SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Carolina Panthers Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kawann Short says he is willing to play under the final year of his rookie contract if a long-term extension cant be reached before the end of training camp.Its not about the contract, the 2013 second-round pick said on Wednesday after reporting to training camp at Wofford College. I started up with this team and I love the Carolina Panthers. I love the organization. Hopefully, things will get done.Short, who tied Cincinnatis Geno Atkins for the most sacks (11) by a defensive tackle last season, is scheduled to make just over $1 million this season.Based on recent extensions by Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox and New York Jets defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson, the going rate for a player of Shorts caliber is $17.2 million a year.The Panthers are believed to be offering Short somewhere between $13 and $15 million a year.Short smiled when asked about the Cox and Wilkerson deals.Just to see those guys rewarded like that, its a blessing, he said. Those guys have been working hard. They deserved it. Im happy to see they got it.Asked if he considered himself along the same caliber as Cox and Wilkerson, Short said, Im working to that level.Short reported for a three-day minicamp in June and never hedged on reporting to training camp. He sat out two weeks of non-mandatory workouts, his only leverage in negotiations.Its a process, said Short, the first time hes discussed his situation since skipping organized team activities. Weve got to go through it. Im just here to play football now.Asked whether this put him in an uncomfortable situation, Short said: Uncomfortable? Its a good uncomfortable. You want to be in this position, but you also want to get things done. Its going to take time, and Im patient.A year ago, cornerback Josh Norman turned down a long-term extension when the Panthers didnt offer a deal to his liking. He said during training camp he was betting on himself.Norman made the Pro Bowl, then had the franchise tag placed on him when a deal couldnt be made after the Super Bowl. The Panthers later rescinded the tag, and Norman signed with the Washington Redskins.Short wouldnt go so far as to say he was betting on himself.Thats a whole different guy. Thats a whole different character, he said of Norman. I cant really put myself in his shoes and what he went through. Everybody is different. I wouldnt say.Nike Air Max TN Plus Ultra Rouge/Noir . -- The St. Johns IceCaps weathered a wild first period with the help of goaltender Jussi Olkinuora, before finding offensive inroads in the second. Nike Air Max TN Plus Ultra Rouge/Noir . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . http://www.airmaxtnplus.fr/air-max-plus.html . - Connor McDavid scored 53 seconds into overtime as the Erie Otters came from behind to defeat the visiting Guelph Storm 4-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Nike Tn 2018 Pas Cher .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. Nike Air Max Plus TN Ultra Blanc/Noir .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach.To be labeled legendary in any competition means more than just winning. It means dominating at the highest levels and making it look easy. Basketball had Michael Jordan. Baseball had Derek Jeter. And in the world of competitive Street Fighter, no one is more deserving of being called a legend than Daigo The Beast Umehara.But unlike the NBA and MLB, Street Fighter is in trouble. Despite a show on ESPN2 two weeks ago and a fighting game record $230,000 given to Team Liquids Du NuckleDu Dang for winning the Capcom Cup the day before, the uneven release of Street Fighter V earlier this year has many in the community questioning the games viability. Combine that with the fact that the top players lean toward the older side of the esports spectrum, and Daigo has made it his mission to keep his beloved game from dying off.Everyone [should] be mindful that if there isnt a new generation after my generation, the FGC [fighting game community] will basically become extinct, so its important to think about the future, Daigo told ESPN.Daigo is a Japanese Street Fighter player and was on track to become a professional gamer long before professional gaming was mainstream. As a kid, Daigo struggled with what he wanted to do in life. His father didnt push him toward traditional salaried careers, as many Japanese parents do. He just wanted his son to pursue something he loved and planted a seed that sprouted Daigos obsessive love of gaming.When Daigos classmates would play sports, he chose to visit arcades. There, he practiced with the intent of becoming the best. Daigos philosophy was simple: practice three times harder than anyone else.If I didnt play games, I couldnt, like, stay still, couldnt be calm, Daigo said. Now its my job. Back then it was my addiction.As Street Fighter continued to dominate arcades, tournaments invariably started to pop up. Thats when Daigo was finally able to showcase his talents on the world stage. In 1998, after becoming the Japanese champion in Street Fighter Alpha 3, he flew to California to play against the best from the United States. Once there, Daigo made a name for himself internationally and became the world champion, beating Alex Valle.In 2002 and 2003, Daigo won the U.S. vs. Japan exhibition in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike and took the Street Fighter II: Turbo title at the Tougeki fighting game tournament, both in Japan.But the Evolution Championships 2004 cemented Daigos legacy. Playing against Justin JWong Wong, now with Evil Geniuses, Daigo had only one pixel of health left. Just one hit would mean defeat. JWong unleashed his Super Art, a barrage of 15 consecutive kicks. Daigo had only one option, to parry each kick with frame-perfect accuracy, and finish JWong off with a counter.Daigo did just that, and the crowd went wild. The Daigo parry quickly became the first viral video hit for the Street Fighter