Its the middle of the week, and you know what that means: Mid laners.Its time to look at the best the mid lane has to offer at the 2016 League of Legends World Championships and which players will be challenging the greatest of all time, SK Telecom T1s Lee Faker Sang-hyeok, in his attempt to win his third Summoners Cup.5. Lee Scout Ye-chanRegion: China Team: Edward GamingWhat better way to start the countdown than with Fakers former protege on SK Telecom T1? Scout was a highly sought after amateur on the solo queue ladder, and he joined SKT T1 last year to play backup for two of the best mid laners in the world, Faker and Lee Easyhoon Ji-hoon. Scout left his homeland of South Korea to join Edward Gaming in the middle of the year after being used sparingly by T1 and knowing his chances of ever eclipsing Faker as a starter were slim to none. EDGs Heo PawN Won-seoks constant health issues opened the door for Scout to take over, and hes grown throughout the short summer split.Scout was primarily known for his explosive highlight reel play in solo queue, and he was forced to change into a safer, mage-centric player for a large part of the year behind the offensive talents of superstar AD carry Kim Deft Hyuk-kyu. Yet, in the summer finals, he was able to showcase his brash Zed play in a clear 3-0 victory over rival Royal Never Give Up. Although Scout was initially brought in to backup the two mid laners who have several world championship titles between them, hes begun cutting a legacy of his own as one of the fastest rising players in the world today.4. Lee Crown Min-hoRegion: South Korea Team: Samsung GalaxyNext to Scout, Crown is another South Korean-born mid laner who has the opportunity to break into superstar status this tournament. When Samsung was in the proverbial dumps following the exodus of all its top talent from 2014, Crown was one of the few bright spots during the rebuild. A little over a year ago, the newly cemented Samsung starter made a name for himself by alternating heavyweight blows against Faker in a matchup between Crowns pocket Yasuo and the T1 aces Ahri. It wasnt the most serious and clean game from the usually neat SKT T1 of 2015, but Faker challenged Crown, and Crown delivered, going 10/36 in a losing effort that ended the series 0-2.Since that loss, Samsung and Crown have grown leaps and bounds as a whole. Crown prides himself on his work ethic as a pro-gamer due to his old days of wanting to become a StarCraft professional where the practice is even more strenuous. After failing to make the playoffs in the spring, Crown pushed himself to become a better player in the summer with an even wider champion pool. The ace of Samsung did just that, having one of the better summer seasons of any mid laner in the world. In his past six games during the South Korean Regional to get to the World Championships, Crown played six different champions, including his signature Viktor in which he went 10/0/4 in a winning effort over KT Rolster.Samsung is not a team of many stars, but it surely has a budding one in the form of Crown. It took two full years to complete the rebuild of Samsung, and there is no better man to lead them into the future than the 21-year-old mid laner.3. Huang Maple Yi-TangRegion: Taiwan Team: Flash WolvesUnlike the other two Worlds newcomers, this will be the third World Championships for the Flash Wolves mid laner. He came to Worlds in 2013 as an excitable rookie and was sent packing by Faker and SK Telecom T1 before he could even win a single game at the tournament. Last year, it was a better show of his talent, and the Wolves got all the way to the quarterfinals before ultimately losing to Origen in a relatively close 3-1 series. Back for his third shot at the Summoners Cup, Maple is a veteran and has been consistently one of the top talents from Taiwan the past few years. His partnership with jungler Hung Karsa Hau-Hsuan cant be praised enough, and its the pairs chemistry and raw power that has dragged the Wolves through inconsistency in the side lanes the past two years.Although his spring split was good -- not great -- his summer split more than made up for it with a statline of 118 kills, 34 deaths and 60 assists in 28 starts en route to a domestic championship for the Wolves. The scarier thing, however, is that if J Team hadnt fallen apart at the end of the year, Maple wouldnt have had the best summer season for a Taiwanese mid coming into Worlds: Chu FoFo Chun-Lan, a 17-year-old prodigy, bested him. The standout rookie put together an even better regular season with a 8.3 kill/death/assist (KDA) compared to Maples 8.2, and a higher overall damage per minute, as well.Maple, though, experienced and battle-tested, got through the rough times while FoFo, a rookie, couldnt make it past the finish line. There are rumors that this could be the last run for Maple in Taiwan after getting offers from the LPL last year, and if so, hell want to make this the perfect sendoff for a Wolves team that has consistently made it to the bracket stage of international competitions over the years.2. S?ren Bjergsen BjergRegion: North America Team: Team SoloMidIts been a long road for Bjergsen to get to this position. Last year, when he was depended on to be all the offense for Team SoloMid, he was shown he couldnt do it all. For how great of an individual player he was, his position as shotcaller while also outputting 40 percent of his teams damage was impossible to keep up. Teams knew how TSM played, and teams would focus in on Bjergsen and make sure he wasnt able to beat them.Now, in 2016, with a fellow consistent damage threat in Yiliang Doublelift Peng, who has also taken a brunt of the shotcalling duties, Bjergsen is free to breathe and be the kind of talent hes always had the capabilities of becoming. Teams will still zero in on Bjergsen, but hes no longer playing a game where he always has to be the savior. This allows him to play a more free-flowing style across the map instead of always being hemmed in the mid lane. The added freedom helped Bjergsen clinch his third MVP award, and one of his better statistical seasons in history: 166/62/275 for a 7.1 KDA and a damage per minute (DPM) of 628. When you compare his 29 percent of TSMs damage output this split to last summers 42.5 percent, you can see with a better