Professional FIFA player Mike LaBelle says a lot goes into preparing for an esports tournament.
“For this next month, I’ll be playing every single day, where I’m creating content on Twitch, which you can find YouTube,” he told Cheddar in an interview. “The week before, I’ll look to play a lot more offline, because it is an offline event.”
And there’s a physical aspect to his training as well.
“At least for me mentally...if I got good rest, I feel like I’m going to be on top of my game,” he said. “I try not to eat poorly before an event. I wouldn’t recommend fast food.”
LaBelle recently signed on to New York Red Bulls as its first official esports athlete and will represent the club at the EA Sports FIFA 18 gaming league, competing in April’s eMLS Cup and in FIFA tournaments around the world.
LaBelle boasts more than 285,000 followers on YouTube and over 70,000 on Twitch, where he offers FIFA tutorials.
He says there are nuances to the sport that may escape casual gamers and fans.
“I think people who aren’t necessarily involved in gaming don’t understand that there’s a big difference between playing in-person versus playing online. So it’s important to get that kind of practice and repetition and see if there’s anything different so you make good habits.”
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/mls-kicks-it-with-esports).
The company's recent growth on the back of a newly invigorated gaming segment is only the beginning, according to president and CEO Bracken Darrell. He said in an interview on Cheddar that esports could become "the biggest sport in the world," and Logitech will be there as its top hardware provider.
If you had any lingering doubts that eSports had gone mainstream, they would have been erased when the North American League of Legends Summer Split took over the Oracle Arena ー home to the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors. Cheddar was there for the last stop before the World Championships in South Korea next month.
Bettis, known as "The Bus" when he was an unstoppable running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, voiced support for the NFL player protests but also said he thought the league was "doing the right thing" in a tense situation.
Serena Williams's altercation with a chair umpire during the U.S. Open final was just the latest example of women being treated differently than their male counterparts in the sport. But whether things change by the Australian Open in January, said the Washington Post's Cindy Boren, is hard to say.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
Randal Hill, a former NFL wide receiver, is optimistic even in the face of the protest controversy that has divided America. He told Cheddar Big News that one of the best things about sports leagues is how they can heal national wounds.
Rich Tamayo, the director of guest experience for the Baltimore Ravens, said that the changes being made for Ravens fans will "change the game in the way our fans experience the stadium." The Ravens start their season against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
Social live-streaming is today where social media was in the mid-2000s. At least that's what 21st Century Fox is betting. The CEO of Caffeine, which just took a $100 million investment from the media giant, is looking toward the future of the industry.
Todd Martin, the CEO of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, said he sees a possibility for an upset in the men's semifinal, but Serena Williams has it all but wrapped up on the women's side.
Nate Boyer, a former NFL player and Green Beret, is the man behind Colin Kaepernick's protests in 2016 when he suggested that the quarterback kneel instead of sit during the National Anthem as a sign of a respect. Two years later, Boyer believes people are missing the point of his protest and not listening to both sides of the issue.
