You may have heard that the highest-paid employee in each state is usually the football coach at the largest state school. This is actually a gross mischaracterization: Sometimes it is the basketball coach.
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Global news with a spatial perspective: Interesting, current supplemental materials for geography students and teachers. http://geographyeducation.org
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Seth Dixon
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The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race pushes participants to the brink on an unforgiving trek to the end of the world. And, as one writer who tracked the race by air discovers, that is exactly the point.
Seth Dixon's insight:
The Iditarod is as much about conquering the physical environment and harsh climates as any sporting event in the world. This article about this famous Alaskan race also has a unique geo-visualization component to it that is worth exploring--it has a map showing where the action takes place in the article and as the reader scrolls through the article, the map changes and it highlights the progression along the trail. Tags: physical, weather and climate, sport, Arctic, visualization. 
chris tobin's comment,
April 26, 6:18 PM
very good story describing the long and dangerous trek. Its pretty amazing. I appreciated the video commentary and pictures of scenery and animals of the areas.
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LeBron explains how he transformed himself into a ruthlessly efficient scoring machine.
Seth Dixon's insight:
This series of spatial diagrams (dare I say, maps?) shows how the offense game of LeBron James has changed dramatically over the last few years, greatly increasing his efficiency. Do you know of a basketball-loving student that might appreciate spatial analysis more when seen through the lens of their favorite sport? 
Trisha Klancar's curator insight,
March 30, 9:36 AM
Okkk. This is really fun to watch... why not map it out!! Delete the scoop?
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When it came time for the Super Bowl, Clemmie Greenlee was expected to sleep with anywhere from 25 to 50 men a day.
Seth Dixon's insight:
There certainly is a dark side to large sporting events as this article on human trafficking makes perfectly clear. The 'event economy' based on tourism (even without trafficking) also has some negative impacts. Delete the scoop?
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On the surface Facebook is a social network, but those in the know recognize that it's actually one of the largest datasets of human trends, preferences and activity ever catalogued.
Seth Dixon's insight:
This is a crowd-sourced map of NFL fans is very different from this more stylized version. 
Heather Ramsey's curator insight,
January 31, 2:27 PM
This map shows fans of NFL teams by county. The data was collected from Facebook posts and people's pages. What patterns do you see for the fans in states that do not have a professional football team? In states that DO have a pro team, does everyone root for the home team? Why would a state have fans who root for another team? (Think geographically.) Delete the scoop?
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Seth Dixon's insight:
50% yes, 50% no. The raw statistics would tell you that the country is perfectly divided on this question of whether or not the University of Alabama has the greatest college football program of all time. Not surprising to geographers, in evenly split polls, elections, or other data results, there are oftentimes strong regional factors that influence variation in the data (in this case, local allegiances, media bias and general sport fanaticism). Questions to Ponder: Alabama's voting pattern is obvious, what explains for some of the other poll results from particular states? Why is there a general East/West divide on this question? What are the regional factors that influence the voting patterns? Would the result be different on 6 months from now? Tags: sport, statistics, mapping, regions. 
Mike Busarello's curator insight,
January 8, 10:10 PM
50% yes, 50% no. The raw statistics would tell you that the country is perfectly divided on this question of whether or not the University of Alabama has the greatest college football program of all time. Not surprising to geographers, in evenly split polls, elections, or other data results, there are oftentimes strong regional factors that influence variation in the data (in this case, local allegiances, media bias and general sport fanaticism).
Questions to Ponder: Alabama's voting pattern is obvious, what explains for some of the other poll results from particular states? Why is there a general East/West divide on this question? What are the regional factors that influence the voting patterns? Would the result be different on 6 months from now?
Tags: sport, statistics, mapping, regions. Delete the scoop?
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ESPN Video: With the FIFA World Cup two years away, will Brazil be ready to host soccers premiere event? This short sports documentary (12 minutes) looks at some of the socioeconomic and urban planning issues that are a part of the logistics for a country to prepare for a sporting event on the magnitude of the World Cup. The discussion of demolitions in the favelas (squatter settlements) is especially intriguing. Major sporting events of this magnitude that last for two weeks can reshape local geographic patterns for decades. 
Sam Capron's curator insight,
February 20, 9:19 PM
There is a massive amount of prep work that is going to hosting the FIFA world cup and the next Olympic games. I wonder what will happen to these beautiful stadiums after the games are over. My bet would be a slowly worsening level of disrepair. Delete the scoop?
