have to do as far as salaries, you know, how you have to handle your business ... you can try to invest, but I have to see how serious you are about this.Saffold made it very clear that Rise Nation is more about his passion than an investment; it was a passion he held even before he entered the NFL. Said Saffold, Now, seeing its growing and going into the right direction, Im going to want to try and hold on to this as much as I can.Theres one subject that any professional athlete knows something about, and thats sponsorship. Beer goes hand in hand with football. and now, because of beer, its become part of the deal with football, Saffold said. For Rise Nation, where Saffold often deals with the sponsors himself, its about quality over quantity.You dont want to get too many sponsors, Saffold said. Its more about getting the right people that fit your organization, people that care about your team just as much as you do.KontrolFreek, a video games controller accessory manufacturer that sponsors Rise Nation, follows the same philosophy. I think finding a great team, and honestly great management and leadership, beyond sort of how the teams performs, is No. 1, said Ashish Mistry, president and CEO. And so once we knew that the Rise Teams were using the KontrolFreek products, it made it very easy to pursue a working relationship with them.While nonendemic sponsors such beer companies are starting to take notice of esports growth, they are proceeding with caution. Esports is still highly fragmented, said Mistry, and that is a possible reason many sponsors are still waiting on the sideline. Unlike traditional sports, esports is usually referred to as a whole, even though there are multiple teams and players in various games with their own specific audiences. But as you see things like the Call of Duty World Championship, things that are sort of more tentpole events, their ability to push corporate dollars downstream and to scale is making it a lot easier for these brands to participate, Mistry continued.No matter how the field might appear now, the consensus is that the world of sponsorship will only expand. As more nonendemic sponsors jump in, players will see larger prize pots, helping them create sustainable careers out of gaming. For Saffold, thats a major plus for building out his team and for growing esports in general.Although the marriage between professional athletes and professional video gaming might seem unlikely, it actually makes a lot of sense. While many others are quick to shrug esports off, those in sports see its potential, as well as the hard work and skill required to play at a top level. These athletes dont view esports as a novelty or a gimmick. They know that these games require great presence of mind, skill and teamwork. And for them, thats enough to want to devote their time, money and passion to something they see as a play for the future. Air Max 90 Wholesale . The Masters champion and winner of last weeks Australian PGA has a three-round total of 14-under 199 at Royal Melbourne. "Im in a really good position for tomorrow," Scott said. Cheap Air Max 90 Free Shipping . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. http://www.airmax90discount.com/ . The Clippers were angry about blowing a big lead; the Kings didnt like being in that kind of hole and nearly digging themselves out only to lose. Discount Air Max 90 Sale . Jeff Green scored 13 points and Kris Humphries 12 for the Celtics, who nearly blew an 18-point, second-half lead. Sullingers 20-20 was the first by a Celtics player since Kevin Garnetts first game in Boston in 2007. Garnett was dealt -- along with Paul Pierce -- to Brooklyn during the off-season. Air Max 90 Free Shipping . MORITZ, Switzerland -- Fog prevented downhill racers from getting their Olympic dress rehearsal. A roundup of the past weeks notable boxing results from around the world:Saturday at Manukau, New ZealandJoseph Parker KO3 Alexander Dimitrenko Heavyweight Records: Parker (21-0, 18 KOs); Dimitrenko (38-3, 24 KOs)Rafaels remarks: The 6-foot-4, 234-pound Parker, 24, of New Zealand, is the mandatory challenger for heavyweight world titleholder Anthony Joshua (17-0, 17 KOs), of England, but risked his status in against the 6-7, 254-pound Dimitrenko, 34, of Russia, a former European heavyweight champion rising a six-fight winning streak. But