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March 25, 2013

2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament – map of the 16 qualifying teams in the 2013 tournament, with attendance data.

Filed under: Hockey,NCAA, ice hockey — admin @ 9:39 pm

2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament- map
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D-I Tournament Scores (ncaa.com/scoreboards/icehockey-men).

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The 2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament begins on March 29. The 16 qualified teams meet up in 4 regionals. Info here: ‘2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament‘ (en.wikipedia.org).

The Frozen Four for 2013 will be in Pittsburgh, PA on April 11th and the final is on April 13th at the Consol Energy Center (home of the Pittsburgh Penguins) on April 13th.

Defending champions are the Boston College Eagles of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. It was the Eagles’ 5th national championship won on the ice, and their second title in 3 years.

#1 seed overall this year is the Quinnipiac Bobcats. Quinnipiac University of Hamden, Connecticut is private/non-sectarian school about 5 miles north of another tournament qualifier, Yale (of New Haven, CT). Qunnnipiac has an undergraduate enrollment of 6,000, and is best known for something which has nothing to do with college athletics, and that is its widely-utilized polling service, the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute {see this (en.wikipedia.org)}.

The Quinnipiac Bobcats play in the TD Bank Center in Hamden, CT, which opened in 2007 and has a capacity for ice hockey of 3,386. The Quinnipiac Bobcats men’s ice hockey team drew 3,122 per game at ‘The Bank’ in 2012-13, which made for a respectable 92.2 percent-capacity, and was an increase in attendance of 598 per game from 2011-12. The Bobcats’ 3,122 per game put them at 27th out of 59 Division I teams {attendance data here, ‘Men’s Division I Hockey Attendance: 2012-2013‘ (uscho.com)}.

The Quinnipiac Bobcats (formely the Quinnipiac Braves) have only made the tournament once before, in 2002. The 2012-13 Quinnipiac Bobcats are powered by Senior Goalie Eric Hartzell, a workhorse who played in 38 games for the Bobcats in 2012-13, and ended up with a whopping 2,282.59 minutes, going 27-6-5 and with a goals-against-average of just 1.5243 per game – which was third best in D-I in this season, behind Goalie Ryan McKay of Miami (of Ohio), and Goalie Conor Hellebucyk of UMass-Lowell [note: Miami and Mass-Lowell are two other teams which have made the tournament this season]. [D-I stats, here (uscho.com).]

The three other #1 seeds in the 2013 Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament are the Minnesota Golden Gophers (#1/2 overall), the Massachusetts-Lowell RiverHawks (#1/3 overall), and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (#1/4 overall). Notre Dame just upended the most successful D-I men’s ice hockey team, the Michigan Wolverines, on Sunday March 24 in the CCHA tournament final by a score of 3-1. This means that Michigan’s consecutive tournaments streak is over at 22 straight (from 1991 to 2012) [Note: on the map page here I don't have a list for all-time tournament appearances, but I do have one for all-time Frozen Four appearances (at the bottom right-hand corner). If you want to see a specific team's tournament appearance history, click on the following link, '2013 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament', then click within the text there onto the blue-lit team's name, to get to their Wikipedia page.].

7 of the 16 teams are back from the 2012 tournament (listed from the western-most to the eastern-most team) -
The Denver Pioneers.
The University of North Dakota (note: North Dakota has no nickname anymore thanks to PC pressure to get rid of their actually rather dignified ‘Sioux’ nickname and logo).
The Minnesota Golden Gophers (who made the Frozen Four in 2012).
The Miami (of Ohio) RedHawks.
The Union College Dutchmen (who made the Frozen Four in 2012).
The UMass-Lowell River Hawks.
The Boston College Eagles (reigning champions).

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Thanks to USCHO.com for attendance figures, ‘Men’s Division I Hockey Attendance: 2012-2013‘ (uscho.com).
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 Two Hearted River at en.wikipedia.org, for 4 college hockey teams’ sweater logo illustrations used on the map (Boston College, Miami of Ohio, Minnesota, and Union College), at each team’s Wikipedia page, such as ‘Boston College Eagles’ men’s hockey‘.

Thanks to sioux-jersey.com for illustration of 2012-13 North Dakota sweater.

Thanks to buckyslockerroom.com [Wisconsin Badgers' store] for photo of 2-12-13 Wisconsin sweater.

Thanks to und.com und.com/sports/m-hockey for Notre Dame logo.

Thanks to USCHO.com, for stats and coverage.

Thanks to Luke DeVoe for Quinnipiac Bobcats info, at quhockeyblog.com (From The NIP To The Bank – Quinnipiac Bobcats Hockey Blog).

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March 17, 2013

2013 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament – the 68 teams – map, with team locations / Plus 2011 and 2012 average attendances listed.

Filed under: NCAA Men's Basketball — admin @ 9:18 pm

2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament map – 68 teams

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‘NCAA Men’s Division I Tournament bids by school‘ (en.wikipedia.org).

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This is the 75th NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament. The Final Four will be played in the Georgia Dome, in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 6th, with the final on April 8th. There is one team that is making its tournament debut – the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles of Fort Myers, Florida, who won the Atlantic Sun Conference.

Below are the 2 best sites for March Madness scores, game reports, info, etc. -

ESPN – College BK/ home.

CBSsports.com/College BK.

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On the map page, all 68 teams who qualified for the 2013 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament [aka March Madness] are shown. At the far right of the map page are all 68 teams listed alphabetically, with location of their home venue listed, plus their Conference is also noted. At the far right of the map page are the 68 teams’ home attendance data, with 2010-11 average attendance, 2011-12 average attendance, and percent-change from 10/11 to 11/12 [NCAA does not release the current seasons' attendance figures until late April or early May each year]. The asterisks mean that team played to 100%-capacity or above for that season.

There are 5 Division I teams that played to 100 percent-capacity or higher last season, and 4 of them made the 2013 tournament (but the highest-drawing team – the Kentucky Wildcats, did not [Kentucky are perennially the highest-drawing college basketball team in the country (at around 23.5K or so, year- in/year-out, and at 23,721 per game and 100.9 percent-capacity last season)].

Since 2002-03, the Kansas Jayhawks have always sold out their 16,300-capacity Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas, and since 2007-08 have sold a a good deal of standing-room-only tickets – last season they drew 16,445 per game for a 100.8 percent-capacity. Kansas, incidentally, have the longest current tournament-qualification-streak – at 24 straight seasons in the tournament (since 1990).

The Michigan State Spartans have been playing to sell-outs at the 14,797-capacity Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan since the 1999-2000 season, and most likely also in 2012-13, so let’s call it 14 straight seasons of playing to full capacity for the Spartans at 14,797 per game and a 100.0 percent-capacity.

