Toronto Marlies at Charlotte Checkers (AHL) - January 19-20, 2019

The main reason for my trip to Charlotte was to see a game at Bojangles Coliseum, home of the AHL's Charlotte Checkers. I had seen the Checkers play at Time Warner Cable Arena (now Spectrum Center) back in 2010, but as my quest includes all active AHL rinks, I needed to revisit the Charlotte area. With the Marlies in town for back-to-back tilts and two college hoops matches on Saturday, this was the perfect weekend to do so.



Charlotte Coliseum was opened in 1955 and was the largest unsupported dome in the world at that time. The roof is made of tin rather than steel or iron and is 112 feet above the ground at its apex. It still looks quite cool, especially in the winter sunshine. When the new Charlotte Coliseum became the primary sports venue in 1988, this one closed for a few years. When it reopened in 1993, the name had changed to Independence Arena (the arena is on Independence Boulevard) before Cricket bought the naming rights in 2001. Bojangles' Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits, a fast-food restaurant, took that over in 2008, and their garish signage mars an otherwise beautiful building. On the plus side, the venue is now nicknamed The Biscuit.



I stayed within walking distance, but would not recommend that unless you are there for only one night, as the surrounding area is devoid of amenities. Parking is $8 with several entrances off Independence Boulevard. An overflow lot is off Briar Creek Road, with access to the arena provided by a tunnel. The box office is in an enclosed area on the southwest side of the venue. Note the 1955 Zamboni in the photo above, while the ticket windows are decorated in Checker red and black (also the colours of the parent Carolina Hurricanes).



Inside, the concourses are fairly narrow in spots, and do fill up during intermissions. The glass windows allow the sunlight to enter and provide nice views of the cars whizzing by.



Get there early if you want to take an unobstructed walk around. The arena still looks very new, a result of renovations that occurred as part of the deal to get the Checkers to return after a decade playing downtown. As you can see, Bojangles is also one of the concession options. Maybe the team should add a bit of yellow to their jerseys to match the decor.



One of the interesting additions is the Red Line Club, a restaurant/bar at ice level that is bisected by a path that leads from the Checker locker room to the ice. Fans congregate here to watch the players walk back and forth for the pregame warmups and during intermissions. It is open both before and after the game, but as pints are $9, I enjoyed my postgame libations elsewhere.



Along the main concourse you will find a couple of historical touches. First is a small panel on Pat Kelly, who coached the Southern Hockey League's Checkers to a couple of titles in the 1970s and went on to found the ECHL, becoming its commissioner. The Kelly Cup is named in his honour.



At the west end is a display of past shows and events that have been held here and is well worth a look.



Inside the seating bowl, you will notice how the seats taper from the middle down to the ends.



This is true on both sides, and you can see that the arena is symmetrical not only in design but in the pattern on the seats.There are two walkways between the sections; the lower one goes all the way around the arena so you can avoid the concourse if you wish.



Meanwhile, the end zone seats taper only slightly. Note that all areas have both red and black seats in keeping with the Checkers palette.



The view from the end zone is not that bad, as you are not that far away from the ice.



As the building was not constructed for hockey, there is some space between the first row of fixed seats and the glass. The Checkers do sell glass seats for $88, but they are just padded folding chairs and not really worth the extra cash.



I paid $18.50 to sit in the lower rows of the second level, and was quite happy with the view (below). Obviously there are other price points in between, but I think this is the best value for the money.



The Checkers have a cheerleading team called CheckMates, who hand out programs as you enter and help with promotions. During breaks in the action, they sometimes dance in boxes labeled "It's Bo Time" at the east end of the rink (below). These boxes do block the view for some of the very end seats, which are obviously not sold, but that does not stop a few people from sitting nearby.



This is the view from the last section along the sideline. These seats are behind the goal line but facing straight ahead and should be avoided. With a capacity of 8,600 and attendance averaging over 6,400, you can find a seat near the top in the middle, which is far better than down low at the ends.



The roof is impressive from the inside as well. It held the title of largest unsupported dome in the world for just two years before a fair hall in Belgrade claimed the title. The leader is now Singapore National Stadium, which replaced Cowboys Stadium as the champ in 2014, opening a year after I left.



There are three banners celebrating past stars, titles in the EHL and SHL, as well as their only ECHL Championship in 1996.



The scoreboard is four-sided and quite nice, with replays showing goals from both teams.



Overall, I really enjoyed Bojangles Coliseum. It is a unique venue in the league, and much better for hockey than Spectrum Center. If you are in Charlotte for the Hornets or one of many other sports teams, check the Checkers schedule and visit The Biscuit if you can.