Dimitrenko proved to be no match for Parker, despite a somewhat controversial ending.Parker utterly dominated the fight. Sharp and accurate with his punches, Parker dropped Dimitrenko four times overall. He began the domination in the opening round, sending Dimitrenko to the mat with a left-right combination. He dropped him twice more in the second round with an overhand right that sent him to all fours and a right hand on top of the head moments later. In the third round, Parker was again taking it to Dimitrenko and when they were tied up Parker landed a hard right hand to the ribs, forcing Dimitrenko to take a knee while still holding on to Parker, who then nailed him with another right hand to the body. Heres where the controversy comes in: Dimitrenko was on one knee when Parker hit him with the second body shot, sending him fully to the canvas, where he writhed around in apparent pain and stayed down for a couple of minutes. Canadian referee Marlon Wright, however, did not call a foul on Parker for hitting Dimitrenko while he was down and instead counted him out at 1 minute, 38 seconds. Wright probably made the right call as Dimitrenko had been manhandling Dimitrenko and did not seem to realize he was on the mat when he threw the punch. Dimitrenko also seemed to be doing a bit of acting in an effort to perhaps gain a disqualification victory.In any event, it was an excellent performance from Parker, who could land a Nov. 26 shot at Joshua if Joshua does not wind up facing former champion Wladimir Klitschko in a fight in discussions. Another possibility is for Parker to meet Andy Ruiz Jr. (29-0, 19 KOs) for a potentially vacant belt if Tyson Fury is stripped following his positive cocaine test last week.Saturday at Neubrandenburg, GermanyNathan Cleverly TKO7 Juergen Braehmer - Fight recap Wins a light heavyweight title Records: Cleverly (30-3, 16 KOs); Braehmer (48-3, 35 KOs)Rafaels remarks: Braehmer, a 37-year-old southpaw from Germany, was making the seventh defense of his secondary world title against former titleholder Cleverly, 29, of Wales -- Sergey Kovalev has the top title and already owns a knockout of Cleverly -- but Cleverly pulled the mild upset in the most unexpected fashion.Cleverly applied pressure and outworked Braehmer, but Braehmer was more accurate with his punches. According to CompuBox punch statistics, Cleverly landed 194 of 711 punches (27 percent) and Braehmer connected with 200 of 422 blows (47 percent).Before the bell rang to begin the seventh round Braehmer quit, walking across the ring to congratulate Cleverly. Braehmer apparently had a right elbow injury, which he iced after the fight, although he did not appear to be in any distress.Cleverly got a big win in a good fight, claimed another title belt and likely will face Braehmer again since he has a rematch clause.Saturday at Los Mochis, MexicoHumberto Soto TKO2 Daniel Ruiz Welterweight Records: Soto (66-9-2, 36 KOs); Ruiz (34-10-2, 24 KOs)Rafaels remarks: Soto, 36, of Mexico, a former junior lightweight and lightweight world titleholder, ended one year of inactivity virtually to the day in this quick fight against countryman Ruiz, who lost his second fight in a row by stoppage.Soto, coming off a 10-round decision loss to junior welterweight contender Antonio Orozco on HBO last Oct. 3, did not prove much against Ruiz given the circumstances of the ending of the fight. Ruiz injured his left wrist that prevented him from continuing, ending the fight at 2 minutes, 8 seconds of the second round in their scheduled 10-round bout. Sotos goal now is to fight one more time before the end of this year and then land a world title opportunity at junior welterweight in 2017.Friday at Indio, CaliforniaPetr Petrov TKO6 Michael Perez Lightweight - Title eliminator Records: Petrov (38-4-2, 19 KOs); Perez (24-2-2, 11 KOs)Rafaels remarks: Petrov, 33, a Russian-born fighter based in Spain, and Perez, 26, of Newark, New Jersey, met in the main event of Golden Boy Promotions Boxeo Estelar series on Estrella TV for the right to become the mandatory challenger for newly-crowned world champion Jorge Linares, who outpointed Anthonyy Crolla last week.dddddddddddd.Petrov, who won the 2014 ESPN Boxcino lightweight tournament, scored his sixth in a row as he pounded Perez, whose 10-fight unbeaten streak (9-0-1) since 2012 came to an end.Petrov