billsportsmaps.com

March 30, 2009

England National Football Team- roster from 23rd March, 2009. Birthplaces and Hometowns Map.

Filed under: 2008-09 English Football,England National Team — admin @ 6:49 am

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Here is an article on England coach Fabio Capello’s initial squad selection of 23rd March,  from the Guardian UK site {click here}.  In the next few days,  Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp,  and Ledley King himself,  made it clear that King’s selection was not sustainable.  Here is more on King’s future with the squad,  from the Telegraph UK site, by Joe Ley   {click here}.  

Now Emile Heskey is injured,  and Capello has called up Tottenham’s Darren Bent.  Here is an article on the striker situation, from 30th March,  from the Guardian UK site, by Dominic Fifield {click here}. 

On 31st March,  Capello called up Aston Villa’s Gabriel Agbonlahor to fill the striker shortage.

England plays Ukraine Wednesday 1st April, at Wembley,  in a crucial World Cup qualifier.  Here is an article, from 29th March, on Ukraine striker Andriy Voronin,  who has scored 11 goals in 20 games for surprise Bundesliga leaders Hertha Berlin {click here (Ukrainiansoccer.net)}.

England Squad, player profiles, from the FA Site {click here}.

Here’s a gallery of past Engalnd kits {click here (Guardian UK)}.

Thanks to Umbro.com {to see the current England jersey, click here}.    Thanks to the contibutors to the pages at Wikipedia {click here}.

March 28, 2009

2009 Division I Basketball Tournament, 4th Round (Regional Finals; aka the Elite Eight).

Filed under: NCAA Men's Basketball — admin @ 5:10 am

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There are 4 teams from the Big East (Connecticut,  Louisville,  Pittsburgh,  and Villanova);  2 teams from the Big 12 (Missouri and Oklahoma);  and one team each from the ACC (North Carolina) and the Big Ten (Michigan State).

Thanks to CBS Sports Coll/BK {click here}.

March 25, 2009

NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament, 3rd Round (16 teams).

Filed under: NCAA Men's Basketball — admin @ 5:39 pm

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There were no upsets in the tournament’s second round.  And for the first time,  all 4 regions’ top 3 seeds remain.  The lowest seed still alive is the Arizona Wildcats,  who are the #12 seed in the Midwest Region.

2009 tournament record by conference,  {click here (from Wikipedia)}.

Thanks to CBS Sports {Coll/BK click here}.   Thanks to the contributors to the pages at Wikipedia {click here (2009 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament Tournament)}.

March 23, 2009

MLB Ball Clubs and their Minor League Affiliates: the San Francisco Giants.

Filed under: Baseball Clubs/Farm Teams — admin @ 5:47 am

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Below:  San Francisco Giants Auxiliary Chart,  with selected uniforms and logos from the San Francisco Giants franchise’s history (New York Gothams 1883-1884/  New York Giants (1885-1957)/  San Francisco Giants (1958-2009). 

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San Francisco Giants page at Sports E-Cyclopedia {click here}.

Thanks to the National Baseball Hall Of Fame’s “Dressed to the Nines” site,  featuring uniforms templates drawn by Marc Okkonen {click here}.   Thanks to Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos site  {click here (set at SF Giants logos) }.   Thanks to MLB shop {click here}.   Thanks to MiLB shop {click here}.

March 21, 2009

2009 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, Second Round (32 teams remaining).

Filed under: NCAA Men's Basketball — admin @ 12:13 am

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Of the 32 advancing teams, 3 come from the state of Ohio (Cleveland State,  Dayton,  and Xavier).  There are 11 states which boast two teams.  These states are…California,  Washington,  Arizona,  Texas,  Oklahoma,  Wisconsin,  Michigan,  Kentucky,  North Carolina,  Pennsylvania,  and New York.   

There were 10 upsets in the first round,  5 of which were in the Midwest Region.   Midwest Region at CBS Sports, {click here}. 

