The idea of a Smash major in Boston seemed like a pipe dream for the longest time. Venue costs are extraordinarily high and overall attendance seemed too low for a new major to start up in the area. However, Shi Deng, the president of Big Blue Esports, saw an opportunity after attending Genesis 3 in San Jose, California, earlier this year.After G3, it got me thinking, instead of saying its not possible, why not run the numbers? I had to come to terms with possibly going $20-30k under, but I said screw it, lets do it, said Deng.The result is the upcoming Smash event Shine 2016 on Aug. 26-28 in Boston, which has more than 1,500 players signed up for its Smash 64, Melee, and Wii U singles tournaments.New England, the underdogOther powerhouse regions have seen a plethora of large majors, but New England has not been so lucky, as it has been limited only to midsized regionals attracting a couple hundred players. Furthermore, several of New Englands top players such as Daniel KoreanDJ Jung and Dustin Darc Hayes have taken breaks away from the game. With a lack of majors and top players, many dismissed New Englands ambition to be a prominent Smash region.Yet, a few people saw potential in the region because of the dozens of colleges densely concentrated in the area. Matthew Zaborowski started The Melee Games, a bi-annual Melee event which gathers several local colleges together to compete. Tournaments run almost every day in college campuses, bars and even churches. While the region doesnt claim household names such as Joseph Mango Marquez or Juan Hungrybox DeBiedma as its own, the New England region has seen several breakout stars hone their craft at these local events.One of these up-and-coming hometown heroes is Jason Numbers Gauthier, who surprised everyone with his incredible ninth-place finish at Pound 2016, where he defeated McCain MacD LaVelle, Michael MikeHaze Pulido, and Hendrick DJ Nintendo Pilar. While in general Melee players were surprised to see such a performance from a random, the New England players knew perfectly well that he was capable of making such a run. Meanwhile, more experienced New England players such as James Mafia Lauerman continue to make waves at tournaments. Most recently, Mafia finished ninth at Super Smash Con 2016, where he defeated Jeffrey Axe Williamson in what was considered one of the biggest upsets of the entire event.Who will shine in Boston?Whereas regions such as Southern California can be seen as the Golden State Warriors of Melee, the New England region sees itself as more of the Minnesota Timberwolves, a group brimming with potential. Shine 2016 will be the opportunity for the region to showcase rising talent that would never have this level of exposure due to the cost of travel.The New England scene will have stiff competition, however. Shine 2016 will be incredibly stacked, with a majority of the Melee top 25 in attendance. Hungrybox, Mango, and Jason Mew2King Zimmerman will headline the star-studded lineup; Mango currently has the last major victory at Super Smash Con 2016 where he defeated Hungrybox in two clean sets.Returning from brief hiatuses, Justin Plup McGrath, James Duck Ma, and James Swedish Delight Liu will also attend Shine 2016 along with a slew of other strong players. With several players in negotiations with esports teams for new contracts, Shine 2016 will be pivotal in adding bargaining chips to impact their new salaries.While the gods top the charts of majors, everyone else has had their ups and downs in 2016. Who can stay consistent and make a strong push in their campaigns for the end-of-the-year rankings? Will Mango repeat as champion or will he fall to Hungrybox or to another god-slayer? As New England players finally get an opportunity to show their skills, will they make pivotal upsets in pools? With nearly 1,000 entrants for Melee alone, Shine 2016 definitely will not disappoint. Emmanuel Moseley Jersey . -- Ryan Getzlaf grabbed the three pucks wrapped in tape and held them up to his chest in the Anaheim Ducks dressing room for a celebration nine seasons in the making. Fred Dean Jersey . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position. http://www.custom49ersjersey.com/custom-kyle-juszczyk-jersey-large-2188d.html . LUCIE, Fla. Billy Wilson Jersey .7 million, one-year contract, a raise of $2.2 million. Wieters had asked for $8.75 million and the Orioles had offered $6. Frankie Albert Jersey . James, who turned 29 on Monday, injured his groin Friday during the Heats overtime loss at Sacramento. He sat out the following game, a 108-107 win Saturday in Portland, before coming back to help send the Nuggets to their seventh consecutive loss. All in all, Furniture Row Racing had a solid weekend at Watkins Glen. The team announced a two-year extension for driver Martin Truex Jr. and the addition of a second car in 2017 for Erik Jones.About the only time things didnt go right came on the racetrack. After leading opening practice Friday and posting the second-fastest lap in final practice later that afternoon, Truex appeared to be one of the race favorites.But things started going south in qualifying Saturday. Truexs qualifying lap was messed up when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. accidentally blocked him, and Truex failed to advance to the final round of qualifying. Stenhouse indicated it was an honest mistake -- he thought Truex was on his cool-down lap.All probably would have been forgotten if the last lap of the Cheez-It 355 didnt end up the way it did. Truex was challenging Denny Hamlin for the win when his trophy hopes were abruptly spun out in the final turn by Brad Keselowski.Truex had to settle for a seventh-place finish and a damaged car, a car that even had more damage after he gave Keselowski a few not-so-love taps on the cool-down laps.He said it was his fault, Truex said after a brief conversation with Keselowski. I said I knew that. Its as simple as that.To be honest, Truex doesnt know whether he would have been able to beat Hamlin in a drag race to the finish line. He just wishes he would have had the chance.Brad was making big moves and screwing up about every restart there towards the end, driving over his head trying to make something happen, Truex said. We were kind of a victim of that.Truex knows the only thing he lost was a chance at possibly three bonus points for the first round of the Chase with the win. But a victory also would have capped off the weekend perfectly.After an awful first year at Furniture Row in 2014, Truex has had two incredible seasons driving the No. 78 car. He not only has one win each year and advanced to the championship round in 2015, he has led more laps and miles than any other driver in the series this year.The move to Toyota for 2016 sparked enough support that the team, as long as it could land enough sponsorship, wanted to start a second car. With Bass Pro Shops committed to 16 races for Truex next year and 5-Hour Energy committed to 22 races for Jones, that leaves Furniture Row to fill in the remaining 36-38 events with some of its other sponsors.It also can put Furniture Row or Toyota (a big player in the deal) on the hood for select events, meaning team owner Barney Visser should not be ppouring in as much money as when it was a one-car organization just sponsored by Vissers Furniture Row company.ddddddddddddSo the future looks bright, and the 2016 Watkins Glen weekend will always be looked at as a potential turning point. Even if looking back on Sunday will be frustrating.It wont matter that Keselowski took the blame.I thought the 78 [of Truex] was going to get in behind and kind of rough up the 11 [of Hamlin], Keselowski said. I wanted to be outside and make a crossover [move] to see if I couldnt get both. At the last minute he came back up and I was already committed.I didnt think hed come back up. You make a commitment before you know exactly whats going to happen. I made a commitment and it just didnt work out. He got the bad end of it.Whats Truexs plan?I dont run over people all the time, Truex said. I dont pull out in front of people in qualifying. Race me like I race you is all that I ask.Xfinity Series: Dont worry, be happyJoey Logano won for the second consecutive year at Watkins Glen in a race pretty much dominated by Sprint Cup drivers.Several series regulars had bad days. But even those who struggled know that with the new elimination Chase system being used in the Xfinity Series, they dont have to wig out over every bad finish.Darrell Wallace Jr. finished 29th but remained ninth in the standings. With a 77-point edge on 13th-place driver Ross Chastain, Roush Fenway Racings Wallace driving his Ford is virtually assured a spot in the 12-driver Xfinity championship when the field is set after six more races.[The goal is] just to get on a consistent roll from here to Homestead, Wallace said prior to the Watkins Glen race. If we start knocking away top-10s and getting into the top five by the time the Chase rolls around [we can contend].A win is at the top of our list, but we definitely have to do some cleaning up -- show up at the track more prepared, more close to where we need to be, and well be OK.Wallace said he can look forward to the postseason -- sort of. While Loganos win was the first for the Ford stable this year, Wallace knows that the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota cars are going to be tough to beat.Theres something to look forward to, Wallace said. At the end of the day, theres really not [in some ways] because when you go to the racetrack now youre fighting for fourth behind the JGR cars.-- John Oreovicz contributed to this story. ' ' '