If you had any doubt that Blizzard Entertainment was going all-in on esports, look no further than Fridays announcement of Overwatch League, to be launched in 2017.Blizzard Entertainment, a division of Activision Blizzard, has a long history of tournament support for its games, but to run a league, something that takes place over the long haul, reflects a new level of support for Overwatch. Overwatch, still a young game with more than 20 million players within six months of its release, has already attracted a number of high-profile pros, especially the Overwatch Open that debuted on cable television rather than simply the streaming community.This is about doing what we can to allow Overwatch esports to achieve its full potential, Blizzard Entertainment president and co-founder Michael Morhaime told ESPN.com. And I think we have a big opportunity with Overwatch since the game is newly launched, we dont have an existing ecosystem and we can really design our league upfront in a way thats best for players and teams.Leagues indicate a deeper level of support, from the length of time they run to the need to establish the infrastructure necessary to support their continued play by the competitors involved. A league isnt something you can run in a weekend or even a week, so player compensation is necessary to ensure that the best in the world can afford to play.Its really important to us that our players are treated well, Nate Nanzer, global director of Overwatch esports, told ESPN.com. We want to make this a professional career. We dont want to make this a risky bet that a kid makes to go become an Overwatch pro, we want to make this a real professional career.For the debut season of the Overwatch League, Blizzard is taking a page from the playbook of traditional sports, in this case the NFL. Before the NFL runs its draft every year, it holds the scouting combine, which mainly consists of a battery of tests for players seeking to be drafted. These range from purely athletic tests such as the 40-yard dash and the vertical jump to more cerebral ones such as the Wonderlic test.Overwatch League is taking a similar route. Blizzard will host a combine, inviting eligible players who have been high performers in competitive Overwatch to date. And its not just for hanging out and talking. The players will be evaluated in a range of tests and the teams will be given the opportunity to sign players from their résumé and their performance history. When that combine will happen has yet to be announced.On that path to pro, there needs to be a step between I got No. 1 on the ladder and I got signed to an Overwatch team, Nanzer said. And the combine we think is a great opportunity to do that and a great opportunity to start the storytelling around these players.Any player picked up during the signing period will receive a guaranteed minimum baseline salary and benefits package. Blizzard has not yet said how much that compensation package will be. Overwatch Leagues team structure will also guarantee that team ownership and the players involved will share in the revenues generated. Esports is a world in which, occasionally, payout issues from sponsors or individual team turmoil leads to players not getting all the compensation they deserve. Stability is a key factor for a successful league.Speaking of those teams, Overwatch Leagues team structure also reflects traditional sports. Rather than the typical model of players representing their sponsored sports teams, Overwatch League teams will represent individual cities. And the city teams, when established, will remain in the league, eliminating the yearly shuffle as teams try desperately to guarantee their spots in next years league -- that shuffle being something that has occasionally been a driver of controversy in other esports. Blizzard has already dipped its toe into running esports competitions without the traditional teams, such as Heroes of the Dorm, which focused on individual colleges and the Overwatch (and soon, Hearthstone) competitions, which are country-based.We definitely envision a world where if you live in a city where theres an Overwatch League team, you have regular opportunities to go see that team live, Nanzer said. We think by localizing esports we can unlock [local] revenue streams for esports teams that exist for traditional sports teams but dont exist in todays esports ecosystem. ... We also think [localization] is going to create a stronger bond between the fans, the teams and the players.Esports is a young field, so its necessary for competitions to experiment with these different formats to see which ones grab and sustain the public interest. Whether Overwatch League captures the imagination of the viewers or not, theres little doubt that Blizzard is all-in on its newest and shiniest bit of intellectual property.I think the timing is very good to start up a league like this because were sort of reaching this tipping point in esports, Morhaime said. Theres a ton of interest and a ton of demand. ... We want to provide an experience that spectators have been wanting and I think they deserve. Fake Nike MLB Jerseys . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. Cheap MLB Jerseys From China . After a replay, the winner will meet Sunderland in the quarterfinals. 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First TestAlmost to the day, 64 years ago, Pakistan played their first Test against India in Delhi. They had a man who would become a legend opening the batting - Hanif Mohammad - and a man who was quite possibly the first of the long line of irresistible Pakistani seamers - Fazal Mahmood. The magic wasnt instantaneous though. Pakistan lost by an innings and 70 runs.First winThe swiftness with which Pakistan bounced back in the second Test made it seem like they were playing possum in the first. India were missing three of their players - including Vinoo Mankad, who had picked up 13 wickets in Delhi - and the visitors capitalised. A mere 15 minutes into the fourth morning in Lucknow, they had wrapped up victory by an innings and 43 runs.First centurionNazar Mohammad faced Pakistans first ball in Test cricket. Eight days later, in the Lucknow triumph, he had completed their first century. He carried his bat for 124 not out in eight hours 35 minutes and set up an innings victory, the Wisden Cricket Almanack says. He was the first player to be on the field throughout a Test. A domestic accident damaged his arm and ended his career. He became a coach, selector and one of Pakistans best cricketing raconteurs.First ten-forFazal Mahmoods performance against the MCC in 1951-52 helped convince Lords to grant Pakistan Test status. He was the first to pick up 10 wickets in a match - five in the first innings and seven in the second - to seal Indias fate in Lucknow. He was the first from Pakistan to 100 Test wickets. And he would captain them too. Tall and handsome, with wavy black hair, he even snapped up ad deals from Brylcreem; he was Pakistans first poster boy.First triple centurionDespite it being 58 years since Hanif Mohammad made 337 from 970 minutes at the crease, it remains the longest innings in Testt history.dddddddddddd One of the bravest too. With a lead of 473, West Indies had made Pakistan follow-on in Barbados. It was only the second day and back then Tests were played for six. It was in this setting that the legend of the original Little Master gained steam. He turned cricket in Pakistan from the preserve of the Lahore educated elite into the mass sport it is today, wrote Scyld Berry.First series winIt didnt take too long. Three years after their introduction to Test cricket in 1952, Pakistan trounced New Zealand in Karachi and Lahore to claim the three-match series. Offspinner Zulfiqar Ahmed bowled 83 overs while maintaining an economy rate under one and bagged 11 wickets to boot in Karachi. Imtiaz Ahmed became the first wicketkeeper to hit a double-century in Tests in Lahore as Pakistans final four wickets added a whopping 450 runs.First series win overseasThey had to wait 20 years for this. But it may well have been worth it. In conditions vastly different to their own - Wellington, Dunedin and Auckland - Sadiq and Mushtaq Mohammad - brothers of Hanif - proved run-making ran in the family. Intikhab Alam, until recently a beloved Pakistan team manager, couldnt give away 20 runs without picking up a wicket; the legspinner topped the charts. Four of the top-five run-scorers in the series were Pakistani.First time at No. 1It was a two-month reign in August and September 1988. But it was special. It was recognition of the fact that they had never been beaten in a series for three years. Imran Khan led them to India and beat India for the first time in a series. He led them to England and beat England for the first time in a series. He was just getting started. ' ' '