The Games

This would be the first time to see the Marlies since they won the Calder Cup back in June. They are only fourth in their division this year, while Charlotte leads the league. I attended both games, but missed the first period on Saturday as it conflicted with the Charlotte 49ers game, thus ruining the chance at a true tripleheader. I arrived with the Marlies leading 2-0, and they took a 3-1 lead into the third, but Charlotte beat Michael Hutchinson (back down after some work with the Leafs) twice in the third to force overtime. Thankfully, Mason Marchement won it for the Marlies on a beautiful breakaway goal, with the replay shown below along with the final score.



On Sunday, Kasimir Kaskisuo got the nod in net for the Marlies, and he did a spectacular job. The Marlies led 1-0 after the first, and added two goals 18 seconds apart early in the second to break it open. When Pierre Engvall notched his second of the night just 12 seconds before the end of the period to make it 4-0, the only question was whether Kaskisuo could get the shutout. As you can see below, he did as the Marlies swept to make this a perfect weekend.



Notes

For some reason, the Checkers are the AHL team I have seen the most, having now attended three of their games at home, plus AHL road contests in Belleville (3 times), Laval, and Rochester. Interestingly, the road team has won all of those games. I also saw them in Gwinnett when they were in the ECHL, but they lost that game on the road.

The three remaining AHL rinks I need to see are in Loveland (Colorado Eagles), Tucson, and Winnipeg (Manitoba Moose).

Next Up

Speaking of road games, my Toronto on the Road quest continues next week with a trip to Detroit to see the Maple Leafs take on the Red Wings, as well as a Detroit Titans basketball game. I was supposed to go there back in October but a storm delayed the flight so I cancelled the trip. Check back next week to see if the weather co-operates this time.

Best,

Sean

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 40 at Charlotte 49ers 55 (NCAA Basketball, Conference USA) - January 19, 2019

After watching Davidson stomp the Spiders, I drove the 30 minutes southeast to the campus of UNC Charlotte. For athletics purposes, the school calls themselves Charlotte, and their 49ers nickname comes from the fact that the school was saved from closure in 1949, with the country's first major gold discovery close enough to add some additional meaning.



The 49ers play out of Halton Arena, a surprisingly large venue for a team that gets little national coverage. Parking is free in the West Deck off Cameron Boulevard; from there you can walk to the arena in just a couple of minutes.



The ticket office is at the base of the clock tower (the edge of which is visible on the right of the first photo), with three statues in the adjacent courtyard representing the three teams that play here (men's and women's hoops and volleyball). Tickets are $30 for the lower bowl, $15 for the upper sidelines, and $10 for upper corners. With a capacity of 9,105 and attendance about a third of that, just buy the cheapest and sit where you want. I did splurge the extra $5 and had a seat in the first row above the entry at midcourt (Row F), with the view below.



Opened in 1996, the arena still looks brand new, with plenty of space in the concourses. There are three main concession stands, known as restaurant pods in the program, with each offering different specialty items. I enjoyed the grilled chicken with Swiss for $6.50, while pizza and Bojangles Chicken were the other choices.



The arena is part of the James H. Barnhardt Student Activity Center, so you cannot walk all the way around the concourse as it stops at one end. This is where you will find something that I had not seen before: a secure courtesy charging station (below). There are 8 slots, each with chargers for the different types of phone, plus a plug if you happen to have your own charger. You can lock the slot with a 4-digit pin, and leave your phone there while you watch the game. My phone's battery is terrible, and I was rationing what little life it had remaining, so this was a happy discovery. I left the phone there for the first half, and that gave me enough charge for the rest of the day. All venues should consider something similar.



Inside the arena, green seats matching the school colours decorate the four-sided seating bowl. There is a walkway between the two levels of seating that does go all the way around, so you can snap pics from any angle. However, there are no corner seats in the upper level on one side of the arena, as you can see below. Thus the layout is not symmetrical.



The end zone shot from behind the band. Student sections comprise about half the seating chart, but there were not that many on hand for this mid-afternoon tilt.



I wandered up to the top row in the corner for the shot below. This gives you an idea of how large the arena really is.



There are several banners commemorating NCAA and NIT appearances along one side...



...while recognized jerseys (not retired) are shown at one end. Cedric Maxwell's #33 is the most famous; he played here from 1973-77 before going on to win the 1981 Finals MVP in the NBA.



The main scoreboard is four-sided and hangs above center court, showing live action and the occasional replay. There are two stats scoreboards, one for each team. They are on the corners where there are no seats, so you need to be sitting in sections 119-123 (or 219-223) to see them both clearly. Below is the Louisiana Tech stats board and you can see that they were not very good on this day.