The biggest upset involved second-time tournament entrants the Cleveland State Vikings,  who were the #13 seed in the Midwest Region.  Cleveland State stunned #4 seed Wake Forest 84-69,  in Miami late Friday night {see this (ESPN)};  {see this (CBS)}.  Cleveland State’s first appearance in the NCAA tournamernt was 23 years ago,  when they also advanced to the second round.

Also very late Friday night,  in the East Region,  #12 seed Wisconsin  Badgers took #5 seed Florida State to OT,  winning 61-59.

Another big upset was the #12 seed Western Kentucky Hilltoppers defeating the #5 seed Illinois,  in the South Region.

Another #12/ #5 upset was in the Midwest region, with the Arizona Wildcats over Utah.

A giant upset was #11 Dayton Flyers beating #6 West Virginia,  in the Midwest Region.  West Virginia had won at least two games in each of their last 4 tournament appearances (in 1998, 2005, 2006, and 2008).  Dayton had not won a game in the NCAA tournament since 1990.  Here’s an article from CBS Sports {click here}. 

There were three games where the #10 beat the #7 seed… in the South Region, with the Michigan Wolverines beating Clemson;  in the Midwest Region,  where the USC Trojans eliminated Boston College;  and in the West Region,  where the Maryland Terrapins (who were a last-minute selection to the tournament) defeated California.

There were two #9 seeds winning over the #8 seeds. In the West,  the Texas A&M Aggies made it an 0 for 3 showing by Utah-based entrants by beating Brigham Young University.

And in the Midwest,  there was an epic double-overtime thriller in Dayton, Ohio late Friday night.  The Siena Saints trailed the Ohio State Buckeyes through almost the entire game,  before tying it late.  Then Siena sent it to the second overtime courtesy of a Ronald Moore 3-point shot at the buzzer.  The second OT went to the wire as well, and the junior guard Moore sunk another three-pointer with 3.9 seconds left (from almost the identical spot on the floor),  to give Siena a 2 point lead that held up,  74-72  {see this, from ESPN)}.   Siena played with a swarming defense that kept the Buckeyes unsettled throughout the game,  and featured a stand-out performance by Staten Island, NY-born sophmore forward Ryan Rossiter (16 pts., 15 rebounds),  and clutch shooting by senior guard Kenny Hasbrouck and Poughkeepsie, NY-born junior Edwin Ubiles.  Sienas is an independant Catholic Liberal Arts school with an enrollment of only 2,900.  And their men’s basketball team,  coached by Fran McCaffery,  is going to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the second straight season.

Thanks to CBS Sports/ College BK {click here}.   Thanks to Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos Page {click here (set at Siena Saints)}.   Thanks to the contributors to the pages at Wikipedia {click here}. 

March 17, 2009

2009 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, the 64 Team Field.

Filed under: NCAA Men's Basketball — admin @ 7:03 pm

Please note: if you are looking for the current March Madness Field of 68 map, click on the following… category: NCAA men’s basketball.
Otherwise, if you actually want to see the 2009 version of the map, scroll down further.


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Average attendances from 2008 are listed on the left.   Here is the list of the highest drawing teams in Division I which did not qualify for the 2009 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament (with 2008 average attendances, from the NCAA site {here})…1. Kentucky: 22,554.   8. Arkansas: 17,148.   9. Indiana: 16,876.   15. Creighton: 15,333.   18. New Mexico: 14,361.   23. Iowa State: 13,317.   24. Georgetown: 12,955.   25. Kansas State: 12,529.

Thanks to Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos Page {click here}.   Thanks to CBS Sports/ College BK {click here}.   Thanks to the contributors to the pages at Wikipedia {click here}.

March 15, 2009

2009 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament, the 65 teams who qualified.

Filed under: NCAA Men's Basketball — admin @ 5:00 pm

Please note: if you are looking for the March Madness Field of 68 map for 2015, click on the following… category: NCAA men’s basketball.

Otherwise, if you actually want to see the 2009 version of the map, scroll down further.