The Duke Blue Devils are rolling in the endowment money and thus have no reason to expand the capacity of their home venue in Durham, North Carolina because the 9,314-capacity Cameron Indoor Stadium gives them a home-court-atmosphere and an advantage that is the envy of most other college basketball programs. So the third-most-endowed university in the USA is quite happy with the 9,314 average attendance figure and that 100.0 percent-capacity figure that they draw every year – every year since 1988-89, the first season after renovations there increased the capacity of Cameron Indoor Stadium from 8,800 (seated) to 9,314 [in the renovation of 1987-88].

The Gonzaga Bulldogs also boast a real home court advantage in their always-sold-out 6,000-capacity McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Washington; last season, the Gonzaga Bulldogs men’s basketball team finally started selling SRO tickets and ended up drawing 6,212 per game for a 103.5 percent-capacity.

The closest any other teams, which qualified for the 2013 tournament, came to a 100% home capacity in their home games last season were (I am pretty sure): the Wisconsin Badgers (at 99.7 percent-capacity); the Wichita State Shockers (at 98.9 percent-capacity); the Louisville Cardinals (at 97.7 percent-capacity); and the San Diego Aztecs (at 97.4 percent-capacity).
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Thanks to Chris Dobbertean at 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, ‘2013 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament‘ .

Thanks to NCAA.org, for the 2010-11 attendance figures {pdf}, ‘http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/pdfs/2011/2011+ncaa+mens+basketball+attendance+full+report‘; and the 2011-12 attendance figures {pdf}, ‘http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/pdfs/2012/2012+ncaa+mens+basketball+attendance‘.

Team logos from each team’s page at en.wikipedia.org, except for La Salle Explorers’ logo from cbssports.com; Montana Grizzlies’ logo from GoGriz.com; and Temple logo from temple.edu.

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March 6, 2013

2012-13 FA Cup, Sixth Round Proper: location-map and current attendance data of the 8 clubs / Plus captioned illustrations of the 8 clubs’ managers & top scorer(s).

Filed under: 2012-13 FA Cup — admin @ 11:44 am

Note: click on image below to see map with chart

2012-13 FA Cup, Sixth Round Proper: location-map and current attendance data of the 8 clubs

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Below, the 4 fixtures

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bbc.co.uk/ FA Cup (bbc.co.uk/sport/football/fa-cup).
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Below are the 8 clubs who have made it to the 2012-13 FA Cup Sixth Round, listed in order of league placement within the Premier League/Football League ladder (league tables from 6 March 2013), with captioned illustrations featuring each club’s manager and each club’s current top scorer(s) [players on current rosters/goals from all competitions]…

-(#1/1st Level), 1st place in the Premier League, Manchester United.
Below, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson; and their current top scorer, Robin van Persie, with 23 goals in all competitions (19 LG, 3 EU, 1 FA).

Photo credits above –
independent.co.uk.
Jamie McDonald/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
Background image in illustration above is an enlarged segment of photo of the gingham-plaid 2012-13 MUFC home jersey, and was Unattributed at caughtoffside.com.

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-(#2/1st Level), 2nd place in the Premier League, Manchester City.
Below, Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini; and current top scorers Edin Džeko with 13 goals (12 LEA, 1 EU) & Sergio Agüereo with 13 goals (9 LEA, 2 EU, 2 FA).

Photo credits above -
Roger Goraczniak at en.wikipedia.com.
Getty Images via telegraph.co.uk.
atomicsoda.com/man-city/all/18-jan-2013.

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-(#4/1st Level), 4th place in the Premier League, Chelsea.
Below, Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benítez; and current top scorer Juan Mata, with 17 goals (10 LEA, 3 EU, 1 FA, 2 LC, 1 OTHER).

Photo credits above –
Unattributed at independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/rafael-benitez-rant-what-the-chelsea-interim-manager-said-8514341.html.
Unattributed at sportinglife.com.

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-(#6/1st Level), 6th place in the Premier League, Everton.
Below, Everton manager David Moyes; and current top scorer Marouanne Fellaini with 12 goals (11 LEA, 1 FA).

Photo credits above -
Alex Livesey/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
Unattributed at click-sports.com.

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-(#17), 17th place in the Premier League, Wigan Athletic.
Below, Wigan Athletic manager Roberto Martinez; and current top scorer Arouna Koné with 10 goals (8 LEA, 2 FA).
Illustrated article from Dailymail.co.uk, from 13 April 2012, by Chris Wheeler ‘From pre-match meals at Asda to walking down Wembley way! How Martinez and his amigos started a Wigan revolution‘ (dailymail.co.uk/sport/footbal).

Photo credits above -
Chris Brunskill/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
wiganlatics.co.uk.
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-(#33/2nd Level), 13th place in the Football League Championship, Blackburn Rovers.
Below, Blackburn Rovers’ manager Michael Appleton; and current top scorer Jordan Rhodes with 21 goals (20 LEA, 1 FA).

Photo credits above -
Unattributed at 1.skysports.com.
Empics via bbc.co.uk/football

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-(#35/2nd Level), 15th place in the Football League Championship, Millwall.
Below, Millwall manager Kenny Jackett; and current top scorers Andy Keogh with 6 goals (6 LEA) & James Henry with 6 goals (5 LEA, 1 FA).

Photo credits above -
PA via dailymail.co.uk.
PA at sportsmole.co.uk.
Simon Galloway/EMPICS via london24.com.

-(#42/2nd Level), 22nd place in the Football League Championship, Barnsley.
Below, Barnsley manager David Flitcroft; and current top scorer Chris Dagnall, with 9 goals (4 LEA, 3 FA, 2 LC).

Photo credits above -
Unattributed at football.co.uk.
Unattributed at 1.skysports.com.

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Thanks to soccerway.com for attendance figures.
Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘2012–13 FA Cup‘.
Thanks to bbc.co.uk/football for the Fixture list image on the map page.

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February 22, 2013

Major League Baseball: Attendance map for the 2012 regular season, with percent changes from 2011, and percent-capacities.

