Kritik und Lob » Toppers second win over a Division-I school this season.

We are down to four clubs at the 2016 League of Legends World Championships. Four distinct, separate dreams, but all wanting to end up at the same place: hoisting the Summoners Cup in front of a sold out Staples Center crowd as the best team on the planet.Reigning and defending world champion: SK Telecom T1.Last years Worlds runner-up and current South Korean domestic champion: ROX Tigers.The 2014 world championship organization that fell to nothingness in 2015 before returning to power in 2016: Samsung Galaxy.And the last Western hope, a team of individually talented misfits whove come together at the perfect time to contend for the ultimate prize: H2k.A quarter of the original 16 teams remain, and there are four possible finals were left musing over until the semifinals kickoff next Friday night, incidentally a rematch of last years Summoners Cup Finals between SKT T1 and ROX Tigers. Narratives abound for each final, so which final, at least for me, the guy who will have to write extensively about it, has the most potential in terms of drama and intrigue?You only need three words to know which possible final tops the list: Faker versus Ryu.1. SK Telecom T1 vs. H2kIt has been a little over three years since League of Legends most iconic play in the 2013 South Korean domestic summer finals between SK Telecom T1 and the KT Rolster Bullets. Back when fifth game blind-pick matches were still a thing, the two best mid laners in the world at the time, SKTs Lee Faker Sang-hyeok and KTs Ryu Ryu Sang-wook, battled in a Zed mirror matchup. Although the game was far in the favor of SKT T1 by the time the play actually happened, Fakers duel with Ryu has become a hallowed moment for both players in their careers since.Faker: the devilish genius, assured in his victory and becoming a champion for the first time off his technical outplay on the flashy Zed.Ryu: stone-faced in his booth, looking like the entire world had collapsed around him after losing the one-on-one with the upstart mid laner who was in only his second domestic season as a professional.A final between SKT T1 and H2k would have -- cue up the Konstantinos-Napoleon Forg1ven Tzortziou soundbyte -- by far the most interesting storylines heading into it. You would get to see Ryu -- who has been playing fantastically this tournament, by the way -- get his one shot to redeem himself entirely for three years ago. A Summoners Cup win on the grandest stage of all, beating Faker in the final, and cleansing the demons of the past would be the storybook ending for the player that left his homeland of South Korea two years ago to begin an odyssey in Europe that eventually ended with him on H2k Gaming.For Faker, this would be his chance to bookend his career. He won his first major championship against Ryu in a gigantic final; winning his third world championship, which would put him galaxies ahead of any other player to ever play the game, against the same mid laner would be poetic in almost the cruelest of ways to Ryu.Aside from the mid-lane showdown, youd also have a contest between two players who believe wholeheartedly they are the best AD carries in the world: H2ks Forg1ven and SKTs Bae Bang Jun-sik. Both marksmen have been playing out of this world this tournament, and a meeting between the two would produce fireworks in the laning phase.On top of that, you get a Korean vs. non-Korean final. While that doesnt always push the viewers preference above a Korean vs. Korean final, and well get into that soon enough, the international feel of the final (even if six of 10 starters would be Korean) is an easy storyline that will catch the eye of a casual viewer. H2k would champion its role as the last remaining non-South Korean survivor in a tournament that has three South Korean giants left, and it has battled its way to the final stage.Also Neil PR0LLY Hammad would be coaching for H2k, so North American fans could pretend theyre also in the final, too. Everyone wins.2. Samsung Galaxy vs. SK Telecom T1The final of all finals. The 2014 world champion organization against the winner of the 2013 and 2015 titles. It would be the Clash of Champions, a final that would either put Samsung right up there with SKT T1 as the best organization in League history, or a final that would cement SKTs place as the king of kings in the world of esports today.Samsung has not reached a final since the Worlds in 2014 where Samsung White faced Chinas StarHorn Royal Club. There, SSW proved to be the best team in the world by a mile, and the team celebrated as alternative rock band Imagine Dragons serenaded them with a post-finals concert that seemed to go longer than the final itself. After the ecstasy of victory came the harshness of reality, and Samsung lost all of its players to China due to not being able to match salaries with the richer Chinese organizations. The rebuild began, and it was a long one, Samsung not crawling out of the basement of South Koreas domestic league until 2016 and not making the postseason until this most recent summer split.Clash of Champions would be the story of two Korean giants that took differing paths to the top. SKT has been able to hang on to its crown jewel of Faker, and it has consistently shifted with roster movements to keep the team ahead of the pack. Instead of rebuilding, SKT is always in a state of revamping thanks to the organizations keen eye for amateur talent and rising prospects. If SKT T1 were to make the final, Faker would most likely be the only starter from the previous two world championship victories.As for Samsung, it lost all of its stars and had to go for a hard rebuild. It went through the mess of finding prospects that could become