billsportsmaps.com

March 21, 2012

2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament – map of the 16 qualifying teams in the 2012 tournament, with 2011-12 attendance data, all-time Division I Titles list, and all-time Frozen Four Appearances list / Plus, photos and stats of top NHL Prospects in NCAA Division I Hockey – 2012 Hobey Baker Award finalists & statistical leaders for 2011-12 (17 players).

Filed under: Hockey,NCAA, ice hockey — admin @ 4:47 pm

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2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament


Updateteams who qualified for 2012 Frozen FourFerris State Bulldogs, Union Dutchmen, Minnesota Golden Gophers, Boston College Eagles.

NORTHEAST – at Worcester, MA. Host, College of the Holy Cross.
#1: Boston College vs.
#4: Air Force

#3: Maine vs.
#2: Minnesota–Duluth
March 25, 2012 at Worcester, MA – Boston College 4, Minnesota-Duluth 0.
The Boston College Eagles advance to the 2012 Frozen Four
(their 23rd Frozen Four appearance, and their first since 2010, when they won their 4th NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament title).
boston-college_2012-frozen-four_b.gif
Photo credit above – Melissa Wade/uscho.com.

WEST – at St. Paul, MN. Host, University of Minnesota.
#1: North Dakota vs.
#4: Western Michigan

#3: Boston University vs.
#2: Minnesota
March 25, 2012 at St. Paul, MN – Minnesota 5, North Dakota 2.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers advance to the 2012 Frozen Four
(their 20th Frozen Four appearance, and their first since 2005).
minnesota-golden-gophers_2012-frozen-four_.gif
Photo credit above – Tim Baum/photo.uscho.com/[photo gallery North Dakota vs. Minnesota 3-25-2012].

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EAST- at Bridgeport, CT. Hosts, Yale University and Fairfield University.
#1: Union College vs.
#4: Michigan State

#3: Massachusetts–Lowell vs.
#2: Miami (of Ohio)
March 24, 2012 at Bridgeport, CT – Union College 4, Massachusetts-Lowell 2.
The Union Dutchmen advance to the 2012 Frozen Four
(their first-ever Frozen Four appearance).
union-dutchmen_2012-frozen-four_-.gif
Photo credit above – Union Dutchmen celebrate after clinching their first-ever trip to the Division I Frozen Four, photo by Trent Hermann/Union Athletics at unionathletics.com.

MIDWEST – at Green Bay, WI. Host, Michigan Technological University.
#1: Michigan vs.
#4: Cornell

#3: Denver vs.
#2: Ferris State
March 24, 2012 at Green Bay, WI – Ferris State 2, Cornell 1.
The Ferris State Bulldogs advance to the 2012 Frozen Four
(their first-ever Division I Frozen Four appearance).
ferris-state-bulldogs_2012-frozen-four_c-.gif
Photo credit above – ferrisstatebulldogs.com via photo.uscho.com/[photo gallery Ferris State vs. Cornell 3-24-2012].

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FROZEN FOUR
National Semifinals & Final – at Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Florida.
Hosts, Univesity of Alabama-Huntsvile and the Tampa Bay Sports Commission.
NORTHEAST winner vs. WEST winner
EAST winner vs. MIDWEST winner.

FINAL (2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey National Championship Game):
APRIL 7, 2012 AT 7:00 EDT.

Division I Tournament – live blog, scores, schedule, articles (USCHO.com).

2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament‘ (en.wikipedia.org).

A video from espn.go.com, a three-minute ESPN Sportscenter preview of the tournament, ‘Division I men’s ice hockey tourney‘.

From ncaa.com, 2012 Bracket.

Breakdown of the 16 qualifying teams in the 2012 tournament, by the 5 Division I conferences (with links) -

Reigning champion – Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, of the WCHA (the Bulldogs’ first NCAA Division I hockey title was won in 2011).

CCHA, ‘Central Collegiate Hockey Association‘ (en.wikipedia.org).
http://www.ccha.com/
5 teams in the 2012 tournament from the CCHA – Ferris State Bulldogs, Miami (of Ohio) RedHawks, Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans, Western Michigan Broncos.

WCHA, ‘Western Collegiate Hockey Association‘ (en.wikipedia.org)
http://www.wcha.com/
4 teams in the 2012 tournament from the WCHA – Denver Pioneers, Minnesota Golden Gophers, Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, North Dakota Fighting Sioux.