Filed under: Baseball,Baseball >paid-attendance — admin @ 3:18 pm

2012 Major League Baseball average attendance map
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Please note: to see the most recent MLB paid-attendance map-and-post, click on the following: category: Baseball >paid-attendance.
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On the map, which you can see in full by clicking on the image above, a photo of each ball club’s 2012 home ball cap is sized to reflect 2012 gate figures…the higher the team’s average attendance, the larger the team’s ball cap is on the map. At the right on the map page are the 30 MLB teams (with their 2013 home cap crest), listed by 2012 attendance rank. Three extra stats for each team are included at the far right-hand side of the map page – Percent-Change from 2011 attendance, Stadium Seating Capacity, and Percent-Capacity [percent-capacity is arrived at this way...average attendance divided by stadium capacity equals Percent-Capacity]. As was the case in 2011, again last season (2012), two teams played to a cumulative percent-capacity of above 100% – the Philadelphia Phillies and the Boston Red Sox. That did not necessarily mean they sold out every game though, as MLB stadiums are allowed to issue Standing Room Only (SRO) tickets and that is the norm at Fenway Park in Boston and at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philladelphia (the San Francisco Giants are also issuing a good deal of SRO tickets these days). So in practical terms, when you know that a league allows for overflow/SRO tickets and you see a percent-capacity figure of, say, 100.4%-capacity, what that number is most likely telling you is that a certain amount of the games were totally sold out plus had a couple hundred or so standing-room-only ticket-buyers; and a certain amount of the games came very close to being sold out at around 98 or 99%-capacity. That is what is happening most recent seasons with both the Phillies (for the last 4 seasons {since 2009}) and with the Red Sox (for the past 10 seasons now {since 2003}). It is just that one of those two teams is pretending they actually sell out every game (see below).

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The MLB teams that fill their ballpark the best
(The top 5 percent-capacity figures for 2012) -

#1., at 100.8 percent-capacity – the Philadelphia Phillies. Citizens Bank Ballpark, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In 2012 the Phillies averaged 44,021 per game, and they led the Major Leagues in average attendance for the second straight season.

Photo credits above –
princetonvarsityclub.org.
shop.mlb.com.

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#2., at 100.4 percent-capacity – the Boston Red Sox. Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts.
The Red Sox averaged 37,567, which was 8th highest in Major League Baseball in 2012.

Photo credits above –
Phillip Greenspun / philip.greenspun.com.
shop.mlb.com.

The Red Sox have officially had a current sold-out streak of over 780 straight games but that claim is bogus because the Red Sox ticket office has been manipulating the concept of “sold-out” for a while now. True, the Red Sox do cumulatively draw above 100 percent, with standing-room-only the norm at most of their games at Fenway, and Boston has been drawing above 100% of seated capacity since 2003. But in recent seasons, some games, especially in the early-season (ie, cold weather games) are not completely sold out even if the Red Sox ticket office is giving away some tickets at the last minute. The following article from May 2012 flatly refutes the idea that the Red Sox’ home game sold-out streak is still alive… from boston.com, from May 4, 2012, by Bob Holher and Seth Lasko, ‘Red Sox sellout streak a real numbers game‘. In an early May 2012 game at Fenway, the reporter is at the Red Sox ticket booth when the box office is closing…{excerpt from the article linked to above}…’The correspondent saw the window clerk give away four more tickets moments after he received his. He then checked with the clerk just before the booth closed at 9:35 p.m. and was told that tickets remained unsold.’… {end of excerpt}.

Below, a photo of some of the crowd art a supposedly “sold out game” at Fenway Park in Boston in early May 2012…

Photo credit above – Yoon S. Byun/Globe staff via boston.com.

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#3., at 99.4 percent-capacity – the San Francisco Giants. AT&T Park, San Francisco, CA.
The 2012 World Series Champions San Francisco Giants averaged 41,695, which was 4th highest in Major League Baseball in 2012.

Photo credits above –
twgsponsorship.com/att-park.
shop.mlb.com.

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#4., at 91.5 percent-capacity – the St. Louis Cardinals. Busch Stadium (III), St. Louis, Missouri.
The Cardinals averaged 40,272, which was 6th highest in Major League Baseball in 2012.

Photo and Image credits above -
angelsarms.org.
Cardinals Nation logo from stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com.
shop.mlb.com.

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#5., at 90.6 percent-capacity – the Detroit Tigers. Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan.
The Tigers averaged 37,383, which was 9th highest in Major League Baseball in 2012.

Photo credits above –
etsy.com.
shop.mlb.com.
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Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘Major League Baseball‘; and at the Ballparks of Baseball.com site, for ballpark capacity numbers.
Thanks to ESPN site for 2012 and 2011 attendance figures.

Thanks to mlb.com/shop for 29 of the MLB teams’ home cap photos.
Thanks to sportsstation1.com for the photo of the Baltimore Orioles’ home cap.

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February 12, 2013

2012-13 FA Cup, Fifth Round Proper (including one Fourth Round replay): location-map and current attendance data of the 17 clubs.

Filed under: 2012-13 FA Cup — admin @ 6:27 pm

2012-13 FA Cup, Fifth Round Proper (including one Fourth Round replay): location-map and attendances of the 17 clubs

bbc.co.uk/ FA Cup (bbc.co.uk/sport/football/fa-cup).
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Note: 15 of the clubs shown on the map page have qualified for the 2012-13 FA Cup 5th Round Proper, and 2 of the clubs shown on the map – Brentford and Chelsea (both from West London) – will play their 4rh Round replay this weekend at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge. On 22 January, third division side Brentford London held on for a 2-2 draw against the Premier League giants Chelsea {see this article by Phil McNulty at guardian.co.uk, ‘Brentford 2-2 Chelsea‘}. [The replay was unable to be re-scheduled until now.] Though Brentford’s Griffin Park and Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge are only about 8 km. (or 5 miles) apart, Brentford and Chelsea had not played each other since an FA Cup tie in 1950 {see this article from WSC.co.uk from January 2013 by Chris Dean, ‘Brentford fans are upbeat about their club again – Bees improving on and off the pitch‘.}

Full fixture list is at the far right-hand side of the map page.
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Televised matches – see this (en.wikipedia.org).

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Thanks to soccerway.com for attendance figures (for Football League clubs, and Conference clubs).
Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘2012–13 FA Cup‘.
Thanks to bbc.co.uk/football for the Fixture list image on the map page.

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January 31, 2013

NFL, 1936 season and 1937 season – with a map featuring 1937 final standings and 1937 uniforms & thumbnail profiles of the 10 teams / Plus the greatest triple threat in NFL history, Sammy Baugh / Plus Helmet History charts of the 9 currently-active teams from 1937 (Cardinals, Bears, Packers, Giants, Lions, Redskins, Eagles, Steelers, and Rams).

Filed under: NFL>1937 map/season,NFL/ Gridiron Football,Retro maps — admin @ 9:43 pm

NFL, 1937 map, with all-time helmet histories
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Note: Scroll down to the bottom of this post to see the Helmet History charts of the 9 currently-active teams from 1937 (1937 NFL teams: Chicago Bears, Chicago Cardinals, Cleveland Rams, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, New York football Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh football Pirates, Washington Redskins).