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Nick Flanagan's curator insight,
December 12, 2012 8:28 PM
I like how this map shows regionaly were most fans of a certain team are. However one thing it fails to take into account are fans of a certain team that live in another region. Like I live in Rhode Isalnd so based on the map i would be a Patriots fan, however I am 49ers fan, and I know i am not the only fan of a team not living in that teams region.
Heather Ramsey's curator insight,
January 25, 7:49 PM
An excellent visual representation of functional regions.
Sam Capron's curator insight,
February 7, 5:59 PM
In a sense it splits the country into differing regions. While some hold true to the same boarders as in Geography books, they go beyond that and tell a different story. Highly contentious areas on the map are shown such as the fan divide between the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers. This map also shows blurring of fan bases outside of the area for which the team is centered. For example the Cowboys influence bleeds out of Texas and shares New Mexico with the Arizona Cardinals. Delete the scoop?
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A look back on the 27th Anniversary of the the NFL Colts dark flight from Baltimore in the middle of the night.
BM: When the Colts left they took the heart of Balitmore and left the fans in utter disbelief. Robert Irsay had no intention of staying whether he got his new staidum for the Colts or not, he wanted out and had been looking since 1976. The city of Baltimore was not going to budge on the construction of a new pubically funded stadium simply because it was too expensive and the citry didn't have the money. All that remained in Baltimore was an empty Memorial Stadium, which wasn't perfect but was in really decent shape and the Orioles.
SD: Why are sports teams treated so differently from other businesses? How are teams linked to place in such intimate ways? What is the economic impact of a sports team on the city and how could relocation damage that city? See this scoop.it topic for more on the cultural and economic impacts of sports teams on cities. Via Brandon Murphy 
Kara H's comment,
August 8, 2012 9:09 AM
I never knew about this particular team, but I can see how a sports franchise abandoning a city has a devastating effect. It seems like there was a deliberate attempt to "sneak"out.
Roland Trudeau Jr.'s comment,
August 8, 2012 9:16 AM
Quite a blow to the entire city of Baltimore, you can see from the older footage as well as the new how badly this effected this city. A huge impact on the people, seemingly crushing spirits across the city.
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Discover the number of countries participating in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. Find out which countries are not participating in the Olympic Games and learn which non-countries are participating as well.
204 countries are participating in the Olympics? There aren't even 204 countries in the world! This article looks at the political geography of international recognition. One interesting case not discussed in the article is that of Taiwan. Taiwan is participating, but marched under a non-Taiwanese flag under the name Chinese Taipei because the IOC wanted the mainland Chinese to return to the games. Also, South Sudan, Kosovo and the Vatican are not participating (although pondering them competing, especially the Vatican, is something that deeply amuses me). Another intriguing thought: how many of the participants were former British colonies? There are more classroom resources based on the Olympics from the GA. Delete the scoop?
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Don't count on gaining much from your moment in the sporting sun.
Cities love the advantages of having the Olympics in town; the cultural prestige, the international publicity and the recognition as a globally significant city. The tourism and economic impact is the rationale for so many expensive infrastructure projects, yet research indicates that economic boost during the Olympics is not always the boon that it is made out to be. Delete the scoop?
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I never imagined that this picture would be awkward or evoke such ambivalent feelings within me. This picture was taken while I was working on my Ph.D. in geography at the Pennsylvania State Unive...
As a geographer, much on my career has centered on researching monuments in public spaces and their cultural meanings. As a Penn State graduate, I felt that it was time for me to write a post about my thoughts on the future of the JoePa statue. Please let me know what you think in the comment section below.
Roland Trudeau Jr.'s comment,
July 15, 2012 1:13 PM
It seems that wrong always overshadows good, but people choose to remember what they want. I would hope that the statue and what it stands for is still given the proper respect and not to invoke emotions and memories of the lower side.
Don Brown Jr's comment,
September 3, 2012 10:57 PM
In more than one way a statue can represent the themes or image of the surrounding area serving as an emotional funnel point. Throughout history statues and monuments such as the Colossus of Rhodes have served as a reminder to all who gaze at them of what the idea and values of the surrounding area are. In the case of Penn State the football legacy, the reputation of the school, the surrounding community and state as well as personal pride were all intertwined into this statue of Joe Paterno. Indeed statues carry a significant share of the culture, history and emotional attachments individuals have to a particular landscape and when you remove that image you risk creating a void in the area and peoples conception of it. Presently, the image Penn State will need to fill this vacuum remains to be discovered.