Hockey East, ‘Hockey East‘ (en.wikipedia.org).
http://www.hockeyeastonline.com/
4 teams in the 2012 tournament from Hockey East – Boston College Eagles, Boston University Terriers, Maine Black Bears, UMass-Lowell Riverhawks.

ECAC Hockey, ‘ECAC Hockey’ (en.wikipedia.org).
http://www.ecachockey.com/
2 teams in the 2012 tournament from ECAC Hockey – Cornell Big Red, Union College Dutchmen.

Atlantic Hockey, ‘Atlantic Hockey‘ (en.wikipedia.org).
http://www.atlantichockeyonline.com/
1 team in the 2012 tournament from Atlantic Hockey – Air Force Academy Falcons.

The map on the map page shows the locations of the 16 teams that have qualified for the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament. Accompanying each team’s dot on the map is either their primary logo or their script logo from one of their current sweaters. At the upper left-hand corner of the map page is a brief description of the selection process, with the four #1 seeded teams listed.

To the right of that, at the top-center of the map page, are the 16 teams in the tournament, listed by 2011-12 average home attendance.
Here is where I got the attendance data from: ‘Men’s Division I Hockey Attendance: 2011-2012‘ (USCHO.com).
Accompanying columns list the following – the schools’ locations, and the teams’ conferences; plus 4 aspects of each team’s attendance data… 2011-12 average attendance and rank (from home, regular season games), percentage-change from 2010-11, stadium capacity, and 2011-12 percent-capacity [Percent-capacity equals average attendance divided by stadium capacity].

Finally, at the far right-hand side of the map page are 2 lists. The top list shows NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament titles (with the year of last title). The list below that shows All-time NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament Frozen Four appearances (with the year of their last Frozen Four appearance).

One thing you should be aware of is that, as opposed to the logos on the map itself, for the 3 charts I used different logos (tiny icon-sized logos) for some of the teams. I did did because of easier visibility (when the logos are shrunk so much) – not very consistent of me, I know, but I figured it wouldn’t cause confusion on a map that features only 16 teams.

One note…both these lists on the far right-hand side of the map page are for ALL teams in the 58-team Division I men’s Ice Hockey set-up, not just the 16 teams who have qualified for the tournament this season. I make this note because on some of my NCAA Basketball Tournament maps, I have listed only the participating teams’ all-time tournament appearances and touirnament titles, but here, with the ice hockey tournament, I am listing NCAA Division I Titles and Frozen Four appearances of all the teams in Division I. I did it this way for two reasons. The far smaller size of Division I men’s ice hockey made it both feasible to include a comprehensive list – there are 58 teams in NCAA Division I men’s hockey, versus 345 teams in NCAA Division I men’s basketball – and sort of pointless to list the more run-of-the-mill accomplishment of simply qualifying. 68 divided by 345 equals 19.7 %, which means that 19.7% of Division I men’s basketball teams make March Madness each year / while 16 divided by 58 equals 27.5%, which means that 27.5% of Division I men’s ice hockey teams make the NCAA Tournament each year.

The Hobey Baker Award is given each season to the top NCAA college hockey player [ Hobey Baker was a military veteran and Princeton graduate who played varsity hockey. Baker died in 1918 in France during World War I as a test pilot. ] The first Hobey Baker Award was given in 1981, and was won by Minnesota-born Minnesota Golden Gophers and 1980 US Olympic hockey team Gold Medalist Center Neal Broten. Other notable Hobey Baker Award winners are Ducks/Avalanche/Predators/Blues Canadian-born Left Winger Paul Kariya (in 1993, as a player on the Maine Black Bears), and East Lansing, Michigan-born Buffalo Sabres Goaltender Ryan Miller (in 2001, as a player on the Michigan State Spartans). ‘Hobey Baker Award‘ (en.wikipedia.org).