community.Interestingly, while Daigo defeated JWong, he didnt actually win Evo 2004. The title went to Kenji KO Obata, but everyone remembers the moment when Daigo did the impossible and came back from certain death.After a three-year hiatus, Daigo returned to competitive Street Fighter in 2008, with the release of Street Fighter IV. This began another era of domination for Daigo, as he continued to place high at tournaments. Yet in Street Fighter IV and its two subsequent iterations, Super and Arcade, he was ranked second to JWong and Team Razers Ai Fuudo Keita. It wasnt until Daigo started competing in Ultra Street Fighter IV, the third offshoot of the base game, that Daigo once again became the world champion.That was the heyday of Street Fighter. Daigo is now 35, a Red Bull Athlete and Twitch Global Brand Ambassador, and hes trying to use his prestige and status to keep the game he loves from disappearing.Street Fighter was the king of arcades in the 80s and 90s, but it has fallen out of the limelight in recent years. The online viewership that Street Fighter receives pales in comparison to PC-centric games like League of Legends or Counter-Strike.Some of SFs woes have to do with the uneven launch of Street Fighter V. Many considered it an incomplete game. As an overall $60 package, it was missing an arcade mode, trials and challenges, and live spectating. That initial wave of negative buzz turned off potential buyers, possibly hurting its future as an esport.Sales aside, Street Fighter as a game is incredibly technical. Requiring frame-accurate responses and quick button combinations, it can be challenging for newcomers to get involved.In the beginning,, when I started streaming on Beast TV, I wanted to negate the skill gap between top players and lower players, and I did that by doing a lot of strategy streams, Daigo said.ddddddddddddUnfortunately, discussing strategy didnt make it easier for newcomers. His streams ended up catering to an already established audience.One of the biggest hurdles into our scene is how to get into it and learning the fundamentals. I want to make more content regarding that in the future, Daigo said.Capcom, the video game company that created Street Fighter, knew it had an accessibility problem when it came to the SF franchise. Over the past few iterations, strategy grew exceedingly complex. With Street Fighter V, however, Capcom tried to mitigate that complexity by lowering the execution factor required to pull off fancy combos. And while the intention was to broaden the games appeal, that decision came at a cost to professionals.There is some concern that Street Fighter V is boring or not as exciting as IV was, said James Chen, a Street Fighter commentator.Now that midlevel players can pull off the same combos as high-level players, Street Fighter has lost some of its technical edge.One of the things that people do like to see when they watch esports is people doing things that are hard to do, that they cant normally do, said Chen. When Daigo pulled off a crazy 25-hit combo last year in Ultra Street Fighter IV against Yusuke Momochi of Evil Geniuses, people got excited.Lowering the execution factor wasnt the only thing that Capcom reworked. Capcom intentionally added extra frames of lag. This meant that when a player presses a button on the controller, it wont execute on Frame 1 but rather on Frame 8.One of the benefits of lag is that the online and offline experiences are the same, and in that sense, the quality is a very good thing, Daigo said.Daigo is ultimately accepting of some frames of lag if it means that the online and offline experiences are similar. Having a strong online presence will be necessary for the games survival.Many players, however, arent too thrilled by a less-than-responsive competitive game.Theres a lot of randomness, and theres a lot of situations youre not in control of, NuckleDu said. Capcom has tried to help appease hard-core players by reducing input lag to six frames, but even then, while NuckleDu thinks it helps, he would prefer as less lag as possible.Daigos mission is to keep Street Fighter alive, and hes putting much of his focus on attracting new blood.While Daigo might be considered the Michael Jordan of Street Fighter, he doesnt have the same celebrity that Jordan had when he played with the Chicago Bulls.I didnt know Daigo when I started playing Street Fighter. It was, like, two or three years til I knew about tournaments or anything, so he didnt influence me at all, said Anbus Victor Punk Woodley, 18, an up-and-coming player from Philadelphia.Daigos celebrity can take him only so far in attracting new players. It will fall on Capcoms marketing department to pique interest in new players.Thats not to say Daigo has no influence. Daigo has been an inspiration for many to pursue careers in pro gaming.Daigo instilled in me that continuing to play fighting games into adulthood is acceptable, and that it can garner the respect of many people, said Echo Foxs Julio Fuentes, 24. According to Fuentes, Daigo is a constant reminder that there is always room to improve and that I can always reach new heights with hard work and dedication.Daigo might not be the sole vehicle to bring in new players, but he can make sure they feel safe within the Street Fighter community. He wants to ensure that when newcomers come to their first tournament, they have fun. Right now the talent pool is so experienced, often new players get annihilated.In the past I didnt think the seed [float] system was necessary or good, but recently, looking at the results, Ive realized that top players are pretty much going to get past their pools, said Daigo. It would be good, in my opinion, if that would allow for pool play to focus more on new players, on younger players; that would be worth it if it had those type of benefits.Just like Michael Jordan and Derek Jeter before him, Daigo too will one day retire. But that doesnt mean his role in the FGC will end. If he wants Street Fighter to survive, Daigo will have to play a critical role behind the scenes once he leaves the game. ' ' '