The holiday season is upon us, and that can bring thoughts of family and togetherness, but I have some things I want for Christmas going into the 2017 esports season. You can have your Christmas dinner and cozy circle around the fireplace, Ill instead ask for a North American team to make the League of Legends World Championships after a five-year hiatus. Buy your kid the newest game console; Ill do whats needed for the good of competitive gaming, and Santa Claus, wherever you might be, you best be listening.Or else...Wish 1: An NA LCS team to make the 2017 Worlds semifinalsAll right, enough is enough. Since a North American team made the semifinals of the League of Legends World Championships, weve seen the rise and fall of StarCraft II as the biggest esport in the world to becoming a footnote. South Korea and China didnt even have dedicated League of Legends servers or tournaments when the first worlds happened in what looked to be broadcasted from David Phreak Turleys basement.North America now has NBA money coursing through the LCS. We have the big South Korean names in NA starting fives, and teams are even bringing in experienced coaches from the country that has won the past four Summoners Cups. Its time to actually make good on all the investments, and after failing to get a team into the semifinals when the NA LCS appeared to be on an upswing in 2016, its now or never for North America.TSM, Immortals, CLG, whoever, it doesnt really matter. Whether the team has five Americans or none, all I want for Christmas (OK, thats a lie, I want a lot more things) is a North American team in the Final Four of the World Championships next fall. We can even get blown out by a South Korean team when we get there; at least wed get there.Wish 2: The return of Brood War in South Korea, and a Flash vs. Jaedong finalWith StarCraft IIs demise in South Korea and the closing of all its professional teams in the region, the games predecessor, StarCraft: Brood War, is on the rise. The Afreeca Starleague has been gaining in viewers in its second season, and its all because of the star power returning to the field of competitors. TaekBangLeeSsang, the nickname given to the famous quartet of Kim Bisu Taek-yong, Song Stork Byung-goo, Lee Jaedong Jae-dong and Lee Flash Young-ho, are all in the ASL second season, and all four are appearing like favorites to make deep runs into the bracket. Stork, the player with the most question marks around his return, has already qualified for the quarterfinals in first place for his Round-of-16 group, and the other three Brood War heroes should follow suit.A final with any combination of the four could mark a rebirth for the game. Thousands already watch Flash and Jaedong whenever they stream by themselves on Afreeca, and more and more fans are tuning in to watch ASL and see if Brood Wars main characters can make it further in the tournament against some other former favorites, and surprisingly, newcomers that grew up watching TaekBangLeeSsang as grade schoolers in the late 2000s. For Christmas, I want the renaissance to happen with a final between two of the quartet members. Flash vs. Bisu, Stork vs. Jaedong, Bisu vs. Stork -- and, truth be told, the final that would have the largest impact is Flash vs. Jaedong, and Id like the greatest finals rivalry in Brood War history renewed in the year 2017.Wish 3: The year of fighting gamesI want 2017 dubbed The Year of Fighting Games. The early 2010s were the years for StarCraft II and real-time strategy games, followed up by the multi-online battle arena genre explosion with League of Legends and Dota 2. And weve recently had the ascent of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to the forefront of the competitive gaming world on national television with Eleague. Now, in 2017, let the fighting game genre take over and let it have a year to succeed with a number of titles peaking at the right time.It was just announced that Smash 4 would have its own world championship with the The 2GG Championship Series, culminating in December of next year. Smash 4s brother, Melee, is going nowhere, and after a huge 2016, the game that will never die is looking to have an even better 2017 with more money hopefully being inserted into the scene. Street Fighter V is coming off the biggest fighting game tournament of all-time, the Capcom Pro Tour Final, where winner Du NuckleDu Dang took home the title of world champion and $230,000, the biggest prize purse in the genres history. Season 2 of Street Fighter V is expected to bring even more intrigue to the scene, and the introduction of Akuma and five other new characters will mean the game will be ever-changing over the course of 2017.Besides the current Big 3 of the fighting game world, we will also see the release of Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite, another title that will revitalize a scene that was seemingly on its last legs. Tekken 7 and Injustice 2 will also be hitting consoles in 2017, bringing two more fighting game titles into the limelight. All we really need is a new Soul Calibur game and Nintendo to announce a Melee world championship circuit to make it the perfect year for fighting games.While MOBAs and first-person shooters will most likely corner the viewership market, let it be known: fighting games are catching up, and may 2017 be the year where one or two make strides to join the Leagues and Counter-Strikes of the world.Wish 4: Blizzard, let Overwatch succeedI want Overwatch to succeed, for a variety of reasons. Not only does having another big esport title diversify and grow the world of competitive gaming even more, but Blizzard, for better or for worse, is thinking outside the box with Overwatch in terms of esports. The Overwatch League is expected to take shape in 2017, and that means city-based teams, player combines, and an ambitious system that weve never seen work in esports. Will Blizzard succeed where others have failed? Or are is the publishing giant biting off more than it can chew?For one, even before Overwatch League, can we please go back to drafting maps before a series begins? I know Blizzard wants to showcase its maps since everything in esports always goes back to selling the game the professionals are playing, but the drafting phase is one of the integral parts