Below are the Hobey Baker Award finalists for 2012 (10 players), plus the top statistical leaders for 2011-12 …(photos and stats of 17 players).
Note: 4 of the Hobey Baker Award finalists are listed immediately below but shown in the stats leaders’ section further down.
From NHL.com, from March 15 2012, ‘10 finalists announced for Hobey Baker Award‘.
ncaa_ice-hockey_2012-hobey-baker-award_finalists_shaun-hunwick_tim-kirby_torey-krug_brian-dumoulin_justin-schultz_reilly-smith_d.gif
Photo credits above – Shaun Hurtwick, AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt via espn.go.com. Tim Kirby, postbulletin.com. Torey Krug, msuspartans.com. Brian Dumoulin, Boston College via pressherald.com. Justin Schultz: collegehockeynews.com. Reilly Smith, stars.nhl.com.

Below: the 8 Points leaders (as measured by Goals + Assists), and the 3 top goaltenders (as measured by Goals Against Average), in the 2011-12 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey season (note: stats include regular season and conference playoffs) -
ncaa_ice-hockey_2011-12_top-scorers_spencer-abbott_jack-connolly_austin-smith_mark-zengerle_travis-oleksuk_chris-wagner_drew-shore_brett-gensler_b.gif

ncaa_ice-hockey_2011-12_top-goaltenders_conner-knapp_troy-grosenick_chris-noonan_g.gif

Photo credits above – Spencer Abbott, mainehockeyjournal.com/abbott-enjoying-a-memorable-season-with-black-bears. Jack Connolly, Melissa Wade/uscho.com. Ausrin Smith, alliance.pucksystems.com. Drew Shore, Melissa Wade/uscho.com. Travis Oleksuk, wcha.com. Chris Wagner, collegehockeynews.com. Brett Gensler, bentleyfalcons.com wcha.com. Mark Zengerle, Erica Treais/uscho.com. Connor Knapp, buffalonews.com. Chris Noonan, buffalonews.com. Troy Grosineck, John Carl D’Annibale/timesunion.com.

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Thanks to Jayson Moy at the Bracketology blog at USCHO.com site.
Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championship‘ ; ‘List of NCAA Men’s Division I Frozen Four appearances by school‘.
Thanks to blindschalet.com for the Michigan Wolverines logo.
Thanks to New Hampshire Wildcats store, for the UNH hockey sweater script logo.
Thanks to Gamewornauctions.net, for the Clarkson hockey sweater script logo.
Thanks to shop.uscho.com/College_Hockey_Jerseys for the Miami (of Ohio) hockey sweater logo, and the Vermont hockey sweater logo.
Thanks to the article from bleacherreport.com, by Nicholas Goss, from Sept. 6 2011, ‘The 50 Best Non-NHL Hockey Jerseys of All Time‘ (Minnesota hockey sweater script logo).
Thanks to sketchup.google.com, for the Providence College Friars Hockey Team Logo.
Thanks to Northeastern Univ. store, for Northeastern Huskies hockey sweater logo.

Thanks to Two Hearted River at en.wikipedia.org, for the college hockey teams’ sweater logo illustrations used on the map (at each team’s Wikipedia page, such as UMass-Lowell’s, here).
Thanks to USCHO.com, for stats and coverage.

March 11, 2012

2012 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament – the 68 teams – map, team locations and conferences listed / Plus 2010-11 average attendances listed.

Filed under: NCAA Men's Basketball — admin @ 8:20 pm

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The 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is the 74th edition of what has become known as March Madness. The competition began in 1939, with an 8-team field, and was won by the Oregon Ducks, who beat the Ohio State Buckeyes 43-36, at Patten Gynamsium on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. For 2012, the defending champions are the Connecticut Huskies (aka UConn), and the Final Four games including the Final will be played at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. This is the second season that the expanded-by-3-teams 68-team format is being used. Last season, one of the teams that played in the first Play-In round made it all the way to the Final Four – the VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) Rams, of Richmond, VA. So one would have to say that the 68-team format has turned out to be a brilliant innovation, satisfying the clamor for expansion of the tournament, without watering it down and wrecking the perfection that is the 64-team NCAA bracket format. Coach Shaka Smart‘s VCU Rams are back in the tourney this year, but this year they don’t have to get past the Play-In round, and go straight to the Second Round, as a 12th seed. The VCU Rams play the 5th-seeded Wichita State Shockers in Atlanta on Friday night at 7:15 EDT. Before that, the four Play In games will start on Tuesday with 2 games, the next two Play-in games are on Wednesday; and the 64-team Second Round will begin around noon on Thursday, on through to late Friday night.