team around him, Bjergsen is able to do more with less.1. Lee Faker Sang-hyeokRegion: South Korea Team: SK Telecom T1He might not be the best player currently in the world -- Song Smeb Kyung-ho and Ming Clearlove Kai say hi -- but that doesnt mean his spot as top mid laner has been wrangled away just yet. There are a lot of issues you can point out when you look at the SKT T1 roster -- a large amount of it in the jungle -- but Faker isnt one of them. In the toughest region in the world, he walked away with the most kills out of any mid laner (162) and second-place overall to only KT Rolsters sniper No Arrow Dong-hyeon, who played three more games in the regular season.The amazing thing with Faker, though, as hes done throughout his career is what Bjergsen has finally started to accomplish on TSM: doing big things with little gold. When someone gets a large amount of his teams gold, you expect them to be able to output a high-level of damage. For Faker, he once again topped all mid laners when it came to DPM (677) and was second in the entire league behind his teammate Bae Bang Jun-sik. When it came to the percentage of gold he received from his team, Faker was 16th in the entire league. Hes not only the type of player who can stand on his feet as an individual, but hes the type of player that props up the players around him. He takes less of the pie but is still able to deliver the numbers expected from one of the best, if not the best player in the entire league.You have the likes of Scout and Crown getting better everyday, mechanical marvels like Maple and EDGs Li Xiaohu Yuan-Hao, and Bjergsens evolution to becoming the best player the western region has ever introduced. But at the front of the pack is Faker, working just as hard for his third Summoners Cup as his first. Nike Off White For Sale . 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NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguezs tempestuous relationship with New York Yankees fans comes to an end Friday when he plays his last game in pinstripes and he is making his exit without much of the adulation lavished on some hometown stars.Despite 351 home runs for the Bombers, and just four short of 700 for a career, his big-money contracts and off-field antics made him a less-than-beloved character for some, even before his suspension for drug use.I cant say I feel bad for him, said John Wilmore of Huntington Station, New York. Hes made millions and millions of dollars, Hes going to be very rich for the rest of his life, but theres something compelling there. You know, why did you mess up so much? Why did you do the things you did? You probably didnt need to do it to be great.A 14-time All-Star, A-Rod trails only Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714) on the career home run list, and his tenure with the Yankees was as substantial and productive as some of the teams most beloved players. He led the team to a World Series championship. He batted in more runs as a Yankee than Jorge Posada, Paul ONeill, Tino Martinez or Roger Maris, all of whom have plaques in Yankee Stadiums Monument Park.But this superstar will equally be remembered by New Yorkers for his denials-admissions-denials and a season-long suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs, as well as frequent appearances in the tabloids involving late-night poker games, his divorce, and reputed interludes with Madonna, movie stars and a stripper.He did this to himself, said New York City firefighter Jonathan Bush. 100 percent. He could have probably avoided this if he played the right way, or even semi-the right way; everybody knows athletes do certain things. It is what it is.Steve Rosenstock of Springfield, New Jersey, said Yankees fans always viewed A-Rod as the opposite of beloved shortstop Derek Jeter, who was treated to a season-long victory tour when he retired after the 2014 season.Most people see right through him. Hes fake, disingenuous, Rosenstock said. When A-Rods talking, you cant trust anything he says. Hes a `me guy, but he pretends to be otherwise.David Chauvin, vice president and partner in the Zimmerman/Edelson public relations agency in Great Neck, New York, said it appears Rodriguez made genuine attempts since he returned from his suspension last year to make amends with fans, but said he never completely connected with them.ddddddddddddPeople as a whole want to forgive, theyre willing to forgive, but they have to have an appreciation theres true contrition, he said. I dont think people ultimately have gotten that from A-Rod.He said A-Rods highly publicized big money contracts never sat well with fans, even in an era where many stars sign multi-million-dollar deals.New Yorkers have always had a blue-collar sensibility about their stars, he said. Thurman Munson, Don Mattingly, even back to Lou Gehrig, they all had an affinity from the working class, blue collar New Yorkers. A-Rod comes in and starts hanging around with Madonna. He was never able to make that connection.Rodriguez is still admired in Manhattans Washington Heights neighborhood, where he was born.The walls of the El Nuevo Carnidad Restaurant are decorated with photos of Rodriguez from the two times he visited to provide food for kids in the neighborhood.The restaurants manager, Johnny Crus, said Rodriguez should have been permitted to finish out the season, rather than being released by the Yankees this week.It was disrespectful, he said. The PEDs dont change his impact. He is a grand athlete independent of the mistakes he made. People expected more of him because of how much he got paid.Owner Miguel Montas said a player like Rodriguez comes around every 100 years.He is one of the best players and that creates controversy because he is so focused on the game that he falls short in the social relations. In the game of baseball he has never been a loser, he was always a winner.Wilson Tavaras of the Dominican Republic was wearing a No. 13 jersey while waiting in line at a Yankee Stadium concession stand Sunday after it was announced that Friday would be Rodriguezs last game.What can I say about him? he said. Hes done a lot for us. But its time for him to go.---Eltman reported from Garden City, New York. AP Baseball Writer Ben Walker contributed to this report.Follow Eltman on Twitter at (at)feltman41 ' ' '