Overall, I was quite surprised at the size of the arena and enjoyed the space I had after the relatively cramped quarters at Belk. Certainly the atmosphere here is more relaxed and I found it a nice change from the earlier game. If I had to choose, I would pick Davidson for the atmosphere, but I enjoyed myself equally as much here, though the game was another blowout.

The Game

Louisiana Tech was in town in a Conference USA matchup. I had the pleasure of sitting next to a season-ticket holder who filled me in on the particulars of the 49ers: new coach Ron Sanchez, who was an assistant at Virginia, had adopted their slow pace of play, but the team was still young so expect a lot of turnovers and bad shots. Well, that is exactly what happened, the only saving grace is that the Bulldogs were even worse. Midway through the first half, the score was knotted at 9 (yes, nine) but the 49ers managed to shoot a little better over the next 10 minutes, taking a 23-20 lead into the half. LA Tech's JaColby Pemberton drained a three to open the second half (their only trey of the game), but then Charlotte went on a monstrous 9-0 run led by 6 points from Milos Supica. Mubarak Muhammad then scored 6 straight for the Bulldogs to get them within 3, but they would get no closer. An 11-2 run by the 49ers over 8 horrendous minutes sealed the deal as they won 55-40.



Louisiana Tech ended up 1-23 from beyond the arc, which is the worst I have seen, and finished 15-54 (27.8%) overall, while Charlotte sunk 18 of their 41 attempts (43.9%). Note the discrepancy in shots as LA Tech was strong on the offensive glass; sadly they missed most of those second-chance shots too. The teams combined for 30 turnovers while doling out 13 assists, telling you all you need to know about this one.

Surprisingly, Louisiana Tech actually beat Wichita State in Wichita to open the season. So they are not a weak team, they just had a bad day.

Notes

This was my second Conference USA basketball matchup. The other was 6 years ago in Memphis, when the Tigers hosted UCF. Both schools left the conference after that season and are now in the American Athletic Conference. It is very difficult to keep up with all the changes in conference memberships with 353 Division I teams.

This was my 79th NCAA basketball venue, but 5 of those were for tournaments or neutral sites, so that means there are still 279 courts to see.

Best,

Sean

Richmond Spiders 62 at Davidson Wildcats 75 (NCAA Basketball, Atlantic 10) - January 19, 2019

One of the best things that can happen to a sports road trip is finding another game that slots in perfectly to the existing schedule. This past weekend I was in Charlotte to see the Checkers play in Bojangles Coliseum as part of my AHL quest. The only other game on the slate was the Charlotte 49ers on Saturday at 4 p.m., giving me five empty hours from my arrival. What I did not know is that Davidson College is only 25 miles north of Charlotte. Only a check of StubHub a couple of days before departing revealed this fact, when I discovered that they had a game at 12:30 on Saturday, a perfect fit. Despite Winter Storm Harper approaching, my flight landed on time, and I was on the road just after 11, arriving at Davidson just before noon.



Davidson is a small town and streets around the venue get crowded as game time approaches. Street parking in most places is limited to two hours on Saturday, not quite long enough for a hoops contest. But I found a small lot at the corner of Concord and Lorimer where the two-hour limit was only in effect on weekdays. From there, it was about a 10-minute walk to Belk Arena, where I was greeted by the delightful sign above.



Belk Arena is part of the Harry L. Vance Athletic Center, named for one of Davidson's star athletes from the 1920s. Meanwhile, the arena is named for John M. Belk, a Davidson alumnus and benefactor, while the court is named after current coach Bob McKillop, who is now in his 30th season heading the Wildcats.



Just inside the main entrance is the Norris Trophy, awarded to Vance as the best athlete at Davidson in 1926 by a vote of his peers.



Just next to this is the Vance Lobby, which is not open to the public before the game as it hosts a reception for season-ticket holders. Inside are displays on Davidson's past greats, such as Lefty Driesell, who coached here from 1960-69 and led the Wildcats to back-to-back Elite Eight appearances in his final two seasons.



Davidson has won precisely one national championship, a Division III title in women's tennis in 1984. There are several other sports honoured here, but you'll have to wait until after the game to check it out.



Of course, Steph Curry played here and gained fame with the school's run to the Elite Eight in 2008. Hard to believe that is now over a decade ago, but Curry has managed to add to his list of accomplishments in the interim, and these are well documented on a wall on the lower level.