At the top of this post and below are links for the schedule, as well as results and coverage. One note, you probably will be able to (like the last 2 years) watch all the games from your computer via the second ink (CBS sports).
ESPN – College BK/ home.
CBSsports.com/College BK.

Qualifying teams by conference can be seen at this link – ‘2012 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament: qualifying teams/Bids by conference‘. Once again, the Big East has the most teams in the tournament, with 9. Permit me a bit of boasting as I mention that tiny St. Bonaventure University’s Bonnies – my favorite college bk team – have made the tournament for the first time in 12 years, on the strength of Senior 6’9” power forward Andrew Nicholson, who hails from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and who was voted the 2012 Atlantic-10 Player of the Year. The Bonnies play Florida State on Friday. That makes 4 teams from the Atlantic-10 in this year’s tournament (St. Bonaventure, Saint Louis, Temple, and Xavier) – not too shabby for a mid-major conference.

The state with the most teams in the tournament is North Carolina, with 5 – Davidson, Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State, and UNC Asheville. Four states have 4 teams in the tournament – California, Kentucky, New York, and Ohio. There are 2 teams that are making their March Madness debuts – the Norfolk State Spartans, of Norfolk, VA; and the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, of Brookings, SD (population 22,000).

The Kansas Jayhawks are the team with the longest current streak of consecutive NCAA tournament appearances – it’s now 23 straight years that the Jayhawks have qualified for the tournament.

Kentucky is the #1 overall seed in the 2012 tournament, and the Kentucky Wildcats are also the team that have been in the tournament the most times (52 times). Here is the list of all-time appearances – ‘NCAA Men’s Division I Tournament bids by school‘.

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Announcement: due to health reasons (pinched nerve in shoulder), I will be cutting back on content output.

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Thanks to the Blogging the Bracket site, for bracket forecasts throughout February and early March – http://www.bloggingthebracket.com/.
Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘2012 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament‘.
Thanks to NCAA.org, for the 2011 attendance figures, ‘2011 NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL ATTENDANCE
(For All NCAA Men’s Varsity Teams)
‘.

March 7, 2012

2011-12 FA Cup, Sixth Round Proper.

Filed under: 2011-12 FA Cup,Football Stadia — admin @ 9:27 pm

2011-12_fa-cup_6th-round_post_.gif
2011-12 FA Cup Sixth Round



FA Cup – results, fixtures, articles (bbc.co.uk/FA Cup).

Saturday 17 March 2012 – Everton v. Sunderland -
Everton Football Club, est. 1878 (as St. Domingo’s FC). ‘The Toffees’ ; ‘The Blues’.
Goodison Park, Liverpool, Merseyside.
Opened 1892. Capacity 40,157. Current average attendance {home league matches, inclusive to 7 March 2012}: 33,100 (down -8.2% from 2010-11).
Everton FC are a Premier League club, with 109 seasons in the English 1st Level [most of any club] (and, currently, 58 consecutive seasons in the English First Division/Premier League).
Everton FC Honors:
9 English titles (last in 1987).
5 FA Cup titles (last in 1995).
1 UEFA European Cup Winners’ Cup title (in 1985).
everton-fc_goodison-park_b.gif
Photo credit above – football-wallpapers.org/category/stadium-wallpapers.

Sunderland Association Football Club, est. 1879 (as Sunderland and District Teachers AFC). ‘The Black Cats’ ; ‘Mackems’.
Stadium of Light, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear.
Opened 1997. Capacity 49,000. Current average attendance {home league matches, inclusive to 7 March 2012}: 38,461 (down -3.9% from 2010-11).
Sunderland AFC are a Premier League club, with 81 seasons in the English 1st Level (and, currently, 4 consecutive seasons in the Premier League).
Sunderland AFC Honors:
6 English titles (last in 1936).
2 FA Cup titles (last in 1973).
sunderland-afc_stadium-of-light_.gif
Image credit above – bing.com/maps/Bird’s Eye satellite view.

Saturday 17 March 2012 – Tottenham v. Bolton -
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, est. 1882 (as Hotspur FC). ‘Spurs’.
White Hart Lane, Tottenham, north London N17.
Opened 1899. Capacity 36,230. Current average attendance {home league matches, inclusive to 7 March 2012): 36,069 (up +1.0% from 2010-11).
Tottenham Hotspur FC are a Premier League club, with 71 seasons in the English 1st Level (and, currently, 34 consecutive seasons in the English First Division/Premier League).
Tottenham Hotspur FC Honors:
2 English titles (last in 1961).
8 FA Cup titles (last in 1991).
4 League Cup titles (last in 2008).
2 UEFA Cup titles (last in 1984).
tottenham-hotspur_white-hart-lane_photo-by-tom-shaw_c.gif
Photo credit above – Tom Shaw/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.