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On the map are all 65 of the teams that qualified for the 2009 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament. 
Thanks to Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos Page {click here}.  Thanks to the ESPN/ College BK: Bubble Watch, by Mark Schlabach {since it is pointless to provide a link to ‘yesterday’s news’,  here is the main page there…click here}.   Thanks to CBS Sports/ College BK {click here}.   Thanks to the contributors to the pages at Wikipedia {for the page on the 2009 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament,  click here}.

March 10, 2009

2008-’09 UEFA Cup, Final phase/ Round of 16: Map, with Club Profiles.

Filed under: UEFA Cup / Europa League — admin @ 5:24 pm

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I don’t care what anyone says,  I like the UEFA Cup.  All too often,  Champions League games are boring affairs,  with both sides playing so conservatively that the tempo is deadened.  But very often in UEFA Cup matches,  the play is wide open and go-for-broke.  And to those who say what is the point, because it’s not the Champions League,  it’s the second-best cup,  I say…  nations’ Champions League status is directly affected by outcomes in the UEFA Cup.  For example,  for 2009-2010,  Russia will now have 2 clubs, not just 1,  that go directly to the Champions League Group Stage,  and 1 club that will enter the 3rd round of the Champions League Qualifiers.  That means 3,  not 2,  clubs from Russia can now make it to the 09/10 Champions League.  Conversely,  only 2 clubs from Portugal,  not 3,  can make it to the 09/10 Champions League.  This is due to outcomes not just in the Champions League,  but the UEFA Cup as well.  Russia’s Zenit St. Petersburg won last season’s UEFA Cup,  and that contributed to Russia’s rise in the UEFA Coefficient rankings,  from #9 to #6.  And the clubs that finished in second and third place in the 2009 Russian Premier League will benefit from this.

So while English clubs like Bolton (last season) and Aston Villa (this season) feel it is necessary to field weakened sides in the latter stages of the UEFA Cup,  clubs from many other parts of Europe feel otherwise.

UEFA Coefficient rankings, {click here}.

Thanks to ESPN Soccernet, for attendance figures {click here (set at 2008-’09 Bundesliga attendances).   Thanks to the European Football Statistics site for attendance figures {click here}.   Thanks to Ukrainiansoccer.net,  for attendance figures {click here}.   Thanks to the contibutors to the pages at Wikipedia {click here (set to 08/09 UEFA Cup/Round of 16).

Thanks to Colours Of Football, for kits {click here}.   Thanks to Switch Image Project for kits {click here}.   [Note: I decided not to display the Euro kits which some clubs have, because I was unable to get illustrations of all of these.  So I used their domestic leagues kits.  To see: Olimpique Marseille’s 08/09 Euro kit, (click here};  St.-Etienne’s 08/09 Euro kit, {click here};  Hamburg’s 08/09 Euro Kit, (click here}

March 7, 2009

NHL Eastern Conference, Atlantic Division: Team Profiles and Map.

Filed under: Hockey-NHL, pre-realignm't — admin @ 7:41 pm

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The National Hockey League’s Atlantic Division is the only division in the league made up entirely of teams that have won a Stanley Cup Title.  

The New York Rangers were formed in 1926 as an expansion team (along with the Chicago Black Hawks and the Detroit Cougars) and are the oldest team in the Atlantic Division.  The Rangers were formed one year after the now-defunct New York Americans first brought pro hockey to midtown Manhattan.  Tex Rickard,  the boxing promoter who built and ran the third Madison Square Garden, (at W 50th St. and 8th Avenue),  decided he wanted to run a hockey team as well in New York City,  and the New York press soon nicknamed the fledgling franchise ”Tex’s Rangers”.  With the aid of Pacific Coast Hockey Association co-founder Les Francis,  the Rangers won their first Stanley Cup Title in just their second season,  in 1927.

The Rangers have won 4 Stanley Cup Titles,  but endured a 54-year cup drought,  with no titles won between their 1940 and their 1994 championships.   Led by veteran cup-winners Mark Messier and Brian Leetch,  the 1993-’94 Rangers rallied from 2 games down versus the New Jersey Devils in the semifinals,  and then won the 1994 Stanley Cup Title in 7 games over the Cinderella-team ,  7th seed Vancouver Canucks. 