Tickets here are $40 for lower chairbacks, $24 for upper chairbacks, and $18 for the last 3 rows of benches. I chose the middle option and received a ticket in the 3rd row, with the view below. You can enter via the lower level (shown above) or take the stairs to the upper level, where you will also find concession stands with reasonably priced fare. Beer is also available, a rarity for on-campus venues.



It was Stripe Out day or something of the sort, with alternating sections receiving red or black t-shirts. The intention was to have the arena look striped, but it didn't work well as many fans did not wear the t-shirt.



The venue holds 5,700 and it is quite compact, leading to an excellent atmosphere. With my late arrival, I did not have time to do the usual tour, but did grab a photo from floor level on my way to the seat.



The end zone seats are reserved for students and the pep band, which is the smallest I have seen with only 8 members. The crowd more than made up for the relative lack of music with constant cheering.



The far end is where the schools accomplishments and retired numbers are displayed, surrounding one of the two scoreboards. Curry's number is not retired because he has yet to graduate, leaving a year early. Kudos to the school for maintaining this rule.

Overall, I really enjoyed Belk Arena and was happy that I found this game in time. With over 4,600 on hand, it was loud from start to finish and the fans were rewarded with a dominating performance.

The Game

Richmond was in town to try to end Davidson's 8-game winning streak at home. They failed miserably. The Wildcats stormed to a 9-0 lead before Richmond finally sank a shot after 6:22. Even better, the officials were letting them play, with the first foul being whistled with 8:31 gone. The Spiders got within 4 a couple of times, but then the Luke Frampton show started. Frampton, a red-shirt freshman, drained three consecutive treys as Davidson took a 34-24 lead into the break, and then added two more in the first minute of the second half to make it 40-24. The rest of the game was academic, though a late 11-0 run by Richmond did make things closer than they should have been as the Wildcats prevailed 75-62, with Frampton scoring 24 on 8 threes.



The game took about 1:45, giving me time to see the Vance Lobby before driving to Charlotte. There were only 25 fouls, and the TV timeouts were a bit quicker than usual, making this one of the more fast-paced and enjoyable games I have seen. As I have stated repeatedly, basketball is much more fun when there are fewer stoppages, and this game proved the point.

Notes

Both teams had several international players on their rosters. Davidson boasted athletes from Nigeria, Iceland, England, Austria, Serbia, and Sweden, while Richmond had two Canadians, a Finn, and a Lithuanian. It is great to see these schools recruiting so far afield, and giving opportunities to these kids.

One of Richmond's players is Golden Grant, who was derisively called Golden Showers by the fans.

The halftime performers were the Startown Elementary School P.E. Club, who put on an amazing unicycling display. I usually don't pay much attention during halftime but this show was excellent. They are performing at the Appalachian State game on February 23 and are well worth checking out.