wobbled him in the second round with a right hand and then dropped him with another right hand moments later. Perez beat the count but was bleeding over his right eye as Petrov inflicted more damage during the round. Accidental head butts in the fourth and fifth rounds opened cuts on Perezs scalp and by the end of the sixth round he had taken a lot of punishment and his trainer, Robert Garcia, stopped the fight in the corner. Although Petrov earned the mandatory title shot at Linares (41-3, 27 KOs) it will not be Linares next fight because he is likely headed to an immediate rematch with Crolla in early 2017.Friday at Wunzhou, ChinaNehomar Cerme?o KO3 Anurak Thisa Retains a junior featherweight title Records: Cerme?o (25-5-1, 15 KOs); Thisa (17-1, 5 KOs)Rafaels remarks: On June 30, Cerme?o, 36, of Venezuela, stopped Chinas Xiao Jun Qiu in the 12th round in Beijing to win a vacant regular 122-pound title; Guillermo Rigondeaux owns the top belt. Cerme?o returned to China to make his first defense against the unknown Thisa, 25, of Thailand, who was fighting outside of his country for the first time and facing the first remotely known opponent of his three-year pro career. It was not much of a fight as Cerme?o destroyed the inexperienced Thisa. He gave a good effort and tried to mix it up with Cerme?o, but he was too strong for the challenger. In the third round, Cerme?o dropped him with a flush left to the chin and referee Bruce McTavish counted him out at 2 minutes, 19 seconds as Thisa struggled to get to his feet.Friday at ChicagoMike Lee W10 Chris Traietti Light heavyweight Scores: 99-90 (twice), 98-91 Records: Lee (18-0, 10 KOs); Traietti (21-4, 17 KOs)Rafaels remarks: Lee, 29, the Notre Dame graduate from Chicago, who is best known for his appearances in a series of Subway restaurant commercials, headlined a CBS Sports Net-televised card in front of his hometown fans and rolled to the lopsided decision in a rough, tough fight against Traietti, 31, of Quincy, Massachusetts, who gave a great effort but was outgunned by the stronger, quicker Lee.It was a crowd-pleasing fight in which Lees biggest moment came in the second round when he banged Traietti to the head with a right hand that forced him to touch his knee to the mat for the only knockdown of the bout. Mostly, they traded at close quarters but it was Lee who busted up Traiettis face -- he suffered a possible broken nose in the fifth round -- and got the better of the exchanges.Also on the card, Chicago welterweight prospect Ed Bad Boy Brown (19-0, 16 KOs), 24, knocked out Robert Acevedo (13-17-3, 1 KO), 30, of Union City, New Jersey, with a right hand to the head at 1 minute, 43 seconds of the third round.Friday at Las VegasErik Ruiz W10 Hanzel Martinez Junior featherweight Scores: 98-92, 97-93, 95-95 Records: Ruiz (16-5-1, 6 KOs); Martinez (23-3, 18 KOs)Rafaels remarks: Ruiz, 25, of Oxnard, California, took this fight -- the main event of Knockout Night at D card on CBS Sports Net -- on short notice when Martinezs original opponent Emmanuel Quartey could not secure a visa in time. But Ruiz, now 1-1-1 in his past three fights, was up to the task against Martinez, 24, of Mexico, the brother-in-law of former welterweight titleholder Antonio Margarito. The craftier Ruiz did a nice job of outboxing Martinez and displaying solid defense. Martinezs game plan seemed to be simply to lunge at Ruiz and try to land a big punch but usually when Martinez did that Ruiz countered him and moved out of the way. Martinezs three-fight winning streak came to an end.Friday at Mexico CityEmmanuel Dominguez KO4 Alejandro Payasito Hernandez Junior featherweight Records: Dominguez (19-5-2, 13 KOs); Hernandez (31-12-2, 16 KOs)Rafaels remarks: This was an unexpected result in the main event of promoter Tutico Zabalas Boxeo Telemundo card on Telemundo as Dominguez, 22, scored the upset over Mexican countryman Hernandez, 30, to win the Mexican national 122-pound title. Hernandez may not have a great looking record but the former interim bantamweight titleholder is vastly more experienced against better opposition than Dominguez. However, Dominguez scored the one-punch knockout, drilling Hernandez with a brutal left hook to the liver in the fourth round, dropping him to all fours for the full count at 1 minute, 20 seconds for the biggest win of his career. ' ' '