1936 NFL -

1936 NFL teams’ uniforms can be seen at the following link, 1936 NFL teams [uniforms] (gridiron-uniforms.com/1936).

The 9-team NFL that made up the 1936 NFL season looked like this (teams listed in final order of finish):
Eastern Division
Boston Redskins, 1936 NFL Championship Game finalist.
Pittsburgh Pirates
New York Giants
Brooklyn Dodgers
Philadelphia Eagles

Western Division
Green Bay Packers, 1936 NFL Championship Game finalist.
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Chicago Cardinals

In 1936, the NFL played its 17th season. It was the first season where each of the teams played an equal amount of games (12 games). Yes, that is correct – it took 17 years for the NFL to finally have a season with a balanced schedule. (This is one of several reasons why the NFL doesn’t really like to mention, let alone celebrate, the league’s fly-by-night and quasi-bush-league early days.) The 1936 NFL champions were the Green Bay Packers, who beat the Boston Redskins 21-6, in a game played at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan, NY. The 1936 NFL Championship Game was the only NFL title game [pre-Super Bowl era] in which the team with the home field advantage declined to play at their own stadium, and instead elected to play at a neutral site. The Boston Redskins, who had won the Eastern Division, had rights to home field for the 1936 title game (it was done on a rotating basis back then). The Redskins moved the venue to New York City because the Boston Redskins’ owner, George Preston Marshall, was so angry about the small turnout for what would be the last game the Boston Redskins played in Boston, Massachusetts. That game, their final game of the 1936 regular season, was a 30–0 win over the Pittsburgh (football) Pirates, and only 4,813 fans showed up at Fenway Park in Boston (where the Redskins played then). So in spite (and Marshall was a spiteful man), Marshall had the 1936 title game moved to New York City at the Polo Grounds, where the New York (football) Giants played their home NFL games [renting the stadium from the stadium-owners, the New York (baseball) Giants of the National League]. [Note: on the map page you can see 2 photos of the Polo Grounds, as it looked for Giants' NFL games (one is an action photo from a 1937 NFL game of New York vs. Brooklyn, and another photo is an undated aerial photo of the Polo Grounds in football configuration {you can see them at the far right-hand side of the map page near the blue-and-red caption-box})].

The 1936 NFL Championship Game was the 4th that the league had played {origins of NFL playoffs, here, ‘NFL/Playoff and championship history/Early years/1932 playoff game/Before the Super Bowl (en.wikipedia.org)}. The Western Division winners were the Green Bay Packers, who were the last-surviving small-town team in the NFL and who had won 3 straight NFL championships in 1929, 1930, and 1931.

1936 NFL Championship Game, Green Bay 21, Boston 6, at Polo Grounds, New York City. So in 1936, Green Bay claimed their fourth NFL title [all-time, the Packers have won 9 NFL Championship titles and 4 NFL Super Bowl titles].

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The 1937 NFL season

1937 NFL teams’ uniforms can be seen at the following link, 1937 NFL teams [uniforms] (gridiron-uniforms.com/1937).

For 1937, the NFL added a 10th team, with the expansion team the Cleveland Rams. The Cleveland Rams were only technically an expansion team, because the same owner, and 4 players, were part of the 1936 Cleveland Rams of the AFL of 1936 [this AFL, AFL (II) was the second of four rival-leagues called the AFL, the last, of course, being the successful AFL of 1960-69, which ended up getting all 10 of its teams into the NFL in 1970 with the AFL/NFL merger].

If you are interested in reading further on the Rams’ early days, you can click on the following link, to my profile of the franchise here, ‘NFL Thumbnail Histories: the Cleveland Rams/ Los Angeles Rams/ St. Louis Rams.’

Like the 1936 Cleveland Rams of the AFL (II), the 1937 Cleveland Rams of the NFL wore red and black. [The Rams changed to dark blue and yellow-orange the following season, 1938.] The Rams were placed in the Eastern Division, balancing the two NFL divisions then at 5 teams each. Most importantly, the NFL returned, after a 3-year spell, back to a league set-up that featured an even number of teams. [Having an even number of teams is something that is always helpful for an organized league to have, because it makes scheduling less complicated, but it is even more important for a gridiron football league to have an even number of teams - because an odd number of teams means that one team has to sit out each week.]

The other change in league membership in 1937 was that the Redskins franchise moved from Boston to the nation’s capital in Washington, DC. The Redskins began playing at the Major League baseball team the Washington Senators’ Griffith Stadium (you can see an undated photo of the Redskins playing at Griffith Stadium on the map page [lower center of page]).

The 1937 NFL regular season
Midway through the 1937 NFL’s 11-game season, the Chicago Bears, coached by owner George Halas and led by an aging but still effective Bronko Nagurski at fullback, were unbeaten (5–0) in the Western Division, while the New York Giants were leaders in the Eastern Division (4–1). At the Polo Grounds on October 31, the Bears and the Giants played to a 3–3 tie. The Giants and Bears held their leads in their divisions through the middle and latter parts of the ’37 season, with the Bears clinching a spot for the title game with a 13–0 win over Detroit at the University of Detroit Stadium on November 25th.

The Giants, on the other hand, lost their lead. On December 5, the final game of the 1937 season had Washington (7–3 and .700) traveling to New York (6–2–2 and .750). A win or a tie would have given the Giants the Eastern title, but the Redskins, propelled by rookie QB Sammy Baugh, won 49–14, and got the division crown and the trip to Chicago to face the Bears in the 1937 NFL Championship game. The Redskins were coached by former New York Giants End Ray Flaherty (who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1976). But despite the Redskins’ potent and innovative passing-oriented offense, the Redskins were the decided underdogs to the dominant pro football team of that era, the Monsters of the Midway, the Chicago Bears.

Below, 1937 NFL final standings of the regular season…

1937 NFL Championship Game, December 12, 1937 at Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL.
Washington Redskins 28, Chicago Bears 21.

It was so cold there that day at Wrigley Field on the North Side of Chicago that spectators tore up parts of the stadium to build large bonfires to keep warm. Both teams wore rubber-soled shoes to gain a better footing. The frozen, ice-shard laden and slippery surface of the field left players cut, bloody and dazed. The lead in the game changed hands 4 times. But the ahead-of-its-time passing-oriented offense of the unheralded Redskins prevailed in the end. The Redskins’ rookie QB Sammy Baugh went 17 for 34 for 352 passing yards and 3 TD passes. Those were unheard-of numbers for that era. Redskins’ coach Ray Flaherty further exploited Baugh’s passing prowess in that game by inventing, on that very day there in Chicago, the behind-the-scrimmage-line screen pass. Sammy Baugh completed three long touchdown passes in the 3rd quarter – 55 yards and 78 yards to End Wayne Miller; then the 35-yarder to Wingback Ed Justice that took the lead for good. The Washington defense held the Bears scoreless in the 4th quarter, and the Washington Redskins were professional gridiron football champions for the first time. Attendance was 15,878.

