an 18-point advantage and looked like they would coast to an easy win. Lot of really good things at both ends of the floor in the first 30 minutes, Krueger said. Lo

With its shiny $20.7 million prize pool, this weekends Dota 2 The International 6 was the largest professional esports events ever. Glory was on the line for the winning team, as well as $9.1 million and a legacy as one of the best Dota teams of all time. But the upside may have its downside, as many of the competitors have been outspoken about the immense pressure such a large prize pool focuses on players.Earlier in the week, ESPN spoke with Evil Geniuses Saahil UNiVeRsE Arora, who said that the prize pool difference between The International and the three Dota 2 Majors -- Frankfurt, Shanghai, and Manila -- has a telling impact on the competitive field (prize pools for the Majors were $3 million each). According to UNiVeRsE, teams change much more before TI than during the rest of the year, which negatively affects the stability of the scene.Speaking with Fnatics Adam 343 Erwann Shah, he echoed UNiVeRsEs sentiment:I do agree with [UNiVeRsE on] the prize pool; theres so much pressure on the teams, and you try not to think about it, but youre really just playing with that burden on your shoulders, he said during TI6. Its really bad for everyone.The pressure hurts some more than others. We asked if it gets to him and the Fnatic squad, but he reassures us that it doesnt affect them.For us, Fnatic, I dont think we really get affected by it anymore, he says. We dont really care if we lose. If we lose, we lose. I think thats the best mindset to have going into it; its what relieves you of all the pressure. Theres no pressure that exists anymore; play to win, and if you dont win, whatever.On the plus side, he says that TI-sized prize pools do facilitate interest in the game. While statistics for The International 6s viewer and engagement numbers have yet to be released, the grand finals for The International 5 attracted several million concurrent viewers.Competition-wise, by having such a big prize pool, no matter what youll attract media, attention, [and] players. People will always want to come and be a part of something like this and participate in such a tournament, he explains. More viewership will come with the prize pool growth. Its kind of a cycle. I think Dota 2 will last quite long.Although the team exited the tournament earlier than it would have liked, taking fourth place, the squad conquered some giants that stood in its way. On Thursday, the team took down Team Liquid, who had stood victorious over them at both the Manila Major and ESL One Frankfurt in the past few months. Then, on Friday, the team defeated MVP Phoenix, who earlier on in the tournament looked like a dominant force and often faces Fnatic in their qualifiers in Southeast Asia.Beating Liquid, who have been a bane to Fnatics success, came after 343 says his team decided to just YOLO it. He says the squad didnt overthink the series too much and picked heroes they felt confident and comfortable with and felt would play best versus Team Liquid.But as 18,000 gathered to watch The International in Seattle, a similar -- albeit larger -- event was taking place in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Just as the Olympics are a celebration of international diversity in sporting events, teams and players from the United States, Germany, Ukraine, China, Korea, Malaysia, and more gathered to represent their country at The International. Fnatic, a mainly Malaysian team, represented their country proudly.It means a lot [to represent Southeast Asia], especially since a lot of the fans back home are rooting for us; the support is immense, 343 says. Everyone in Southeast Asia is behind us and behind MVP Phoenix and while it feels good, its a lot of pressure to be a representative for something. Were just playing, trying to win and trying to do our best. What happens, happens.When asked to compare The International to the Olympics, 343s message was clear-cut and simple:I guess Id say [its like the Olympics], but if I was playing for a gold medal or for $9 million, Id probably have more pressure playing for the $9 million. Custom Jaguars T-shirts . 10 Texas Rangers jersey for one last time. Young formally announced his retirement Friday after returning to Rangers Ballpark, his baseball home for all but the last of his 13 major league seasons. Cheap Custom Jaguars Jersey . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. http://www.customjaguarsjersey.com/custom-josh-allen-jersey-large-75y.html .J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left knee. Wholesale Custom Jaguars Shirts . Belfort (24-10) needed just 77 seconds to down Henderson in the headlining bout of Saturdays "UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson" event at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. The fight served as a rematch of the pairs 2006 meeting, which Henderson won by decision. Custom Jaguars Jerseys .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend. LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Klint Carlson scored 22 points and ignited a second-half rally that carried Northern Iowa to a 73-67 overtime win over Oklahoma on Friday night in the winners bracket of the Tire Pros Invitational.Jeremy Morgan scored 17 points, had seven steals and four blocks and Jordan Ashton had 13 for the Panthers (3-0), who rallied from an 18-point second half deficit to win.Jordan Woodard and Kristian Doolittle had 13 points apiece for Oklahoma (2-1), which had only one field goal in the final 11 minutes of regulation. Khadeem Lattin and Rashard Odomes contributed 11 points each.We accomplished a lot tonight with the way the guys stuck with it, Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson said. Everything had to go our way for us to have a chance. It was fun to see the guys get rewarded for making a couple of shots and making a game out of it Carlson, who had 18 points in the last six minutes of regulation and overtime, nailed a 3-pointer from straight on to break a 64-all tie with 42.9 seconds left in overtime.I guess I was feeling it, Carlson said. I dont even remember how many shots I took, but at that point, I was just glad they were going in.The Panthers added two free throws to go ahead 69-64 before Woodard nailed a 3-pointer to make it a 69-67 game with 8.8 seconds to go.Morgan iced the game with four free throws in the final six seconds.UNI made five 3-pointers during a 26-5 run that erased an 18-point deficit in the second half. Carlson made three of the bombs, including the one that put UNI ahead 57-54 with 52 seconds left in the game.We didnt handle that run very well, Oklahoma coach Lon Krueger said. But as disappointing as this is, there was a lot to learn from this.dddddddddddd Turnovers, value possessions, finish plays strong, those are all things well get better at.The Panthers pushed the edge to 59-54 with 27 seconds left in regulation before Sooners forward Khadeem Lattin made two free throws and Doolittle hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 12.6 seconds left.Ashton was off with a 3-pointer to win the game for UNI at the buzzer.BIG PICTURE:Oklahoma will love what it saw from the first 30 minutes. The Sooners used their size and strength advantage to build an 18-point advantage and looked like they would coast to an easy win. Lot of really good things at both ends of the floor in the first 30 minutes, Krueger said. Lot of bad things the last 15.The takeaway for Jacobson is that his team has a lot of heart. The Panthers were getting beat every which way, but still fought for every possession and were rewarded. We kept playing defense and rebounding when our offense was not very good and I like that, Jacobson said. And the other thing I like was that a relatively new group believed we could get all the way back.SAD STARTNorthern Iowa committed five turnovers and hit only three of its first 15 shots against Oklahoma. The Panthers shot 25.9 percent (7 of 27) for the first half, trailing 31-18. UNI came into the game shooting 51.8 percent and averaging just 11.5 turnovers a game.UP NEXTNorthern Iowa plays Xavier Sunday night in the championship game of the tournament.Oklahoma will take on Clemson for third-place Sunday afternoon. ' ' '