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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

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}.

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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}.

Comments (1)

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}.

Comments (4)

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

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}

Comments (2)

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}.

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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)}.

Comments (2)

March 2, 2009

MLB Ball Clubs and their Minor League Affiliates: the Seattle Mariners.

Filed under: Baseball Clubs/Farm Teams — admin @ 4:57 pm

[Note: I have changed the large map to be of a similar style as the smaller division map. Plus, I have slightly enlarged the logos, the location dots, and the type sizes (all in descending size, to correspond with the league level). When I get the chance, I will replace this style on the maps of the ball clubs that I have already done. I also will have a link, below the Auxiliary Chart, to the ball club's page on the great site called Sports E-cyclopedia {click here (home page)]

Below: Seattle Mariners Auxiliary Chart, with selected uniforms and logos from the franchise’s history (1977-2009).

Seattle Mariners page at Sports E-Cyclopedia {click here}.

Thanks to Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos Page {click here (set at Seattle Mariners logos) }. Thanks to MLB shop {click here}. Thanks to Anaconda Sports {click here}. Thanks to the contributors to the Seattle Mariners page at Wikipedia {click here}.

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February 28, 2009

Ukrainian Premier League Clubs, 2008-’09 Season: Club Profiles.

Filed under: Ukraine — admin @ 6:43 pm

For the other two pages of profiles of Ukrainian Football Clubs , click on the following…

ukrainian-football-clubs-profiles-p2_other-clubs-with-titles.gif

ukrainian-football-clubs-profiles-p3_.gif

Thanks to the Ukrainian Soccer History site {click here}. Thanks to the Switch Image Project site {click here}, for the Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk kits. Thanks to World Soccer magazine {click here}.

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February 25, 2009

2008-’09 Ukrainian Premier League, attendance map at the winter break.

Filed under: Ukraine — admin @ 6:12 pm

The Ukrainian Premier League is back from it’s long winter break, with fixtures for the 18th week to be played between 27th February and 4th March. The most noteworthy fixture is the match next Wednesday that sees league leaders Dynamo Kyiv visit Metalist Kharkiv, who are in second place.

Meanwhile, three Ukrainian clubs are still alive in the 2008-’09 UEFA Cup…the Big 2 (Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk) and Metalist Kharkiv.

Ukrainian Premier League table {click here (Soccerway site)}.

On the map I have shown the 18 clubs in the 08/09 Ukrainian Premier League, with their logos sized to reflect their current average attendance. On the right are the 18 clubs, with their founding dates; their major titles (including USSR titles won before the fall of the Soviet Union, in 1991); and their total seasons spent in the Ukrainian Premier League [this is the league's 18th season].

Dynamo Kyiv seem to have put behind them the disorganization of their last season, and have a 6 point lead on Metalist Kharkiv, and more importantly for them, a 12 point lead on their nemesis, Shakhtar Donetsk. Dynamo Kyiv’s top scorer is Ismaël Bangoura, from the West African Republic of Guinea, who leads the league with 12 goals. Ukrainian international Artem Milevsky (who was born in Mazyr, Belarus) has 8 goals. Here is an article on Dynamo Kyiv’s resurgence under former Lokomotiv Moscow and Dynamo Moscow manager Yuri Semin {see this, by Jonathan Wilson at the Guradian UK}.

Metalist Kharkiv have flown under the radar for years, building a respectable academy and a loyal and somewhat sizeable fan base (they currently draw 14,150 per game). But Metalist have won only one title, the 1988 USSR Cup. Their leading scorer is the Brazilian Jackson Coelho, with 10 goals. Here is their club profile on the Ukrainian Soccer.net site {click here}. Their manager is Myron Markevych, who left his hometown club Karpaty Lviv to take over at Metalist in 2005.

Metalist Kharkiv are owned by industrialist Oleksandr Yaroslavsky, who is bucking the current league trend of belt-tightening in the wake of the global financial crisis, by vowing to spend to improve the squad. This after Metalist defeated Benfica, Galatasaray, and Olympiacos in the UEFA Cup group stage. Currently, in the final phase of the UEFA Cup, Metalist Kharkiv lead Sampdoria 1-0 (with the return leg Thursday the 26th at home in Ukraine). The goal in Genoa was scored on a header by midfielder Denys Oliynyk {see this match report, from the Goal.com site}. Oliynik was picked up from Dynamo Kyiv during the winter break, so the owner’s promise to bring in talent has already reaped dividends. Here is an interview with Oliynyk from ukrainiansoccer.com…{click here}, from 24th February.

Defending champions Shakhtar Donetsk are recovering from a poor league start, as well as a nightmare scenario in the Champions League last September {see this, by David Hytner at the Guardian UK}. Shakhtar are in real jeopardy of losing their accustomed place in the Champions League next fall, as they sit 6 points off the coveted second-place-in-league/ Champions League 3rd round qualifier spot. In the UEFA Cup, Shakhtar have a 2-0 lead on Tottenham, with the second leg on Thursday in London.

With the aggregate at 1-1 (and the away goals rule in effect), Dynamo Kyiv must get a winning result (or a draw result higher than 1-1) on Thursday, to advance in the UEFA Cup, when they go to Spain to play their second leg, versus Valencia.

UEFA site {click here (set at UEFA Cup fixtures and results)}.

Below, the current leading scorers in the Ukrainian Premier League.

Thanks to World Soccer magazine for the article ‘Ukraine credit crunch bites deep’, by Oleg Zadernovsky, from the February 2009 issue. Thanks to the great site called UkrSoccerHistory.Com {click here (set at Dynamo Kyiv page)}. Thanks to http://www.ukrainiansoccer.net/ , a good site for Ukrainian football news and results. Thanks to the contributors to the pages on Ukrainian football clubs at Wikipedia {click here, for the page on the Ukrainian Premier League’s 2008-’09 season}.

Comments (3)

February 24, 2009

2008-’09 UEFA Champions League, Knockout Round.

Filed under: UEFA Champions League — admin @ 7:35 am

[Disclaimer: no new content on this post.] Click on the following title for the map: championsleague08-09_knockout-round_r.gif . UEFA site/ Champions League page, {click here}.

Thanks to the European Football Statistics site for the attendance figures {click here (set to the page with 2008-2009 Champions League attendance figures}. Thanks to http://www.switchimageproject.com/ and to http://www.colours-of-football.com/ , for the kits.

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