legitimate talent, and it started 2016 with an awkward roster captained by newly signed jungler Kang Ambition Chan-yong. The acquisition didnt look like much at the time, Ambition coming off a disappointing final season on longtime club CJ Entus, but it would turn out to be the perfect decision at the right time. Ambitions veteran presence helped mold the younger players under him on the Samsung Galaxy roster, and the former best mid laner in the world is currently looking like one of the best junglers, as well.Ambition will also be looking for revenge against Faker if Samsung makes the final. Fakers debut was highlighted by him solo killing Ambition on Nidalee; it was a passing of the torch of sorts between the two. Ambition at the time was the best mid laner in the world, and here was Faker, coming from the amateur scene to kill him in his opening game in the laning phase without any help.Three years later, Faker is the best mid laner in the world and the games greatest, and Ambition has had to, like Samsung itself, rebuild himself into a new role and position. If Faker represents the glory of SKT T1 as a whole, then Ambition, this current iteration of Ambition, is the personification of the new Samsung Galaxy.Rebuilt, redesigned, and ready.3. H2k vs. ROX TigersWith this series, you get the same West vs. East storyline from SKT T1 vs. H2k. Plus, wed get to see the intriguing top lane matchup of the worlds best top laner Song Smeb Kyung-ho versus H2ks Andrei Odoamne Pascu. Odoamne has been one of the breakout stars of the tournament, quietly putting together a stellar group stage before bursting out in the quarterfinals on Jayce in three straight dominating victories vs. CIS Albus Nox Luna.For ROX, the only of the three Korean teams we havent talked about yet, getting over the hump of SKT T1, in a weird way, is almost a bigger challenge than the Summoners Cup Final itself. The entire history of the Tigers has been intertwined with SKT T1. Every time the Tigers made headway to becoming the worlds top team, SKT T1 would be there to defeat them. SKT T1 has beaten them twice in domestic finals and once in a Summoners Cup Final. ROX ultimately won its first domestic title this most recent summer split, but was against KT Rolster in the final, who had defeated T1 in the semifinals.While its presumptuous to say if ROX can defeat SKT itll beat either team it meets in the final, thats almost how it feels. ROX has proven itself to be the second-best team in the world since the beginning of 2015, and against SKT T1, at Madison Square Garden in the semifinals, it will find possibly its final chance to surpass it.4. ROX Tigers vs. Samsung GalaxyAn all-Korean final without Faker. How will Riot attempt to build the story for this one? While this final might be the closest and most evenly matched of the four possible, its also the one with the least amount of intrigue in terms of storylines.ROX and Samsung have never really been rivals in the domestic scene. When Samsung was at its peak in 2013 and 2014, ROX wasnt an organization. When ROX entered the scene and started beating people up, Samsung was no longer a contender and merely just cannon fodder for the Tigers to chew upon. You can point out earlier in the year during the spring split where the Tigers had an 11 match winning streak going until Samsung surprised them to end the perfect season, but that wasnt seen as a heavyweight clash at the time; it was more, Wow, did Samsung Galaxy really just do that against one of the best teams in the world?Lee CuVee Seong-jin vs. Smeb would be a blast to watch, and Han Peanut Wang-hos wild adolescence batting heads with Ambitions grizzled farm-heavy style would be a fun meeting of opposites. For overarching narratives, though, itll be difficult to build outside of the South Korean fans; however, does it really matter as long as the two teams put on a good show? We desperately need a Summoners Cup Final that isnt lukewarm.Maybe Riot could get Faker to commentate on the analyst desk?Nathan Eovaldi Red Sox Jersey . -- Jaye Marie Green shot a 4-under 68 on Thursday to increase her lead to five strokes after the second round of the LPGA Tours qualifying tournament. Marco Hernandez Red Sox Jersey . Goals from Jerome Boateng, Franck Ribery and Thomas Mueller extended Bayerns unbeaten run to a record 37 matches. "This record is incredible," Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said. https://www.cheapredsox.com/ .J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left knee. Rich Gedman Jersey . 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. Rod Beck Jersey . The quest begins with what is supposed to be an easy one, although Germany has traditionally been a stubborn opponent to Canadian teams at international tournaments.JACKSON, Miss. -- Jay Howard scored 12 points off the bench, Chris English scored 10 and NAIA Blue Mountain College surprised Jackson State 57-49 on Thursday night, the Toppers second win over a Division-I school this season.The Toppers (6-2), who beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 77-74 in triple overtime last month, stretched a 23-20 halftime lead to 11 on an English layup less than five minutes into the second half and had an answer for every challenge by the Tigers (3-7).English made a pair of free throws with 50 seconds left to make it 52-443 and two more after a 3-pointer by Paris Collins.dddddddddddd. Three more free throws after Jackson State misses sealed it.The Toppers shot 53 percent and made 13 of 15 free throws in the second half and 10 of 11 players scored, giving them a 26-0 advantage in bench points.Jackson State shot just 30.5 percent, going 4 of 31 from 3-point range and made just 9 of 15 free throws. Edric Denis scored 15 points. ' ' '