The last two Premier League champions are both in a state of flux for different reasons -- current title-holders Leicester City are acclimating to the grind of multiple tournament commitments and 2015 winners Chelsea are looking for consistency on a match-to-match basis under new manager Antonio Conte.The two sides meet at Stamford Bridge on Saturday attempting to jump-start their middling campaigns.It was, of course, all much different the last time Claudio Ranieri visited Chelsea. The one-time Blues manager and his side were given a pre-match honour guard befitting their championship pedigree to conclude that magical season. But those good feelings should be kept in the past according to the Italian manager since Leicester City (2-2-3) are fighting to climb their way out of their current 12th-place spot in the table.The last match at Chelsea was special with the guard of honour, but Saturday is an important match and we must react, Ranieri said at his Thursday news conference. Its a big challenge because now there are so many champions in front. They are playing 3-4-3.They push a lot on the flank but they are also good players with good skill. For us, its important to stay together.The Foxes defence, an underrated component of their run to the title, is still grinding through the gears in league play. Leicester City have not conceded in winning their first two Champions League matches, but Liverpool and Manchester United each breached them for four goals in road losses. So did Chelsea, emerging with a 4-2 victory in extra time at King Power Stadium in the second round of the EFL Cup on Sept. 20.Ranieri is using this match as a measuring stick of his teams mettle.We lost against Liverpool and Manchester United and now arrives another big team, he said. We drew just against Arsenal, so now I want to see how we react.All of Leicester Citys players who represented their countries during the international break came back to the Midlands healthy, and influential midfielder Danny Drinkwater should be available for selection. The England international missed the last two qualifiers recovering from a groin injury but has been practicing with the team.The big subplot to this contest is midfielder NGolo Kante facing his former team for the first time since leaving for Stamford Bridge over the summer. Kante -- worth a £30 million transfer fee in Chelseas eyes -- was the linchpin of Leicesters defence, a tireless engine who tracked every opponent, won seemingly every challenge to create the first touch that sprung Leicester Citys quicksilver counterattack.Kante has made a seamless transition to the London outfit and should be fresh considering he was a stoppage-time situational substitution to help France preserve their 1-0 victory over the Netherlands on Monday. Conte held him out of the EFL Cup tie, but Kante has been a fixture in the starting XI for Chelsea (4-1-2) since his arrival.But the Blues are still a work in progress, evidenced by their inability to beat the Premier Leagues heavyweights thus far. They did avoid going into the international break with a four-match winless streak thanks to Diego Costa, who had a goal and an assist in a six-minute span of the second half Oct. 1 to power a 2-0 victory at Hull City.The Spain international by way of Brazil has re-discovered his 2014-15 form, scoring six of Chelseas 12 goals in league play. Willian also netted his seventh international goal in helping Brazil defeat Venezuela on Tuesday, but his status for this match is unknown following the death of his mother Thursday.Chelsea are still fragile in the back without injured talisman John Terry, leaving Conte to continue his experimentation with a three-man defence he used to great success at Juventus and then with the Italian national team. Their only two clean sheets this season in league play have been at the expense of new boys Burnley and Hull.And like Leicester City, the Blues have faltered in their marquee matches, losing 2-1 at home to Liverpool before being thoroughly outclassed 3-0 by Arsenal at the Emirates.Also similar to the Foxes, Chelsea had most of their first-choice players toiling for country during the international break. Eden Hazard may have been the most productive of the 13 Blues in action, racking up two goals and two assists as Belgium pounded Bosnia-Herzegovina and Gibraltar for 10 goals without reply in their two qualifier victories.Last months League Cup match was a back-and-forth affair -- Shinji Okazaki staked Leicester City to a 2-0 lead with a brace inside the first 35 minutes, but Gary Cahill pulled a goal back just before intermission. Cesar Azpilicueta leveled for Chelsea shortly after the interval, and the match swung after Leicester City defender Marcin Wasilewski was sent off on 89 minutes for his second yellow card.Cesc Fabregas scored twice in the first period of extra time to spark the Blues to victory, but the Spain international was dropped from the starting XI after earning a place for the Arsenal match.Chelsea had won the prior seven matches between the teams in all competitions before a 2-1 loss at Leicester on Dec. 14 as goals by Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez were too much to overcome. That defeat led to the departure of Jose Mourinho, who tore into his team publicly after the match for failing to adhere to his scouting report of the Foxes. Tampa Bay Rays Gear . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup. 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The 15th-ranked Canadian men lost the opening two games of their European tour: 19-15 to No. 17 Georgia and 21-20 to No. Call it the Big Bang of NBA fandom in China.Chinese basketball fans began watching NBA games in 1987, the year in which China Central Television (CCTV) began broadcasting NBA games. Megastars such as ?Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson instantly became household names. Then along came more transformational American talents like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James?and Stephen CurryYao Ming, however, always has a special place in Chinese fans hearts.The 7-foot-6 center from Shanghai isnt flashy. Unlike Allen Iverson, Yaos image is so clean that it borders on boring. The color of Yaos Reebok sneakers is so dull that for many years in China it lagged far behind Nikes glamour shoes.Hes too tall -- basically no Chinese person can relate to or emulate his playing style. Generation after generation, Chinese teenagers have worn baggy pants like Iverson or Under Armour sneakers like Curry, mimicking the look and moves of their idols. And they simply dont practice Yaos post moves.But Yao is one of us. His experience is our experience; his time is our time.A generational symbolIn China, those who were born in the 1980s are called post-80ers. They are part of the first generation that started to enjoy the benefits of Chinas economic reforms of the late 70s that allowed a more open market. Yao was born in 1980. His parents generation emerged hungry from the suffering and political turmoil they grew up in. They were able to provide for their children. When Yao was growing up, millions of Chinese people started to see the world beyond their own windows.Former NBA commissioner David Sterns tireless efforts to globalize the NBA took root in China in 1987, that same year, the American fast food restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken opened its first store in Beijing. Two years later, the first Shanghai KFC outlet opened, and some time later, a 10-year-old Yao waited two hours in line to get his first taste of American food.Fifteen years after that the Houston Rockets drafted Yao as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft. The NBAs popularity in China boomed. His first game against Shaquille ONeal and the Lakers attracted more than 200 million viewers in China. The Rockets instantly beccame Chinas team.dddddddddddd Former U.S. President Bill Clinton described Yao Ming as Chinas single largest export to the United States.Yaos emergence on an elite world sports stage was followed by two fellow post-80ers: Liu Xiang, Yaos fellow Shanghai native, a gold-medal-winning 110-meter hurdler from the 2004 Olympics and world-record holder. And then came Li Na, at one time the worlds No. 2-ranked womens tennis player and two-time Grand Slam winner.By no small coincidence the trios success paralleled Chinas. The countrys gross domestic product per capita in 1987 was $302. It rose to $1,149 by 2002. That same year, KFC opened Chinas 700th restaurant.Post-YaoYao retired in 2011 because of persistent injury issues. Liu was next in 2012, and Li finished her career in 2014. In China, this big three enjoyed once-in-a-lifetime status, not only because each had world-class achievements, but also because they crafted a brand-new kind of Chinese athlete. They spoke English; they had a unique sense of humor; and their charisma was incomparable and, most importantly, authentic. After he finished his NBA career, Yao decided to go back to China. In a 2014 interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel, he said: There is more opportunity [in China]. We have a lot that can be developed.He was correct. Now back in China, he has made himself a professional basketball club owner (in 2009, he bought the Shanghai Sharks, his former CBA team), a successful businessman (he owns his own wine label), a congressman and an ambassador for wildlife protection.In 2015, Chinas per capita GDP was $8,027. KFC has more than 5,000 outlets all over the country.Yao is the product of his era. Fortunately for him and for most Chinese people, it has been a very good era.On Friday in Springfield, Massachusetts, an entire country will celebrate Yao Mings Hall of Fame entry. Undoubtedly his speech will thank everybody important to him. But it is the Chinese fans who will also thank him, for being the countrys best export -- and import -- between United States and China. ' ' '