North Texas Premier Soccer Association
Division 1A (Spring Season)
Thursday 17th March 2016
Kick off 18.45 Actual 18.57
Somerset United 3 Dallas City F.C. 3, attendance 15
15′ 1-0
35′ 1-1
62′ 2-1
69′ 2-2
81′ 3-2
87′ 3-3
@ The Colony Five Star Soccer Complex, Pitch 2
4100, Blair Oaks Drive
The Colony, TX 75056
No admission or programme.
Second visit to the Five Star Soccer Complex, having previously done Pitch 6 here.
National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I
Saturday 12th March 2016
1st pitch 14.00
Dallas Baptist University Patriots 9 Valparaiso University Crusaders 2, attendance 606
@ Joan & Andy Horner Ballpark
3000, Mountain Creek Parkway
Dallas, TX 75211
$7 admission
Programme free, 4 pages.
Prior to this, I had only been to two baseball games before, both during holidays in the States. Firstly, to see the Florida Marlins when they played at the Sun Life Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins, then to an Arizona Fall League game at Scottsdale Stadium, near Phoenix AZ. It is a much better game to watch when you understand a bit more of what is going on, which I certainly didn’t before.
The Patriots baseball team are the only ones from DBU that play in NCAA I, the others being in NCAA II. Home games are played at Horner Ballpark which opened on 15th February 2013. There are 2,000 seats and since this season they will play on a full artificial pitch, as the outfield natural grass has been replaced to match the infield. The record crowd was set on 31st May 2015 when the visit of University Texas Longhorns drew 3,242 spectators.
Major League Soccer
Sunday 6th March 2016
Kick off 14.00 Actual 14.20
Orlando City S.C. 2 Real Salt Lake 2, attendance 60,147
26′ 0-1 J. Plata (pen)
66′ 0-2 J. Plata
90′ + 4, 1-2 C. Larin
90′ + 5, 2-2 A. Winter
@ Orlando Citrus Bowl
1, Citrus Bowl Place
Orlando, FL 32805
Admission $23.55 + $7.53 fees, print at home ticket
No programme.
This was high on the priority list as it is the last scheduled season at the Citrus Bowl before Orlando City S.C. move to their brand new ‘soccer specific’ stadium in 2017. The stadium was opened in 1936 and has undergone two periods of renovation. The first was from 1999-2002 and then in 2014 the bottom two tiers were demolished, with the third tier remaining in place, and the lower section totally rebuilt. The stadium now has a capacity of 61,348 and has had an artificial pitch since 2010. It was one of nine venues used in the 1994 FIFA World Cup and will host games in the upcoming Copa America Centenario this Summer. With OCSC moving out, it will be primarily used for American Football.
Now, onto the match. Disappointed not to see Brazilian superstar Kaka in the home ranks, as were well over half the crowd judging by the number of replica shirts bearing his name. I should imagine Coach Adrian Heath was just as disappointed, as his team are woeful without him. Both teams had a man sent off in the first half and RSL will wonder how they managed to throw away a two goal lead in stoppage time. Apparently, today’s attendance was only bettered by four clubs worldwide this weekend. Can’t be too often that can be said about an MLS crowd and this one was genuine, unlike some of the joke numbers that the likes of San Jose Earthquakes and F.C. Dallas claim !
We had parked in a factory yard, less than ten minutes walk away, for $10 and were on the right side of the stadium for a quick getaway to the airport and a flight home at 8pm.
Friendly
Saturday 5th March 2016
Kick off 19.00 Actual 19.10
University South Florida Bulls 1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 3, attendance 1,500
38′ 1-0 N. Bartman
63′ 1-1 D. King
83′ 1-2 F. Adu
90′ 1-3 T. Heinemann
@ Corbett Soccer Stadium
4800, Elm Drive
Tampa, FL 33617
$5 admission
Team sheet free, double printed card.
The Corbett Stadium was opened in 2011 and has a capacity of 3,000, with nearly 1,000 seats and has a bowl feel to it with grass banking on three sides. Apparently, the furthest seat from the pitch here, is nearer than the nearest seat was to the pitch at their former stadium, which is still in use for track & field.
Parked in the same car park as we had used for the basketball on Wednesday, but it was free tonight, as opposed to $10 charged then. A decent game that was played at a competitive pace throughout. Got a bit chilly towards the end so had to put on a jacket, but not bad for a night game in early March.