of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and why its such an in-depth, diverse game even before the teams head off into battle. Not only does drafting of maps lead to strong narratives of teams becoming kingpins in certain locations, but it makes sure that a team cant just win through a set list of maps that they excel at going into the event. It leaves teams that might not be able to beat Team Envy on all maps, a chance to prepare specifically for one map they hope to grab in draft, or it allows for a smarter team to grab the right course for victory through proper drafting.Is it boring for the general audience to watch people drafting maps? The three biggest esports in the world are Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, and Dota 2, with the latter having a drafting phase that sometimes is twice as long as the game itself. That should be your answer if Overwatch can survive a minimal drafting phase before each best-of contest.Blizzard has tried with StarCraft II and succeeded before ultimately failing due to a lack of proper care; Hearthstone, its next attempt at crafting the next big esport, has done wonders for individual streamers but only decent when it comes to esports; and Heroes of the Storm, well, Blizzard tried. Overwatch is a worldwide success as a game, and with a better spectator client coupled with Blizzard not fumbling the ball when it comes to Overwatch League and the game as a competitive title as a whole, it might be the next worldwide success in esports.If not handled correctly, like what happened eventually with StarCraft II and Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard will be finding nothing but coal in their stocking next year come the holiday season. Hanley Ramirez Indians Jersey .5 seconds to play in the game, Kevin Love never stopped believing that they would come out of there with a win. Bob Feller Indians Jersey . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season. http://www.indianssale.com/indians-nick-wittgren-jersey/ . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. Zach Duke Indians Jersey . -- Jimmie Johnson held off a teammate, passed a pair of Hall of Famers, and dominated once more at Dover. Satchel Paige Indians Jersey . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. George Hill stole a bad pass and was going in for a layup, and Pierce hustled back and appeared to be trying to wrap him up. LOS ANGELES -- Mark Ellis has been on nearly as big of a roll as the Los Angeles Dodgers since the All-Star break. The second baseman has hit safely in all 11 of his teams games, batting .415 with a homer and eight RBIs since the second half began July 19. Ellis delivered the winning single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Dodgers a 3-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Tuesday night. He lofted a slider over the head of leaping shortstop Derek Jeter to score Andre Ethier, who singled and stole second. "He threw me quite a few (sliders) in that at-bat," Ellis said of Shawn Kelley. "When I hit the ball, I had a pretty good idea it was going over Jeters head. The big play was Andre stealing second." The Dodgers improved to 27-6 since June 22, their best stretch since going 29-5 during a 34-game run from Aug. 7-Sept. 9, 1953. They are 3 1/2 games ahead of second-place Arizona in the NL West. "We like where were at," said Ellis, who went 2 for 4 while helping the Dodgers win their eighth consecutive one-run game. Kenley Jansen (4-3) pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts to earn the win. The Dodgers bullpen hasnt allowed a hit in 9 1-3 scoreless innings in its last four games. "Theyre playing real well and we knew that coming in," Yankees starter Andy Pettitte said. "So theyve got a lot to be excited about right now. It would have been nice to come in here and be able to get this first game. But theyre hot." Kelley (3-1) took the loss in relief in the Yankees third-ever series at Dodger Stadium and first since June 2010. They lost for the third time in four games, and fell to 26-26 on the road. "Ive got to find a way to get that last out," Kelley said. "Ellis got the bat on it and it cost us the game. That was the pitch I wanted to throw -- a slider down in the zone. I wanted to attack him with my best pitch to the end from 3-1, and I did. I threw him slidder-slider.dddddddddddd. I got him out in front a little bit, but he got enough to get it in the outfield." Dodgers starter Zack Greinke allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings, struck out seven and walked none while being denied his 100th career victory for a third straight start. "I was more pumped up, I dont know why," Greinke said. "Usually Ill take more energy drink stuff before games but today I didnt. I wanted to calm down. It wasnt easy to do." Pettitte gave up two runs and eight hits in seven innings, struck out three and walked none in his longest outing since June 14 in Anaheim. New York tied the game 2-all in the fourth on Lyle Overbays RBI groundout to shortstop that scored Alfonso Soriano, who doubled to lead off and took third on Greinkes wild pitch. The Dodgers went up 2-1 on Juan Uribes homer in the second. The Yankees tied the game 1-all on Overbays home run leading off the top of the second. The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead on Hanley Ramirezs RBI single in the first that scored Yasiel Puig, who doubled. NOTES: The Yankees are 18-12 in one-run games this season. ... Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he expects to have 3B Alex Rodriguez back on the roster in the near future. Girardi said A-Rod is scheduled for a rehab game on Thursday. A-Rod has been rehabbing a strained left quadriceps at the Yankees complex in Tampa, Fla., amid reports that he will soon be disciplined by MLB as a result of the Biogenesis case. ... Girardi said Jeter will have a mix of starts as DH and off days as he works up to everyday playing shape after his DL stint. ... Celebrities were out in force including Jay-Z sitting four seats away from fellow agent Scott Boras; NBA stars Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden; Jack Nicholson; Mel Brooks; Ice Cube; George Lopez; and Luc Robitaille of the L.A. Kings next to Magic Johnson. ... The crowd of 52,447 was the 15th sellout of the season. ' ' '