The next oldest clubs in the Atlantic Division are the two Pennsylvania franchises,  the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins.  Both were formed in 1967, when the NHL doubled in size from 6 to 12 teams.  

The golden age of the Philadelphia Flyers was in the early half of the 1970′s,  when the brawling Broad Street Bullies won back-to-back Stanley Cup Titles,  in 1974 and 1975.  The Flyers have remained competitive in the years since then,  but have come up short in 5 Stanley Cup Finals,  most recently in 1997,  when they were shut out by the Detroit Red Wings.  The Philadelphia Flyers draw so well that they are able to have their top minor league affiliate,  the Philadelphia Phantoms,  play right next door.

The Pittsburgh Penguins also won their Stanley Cup Titles in successive years,  in 1991 and 1992.  The Penguins have endured some lean years since then,  including bankruptcy in 1998.  17-year player and prolific scoring legend Mario Lemieux (Wikipedia profile here} was one of the club’s biggest creditors,  and was able to put together a plan that the NHL Board of Governors and the US Bankruptcy Court approved.  Lemieux bought the Penguins, then came out of retirement to play as player/owner of the Penguins from 2000 to 2006.  In 2005,  it was reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  that all of the franchise’s $90 million debt was paid.  Lemieux remains as principal owner.  Last season the Penguins finally made it to back to the Stanley Cup Finals,  but lost to Detroit 2 games to 4.

The New York Islanders were formed as one of two expansion teams in 1972 (along with the Atlanta Flames).  In just their third season (1974-’75),  the Islanders made it to the semifinals.   Led by their first line of Mike Bossy,  Bryan Trottier,  and Clark Gilles,  the Islanders won 4 consecutive Stanley Cup Titles,  from 1980 to 1983.  The Islanders remained competitive for the remainder of the 1980′s,  but then began a decline which the franchise has never really come out of.  These days the New York Islanders languish near the bottom of the table,  and are perennially the lowest drawing club in the league. 

The New Jersey Devils are the youngest hockey club in the division,  beginning as the Kansas City Scouts,  in 1974.  The Scouts were one of two expansion teams for 1974 (along with the Washington Capitals).  The team had real trouble attracting season ticket buyers (with just 2,000 in 1975-’76),  and were forced to move to Denver,  Colorado in 1976,  after just two seasons in Missouri.  The Colorado Rockies continued the franchise’s dismal showing on the ice.  For a number of years,  the franchise tried to move again,  to New Jersey,  but the NHL Board blocked the move until a suitable arena was in place.  That came about in 1982.  The New Jersey Devils continued the franchise’s sub-.500 ways,  although the team improved every year from 1984 to 1987.  In 1987-’88,  the Devils achieved the 13-year-old franchise’s first winning season,  and their second playoff appearance.  It took 7 more seasons for the New Jersey Devils to win their first Stanley Cup Title,  in 1995,  with a shutout of the Detroit Red Wings.  The Devils went on to win the Stanley Cup again in 2000 (4-2 over the Dallas Stars) and in 2003 (4-3 over the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim).

Thanks to Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos Page {click here}.    Thanks to Jersey Database site {click here (set to the JerseyDatabase blog section)}.   Thanks to Logo Shak {click here}.   Thanks to the NHL shop {click here}.   Thanks to Stadium Classics/NHL jerseys {click here}.   Thanks to Gameday Sports Archive (NHL throwback jerseys) {click here}.   Thanks to the contributors to the pages at Wikipedia {NHL page here}.

March 4, 2009

2008-09 FA Cup Sixth Round Proper, the 9 Clubs still alive.

Filed under: 2008-09 FA Cup — admin @ 7:33 pm




Thanks to the contributors to the 2008-2009 FA Cup page at Wikipedia, {
click here}.   Thanks to Tony’s English Football Site {click here}.   Thanks to Historical Football Kits {click here},  for the kits in the club profile boxes.
Thanks to the FootyMad.net sites, for their invaluable Cup History sections on each club {click here (set to Everton FC Cup History)}.

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