Coach TeeM Apparel & Gaming

A start up based in Canada. We follow everything sports. Online retail of clothing.

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Podcast is up, TeeM talk. Courtesy of Ashton “CoachTheMo”. Talks about the trade market and dealings of the season so far. It is based heavily on opinions with some stats to back it up. Head over and check it out on #SoundCloud and remember #KeepItCivil

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Congrats to the @philadelphiaeagles on the #SuperBowlLII victory and bringing home the first Lombardi trophy to the city! That was an amazing game to watch and was full of everything we could ask for! Also have to give a huge shoutout to Nick Foles for the #MVP title! Thanks for the year @nfl see you in a few months!

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The new @euro2020 #NationsLeague has been announced. This is huge! A big new competition for international squads. A competition to tide over the fans in between major international events. Starting in fall of 2018. Who’s your team and how do you think they will do? Teams and groups listed at https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/#/

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UEFA Nations League

With the introduction of the UEFA Nations League the world will have another competition to follow. This could either end up being completely detrimental to the world of international football or a great temporary success. Let me elaborate, in the current set up of the European qualifiers the teams will play set matches throughout the years leading up to the tournament. This allows teams to rest their players during the games they feel the rest of their squad can handle the opposition. Such as, if the 3rd overall team is playing the 52nd (no specific teams implied). This is a huge positive when it comes to player health and prolonged careers. It also benefits the game at club level, as players such as Ronaldo, Griezmann and Lewandowski get to rest up to return to league play. However, with this tournament adding a more competitive edge to the qualifying process these teams may be less likely to rest those players. Those players can refuse rest, which can effect more than just player performance. If these players end up playing in too many competitions, the amount of games played in a four year period could feel like a decade worth. With teams in Europe already competing in several competitions already. Eg; Champions league, league play, league cup, Europa league, Club world cup, International friendlies, international qualifiers, Olympics, Summer tours. This added competition could make for some seriously exciting and dramatic action leading up to the Euros or World Cup. Although it could also aid in burning out the star players from the international sides. If a player can play for say 20 years regularly (16-36)* then with an added competition and less rest time they may lose some years off of their career. Injuries become more likely and the overall decrease in level of play are a factor that must be acknowledged. The point I am trying to get across is that it becomes harder to build a team around players if they are retiring sooner than they normally would. In no way am I saying that these are guarantees that it will negatively affect the world of football, but it is a possibility. On the flip side this could bring more attention to the international level of the game and perhaps increase the amount of training academies and camps for new players to be discovered. Therefore increasing the player pool and squad depth to eliminate most of the above issues. The redeeming factor I see in the competition right now is that the finals are not played until the off years of major international competitions.

Only time will be able to tell how this new level of competitiveness will affect the direction of the game. It will either provide a spark to ignite the sport into a new frenzy, or it will hinder the advancement of teams. The tournament starts in September of 2018 so we will be able to see the immediate effects soon.

*approximate pro career age

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Votes are in and we have our starters, with @kingjames and @stephencurry30 as captains! Who you takin in the @nba #NBAAllStarGame #AllStarWeekend tips off on Fri Feb 16, 2018 with the World vs USA game be there or be square!

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Steve Aoki, A Legend and Inspiration

Steve Aoki is one of the biggest heroes in my life. He is the epitome of what hard work is to me. As a kid growing up in California as an Asian American he had a rough time. He was racially abused and bullied, but he never let it get to him. He didn't have much as a kid so he had to make do with what he had. He tried to play sports as a kid but was never very successful. Although he did take to skateboarding and excel. If you were to just look at him, the way he dresses and styles himself it is the immediate image of a skateboard/ surf guy. Which in part plays into the type of guy his father seemed to be. Rocky Aoki was an adrenaline junkie and thrill seeker. He raced speed boats and at one point took a balloon across the Pacific Ocean from Japan to San Francisco. He also spread his time with deep sea treasure hunting and racing in the Cannonball Run. Rocky was never very close with his kids, but when he was around he did the best he could. They say a son tends to subconsciously model himself after the father figures in their life. So with his father being a large business tycoon with the Benihana restaurant chain. It wasn't much of a stretch to imagine Steve running some sort of enterprise as well.

After high school Steve moved into a small apartment in Santa Barbara with three of his friends. They began throwing parties, where him and his hardcore band would perform. Steve was the lead vocalist in the group. The parties, which began to be called the “Pickle Patch”, became a regular occurrence in the apartment, so frequently that they started to put up flyers and bring in other bands to perform. There was potential in these bands, even though he had no experience he decided he was going to start a record label. Thus, Dim Mak was born. It eventually brought him to LA to try and grow the label. Joel and Benji Madden of Good Charlotte lent him money in order to get an office space. Once they had gathered the resources and been circulating for a year they released Block Party. Which caused them to explode in the industry. People began to take note of Steve Aoki and his label Dim Mak.

He then started DJ'ing for Dim Mak Tuesdays. Which were the start of DJs becoming a staple in the LA night scene began. He had the flashy lights and electro music. Steve would party well into the morning, drinking and pouring out shots for all of the other party goers. There were tons of up and coming stars like Lady Gaga that had their first shows there. Steve and DJ AM became super close friends. Steve looked up to him and began to watch and learn all that he had to offer. The biggest lesson of all that Steve would take away from Adam (DJ AM) was when he passed away. This prompted Steve to change his life, quit drinking and look out for his well being. His dad passed away around the same time which all added up into one giant shock. The strength Steve had shown by taking this tragedy and using it as fuel for himself. The drive, the tenacity, the courage he showed to continue on with his shows and really embrace the legacy.