Best,

Sean

2019 Schedule

Fri, Jan 4	AHL	CAA Arena, Belleville, ON	Charlotte Checkers 4 at Belleville Senators 1	2,634
Sat, Jan 5	AHL	CAA Arena, Belleville, ON	Charlotte Checkers 6 at Belleville Senators 3	2,939
Wed, Jan 9	NBA	Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY	Atlanta Hawks 100 at Brooklyn Nets 116	14,531
Sun, Jan 13	NHL	Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY	Tampa Bay Lightning 1 at New York Islanders 5	11,193
Tue, Jan 15	NHL	Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY	St. Louis Blues 1 at New York Islanders 2 (OT)	10,042
Sat, Jan 19	NCAA Basketball, Atlantic 10	Belk Arena, Davidson, NC	Richmond Spiders 62 at Davidson Wildcats 75	4,613
Sat, Jan 19	NCAA Basketball, Conference USA	Halton Arena, Charlotte, NC	Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 55 at Charlotte 49ers 40	3,988
Sat, Jan 19	AHL	Bojangles' Coliseum, Charlotte, NC	Toronto Marlies 4 at Charlotte Checkers 3 (OT)	8,389
Sun, Jan 20	AHL	Bojangles' Coliseum, Charlotte, NC	Toronto Marlies 5 at Charlotte Checkers 0	7,679
Sat, Jan 26	Premier Boxing Champions	Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY	Nyambayar def. Marrero, Kownacki def. Washington, Thurman def. Lopez	9,623
Fri, Feb 1	NHL	Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI	Toronto Maple Leafs 2 at Detroit Red Wings 3 (OT)	19,515
Sat, Feb 2	NCAA Basketball, Horizon League	Calihan Hall, Detroit, MI	Youngstown State Penguins 72 at Detroit Mercy Titans 70	1,817
Sun, Feb 3	NBA	Madison Square Garden, New York, NY	Memphis Grizzlies 96 at New York Knicks 84	17,025
Wed, Feb 6	NCAA Basketball, Big East	Finneran Pavilion, Villanova, PA	Creighton Bluejays 57 at Villanova Wildcats 66 (OT)	6,501
Fri, Feb 8	NCAA Women's Basketball, Big East	Al McGuire Center, Milwaukee, WI	Georgetown Hoyas 52 at Marquette Golden Eagles 59	2,061
Sat, Feb 9	NCAA Basketball, Big East	Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, WI	Villanova Wildcats 65 at Marquette Golden Eagles 66	17,856
Sat, Feb 9	NBA	Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, WI	Orlando Magic 103 at Milwaukee Bucks 83	17,812
Sun, Feb 10	G-League	Menominee Nation Arena, Oshkosh, WI	Canton Charge 106 at Wisconsin Herd 117	3,296
Tue, Feb 12	NCAA Basketball, Mountain West	Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV	Air Force Falcons 72 at UNLV Rebels 77	7,550
Thu, Feb 14	NHL	T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV	Toronto Maple Leafs 6 at Vegas Golden Knights 3	18,214
Sat, Feb 16	NCAA Baseball	GCU Ballpark, Phoenix, AZ	Ball State Cardinals 2 at Grand Canyon Antelopes 12	789
Sat, Feb 16	NHL	Gila River Arena, Glendale, AZ	Toronto Maple Leafs 0 at Arizona Coyotes 2	17,125
Sun, Feb 17	NCAA Baseball	Phoenix Municipal Stadium, Phoenix, AZ	Notre Dame Fighting Irish 5 at Arizona State Sun Devils 16	2,554
Sat, Feb 23	MLB Spring Training	Tempe Diablo Stadium, Tempe, AZ	San Francisco Giants 3 at Los Angeles Angels 10	6,624
Sat, Feb 23	AHL	Tucson Arena, Tucson, AZ	Bakersfield Condors 2 at Tucson Roadrunners 0	6,375
Tue, Feb 26	NHL	Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY	Calgary Flames 3 at New York Islanders 1	13,097
Sat, Mar 2	NCAA Basketball, Mountain West	Arena-Auditorum, Laramie, WY	Air Force Falcons 80 at Wyoming Cowboys 72	3,991
Sun, Mar 3	AHL	Budweiser Events Center, Loveland, CO	Tucson Roadrunners 1 at Colorado Eagles 2	5,289
Thu, Mar 14	NCAA Basketball, Big East Tournament, Quarterfinal	Madison Square Garden, New York, NY	Providence Friars 62 vs Villanova Wildcats 73
Thu, Mar 14	NCAA Basketball, Big East Tournament, Quarterfinal	Madison Square Garden, New York, NY	Creighton Bluejays 61 vs Xavier Musketeers 63	19,534
Fri, Mar 15	AHL	Bell MTS Place, Winnipeg, MB	Texas Stars 5 at Manitoba Moose 4 (OT)	3,481
Thu, Mar 21	NCAA Basketball, West Regional, First Round	XL Center, Hartford, CT	Vermont Catamounts 69 vs Florida State Seminoles 76
Thu, Mar 21	NCAA Basketball, West Regional, First Round	XL Center, Hartford, CT	Murray State Racers 83 vs Marquette Golden Eagles 64	14,838
Sun, Mar 24	Major League Rugby	MCU Park, Brooklyn, NY	Glendale Raptors 19 at Rugby United New York 31	2,703