Below, via youtube.com, a newsreel of the 1937 NFL Championship Game, December 12, 1937 at Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL – Washington Redskins 28, Chicago Bears 21…
‘Newsreel: World Football Crown – 1937‘ (Pathegram newsreel via Youtube.com, posted by weidvideos).

Below is an illustration which includes a screen-shot from the 1937 newsreel of the 1937 NFL Championship Game (linked to above) between the Chicago Bears and the Washington Redskins…

Image and Photo credits above -
Illustration of Bears’ and Redskins’ uniforms from uniformdatabases.com/1937.
Screenshot of Pathegram newsreel via Youtube.com, posted by weidvideos.
fs64sports.blogspot.com.
pophistorydig.com.

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‘1937 Washington Redskins season‘ (en.wikipedia.org) [note: this link includes a team photo of the Redskins at Soldier Field in Chicago in Aug. 1938, 8 months after they had beaten the Bears for the title at Wrigley Field.]

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From the Washington Redskins’ official site, from Feb.12, 2012, by Michael Richman, ‘Flashback: Redskins’ First season In D.C.‘
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From NFL Network – ‘Top Ten Most Versatile Players, number one: Sammy Baugh‘ (3:31 video from nfl.com).
In the video linked to above, pro football historian Ray Didinger says, “You’re talking about one guy who was Peyton Manning, Ray Guy, and Ronnie Lott, all in one…” That one guy was Sammy Baugh, the QB/P/DB of the Washington Redskins for 16 seasons from 1937 to 1952. Slingin’ Sammy Baugh was a Texas-born halfback out of TCU. Baugh helped pioneer the quarterback’s role in the modern football game. Baugh, like many of his contemporaries, played both offense and defense – he excelled as a defensive safety, plus he took the Redskins’ punting duties. Baugh threw for 168 TD passes in a 16-year career for Washington. Baugh retired in 1952. In 1963 he was a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH.
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From TheHogs.com, the salient points of Sammy Baugh’s NFL career…
» Drafted 6th overall in the first round of the 1937 draft.
» All-NFL seven times.
» NFL passing leader six times.
» NFL passing, punting AND interception champ, 1943.
» Only player to lead the NFL in an offensive, defensive, and special teams category.
» Top punter in NFL history.
» Career records: 21,886 yards, 187 TDs passing, 45.1-yard punting average, 31 interceptions.
» Only player in Redskin history to have his jersey retired (33).

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From the Pop History Dig, ‘Annals of Sport – “Slingin’ Sammy” [Baugh]‘.

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Helmet Histories of the 9 oldest-still-active NFL teams (all teams still active from at least 1937)

Est. 1898 as the Independent semi-pro team the Morgan Athletic Club of Chicago, IL (Morgan Athletic Club {Independent}, 1898). / Name changed to Racine Normals (Racine Normals {Independent}, 1899-1901) [Racine being the street where the team's football field (Normal Park) was located, in the South Side of Chicago]. / In 1901 name changed to Racine Cardinals (Racine Cardinals {Independent}, 1901-06;1913-18; 1918-19). / Joined NFL [APFA] in 1920 as the Racine Cardinals (NFL [APFA], 1920-21). / In 1922 name changed to Chicago Cardinals (NFL, 1922-1959). / In 1960 moved to St. Louis, MO: St. Louis Cardinals (NFL, 1960-1987). / In 1988 moved to Greater Phoenix, AZ: Phoenix Cardinals (NFL, 1988-93). / In 1994 name changed to Arizona Cardinals (NFL, 1994-2013).
Arizona Cardinals Helmet History -

Arizona Cardinals Helmet History
Image credits above – gridiron-uniforms.com/cardinals.

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Est. 1919 as the Independent semi-pro team the Decatur Staleys (of the A.E. Staley Co.) of Decatur, IL. / Joined NFL [APFA] in 1920 as the Decatur Staleys (NFL, 1920). / In 1921 moved to Chicago, IL: Chicago Staleys (NFL [APFA], 1921). / In 1922 their name changed to Chicago Bears (NFL, 1922-2013).
Chicago Bears Helmet History -

Chicago Bears Helmet History
Image credits above – gridiron-uniforms.com/bears.

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Est. 1919 as the Independent semi-pro team the Green Bay Packers (of the Indian Packing Co.) of Green Bay, WI. / Joined NFL [APFA] in 1921, Green Bay Packers (NFL, 1921-2013).
Green Bay Packers Helmet History –

Green Bay Packers Helmet History
Image credits above – gridiron-uniforms.com/packers.

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Est. 1925 as an NFL expansion franchise, the New York (football) Giants (1925-2013) of New York City, NY.
New York Giants Helmet History -

New York Giants Helmet History
Image credits above – gridiron-uniforms.com/giants.

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Est. 1929 as the Independent semi-pro team the Portsmouth Spartans of Portsmouth, OH. / Joined NFL in 1930 as the Portsmouth Spartans (NFL, 1930-33). / In 1934 moved to Detroit, MI as the Detroit Lions (NFL, 1934-2013).
Detroit Lions Helmet History -

Detroit Lions Helmet History
Image credits above – gridiron-uniforms.com/lions.

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Est. 1932 as an NFL expansion franchise, the Boston (football) Braves of Boston, MA (NFL, 1932). / In 1933 changed name to Boston Redskins (NFL, 1933-36). / In 1937 moved to Washington, DC as the Washington Redskins (NFL, 1937-2013).
Washington Redskins Helmet History -

Washington Redskins Helmet History
Image credits above – gridiron-uniforms.com/redskins.

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Est. 1933 as an NFL expansion franchise, Philadelphia Eagles (NFL, 1933-2013).
Philadelphia Eagles Helmet History -

Philadelphia Eagle Helmet History
Image credits above – gridiron-uniforms.com/eagles.

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Est. 1933 as an NFL expansion franchise, Pittsburgh (football) Pirates of Pittsburgh, PA (NFL, 1933-39). / In 1940 changed name to Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL, 1940-2013).
Pittsburgh Steelers Helmet History -

Pittsburgh Steelers Helmet History
Image credits above – gridiron-uniforms.com/steelers.

