Who Dat Nation?
Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints for conquering the United Countries of Football



Labels: hand drawn maps, imaginary countries, sports, united states
Stamps, postcards, advertising, coffee mugs, shirts, and other ephemera. I love maps, and maps as an element of design.
"I think that the constant study of maps is apt to disturb men’s reasoning powers" -- Lord Salisbury
Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints for conquering the United Countries of Football



Labels: hand drawn maps, imaginary countries, sports, united states
Conference Championships this weekend in the United Countries of Football.

Labels: hand drawn maps, imaginary countries, sports, united states
Divisional Playoffs this weekend in the United Countries of Football.

Labels: hand drawn maps, imaginary countries, sports, united states
Last week I introduced the end-of-2009 NFL season United Countries of Football map.

Labels: hand drawn maps, imaginary countries, sports, united states
The NFL 2009 regular season has come to an end. For the third year, I am playing around with the imaginary United Countries of Football.

Labels: hand drawn maps, imaginary countries, sports, united states
Today, U.S. college basketball is in the middle of the "Sweet Sixteen" round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. I'm not really much of a BBall fan, but I'll usually watch a little bit of the tourney.

Labels: sports, united states
Thanks to the Steelers for winning the Super Bowl. I get to use my Pennsylvania/USA graphic afterall:



Labels: hand drawn maps, imaginary countries, pennsylvania, sports, united states
I have to confess that I am disappointed with this particular match-up the the Super Bowl:

My disappointment has nothing to do with the Steelers or Cardinals. I was just hoping for an All-Pennsylvania Super Bowl. I even made this cool map to commemorate it. If not that, then perhaps a Mason-Dixon Super Bowl between the Baltimore Ravens and one of the Pensylvania teams... Or I would have been happy with a Ravens vs. Cardinals or Eagles... for the first ever All-Bird Super Bowl. But no... we've got the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the Arizona Cardinals. Where's the hook? Where's the gimmick?Labels: hand drawn maps, imaginary countries, pennsylvania, sports, united states
Down to four NFL teams left.

Labels: hand drawn maps, imaginary countries, sports, united states
Last week I introduced the end-of-2008 NFL season United Countries of Football map:


Labels: hand drawn maps, imaginary countries, sports, united states
The NFL 2008 regular season has come to an end. Just as I did last season, I am playing around with the imaginary United Countries of Football.

Labels: hand drawn maps, imaginary countries, sports, united states
College football has been under way for a week, and NFL football started on Thursday night. All is as it should be in the universe... except that sometimes, you cannot watch your game of choice... Which college or NFL game is going to be shown in your market?



Labels: sports, united states
In addition to my passion for maps and boardgames, I am also a big fan of minor league arena and indoor football; a fast-paced, high scoring version of American Football. While games are played indoors on a 50-yard field, with padded dasherboard walls, they are two different game systems. Both the Arena and Indoor football seasons started this month.
Over the years many Indoor and Arena Football teams have come and gone in Ohio. Currently there are six teams in four different leagues.
Labels: logos, ohio, sports, united states
Congratulations to the New York Football Giants, NFL Super Bowl Champions and conqueror of the United Countries of Football.





Labels: imaginary countries, sports, united states
The New England Patriots and the New York Football Giants have vanquished all comers in the civil war among the United Countries of Football.

While sorting through some of my map postcards this evening, during the game, I discovered this one. I had forgotten that I had it.Labels: imaginary countries, postcards, sports
Suprising upset victories in the civil war among the United Countries of Football. San Diego was able to defeat Indianapolis in the last game to be played in the RCA dome, and the New York Giants stomped the Dallas Cowboys out of the playoffs.

Labels: imaginary countries, sports, united states
The Ohio State University is now 0-9 vs. the SEC in bowl games. For the second year in a row, OSU has lost in the BCS College Football National Championship game.

The civil war among the United Countries of Football continues. Four nations of football fans were conquered, leaving eight nations to battle next weekend.

Labels: imaginary countries, sports, united states
In honor of the National Football League playoffs, that begin this evening, I present the United Countries of Football:
In August, when the baseball pennant races were starting to heat up, Strange Maps brought this map to my attention. The United Countries of Baseball, presented by Nike. Imagine the United States (and Ontario) divided into separate countries based on their allegience to a Major League Baseball team. Since I much prefer American Football over baseball, yesterday I started looking for a similar "United Countries of Fooball".
I couldn't find one from Nike, but while searching, I did come across this one, a hand drawn football fan map of the United States. I found this map on PFCcritics.com (artist unknown). The map is clever, but incomplete... he turned the entire state of Ohio over to the Browns, and ignored that the Chiefs share a state with the Rams, and the Jaguars and Buccaneers are also in Florida along with the Dolphins.
Continuing the search, I got very close to my goal with this map from The CommonCensus Map Project. The CCMP is "redrawing the map of the United States based on your input, to reveal the boundaries people themselves feel, as opposed to the state and county boundaries drawn by politicians." I'll have more on this project in a future post, but a "side project" of the CCMP is the CommonCensus Sports Map project. This map plots fan loyalties to American sports teams. It's very close, but still not a thematic companion to the Nike map.


Labels: hand drawn maps, how to lie with maps, imaginary countries, sports, united states
In honor of the Red Sox, who as I type this are on the verge of sweeping the World Series, I present several Boston and Massachusetts postcards from my collection:







Labels: boston, massachussetts, postcards, sports, transit maps