Thu, Mar 28	American League	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY	Baltimore Orioles 2 at New York Yankees 7	46,928
Fri, Mar 29	NCAA Hockey, West Regional, Semifinal 1	Scheels Arena, Fargo, ND	Denver Pioneers 2 vs Ohio State Buckeyes 0
Fri, Mar 29	NCAA Hockey, West Regional, Semifinal 2	Scheels Arena, Fargo, ND	American International Yellow Jackets 2 vs St. Cloud State Huskies 1	4,220
Sat, Mar 30	NBA	Target Center, Minneapolis, MN	Philadelphia 76ers 118 at Minnesota Timberwolves 109	18,978
Tue, Apr 2	NCAA Basketball, NIT, Semifinal	Madison Square Garden, New York, NY	Lipscomb Bisons 71 vs Wichita State Shockers 64
Tue, Apr 2	NCAA Basketball, NIT, Semifinal	Madison Square Garden, New York, NY	TCU Horned Frogs 44 vs Texas Longhorns 58	4,599
Thu, Apr 4	National League	Citi Field, Queens, NY	Washington Nationals 4 at New York Mets 0	44,424
Tue, Apr 9	MLB Interleague	Citi Field, Queens, NY	Minnesota Twins 14 at New York Mets 8	22,126
Thu, Apr 11	American League	Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD	Oakland Athletics 8 at Baltimore Orioles 5	8,374
Fri, Apr 12	G-League Finals, Game 3	Island Federal Credit Union Arena, Stony Brook, NY	Rio Grande Valley Vipers 129 at Long Island Nets 112	2,783
Fri,  Apr 19	American League	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CA	Toronto Blue Jays 5 at Oakland Athletics 1	15,128
Sat, Apr 20	American League	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CA	Toronto Blue Jays 10 at Oakland Athletics 1	31,140
Sun, Apr 21	American League	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CA	Toronto Blue Jays 5 at Oakland Athletics 4	16,015
Sat, Apr 27	National League	Citi Field, Queens, NY	Milwaukee Brewers 8 at New York Mets 6	40,610
Wed, May 1	National League	Citi Field, Queens, NY	Cincinnati Reds 1 at New York Mets 0	22,119
Sun, May 5	American League	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY	Minnesota Twins 1 at New York Yankees 4 (8)	38,603
Wed, May 8	American League	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY	Seattle Mariners 10 at New York Yankees 1	38,774
Thu, May 9	NBA, Eastern Conference Semifinals, Game 6	Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA	Toronto Raptors 101 at Philadelphia 76ers 112	20,525
Sat, May 18	American League	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY	Tampa Bay Rays 2 at New York Yankees 1 (11)	43,079
Tue, May 21	National League	Citi Field, Queens, NY	Washington Nationals 5 at New York Mets 6	24,631
Sat, May 25	MLB Interleague	Citi Field, Queens, NY	Detroit Tigers 4 at New York Mets 5 (13)	40,691
Wed, May 29	MLS	Stade Saputo, Montreal, PQ	Real Salt Lake 1 at Montreal Impact 2	11,966
Sat, Jun 1	Carolina League	SEGRA Stadium, Fayetteville, NC	Wilmington Blue Rocks 1 at Fayetteville Woodpeckers 2	4,869
Sun, Jun 2	NCAA Baseball, Division II College World Series	USA Baseball National Training Complex, Cary, NC	UCSD Tritons 5 vs Catawba Indians 0	1,012
Thu, Jun 6	National League	Citi Field, Queens, NY	San Francisco Giants 3 at New York Mets 7	28,857
Sun, Jun 9	National League	Citi Field, Queens, NY	Colorado Rockies 1 at New York Mets 6	29,531
Thu, Jun 13	National League	Citi Field, Queens, NY	St. Louis Cardinals 4 at New York Mets 4 (susp. 9)	31,862
Sun, Jun 16	New York-Penn League	Falcon Park, Auburn, NY	State College Spikes 6 at Auburn Doubledays 5 (susp. 2)	742
Sat, Jun 22	Atlantic League	Bethpage Ballpark, Central Islip, NY	Lancaster Barnstormers 3 at Long Island Ducks 4	6,527
Sun, Jun 30	National League	Citi Field, Queens, NY	Atlanta Braves 5 at New York Mets 8	31,743
Sat, Jul 6	J.League, Division 2	Denka Big Swan Stadium, Niigata, Japan	Omiya Ardija 1 at Alibrex Niigata 2	17,007
Tue, Jul 9	Central League	Jingu Stadium, Tokyo, Japan	Yokohama DeNA Baystars 9 at Yakult Swallows 4	28,769
Sat, Jul 13	Top League Rugby	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo, Japan	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries DynaBoars 14 vs Kamaishi Sun Waves 28	~8,000
Mon, Jul 15	Central League	Nagano Olympic Stadium, Nagano, Japan	Yomiuri Giants 7 at Yakult Swallows 4 (11)	25,442