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Est. 1936 as the Cleveland Rams of Cleveland, OH, a team in the second [of 4] AFL leagues that existed in the 20th century, the AFL (II) of 1936. / Joined NFL in 1937 as the expansion team the Cleveland Rams (NFL, 1937-45). / In 1946 moved to Los Angeles, CA as the Los Angeles Rams (NFL, 1946-1994). / In 1995 moved to St. Louis, MO as the St. Louis Rams (NFL, 1995-2012).
St. Louis Rams Helmet History -

St. Louis Rams Helmet History
Image credits above – gridiron-uniforms.com/rams.

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Photo credits on map (going clockwise from the upper left of the map page)-
Green Bay’s City Field (1920s) from packers.com/Stadium History/Other Homes.
Brooklyn football Dodgers at Ebbets Field photo from: Brooklyn Ballparks.com.
Large action photo of New York football Giants vs. Brooklyn football Dodgers at the Polo Grounds from 1937: AP photo via brooklynbeforenow.blogspot.com.
Polo Grounds aerial view: history.giants.com.
Washington Redskins playing at Griffith Sradium photo [date and opponents indeterminate] from bleacherreport.com.
Sammy Baugh photo, 1940 vs. Bears, unattributed at pophistorydig.com/topics/sammy-baugh-1930s-1950s/
Sammy Baugh color-tinted photo, unattributed at fs64sports.blogspot.com, ‘List of the day, Best Passing Yardage Seasons, 1940s NFL‘.
Chicago Bears at Wrigley Field aerial photo, unattributed at stadiumsofprofootball.com.
Comiskey Park [Chicago Cardinals], unattributed at SportsE-cyclopedia.com.

_
Thanks to the FootballDatabase.com, for score lines from 1937.
Thanks to mlb.com, for this article, ‘Football at Wrigley has long, storied past‘.

Special thanks to Gridiron Uniforms Database, for allowing billsportsmaps.com use of their NFL uniforms illustrations, gridiron-uniforms.com.

Comments (4)

January 26, 2013

2012-13 FA Cup, Fourth Round Proper, chart: all the upsets from 25-27 January 2013 / Plus illustrations of the Luton over Norwich upset & the Oldham over Liverpool upset.

Filed under: 2012-13 FA Cup — admin @ 3:10 pm

[ Note: Here is the 2012-13 FA Cup 4th Round Proper Map post. ]
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bbc.co.uk/ FA Cup (bbc.co.uk/sport/football/fa-cup).

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Norwich City 0-1 Luton Town
85 places and 4 league levels separated the 2 clubs.

Video highlights, ‘Norwich 0 Luton 1‘ (tvgolo.com).

The first FA Cup upset since 1989 which involved a Non-League side beating a first division club occurred today. Luton Town of the 5th division Conference National stunned Premier League club Norwich City in Norfolk by the score of 0-1. An impressive crowd of 26,521 saw the match at the 27,010-capacity Carrow Road ground. The Hatters, managed by Paul Buckle, scored in the 80th minute as sub Scott Rendell made a sliding stab at the ball crossed over from another substituted player, JJ O’Donnell. [The previous upset of a Non-League club over a first division club in the FA Cup took place in January 1989, when Sutton United upset First Division club Coventry City 3-2 on a muddy pitch in front of an overflow crowd at Gander Green Lane in Surrey {see this iillustration of Sutton United 3-2 Coventry City, 1988-89 FA Cup 3rd Round [7 Jan. 1989] from a post I made for the 2011-12 FA Cup 2nd Round}.]

Photocredits above –
Blue Square/PA via guardian.co.uk.
breakingnews.ie.

Luton Town are now only the 7th Non-League club since WW II to make it to the FA Cup 5th Round Proper.

From dailymail.co.uk/football, from 26 January 2012, ‘Norwich 0 Luton 1: Super sub Rendell the hero as non-league Hatters stun Canaries‘.

From TwoHundrdPercent.net, from 27 Jan. 2013, by Ian King, ‘Luton Town’s FA Cup Win Should Not Be Understated‘.

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Oldham Athletic 3-2 Liverpool
56 places and 2 league levels separated the 2 clubs.
Attendance for the match, which was at the 10,628-capacity Boundary Park in Oldham, Greater Manchester, was 10,295.

Video highlights, ‘Oldham 3-2 Liverpool‘ (footreview.net).

Photo credits above -
telegraph.co.uk.
Reuters via mirror.co.uk/sport/football/match-reports/oldham-3-2-liverpool-match-report-1559452.
yorkpress.co.uk.
Getty Images via mirror.co.uk/sport/football/match-reports/oldham-3-2-liverpool-match-report .
mcfc.com.

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Comments (1)

January 25, 2013

2012-13 FA Cup, Fourth Round Proper: location-map and attendances of the 32 clubs.

Filed under: 2012-13 FA Cup — admin @ 11:21 am

2012-13 FA Cup, Fourth Round Proper: location-map and attendances of the 40 clubs

bbc.co.uk/ FA Cup (bbc.co.uk/sport/football/fa-cup).
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From Guardian.co.uk/Football, from 25 January 2013, by Paul Doyle, ‘Ten things we are looking forward to in the FA Cup this weekend‘.
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Televised matches, see this.
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My last post on the FA Cup had a chart with all the upsets, ‘2012-13 FA Cup, Third Round Proper, chart: all the upsets from 5 January 2013, plus the 2 best-results for a lower-placed club which ended in a draw.’
___

Thanks to soccerway.com for attendance figures (for Football League clubs, and Conference clubs).
Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘2012–13 FA Cup‘.
Thanks to bbc.co.uk/football for the Fixture list image on the map page.

Comments (0)

January 19, 2013

2013 Copa Libertadores, map of the 38 clubs in the competition.

Filed under: Copa Libertadores — admin @ 12:57 pm

2013 Copa Libertadores, map of the 38 clubs in the competition

‘COPA LIBERTADORES [fixtures, results, tables]‘ (soccerway.com).

From SabotageTimes.com, from 8 Feb.2013, by Mauricio Savarese, ‘Copa Libertadores: A Guide To The World’s Roughest Football Tournament‘.