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http://www.ted.com During the hot summer months, watching an outdoor sports match or concert can be tantamount to baking uncomfortably in the sun -- but it d...
The physical environment will be altered as the World Cup comes to Qatar in an attempt to raise their global economic profile and to present themselves as more culturally comsopolitan. Except there is that desert conundrum of having soccer matches in the middle of the desert in the dead of summer. This shows the technological efforts to redefine confortable weather conditions. This is a good Ted talk that combines cultural, economic and physical geographic factors in the Middle East. Delete the scoop?
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Ezekiel "Ziggy" Ansah's journey to the NFL, beginning as a walk-on to the Brigham Young University football team from Accra, Ghana, who had never played foot...
Seth Dixon's insight:
Ezekiel loved playing soccer and never played American football until he was in his 20's; that is NOT a typical path to the NFL. Ziggy's life represents the geography of opportunity. If he had grown up in the United States, a boy with his physical abilities would have been funneled into football leagues at an early age. If he lived his whole life in Africa, he would never become a millionaire (probably not anyway). However, global diffusion of religious ideas brought LDS missionaries to his home in Ghana; enhanced migrational opportunities took him to Utah and all of these geographic factors (combined with his personal skills and ambition) helped him to become the fifth overall selection in the 2013 NFL Draft and a member of the Detroit Lions. Read here for more on Ziggy. This story also makes be wonder if those with the greatest physical talent for a sport always gets the opportunity. I'm sure some kids in tropical countries have the physical tools to be fantastic hockey players, but without access to participation at an early age because of the cultural preferences of the area (although with hockey you could argue it's also climatically determined), they are geographically constrained to a different set of possibilities for their lives. 
Michael Miller's comment,
April 26, 8:23 AM
Seth, I don't know if you have ever picked up Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers", but it addresses some of these topics. It is a great and quick read!
Mike Busarello's comment,
April 26, 9:52 AM
I am an long time Eagles fan and cannot believe they passed on him.
Seth Dixon's comment,
April 26, 7:36 PM
I have (and forgot that's where the nugget of the 'hockey' idea came from). I just wish I had those cool glasses! Poor Eagles, Ziggy is ultimate high risk/high reward pick.
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Seth Dixon's insight:
This resource has grade-level appropriate lessons on the spatial diffusion of of teams and the cultural geography of the baseball. Delete the scoop?
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Seth Dixon's insight:
The brackets are rarely as "regional" as the names Midwest, West, South and East would suggest; still a map of all the participating teams shows that there a geography to basketball participation. See also this collection of maps visualizing basketball fandom. Also, what about the high schools areas that produce college basketball players? What patterns to you see? Delete the scoop?
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Facebook Data Science wrote a note titled NFL Fans on Facebook. Read the full text here.
Seth Dixon's insight:
Who is rooting for which team in the Super Bowl? How does regional geography play a role in this distribution of the data captured in this map?
Sam Capron's curator insight,
February 6, 10:47 PM
As a huge fan of all things Football, I found this article really quite interesting. While a majority of the county appears to be rooting for the 49ers the East and West coast split is still evident. I also noticed that most of the New England area appeared to be rooting for the 49ers, sour grapes I imagine. Delete the scoop?
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The NBA has the cleanest map of all the sports leagues.
Seth Dixon's insight:
Sports league have historically used geographic references to describe their league, conference or divisions (This was just one of the many reasons I was so appalled that San Diego State was going to join the Big East. Thankfully that plan was stymied). To have successful rivalries, teams often play up local proximity of fan bases (Yankees/Red Sox, Duke/North Carolina, Michigan/Ohio State) to add intensity to the on-field action. Given that teams and fans travel, the logistics make regionally based division economically prudent. This map (and the full set of major professional leagues in North America) shows that the NBA has the most geographically consistent divisions. Delete the scoop?
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As Catalonia goes to the polls, Sid Lowe looks at one of the region's great cultural sporting icons and its role in Catalan identity... Sports and cultural identity of a region are often intertwined. As Catalonia is poised to break from Spain, this video shows how the local teams (especially FC Barcelona) are at the center of political identity and part of the very fabric of the political movement that is pushing for independence. For more, see this recent GITN. Tags: sport, Spain, Europe, devolution, autonomy. 
Jessica Martel's curator insight,
April 28, 4:37 PM
its understood that catalonie has a completely different country from the rest of spain. In fact many people associate catalonia as a seperate country. It would be cool to see spain let them have thier independence. However that would mean spain would lose land and money. For the most part, atleast the catalonia poeple are expressing thier feelings and wishes in a humane manor, rather than with vilolence Delete the scoop?