Fri, Jul 19	American League	Comerica Park, Detroit, MI	Toronto Blue Jays 12 at Detroit Tigers 1	26,498
Sun, Jul 21	American League	Comerica Park, Detroit, MI	Toronto Blue Jays 3 at Detroit Tigers 4 (10)	22,562
Thu, Jul 25	National League	Citi Field, Queens, NY	San Diego Padres 0 at New York Mets 4	37,822
Sun, Jul 28	National League	Citi Field, Queens, NY	Pittsburgh Pirates 7 at New York Mets 8	32,976
Tue, Jul 30	Cape Cod League	Whitehouse Field, Harwich, MA	Orleans Firebirds 8 at Harwich Mariners 5	742
Tue, Jul 30	Cape Cod League	McKeon Field, Hyannis, MA	Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox 0 at Hyannis Harbor Hawks 1	1,863
Sat, Aug 3	American League	Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX	Seattle Mariners 0 at Houston Astros 9	37,059
Sun, Aug 4	Texas League	Hodgetown Stadium, Amarillo, TX	Frisco RoughRiders 1 at Amarillo Sod Poodles 2	6,527
Wed, Aug 7	American League	Fenway Park, Boston, MA	Kansas City Royals 4 at Boston Red Sox 4 (susp., 10)	32,453
Sat, Aug 10	PGA, FedEx Cup Playoffs, Northern Trust Open	Liberty National Golf Club, Jersey City, NJ	Results	~24,000
Tue, Aug 13	American League, Game 1	Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago, IL	Houston Astros 6 at Chicago White Sox 2
Tue, Aug 13	American League, Game 2	Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago, IL	Houston Astros 1 at Chicago White Sox 4	19,559
Wed, Aug 14	American League	Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago, IL	Houston Astros 9 at Chicago White Sox 13*	18,899
Thu, Aug 15	New York-Penn League, Game 1	Richmond County Bank Stadium, Staten Island, NY	Lowell Spinners 0 at Staten Island Yankees 3 (7)
Thu, Aug 15	New York-Penn League, Game 2	Richmond County Bank Stadium, Staten Island, NY	Lowell Spinners 7 at Staten Island Yankees 8 (7)	1,903
Sat, Aug 17	American League	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY	Cleveland Indians 5 at New York Yankees 6	47,347
Tue, Aug 20	PCL	Las Vegas Ballpark, Summerlin, NV	Reno Aces 4 at Las Vegas Aviators 10	8,034
Wed, Aug 21	MLB Interleague	Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA	Toronto Blue Jays 1 at Los Angeles Dodgers 2 (10)	44,106
Thu, Aug 22	MLB Interleague	Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA	Toronto Blue Jays 2 at Los Angeles Dodgers 3	49,796
Tue, Aug 27	National League	Citi Field, Queens, NY	Chicago Cubs 5 at New York Mets 2	34,158
Sun, Sep 1	National League	Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, NY	New York Mets 2 at Philadelphia Phillies 5	33,492
Tue, Sep 3	US Open Quarterfinals	Billie Jean King Tennis Center, New York, NY	Svitolina def. Konta, Medvedev def. Wawrinka	~24,000
Wed, Sep 4	American League	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY	Texas Rangers 1 at New York Yankees 4	36,082
Mon, Sep 9	New York-Penn League Championship, Game 2	MCU Park, Brooklyn, NY	Lowell Spinners 3 at Brooklyn Cyclones 1	2,499
Tue, Sep 10	New York-Penn League Championship, Game 3	MCU Park, Brooklyn, NY	Lowell Spinners 3 at Brooklyn Cyclones 4	2,050
Thu, Sep 12	National League	Citi Field, Queens, NY	Arizona Diamondbacks 1 at New York Mets 11	21,856
Sun, Sep 15	National League	Citi Field, Queens, NY	Los Angeles Dodgers 3 at New York Mets 2	31,521
Sun, Sep 22	American League	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY	Toronto Blue Jays 3 at New York Yankees 8	44,583
Wed, Sep 25	National League	Citi Field, Queens, NY	Miami Marlins 3 at New York Mets 10	21,471
Fri, Sep 27	National League	PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA	Cincinnati Reds 5 at Pittsburgh Pirates 6	18,544
Sat, Sep 28	NCAA Football	Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, PA	Delaware Blue Hens 14 at Pittsburgh Panthers 17	44,141
Sat, Sep 28	NHL Preseason	PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA	Buffalo Sabres 3 at Pittsburgh Penguins 2 (SO)*	18,235
Sat, Sep 28	USL Championship	Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA	Indy Eleven 0 at Pittsburgh Riverhounds 3	3,520
Sun, Oct 6	MLS	Audi Field, Washington, DC	FC Cincinnati 0 at DC United 0	18,732