The mishap of him not being able to finish his album on time and pushing his MSG show date, really turned into something of a miracle in disguise. He ended up releasing his album and putting on a free show in LA in the middle of downtown. “LAoki” was his was of giving back to the people of LA who helped him grow and reach the worldwide level he had achieved. He is one of the few people in the world that can take a storm and show you the sunshine on the other side.

One of the biggest aspect of Steve that draws me to him as a person is his ability to brush off the haters. He has acknowledged that if he does see the comments on social media it does bother him. Though he knows if he has a passion for it then the rest is just noise,  “As long as I believe in the music that's coming out of my studio that's all that matters”. Which to me is the best mindset to have as any sort of creator. To be happy with your own work, forget the haters, and show love to the supporters. There is nothing more important than keeping the people around you who truly care and want to see you succeed. By blocking out the people who are not productive in helping you move forward anything is possible. I look up to him not based on the industry or the amount of fans he has, but at the incredible work ethic and strength he has. It is something that only one in a million people have. It is something that everyone should strive for. Nothing is handed to you, sometimes you have to work an 18 hour day and sleep in the back of a car on the way to the next meeting.

Thank you Steve, for everything.

Information gathered from;

Steve Aoki: I'll Sleep When I'm Dead. The Netflix documentary.

http://fortune.com/2015/03/12/12-incredible-things-about-benihana-founder/

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CWL NOLA 2018 recap

To start it all off TK come into the tournament as the number one seed and the favourites to go back to back. They have such a strong roster and its hard to find a weakness in their play. They made a strong start to the tournament by taking all four pool play matches and only dropping four maps along the way. Only Optic Gaming and Luminosity Gaming held better records coming out of pool play dropping one and three maps respectively. However when it boiled down to the elimination games they stood strong and sent Rise Nation, EUnited and Luminosity all down to the losers bracket. They returned to the podium securing their spot in the grand finals which came as a shock to really no one who watched their matches. However Luminosity battled their way back through the losers bracket seeking revenge on the reigning champs. After the first series in the grand final the tides looked to have turned as Luminosity handed Team Kaliber the first loss they had experienced all tournament, with the cherry on the cake being that someone had finally beaten TK in SnD on Ardennes Forest. The second series of the grand final after the bracket had been reset was quite possibly the best gameplay showcased since the release of the game. The first harpoint ended 250-249, SnD going to round 11 and CTF needing overtime to be decided. Honestly for any new players out there, if you're looking for tips on how to play, check these teams out! Eventually though TK show their might and again take the trophy home as the number one squad in the game.

Although they came in as the number 2 seed and easily dismantled their group Optic Gaming was not quite the usual that was expected. After securing their spot in the winners bracket they suffered a shock loss to Echo Fox. Many expected Scump and company to move on with relative ease. Echo Fox had other things to say about it and with their newly revamped squad of Aqua, Assault, Faccento and Saints they flipped the script and sent OG to the losers bracket in a 3-1 win. Many people criticized Echo Fox for dropping Gunless so close to the tournament date. It seems to have paid off with the addition of Aqua as he had already played with Faccento at Rise Nation. That topped with Saints coming from Luminosity and Assault joining from Cloud 9 made them a seriously talented and experienced team. Optic has some serious things to consider as CWL stage one starts soon. They played at another level last summer in CoD champs but have since lost form. Many people screaming for roster changes as they are one of the few teams that haven't made any moves. Could the green wall be crumbling? Is Scumps reign at the top over? Only time will tell, and stage one should let the world know.

Another shock performance coming out of the tournament was the stud status of Red Reserve. Coming in third in their pool only to make a run through losers bracket sending Mindfreak, Optic Gaming, FaZe clan and Eunited all home only to lose to Rise Nation in the losers semi final. Joee, Rated, Joshh and Zer0 all seemed to have the chemistry together which is refreshing to see from a European team. Frequently the battle between North America and Europe tends to sway towards the American side. So seeing a team make such a deep run was quite impressive, similar to Splyce in Infinite Warfare. Unilad and Splyce both failed to make it back out of the losers bracket after winning only two games in pool play. The probability of a European team making it to the finals this year is very high, there are so many quality teams and with the roster moves that have been made it could be sooner than later.

DooM Clan and Lightning Pandas looked great out of open bracket. They were the dark knight teams of the tournament. Both with seasoned veterans on their roster but also unexpected to put on much of a show. We were all pleasantly surprised with the performance of these two teams. Lightning Pandas coming out of the open bracket in order to secure a spot in pool play.  With the services of Proto and Royalty who played together at E6 joining the likes of Xotic from Cloud 9 and Goonjar from TK. The team looked strong. With a little more time together This could be a top tier team with placements in future tournaments. They managed to 3-0 FaZe clan and send their series against TK to a game 5 before being sent packing by Vitality. DooM Clan with their new acquisitions of Bevils, Ricky, Decimate and Fero came out swinging. Making it into the losers bracket and sending both GGEA teams home along with Unilad. They finally faced the music by dropping the series against Evil Geniuses. This is another team that with a little bit of practice and time together could end up becoming a regualr in the scene. There is nothing better than a couple new squads with the capability of throwing a wrench into the mixture of the mainstays.

CWL stage one kicks off January 24th. Expect to see some high quality action as TK, OG, Luminosity, EUnited, FaZe, Rise Nation, Echo Fox, NV, DooM, EG, Splyce, Red Reserve, Vitality, Unilad, Epsilon and Mindfreak have all qualified.