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CHICAGO -- As we learned again Sunday night at Wrigley Field, it isnt hard to understand how the Dodgers win when the guy they send to the mound is named?Clayton Edward Kershaw.But heres the part of the Dodgers winning formula that America might find a little tougher to understand: How the heck did they win those other 74 games this year? How is it possible that the Dodgers had a better record this season after Kershaw got hurt (50-35) than they had before (41-36)?We ask these things because, now that Kershaw has finished evening up the National League Championship Series at one win apiece -- by becoming the first pitcher to beat the Cubs in a 1-0 postseason game since Babe Ruth -- its time for the Dodgers to go back to doing what they do best until Kershaws turn comes around again.And by that we mean ... um, dont worry, theyll figure out something.There has never been a first-place team in the history of baseball quite like the 2016 Dodgers. You understand that, right? I posed that question to their trusty president of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman, on Sunday night. Even he didnt attempt to spin it to make it seem as if this teams championship saga was nothing out of the ordinary.I would say the answer is definitely not, Friedman said succinctly, because we set a record for disabled-list placements. So therefore, the answer is definitely not.Yes, the Dodgers placed 28 different players on the disabled list this season. That would be more than any team in the past 30 seasons. And since records for this sort of thing werent kept before then, that puts them in uncharted territory -- at least for that period of history in which territory was charted.And because pretty much everyone except Sandy Koufax and Vin Scully wound up on that disabled list somewhere along the line, the Dodgers also found themselves doing stuff that we can guarantee no other first-place team has ever done. For instance:Never once, at any point over the past 3? months of the season, did the same five starting pitchers go around their rotation twice in the same order. Not once. Over their last 90 games. How is that possible?Well, its possible because this team ripped through 15 different starting pitchers over the course of the season -- after using 16 in 2015. Just so you understand what that means, before last year, only one other team in the history of division play (the 1989 Giants) had made the playoffs in a season in which they had to use at least 15 starters. Now the Dodgers have done it two seasons in a row. Because, well, of course they have.And because they were constantly in some sort of scramble mode, Dave Roberts became the first manager in history to have to remove two different starting pitchers, in the eighth inning or later, even though they were working on no-hitters at the time. Then again, if youre busy reinventing the whole concept of what constitutes a starting rotation, that fits right in, doesnt it?And since all those starters were doing so much coming and going -- especially the going part -- Roberts set another record, making an unprecedented 606 pitching changes. Meaning this guy logged more mileage, just going back and forth to the mound, than your average Uber driver.But it wasnt just the pitchers who were coming and/or going. This team used 55 different players, tying the franchise record for most in a season. It also made 216 roster moves. I know because I counted them all up myself. That comes to more than eight a week. And we remind you, they did that in a season in which they won the NL West. Amazing.You know, we talked about it all during the offseason and spring training, about our feeling that our hallmark of this team was going to be our depth, Friedman said. We just didnt really want to showcase it as much as we did.It was always their assumption, Friedman said, that over the course of any season, things happen. But even they never could have anticipated all THIS would happen. Nevertheless, it was always part of Friedmans team-building philosophy to be ready when those things did happen. And the Dodgers wouldnt be here, still playing, without the forethought that went into that.On one hand, Friedman said, you can say, Oh, we had some injuries. Woe is us. Or you can have as much depth on hand, to be able to plug in with good, capable major league players.So those capable fill-ins just kept on coming. Unless they were going, that is. So after a while, the few veteran players who somehow managed to stay healthy pretty much got used to the idea that every time they looked up, the last two or three or four players on their roster werent going to be the same two or three or four players who were there last week. Or possibly 15 minutes ago.At least, said third baseman Justin Turner, we knew who everybody was. Probably the only guy who we hadnt really met before he got here was when [Andrew] Toles came up. But wed all heard about him.Then again, there are other teams out there that constantly rotate players through those last few roster spots for the sake of flexibility. But what made these Dodgers especially unique was the fact that, well, they didnt even really HAVE a starting rotation.Asked whether it would seem almost impossible to finish first with a team that never used the same rotation twice in a row over a 3?