n camp in Calgary that concludes Wednesday. "Its pretty surr

Here in the Spodek arena in Poland, tens of thousands of people are watching two teams of five men compete in the final of a new kind of sport. Around the world millions upon millions of people are watching just as keenly at home. The atmosphere at the Spodek is electric – palpable, in fact. The crowd is chanting “TSM” to support Team SoloMid so loudly that the arena sounds like booming thunder. The stakes are high, the top prize consists of $108,414 and the accolade of being a world champions.But there are no boots, no balls, no bats. All of the people competing are sitting in front of state-of-the-art computers. Around the arena giant screens display the digital action taking place. This is eSports – professional, competitive, computer gaming – a digital sport for a digital age. There has been much debate as to the legitimacy of calling eSports a sport, but regardless of opinion the spectacle taking place is as vital and exciting as any other major, large-scale sporting event. Michal Blicharz, the organiser behind Intel Extreme Masters Championship told Sky Sports: “Is eSports a sport? Well, I have a black belt in judo, I was a referee for 12 years. I competed, I coached and to me eSports is sport. “People typically think that if you don’t get punched in the face or if you don’t sweat then that’s not really a sport. But you can go out and throw a ball against a wall for an hour, is that sport? No! You need some structure, you need some rules to it, and you require a certain eco-system around it. “All of it is here with eSports. If the International Olympic Committee recognises chess as a sport, you cant convince me that a game like Starcraft is not a sport.“I don’t see anybody getting punched in the face or sweating with pigeon racing and that was an Olympic sport. But either way, it doesn’t change the nature of the beast.” You need some structure, you need some rules to it, and you require a certain eco-system around it. All of it is here with eSports. Michal Blicharz CommitmentSo how do you prepare to compete in an eSports tournament? All the competitors in Poland agree that simply being a gamer isn’t enough, and if you were to observe them close up, you’d understand the truth behind this. At first you’d be forgiven in thinking that their hands hardly move across mouse and keyboard but, upon closer inspection, you suddenly notice that the speed of their movements is so rapid that it hardly registers to human eyes. Twitch motions, twitch gaming. To develop these skills requires relentless training and dedication. During a respite before facing Chinese favourites Team WE in the League of Legend finals, Team SoloMid shed some light as to the level of commitment required.Jason ‘WildTurtle’ Tran said: “We practice every day for 10 to 12 hours. We wake up, eat and start practising.”Marcus “Dyrus” Hill insisted eSports doesn’t advocate an unhealthy lifestyle: “I like to stay healthy, Lucas ‘Santorin’ Larsen and I hit the gym every other day.”SoloMid’s regime is understandable when you consider that some eSports competitors can make an estimated $20,000 to $40,000 a month simply by streaming their gameplay online. That figure excludes sponsorship revenue and tournament winnings. But competing in eSports isn’t simply about money, fame and accolade. The games that drive eSports are the backbone of this sociable community and the best way to understand them is simply to play them. Right now at the Spodek arena, Team SoloMid are two games up against Team WE. Deep into their third and potentially final game, SoloMid are dominating. The crowd is frantic, their roar deafening. In a quick sudden flash of excitement SoloMid secure their third game and become the world champions at IEM, their first ever victory at an international event. Søren Bjerg revels in Team SoloMids win Ernie Stautner Womens Jersey . They showered him with "MVP! MVP!" chants. In many ways, it seemed like hed never been gone. Alejandro Villanueva Womens Jersey . Golden States second straight road win wasnt painless. David Lee scored a season-high 29 points -- 13 in the fourth quarter -- and Nate Robinson added 17 points, leading the Warriors to a 105-95 win Tuesday night over the road-worn Cleveland Cavaliers. http://www.steelerspronfl.com/Youth-Joe-...m-Elite-Jersey/. In an interview with La Presse this week, the five-time Stanley Cup champion and three-time NHL scoring leader specifically took aim at wingers Thomas Vanek and Max Pacioretty, saying they cant show up in a 7-4 win over the New York Rangers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final and come up empty in Game 6. Justin Layne Jersey . 1 player in the world. So Duval gutted it out Thursday at the Byron Nelson Championship despite the pain from a muscle issue in his right elbow, a day after his stepson had to drive him because he couldnt even use that arm. Rocky Bleier Jersey .com) - The Columbus Blue Jackets rewarded starting goaltender and pending restricted free agent Sergei Bobrovsky with a four-year contract extension on Friday.CALGARY -- One Staal brother is a good bet to be on Canadas Olympic mens hockey team next February. Two others are in the running. Eric, Marc and Jordan Staal from Thunder Bay, Ont., were among the 47 players invited to the Olympic orientation camp in Calgary that concludes Wednesday. "Its pretty surreal that youre looking out with this group of players and two of them are your brothers," Marc observed. The siblings wore the first initial of their first names along with the Staal surname on the back of their camp T-shirts. The prospect of the same on Canadian jerseys at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, is a tantalizing thought for them. "I think it would be pretty special not only for our family, but our hometown of Thunder Bay in general," Eric said. "For all three of us to have the opportunity, its pretty cool and something were all striving to do." Eric won mens hockey gold at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. Barring any setbacks from a knee injury suffered at the world championship in May, that experience should give the 28-year-old Carolina Hurricanes captain leverage to wear the Maple Leaf again. Marc is a 26-year-old New York Rangers defenceman. Jordan, 24, is Erics teammate with the Hurricanes. A fourth Staal brother, Jared, is Hurricanes property and played on a line with Eric and Jordan in a game last season. The 23-year-old forward has yet to become a full-time NHL player. Jordan likes his oldest brothers chances of becoming an Olympian again, but handicapping a Staal trio in Sochi is difficult. "I dont know if Id throw a percentage on there, but I think theres one of us who is looking pretty solid," Jordan observed. "I think the other two are going to have to do some work and just have a great start to the season." The fact the three brothers were invited to orientation camp works in their favour for Olympic inclusion, according to Eric. "Weve obviously had a chance to be here at this camp and see the way were going to play and how the team is expected to perform," he said. "I think a lot has to do with how the next couple of months go and where were at individually here in December. &"Each one of us has done a lot in our careers so far to give us a chance to be there and well see what happens.dddddddddddd" Six-foot-four forwards Eric and Jordan have the skating and puck skills to excel on the big ice. They were Canadian teammates who won gold at the 2007 mens world championships and represented Canada again this year in Stockholm. Jordans penalty-killing prowess and a scoring touch that makes him a short-handed scoring threat should garner consideration for the Olympic squad. Marc, also six foot four, is a shut-down defenceman with a long reach. He won a pair of gold medals at the world junior hockey championships of 2006 and 2007. But of the three brothers, his chances of participating in the Winter Olympics are murkier. He suffered a small tear in his right eye when the puck struck him in the face March 5. Marc missed 27 regular season games and 11 playoff games. The eye wont be 100 per cent, Marc has said, but he doesnt believe it will hinder his return to form. "It was more of just adapting to the depth perception and things like that when I was coming back,"