National Basketball Association
Friday 4th March 2016
19.00 Tip off
Orlando Magic 84 Phoenix Suns 102, attendance 17,546
Magic Starters ;
Elfrid Payton, 19 pts, 2 reb, 11 ast, 3 stl
Mario Hezonja, 12 pts,4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl
Nikola Vucevic, 15 pts, 12 reb, 3 stl, 1 blk
Evan Fournier, 12 pts, 2 reb, 2 stl
Aaron Gordon, 4 pts, 2 reb
Playing Reserves ;
C.J. Watson, Ersan Ilyasova, Devin Marble, Brandon Jennings, Jason Smith, Dewayne Desmond, Shabazz Napier, Andrew Nicholson
Suns Starters ;
Ronnie Price, 14 pts, 5 reb, 4 ast, 5 stl, 1 blk
Alex Len, 31 pts, 15 reb, 1 stl, 2 blk
Devin Booker, 14 pts, 4 reb, 6 ast, 1 blk
P.J. Tucker, 7 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl
Tyson Chandler, 10 pts, 12 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk
Playing Reserves ;
Mirza Teletovic, John Jenkins, Archie Goodwin, Jon Leuer
@ Amway Center
400, West Church Street
Orlando, FL 32801
$37.25 + $5.58 fees admission, print at home ticket
Programme free, 28 pages.
Orlando Magic are a relatively young franchise having been established in 1989. They play at the Amway Center, an 18,846 seat arena, opened in October 2010 at a cost of $480 million.
National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I
American Athletic Conference
Wednesday 2nd March 2016
21.00 Tip off
University South Florida Bulls 39 East Carolina University Pirates 52, attendance 2,957
@ USF Sun Dome
4202, East Fowler Avenue
Tampa, FL 33620
$9 admission
Programme free, 4 pages, plus free Season Magazine, 64 pages, plus free Team Sheet.
The arena was opened in November 1980 and received renovation in 1993, 2000 and 2011. It has a capacity of 10,411.
I can’t imagine I will see a team win a basketball game with such a low score, although when the home team score a pathetic 39 points, then the visitors were hardly having to get out of second gear to get the win.
North Texas Premier Soccer Association
Division 1B (Spring Season)
Monday 29th February 2016
Kick off 19.00 Actual 19.09
Gamtex F.C. 1 Dartos 0, attendance 13
32′ 1-0
@ Premier Park, Pitch 1
1115, Elam Road
Balch Springs, TX 75180
No admission or programme.
I had Googled ‘Gamtex’ and come up with what I thought was a ‘works’ team. However, it turns out they are immigrants from The Gambia, now living in Texas !
There are occasionally an odd game or two during midweek in this league due to pitch unavailability on Sunday’s or even due to cancellation due to weather. Apparently, if one complex is unfit for play, then the whole day’s schedule is cancelled and rescheduled the week after the last block of fixtures. At least it keeps all teams on the same number of games played.
Premier Park is a complex of seven parallel pitches, all floodlit. The only facility on site is the Groundsmans Shed that has toilets round the back. Tonight’s game, on Pitch 1, is nearest this and also the car park.
North Texas Premier Soccer Association
Division 1A (Spring Season)
Sunday 28th February 2016
Kick off 17.00 Actual 17.13
Matadors 2 Dallas City F.C. 2, attendance 14
21′ 1-0
66′ 1-1
81′ 1-2
89′ 2-2
@ The Colony Five Star Soccer Complex, Pitch 6
4100, Blair Oaks Drive
The Colony, TX 75056
No admission or programme.
There are eight pitches here, this one being floodlit and having a couple of sections of metal bleachers. There is a building at the centre of the complex that has toilets and a thriving refreshment bar, mainly due to the amount of women’s and youth teams playing.
National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II
Lone Star Conference
Saturday 27th February 2016
18.00 Tip off
Texas A&M University-Commerce Lions 74 Tarleton State University Texans 88, attendance 1,437
@ Field House
2600, South Neal Street
Commerce, TX 75428
$7 admission
Team Sheet, free.
The Field House was built in 1950 in the days when the college was named East Texas State Teachers College and is a 5,000 seat facility.
I had seen the reverse of this fixture a month ago, the Lions winning it by 2 points. This time it was revenge for the Texans and by a much wider margin.
National Association Intercollegiate Athletics
Sooner Athletic Conference
Thursday 25th February 2016
20.00 Tip off
Texas Wesleyan University Rams 73 Oklahoma City University Stars 74, attendance 550
@ Sid W. Richardson Center
1100, South Collard Street
Fort Worth, TX 76105
$7 admission
Programme free, 4 pages.
The arena was opened in 1970 and underwent major renovation over the summer of 2008. It currently seats 1,500.
This was a cracking game with an atmosphere to match. It looked like the Rams had won it when they went ahead with 6.4 seconds left, until the Stars nicked it with just 0.8 seconds on the clock !