-month period, Turner couldnt help but laugh.It would, he said. But we did.A few feet away, in his own clubhouse, stood second baseman Chase Utley. Five years ago, he played on a first-place team in Philadelphia in which the same five dominating starters went around the rotation over and over and over again from April through September. And that was the way that team won. Then again, its the way teams have won in baseball for the past 100 years. So if Utley thought thats the way life would always work, who could blame him?Now, Utley plays on a team thats the exact opposite, in which the same five starters never went around the rotation. He couldnt help but see the irony.You wouldnt draw it up that way, he said. But whatever works.But even though it did, improbably, work, Friedman admits there were many days his group sat around the office wondering what pitcher was going to start tonight or tomorrow or next Thursday.We had meetings on it constantly, he said.Asked what he remembered about those meetings, Friedman smiled and reported: They were long. And often.Those meetings went on for months and months and months. As the Dodgers plugged one hole after another -- and somehow kept winning.And then, Friedman said, exhaling dramatically, Clayton came back.Did he ever. When Kershaw rejoined the rotation in early September, no one knew just what he would be capable of the rest of the way. But theyre now finding out. Boy, are they finding out.Kershaw has pitched in four games in this postseason. The Dodgers have won them all. Theyve had to play three games in which he didnt appear. And theyve lost them all.So that brings us to where they stand in this NLCS -- where, barring more emergency relief heroism, Kershaw wont be able to pitch again until Game 6, back in Chicago on Saturday. And you might think the Dodgers know exactly how the three games in between will go. But if thats what you think, we are forced to ask: Are you familiar with their work?Theyre pretty sure they know who is starting Game 3 on Tuesday. Unless, of course, Rich Hills blister has other ideas. And theyre fairly certain who is starting Game 4 on Wednesday. Unless, that is, Julio Urias has to fill in for Hill in Game 3, or has to stomp in to pitch some emergency relief at some point.And theyre absolutely positive that Kenta Maeda will start Game 5 on Thursday. They just cant be positive hell even make it into the fifth inning -- seeing as how he hasnt done that in almost a month.So that about sums up the current state of the Dodgers rotation: non-Kershawian division. But when youve won 91 games during the regular season -- and four more in the postseason -- doing it this way, this is no time to sit back and reflect on how ridiculous that is. Its a time to just keep finding a way to win. And survive. As always.It just goes to show, Utley said, that there are a lot of different ways to win a ballgame.Yep. No kidding. And the most different way ever to try to win a World Series.USA Soccer Shirts . Coach Tom Thibodeau says the former MVP will probably start travelling with the team in the next few weeks. 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The Vikings announced Thursday that Priefer will be one of seven holdovers from the previous staff, along with offensive line coach Jeff Davidson, wide receivers coach George Stewart and others. Norv Turner will mark his 30th year of coaching in the NFL as the offensive co-ordinator, as widely reported for weeks, and George Edwards will be the defensive co-ordinator.LOS ANGELES -- Michael Phelps, a 23-time Olympic gold medalist and an avid Call of Duty player, called esports pros fellow athletes when introducing the award for Esports Player of the Year during The Game Awards 2016 at the Microsoft Theater on Thursday night.Theres absolutely no question to me the level of skill, training and devotion it requires to become a professional gamer. Tonight, Im here to pay tribute to five fellow athletes who have demonstrated incredible performance in 2016, Phelps said onstage before introducing the nominees.Brazilian Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player Marcelo Coldzera David won the fan-voted award, beating out Lee Faker Sang-hyeok, Hyun ByuN Woo, Lee Infiltration Seon-woo and Juan Hungrybox Debiedma.Thanks to all my fans, especially Brazilian fans, and thanks to my teaam.ddddddddddddWithout them I wouldnt be here. I had to leave lots of things behind to be here, so Im really happy, Coldzera said through an interpreter.Additionally, Blizzards Overwatch, released just more than six months ago, won several awards including the overall Game of the Year and Esports Game of the Year. Also, North Americas Cloud9 just beat out Europes SK Gaming for Esports Team of the Year.The second annual Game Awards honored the best in video game creation, competition and talent in a wide-ranging show simulcast online. The Game Awards also served as a platform for new game announcements, including esports-related updates like an upcoming Rocket League expansion. ' ' '