Sun, Oct 6	National League Division Series, Game 3	Nationals Park, Washington, DC	Los Angeles Dodgers 10 at Washington Nationals 4	43,423
Mon, Oct 14	NHL	Prudential Center, Newark, NJ	Florida Panthers 6 at New Jersey Devils 4	13,208
Tue, Oct 15	American League Championship Series, Game 3	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY	Houston Astros 4 at New York Yankees 1	48,998
Fri, Oct 18	American League Championship Series, Game 5	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY	Houston Astros 1 at New York Yankees 4	48,483
Sat, Oct 19	NCAA Football, NEC	Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium, Brookville, NY	Saint Francis Red Flash 30 at LIU Sharks 0	4,178
Wed, Oct 23	USL Championship Playoffs, First Round	TD Place, Ottawa, ON	Charleston Battery 1-5 at Ottawa Fury 1-4 (PK)	2,427
Thu, Oct 24	CCHL	Kanata Recreation Complex, Kanata, ON	Navan Grads 3 at Kanata Lasers 5	101
Fri, Oct 25	CCHL	Pembroke Memorial Centre, Pembroke, ON	Ottawa Jr. Senators 2 at Pembroke Lumber Kings 4	675
Tue, Oct 29	NHL	Madison Square Garden, New York, NY	Tampa Bay Lightning 1 at New York Rangers 4	17,196
Sat, Nov 2	NCAA Soccer, Big East	Belson Stadium, Queens, NY	DePaul Blue Demons 2 at St. John's Red Storm 4	1,031
Tue, Nov 5	NHL	Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY	Ottawa Senators 1 at New York Islanders 4	11,212
Sat, Nov 9	QMJHL	Scotiabank Centre, Halifax, NS	Acadie-Bathurst Titan 3 at Halifax Mooseheads 4 (OT)	7,301
Sun, Nov 10	QMJHL	Avenir Centre, Moncton, NB	Acadie-Bathurst Titan 3 at Moncton Wildcats 6	5,795
Mon, Nov 11	QMJHL	Eastlink Centre, Charlottetown, PE	Gatineau Olympiques 3 at Charlottetown Islanders 0	2,767
Fri, Nov 15	NCAA Soccer, A10 Semifinal	Coffey Field, Bronx, NY	VCU Rams 0-7 vs Dayton Flyers 0-6 (PK)	602
Sat, Nov 16	Super 11s Hurling	Citi Field, Queens, NY	Limerick 52 vs Wexford 20, Kilkenny 86 vs Tipperary 36	11,214
Thu, Nov 21	NHL	Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN	Vancouver Canucks 6 at Nashville Predators 3	17,168
Sun, Nov 24	AHL	Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport, CT	Springfield Thunderbirds 1 at Bridgeport Sound Tigers 3	4,254
Tue, Nov 26	NHL	Prudential Center, Newark, NJ	Minnesota Wild 3 at New Jersey Devils 2	14,627
Sat, Nov 30	NHL	Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY	Columbus Blue Jackets 0 at New York Islanders 2	13,433
Tue, Dec 3	NHL	Prudential Center, Newark, NJ	Vegas Golden Knights 4 at New Jersey Devils 3	12,831
Wed, Dec 4	NHL	Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON	Colorado Avalanche 3 at Toronto Maple Leafs 1	19,351
Wed, Dec 11	NCAA Basketball	Matadome, Northridge, CA	North Dakota State Bison 71 at CSU Northridge Matadors 62	832
Fri, Dec 13	NCAA Basketball, Big Ten	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bloomington, IN	Nebraska Cornhuskers 90 at Indiana Hoosiers 96 (OT)	17,222
Sat, Dec 14	NCAA Basketball	KFC Yum Center, Louisville, KY	Eastern Kentucky Colonels 67 at Louisville Cardinals 99	16,185
Sat, Dec 14	NCAA Basketball	Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 53 at Kentucky Wildcats 67	20,111
Sun, Dec 15	NCAA Basketball	BB&T Arena, Highland Heights, KY	Illinois State Redbirds 64 at Northern Kentucky Norse 79	2,820
Wed, Dec 18	NHL	Prudential Center, Newark, NJ	Anaheim Ducks 1 at New Jersey Devils 3	13,936
Sat, Dec 21	NCAA Basketball	The Ryan Center, Kingston, RI	Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 82 at Rhode Island Rams 86 (OT)	5,325
Sat, Dec 21	AHL	XL Center, Hartford, CT	Providence Bruins 0 at Hartford Wolfpack 3	3,204
Sun, Dec 22	NCAA Basketball	XL Center, Hartford, CT	New Hampshire Wildcats 62 at Connecticut Huskies 88	9,374
Sat, Dec 28	NCAA Basketball	Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA	Cal State Fullerton Titans 77 at UCLA Bruins 74	6,418
Sat, Dec 28	NCAA Basketball	Gersten Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA	Morgan State Bears 74 at Loyola Marymount Lions 71	670
Sun, Dec 29	NCAA Basketball	Maples Pavilion, Stanford, CA	Kansas Jayhawks 72 at Stanford Cardinal 56	6,582
Sun, Dec 29	NCAA Basketball	Galen Center, Los Angeles, CA	Florida Gulf Coast Eagles 58 at USC Trojans 71	2,871