Bolton Wanderers Football Club, est. 1874 (as Christ Church FC). ‘The Trotters’.
Reebok Stadium, Horwich, Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester.
Opened 1997. Capacity 28,101. Current average attendance {home league matches, inclusive to 7 March 2012}: 23,532 (up +2.8% from 2010-11).
Bolton Wanderers FC are a Premier League club, with 73 seasons in the English 1st Level (and, currently, 13 consecutive seasons in the Premier League).
Bolton Wanderers FC Honors:
4 FA Cup titles (last in 1958).
bolton-wanderers_reebok-stadium_photo-by-ed-okeeffe_c.gif
Photo credit above – Ed O’Keeffe Photography at edwud.com.

Sunday, 18 March 2012 – Chelsea v. Leicester City -
Chelsea Football Club, est. 1905. ‘The Blues’.
Stamford Bridge, Fulham, west London SW6.
Opened 1877. Capacity 41,837. Current average attendance {home league matches, inclusive to 7 March 2012}: 41,591 (up +0.3% from 2010-11).
Chelsea FC are a Premier League club, with 77 seasons in the English 1st Level (and, currently, 23 consecutive seasons in the English First Division/Premier League).
Chelsea FC Honors:
4 English titles (last in 2010).
6 FA Cup titles (last in 2010).
4 League Cup titles (last in 2007).
2 UEFA European Cup Winners’ Cup titles (last in 1998).
chelsea_fc_stamford-bridge_photo-by-tom-shaw_b.gif
Photo credit above – Photo by Tom Shaw/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.

Leicester City Football Club, est. 1884 (as Leicester Fosse FC). ‘The Foxes’ ; ‘The Blues’.
King Power Stadium [formerly Walker's Stadium], Leicester, Leicestershire, East Midlands.
Opened 2002. Capacity 32,262. Current average attendance {home league matches, inclusive to 7 March 2012}: 23,326 (down -1.5% from 2010-11).
Leicester City FC are a 2nd Level/Football League Championship club (LCFC have spent 46 seasons in the 1st Level [last in 2003-04], and 60 seasons in the 2nd Level [3rd consecutive season]).
Leicester City FC Honors:
3 League Cup titles (last in 2000).
leicester-city_king-power-stadium_c.gif
Image credit above – flyheli.co.uk/experiences/detail/leicester_city_skyline_tour/.

Sunday, 18 March 2012 – Liverpool v. Stoke City -
Liverpool Football Club, est. 1892. ‘The Reds’.
Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside.
Opened 1884. Capacity 45,522. Current average attendance {home league matches, inclusive to 7 March 2012}: 44,819 (up +4.6% from 2010-11).
Liverpool FC are a Premier League club, with 97 seasons in the English 1st Level (and, currently, 50 consecutive seasons in the English First Division/Premier League).
Liverpool FC Honors:
18 English titles (last in 1990).
7 FA Cup titles (last in 2006).
8 League Cup titles (last in 2012).
5 UEFA European titles (last in 2005).
3 UEFA Cup titles (last in 2001).
liverpool-fc_anfield_photo-by-simon-kirwan_b.gif
Photo credit above – Simon Kirwan/lightboxphotography.com.

Stoke City Football Club, est. 1863 (as Stoke Ramblers FC). ‘The Potters’.
Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
Opened 2002. Capacity 27,598. Current average attendance {home league matches, inclusive to 7 March 2012}: 27,211 (up +1.3% from 2010-11).
Stoke City are a Premier League club, with 56 seasons in the English 1st Level (and, currently, 4 consecutive seasons in the Premier League).
Stoke City FC Honors:
1 League Cup title (in 1975).
stoke-city_britannia-stadium_.gif
Image credit above – bing.com/maps/Bird’s Eye satellite view

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Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘2011-12 FA Cup‘.
Thanks to the FA.com, for the photo of the FA Cup trophy.
Thanks to soccernet.espn.go.com for current attendance figures [7 March 2012].

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