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The 2013 Copa Libertadores (for sponsoship reasons called the 2013 Copa Bridgestone Libertadores de América ) will be the 54th tournament of the Copa Libertadores.
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The competition, run by CONMEBOL, features qualifying clubs from the 10 South American nations under CONMEBOL’s jurisdiction, plus, since 1998, clubs from Mexico (despite the fact that Mexican football is under the jurisdiction of CONCACAF). 9 of the 11 countries involved are allotted 3 qualifying spots, while Argentina and Brazil get 5 spots. The Holder – SC Corinthians gets an automatic spot, so Brazil has 6 spots in this tournament. The football associations of each country involved have different criteria for awarding their Copa Libertadores spots, and you can see those details here {‘Copa Libertadores/Format/Qualification’ (en.wikipedia.org)}. In general terms, each country’s most recent champion or champions will qualify, plus the best-placed non-champions – with the exception of Mexico, which, since 2011, treats the Copa Libertadores as its second-tier international competition (with the CONCACAF Champions League treated as Mexico’s first-tier international competition [which is illogical on the FMF's part, because there is no fútbol fan on Earth who considers the CONCACAF Champions League title to be a more prestigious title than the much-coveted Copa Libertadores title]).

In Brazil’s case, the 5 qualifiers are first place through 4th place in the previous year’s Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (Fluminense were champions in 2012), plus the current Copa do Brasil winner (Palmeiras were the Brazilian cup winners in 2012). In Argentina’s case, the qualifiers are the previous year’s Clausura [now called Final] champion (Arsenal de Sarandi won it in May, 2012), the previous year’s Apertura [now called Inicial] champion (Vélez Sarsfield won it in December, 2012), and the next best-placed non-qualifiers via aggregate of the previous Clausura [Final] season and Apertura [Incial] season (Newell’s Old Boys and Boca Juniors qualified this way); plus the Copa Sudamericana spot. Tigre qualified this way, as best performance [as a finalist, losing to São Paulo] in the 2012 Copa Sudamericana by an Argentine club not already qualified. [Since 2010, the Argentine Football Association has had the winner, or best-placed non-qualified Argentine team, from the Copa Sudamericana also get into the next year's Copa Libertadores, as the 5th-seeded Argentine team. The Copa Sudamericana is analogous to the UEFA Europa League tournament in Europe, and features clubs who won national cups or who placed in the 2nd-to-14th-place range in their respective leagues.]

The current Copa Libertadores format, which has been in place since 2005, has 38 teams in it. But 12 of those teams must play in a preliminary round (involving a two-legged tie), called the First Stage, in order to get to the 32-team group stage, which is called the Second Stage. The Second Stage is comprised of 8 groups of 4, and the top 2 in each group advance to the Round of 16.

Elements of the map page -
On the map page, a list of the match-ups for the First Stage (aka preliminary round) is just below the top banner, at the upper right-hand corner. Or you can see the matchups at this link…’2013 Copa Libertadores/First Stage‘.

The map page features a location-map of the 38 clubs, and profile boxes for the clubs arranged by country. Each club’s profile box features…the club’s crest and home kit; their stadium(s) and location; how the club qualified for the tournament; the club’s total national professional titles (and the year of their most recent title); the club’s total Copa Libertadores appearances (and how the club fared in their most recent Copa Libertadores appearanace); and the club’s Copa Libertadores titles (and the year of most recent title).

I added one new feature to the map this year – for every metro-area which has more than one team in the competition, I have inserted a small tan box denoting that. Greater Buenos Aires is the metro-area with the most clubs in the 2013 Copa Libertadores- 4 clubs (Tigre, Vélez Sarsfield, Boca Juniors, and Arsenal).

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Consecutive tournament appearances by club
Fifteen clubs from the 2012 tournament return to the 2013 Copa Libertadores, including reigning champions SC Corinthians of São Paulo, Brazil. The 15 back for a second-straight Copa Libertadores appearance are…
41st appearance, Peñarol (Uruguay).
40th appearance, Club Nacional (Uruguay).
37th appearance, Olimpa (Paraguay).
28th appearance, Bolívar (Bolivia).
22nd appearance, Emelec (Ecuador).
19th appearance, The Strongest (Bolivia).
18th appearance, Universidad de Chile (Chile).
15th appearance, Caracas (Venezuela).
14th appearance, Liberad (Paraguay).
13th appearance, Defensor Sporting (Uruguay).
13th appearance, Vélez Sarsfield (Argentina).
12th appearance, Corinthians (Brazil) – Cup Holder.
12th appearance, Libertad (Paraguay).
6th appearance, Fluminense (Brazil).
3rd appearance, Arsenal [de Sarandí] (Argentina).
.
There are 9 clubs which will be making their 3rd consecutive appearance in the Copa Libertadores (2011, 2012, and 2013) –
Peñarol (URU).
Nacional (URU).
Bolívar (BOL).
Emelec (ECU).
Caracas (VEN).
Libertad (PAR).
Vélez Sarsfield (ARG).
Corinthians (BRA).
Fluminense (BRA).
.
There are 7 clubs which will be making their 4th consecutive appearance in the Copa Libertadores (2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013) –
Nacional (URU).
Bolívar (BOL).
Emelec (ECU).
Caracas (VEN).
Libertad (PAR).
Vélez Sarsfield (ARG).
Corinthians (BRA).
.
There are 3 clubs which will be making their 5th consecutive appearance in the Copa Libertadores (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013) –
Nacional (URU).
Caracas (VEN).
Libertad (PAR).
.
There are two clubs which will be continuing their Copa Libertadores consecutive-appearances streak past 5 straight appearances. Actually, these 2 clubs have made it to the Copa Libertadores a lot more than 5 straight times – Caracas of Venezuela have made it now 10 straight times (from 2004 to 2013, with their best finish in 2009, when Caracas made it to the Quartefinals and lost to Grêmio on the away-goals-rule 2-2).

Club Nacional de Football, Montevideo, Uruguay -
17 consecutive Copa Libertadores appearances (Nacional has qualified for every tournament from the 1997 Copa Libertadores to the 2013 Copa Libertadores)

Photo credit above – Badano24 at flickr.com.

And then there is Club Nacional de Football of Montevideo, Uruguay. Nacional will be making their 17th consecutive Copa Libertadores appearance in 2013. Nacional of course are one of the Big 2 in Uruguay (along with Peñarol). Nacional have won the Copa Libertadores title 3 times, but have not done so for 25 years now (Nacional’s 3 Copa Libertadores titles were won in 1971, 1980, and 1988). The best finish Nacional has had in their current Copa Libertadores-appearances-streak is in 2009, when they made it to the Semifinals (losing 6-0 to eventual 2009 Copa Libertadores champions Estudiantes [of La Plata, Argentina]).
{‘1997 Copa Libertadores‘ (en.wikipedia.org).
“2009 Copa Libertadores‘ (en.wikipedia.org). }

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2013 Copa Libertadores appearances chart with titles listed for the 38 clubs in the 2013 tournament

Below is a chart I put together that shows all 38 clubs in the 2013 Copa Libertadores, placed in order of all-time appearances; along with titles and date of last title listed.

