Defend the North was the Capcom Pro Tour North American event to watch this past weekend. There were plenty of intriguing stories that came up, but the best one followed the winner of the tournament.Ricki Ortiz dominated this past weekend. The Evil Genius Chun-Li player made short work of the entire playing field. She was the headline for all the stories.What does domination look like? Ortiz finished her tournament run in the top eight with a ridiculous 9-1 record. She demonstrated many of the positive strengths of Chun-Li, whether it was her spacing with normal moves in neutral, hit confirms into either special moves or v-trigger, or just suffocating space control.Ortizs performance against fellow teammate, Kenneth KBrad Bradley, was enough of an indication that she was the best player at Defend the North. It was a 3-0 sweep, with her controlling the matchs pace and space.At this point, its clear which players typically show up for finals day. Evil Genius KBrad, Echo Fox Julio Fuentes, Team Liquid Du NuckleDu Dang, and Team Naventic Peter Flash Susini look like fixtures for any North American tournament. Theyre the cream of the crop and share many similar attributes: great reactions, good optimization of meter, correct punishes and strong spacing.The differentiation only comes with character selection and individuality within those choices. There are certainly a few other names, not named Evil Geniuses Justin Jwong Wong, that consistently place in the top eight of major North American tournaments, but a standard is set, with Ortiz joining the upper echelon. Lance Stephenson Lakers Jersey . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. Elgin Baylor Lakers Jersey .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. http://www.lakersteamofficial.com/customized/ .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. Vlade Divac Lakers Jersey . With the first unit struggling of late and Amir Johnson - one of the teams iron men - hobbling on an injured right ankle, Patterson knew he could get the nod in a challenging matchup against one of the leagues up and coming players at his position. Anthony Davis Lakers Jersey . Following a lopsided 5-2 loss against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night, Paul MacLean told reporters that "theres a lack of focus, theres a lack of leadership and theres a lack of preparation" with his struggling team. That came on the heels of Bryan Murray taking the unusual step of going into the locker room at the Prudential Center and addressing the players himself. CLEMSON, S.C. -- In the aftermath of allegations by some South Carolina players that Clemson players used racial slurs before their game last week, Tigers offensive lineman Jay Guillermo offered a figurative olive branch to the Gamecocks and coach Dabo Swinney attacked the media for its coverage of the story.While Clemson?has vehemently denied the allegations -- and some of the South Carolina players have since backed off the claims, suggesting that fans were responsible for the language -- Guillermo tried to mend fences.South Carolina defensive lineman Dante Sawyer had tweeted his outrage regarding racism at Clemson after the game, but on Sunday he tweeted that Guillermo had reached out to clear the air.Guillermo was asked about the conversation Tuesday and said he wanted to keep most of what was said private, but he said he assured Sawyer that Clemson was not a place that would tolerate racist behavior.We talked about it, and I let him know thats not what we do, Guillermo said. If anything was said, thats not how we are, not what we are as an offensive line or as a team. We have a good culture here, and its a classy culture. Thats something Coach Swinney prides himself on. We do have good people here.Swinney, meanwhile, said he is convinced his team didnnt use racial epithets before the game.dddddddddddd. Hes upset that the media picked up on the story, saying that journalists who covered the allegations showed zero accountability and should be fired.After Clemson beat South Carolina 56-7 on Saturday, Gamecocks defensive lineman Bryson Allen-Williams said an unnamed Tigers offensive lineman had used a racial slur, and several of his teammates echoed those allegations after the game on social media.On Sunday, Swinney was asked about the accusations and said hed talked to his team and believed the story was absolutely false.During his Tuesday news conference, Swinney was asked whether hed had any communication with South Carolina coach Will Muschamp regarding the situation. Swinney used the opportunity to slam the media for the way the story was handled.I dont have a problem giving young people some grace, Swinney said. Young people will say some things from time to time, emotional or whatever. Media people, I dont give them much grace. ... Its just like theres no credibility anymore. You dont need to confirm anything anymore. Just write it. ... Shoot first, ask questions later. ' ' '