Baseball

Texas Christian University Horned Frogs v West Virginia University Mountaineers

March 19, 2016 Andrew

National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I

Big 12 Conference

Saturday 19th March 2016

First pitch 15.00

Texas Christian University Horned Frogs 7 West Virginia University Mountaineers 1, attendance 4,364

@ Charlie & Marie Lupton Stadium and Williams-Reilly Field

3700, West Berry Street

Fort Worth, TX 76129

Free admission *

Programme free, 4 pages.

Two good bits of fortune here. Late Friday evening I noticed that it had been posted on their website that the game had been brought forward an hour from 16.00, something that caught out a fair number of latecomers. Then, whilst standing in the queue at the ticket office, I bagged one of the four tickets a fellow spectator was giving away free as members of his party were unable to attend. Despite only being for the grass banked area, once inside there were no ticket checks, so it was a case of wait and see where the empty seats were and ‘take your pick’. It was also nice to park in the official car park at the stadium for free as well.

The stadium was opened in 2003 and has a seated capacity of 4,500. Despite being relatively new it has undergone renovation twice in the last three years. Crowds have steadily risen here, helped somewhat by the Horned Frogs making the College World Series in 2010, 2014 and 2015. The record crowd stands at 7,383 versus Texas A&M University Aggies during the 2015 NCAA Super Regional tournament.

Football

Somerset United v Dallas City F.C.

March 17, 2016 Andrew

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.

Baseball

Dallas Baptist University Patriots v Valparaiso University Crusaders

March 12, 2016 Andrew

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.

Football

Orlando City S.C. V Real Salt Lake

March 6, 2016 Andrew

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.

Football

University South Florida Bulls v Tampa Bay Rowdies

March 5, 2016 Andrew

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.

Basketball

Orlando Magic v Phoenix Suns

March 4, 2016 Andrew

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.

Basketball

University South Florida Bulls v East Carolina University Pirates

March 2, 2016 Andrew

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.