How eMLS Star Mike LaBelle Prepares for an eSports Tournament
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).
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was suspended indefinitely by the NBA on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after he hit Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face and received a Flagrant 2 foul and ejection.
Shohei Ohtani's jaw-dropping deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers has some similarities to other contracts for the world's biggest sports stars, including soccer icons Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, along with NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes. But in terms of his marketability, experts point to another name. The real comparison? Try Taylor Swift.
The police department in the remote north woods Minnesota town of Ely faces the same challenges of recruiting and keeping new officers as countless other law enforcement agencies across the country. So it's offering a unique incentive: canoes.
President Joe Biden told a gathering of Native American nations that he would support the bid by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, which invented lacrosse, to compete in the sport under its own flag in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
NCAA President Charlie Baker announced Tuesday that he wants the organization to create a new tier of Division I athletics where schools with the most resources can offer unlimited educational benefits, enter into name, image and likeness partnerships with athletes and directly pay them through a trust fund.
A men’s World Cup super-G was called off Sunday due to strong wind as weather led to the cancellation of all three ski races over the weekend in Beaver Creek, Colorado.