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Thanks to FootieMap.com, for finding stadium-locations of various clubs, http://www.footiemap.com/.
Thanks to RSSSF – I used this list for all-time Copa Libertadores appearances chart, ‘Copa Libertadores 1960-2010 Club Histories’ at rsssf.com .
Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘2013 Copa Libertadores‘.

Comments (6)

January 15, 2013

USA: National Women’s Soccer League, the new 8-team league set for an April 2013 start: location-map with team info / Plus the 2013 NWSL Allocation Draft, with the 55 American, Canadian, and Mexican players listed by team.

Filed under: Soccer (USA & Canada) - - NASL/MLS/NASL(II)/USL/NWSL,Women's Soccer — admin @ 10:01 pm

National Women’s Soccer League, with players listed from the 2013 NWSL Allocation Draft [55 USSF/CSA/FMF players]

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Official site of the National Women’s Soccer League, nwslsoccer.com.

NWSL allocation draft on Jan. 19, 2013: 23 American, 16 Canadian, and 16 Mexican players allocated to the 8 new NWSL teams [55 players] -

Update, NWSL 2013 season, week 1 [April 13/14], from The Equalizer, by Jeff Kassouf, ‘NWSL attendance watch: Week 1‘ (equalizersoccer.com). [equalizersoccer.com is now on the blogroll].

The newly-formed National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women’s league operated by the US Soccer Federation (USSF), in affiliation with the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) & the Mexican Fútbol Federation (FMF). The 8-team NWSL is set to start in April 2013. The allocation draft sent 7 or 6 players to the 8 teams. The NWSL College Draft is now set for Friday January 18h (see 3rd link below).

‘National Women’s Soccer League‘ (en.wikipedia.org).

NWSL at facebook, http://www.facebook.com/NWSL.

nwslshop.com/categories-nwsl-jerseys.html.

From ussoccer.com, ‘NWSL College Draft to Take Place on Friday, Jan. 18 at the NSCAA Convention in Indianapolis‘.

The National Women’s Soccer League will be the third attempt to establish a women’s pro soccer league in the United States. Both previous atempts lasted 3 seasons (the Women’s United Soccer Association lasted from 2001 to 2003; and Women’s Professional Soccer lasted from 2009 to 2011). One big difference this time is that the soccer federations of the USA and Canada (the USSF and the CSA), and the fútbol federation of Mexico (the FMF) wil be paying the salaries of the players they have placed in the allocation draft. There were 55 players placed in the allocation draft – 23 players who have played for the USA women’s soccer team; 16 players who have played for the Canada women’s soccer team; and 16 players who have played for the Mexico women’s fútbol team. The lower-left-hand corner of the map page shows the whole list of players grouped by their new pro teams. I have included 16 player-photos – 2 player photos per team for each of the 8 NWSL teams. In deciding on which 2 players per team I would showcase via the photos, I consulted a few articles on the NWSL allocation draft including the article linked to right below (by Richard Farley).

From prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com, by Richard Farley, ‘Morgan to Portland, Solo to Seattle as Pacific Northwest dominates NWSL allocation‘.

From ussoccer.com, ‘NWSL Announces Allocation of 55 National Team Players to Eight Clubs‘.

Here are 2 more articles on the 2013 NWSL Allocation Draft…

From the [Rochester] Democrat & Chronicle, from Jan.14, 2013, by Jeff DiVeronica, ‘Abby Wambach on playing for the WNY Flash: ‘A dream come true’.’ (democratandchronicle.com).

From Richard Farley, from Jan.12, 2013, ‘Thoughts as Seattle’s GM reacts to NWSL allocation, losing Alex Morgan‘ (prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com).

Below: The NWSL allocation draft on Jan. 19, 2013 featured 55 American, Canadian, and Mexican players allocated to the 8 new NWSL teams, including –
Alex Morgan to Portland Thorns; Abby Wambach to Western New York Flash; and Megan Rapinoe to Seattle Reign…

Photo credit above -
facebook.com.

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Photo and Image credits on map page-

Stadia photos and Players’ photos -
Boston Breakers:
Stadium, bostonbreakerssoccer.com.
FW- Sydney Leroux (USA), ussoccer.com.
GK- Cecilia Santiago (MEX), womenssoccerunited.com.

Chicago Red Stars:
Stadium, bing.com/maps.
FW- Maribel Domínguez (MEX), photo by Friedemann Vogel/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
MF- Keelin Winters (USA), sounderswomen.com.

FC Kansas City:
Stadium, bing.com/maps.
MF/FW- Lauren Cheney (USA), blog.belief.com
MF/DF- Desiree Scott (CAN), Canadian Olympic Committe via dose.ca.

Portland Thorns:
Stadium, aecom.com.
FW- Alex Morgan (USA), photo from http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/magicjack.
FW- Christine Sinclair (CAN), kelownaunited.com.

Seattle Reign:
Stadium, Joe Mabel at en.wikipedia.org.
MF- Megan Rapinoe (USA), realsaltlake.com.
GK- Hope Solo (USA), photo from pinterest.com//hope-solo.

Sky Blue FC:
Stadium,bing.com/maps.
FW- Mónica Ocampo (MEX), photo by Ding Xu/Xinhua via cncworld.tv.
DF- Sophie Schmidt (CAN), photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.

Washington Spirit:
Stadium, Kevin Borland at flickr.com. bing.com/maps.
GK- Ashlyn Harris, photo from http://s1.zetaboards.com/L_Anon/topic/4615473/456/.
DF- Alina Garcuamendez (MEX), collegesoccer360.com.

Western New York Flash:
Stadium, dorochester.com via equalizersoccer.com. Screenshot of video uploaded by strawberrycroc at youtube.com, ‘7/20/11 CROWD OF OVER 15,000 DO WAVE AT SAHLEN’S STADIUM!!‘.
MF- Carli Lloyd, photo by Stanley Chou/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
FW- Abby Wambach, photo by Christopher Hanewinckel, USA TODAY Sports/ usatoday30.usatoday.com.
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Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘National Women’s Soccer League‘.
Thanks to ussoccer.com for the team lists (on the map page) from the 2013 NWSL Allocation Draft.
Thanks to FC Kansas City site for this article, ‘FC KANSAS CITY NAMES VENUE FOR 2013 SEASON‘ (fckansascity.com).

Thanks to NWSLshop.com for photos of the 2013 NWSL jerseys, http://www.nwslshop.com/categories-nwsl-jerseys.html.

Comments (2)

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