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Pigskin Geography is a 17-week program that motivates students to learn United States geography by tracking the travels of competing professional football teams with the NFL schedule. Pigskin Geography is an incredibly dynamic way to teach the geography of the United States. Specifically tailored for 4-6 grade students, this program gives students a series of 17 weekly activities that are adapted to the NFL schedule that week. These questions do NOT rely on football knowledge, but uses this as an opportunity to introduce vocabulary teams, and explore other places. For example: “This week the New Orleans Saints will ‘march’ over Cairo, IL, going to their game in Green Bay, WI. Locate Cairo at the southern end of the Illinois. Cairo is located at the CONFLUENCE of the _______ River and the _________________River.” Tags: USA, sport, K12, geography, GeographyEducation, training. Delete the scoop?
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Tahmina Kohistani’s Olympics lasted exactly 14 and 42/100ths of a second.
This is a great article that highlights the Olympic successes that are underreported. Due to geographic circumstances, simply competing is a remarkable accomplishment. The women participants from Afghanistan and Iran are highlighted in this article. 
's comment, August 11, 2012 1:27 PM
great article indeed. Thanks for turning the spotlight away from the podium, for a change.
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The "Spatial" Olympics is an interactive map that displays the running medal count for the 2012 London Games. The above map shows a map of the Gold Medal count (as of today and with a limited spatial extent). Enjoy the Games! Delete the scoop?
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London and the City of London are the same political and territorial entity right? Of course not. Why have something simple when we can have a rich archaic legacy with a fascinating (albeit convoluted) history. Here’s a great political geography lesson just in time for the Olympic Ceremonies. 
Maddy Van Fossen's comment,
September 3, 2012 2:28 PM
This video is short but gives lots of information. I found this video very interesting and I never knew there was a difference between the two cities. It's also very interesting that the two cities were formed at different times. Also, the way that Westminister grew around the city of london is cool, but the way the name Westminister changed to London is still confusing to me.
David Sanchez's comment,
September 5, 2012 8:17 PM
I think that it's amazing that the City of London is still rich and powerful even after having been founded a few thousand years ago.
Valentia Pollard's comment,
September 8, 2012 11:02 AM
I always thought that London was the same thing as the City of London. The only thing that they really have to do due with each other is the City of London is surrounded by London. Its cool that the City of London is still rich and powerful, they have their own flag, and even their own mayor. I think the City of London should be more important than it seems.
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Amazing animated infographic look at various world statistics in Oceania vs. Europe vs. America vs. Africa vs. Asia, from population to homicides to number of billionaires – a fine example of how to...
The video doesn't have captions to denote which continent is which, otherwise this is an excellent data visualization of global and regional differences, using the theme of the Olympics as it's symbolic motif. 
Abby Budorick's comment,
September 2, 2012 12:14 PM
This is such a cool idea. I love how they used olympic rings to represent the different continents. I just wished they would've put which rings represented which continents during the whole video because it was kind of confusing. Also, I don't think they should've combined the Americas because I think they are so different and the stats would probably be very different.
Bradford Baumstark's comment,
September 2, 2012 5:44 PM
The idea hat they had for this video was very interesting but it was also very confusing because they didn't tell us which color was which continent. The concted words at the beginig confused me a bit too because I'm not sure where Oceania even is.
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"Dogtown and Z-Boys: A documentary about the pioneering 1970s Zephyr skating team."
Popular culture is shaped by taste-makers, counter-cultural movements, and the blending of cultural practices in new ways creating a distinct aesthetic. Often, the physical geography of a region plays a crucial role in shaping the cultural practices particular to their environment. All of that can be seen quite vividly in the colorful skating revolution of the 1970s that took shape in the Southern California. Kids who grew up idolizing surfers branched out their recreational habits into the modern form of skating that we see today at the X Games. Made legendary through a series of Skateboarder magazine articles (accessible online here: http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/dtown/articles.html ), these kids shaped the cultural ethos of skateboarding for over a generation. With the coastal influence of surfing, the socioeconomics of a seaside slum, it’s abandoned piers, the ubiquity of cement and asphalt in the urban landscape, the run-down neighborhood of “Dogtown” was home to cultural movement. The fierce droughts of the 1970 meant abandoned swimming pools; that drought led surfers to the technological infrastructure for modern skating ramps and half pipes as they skated in emptied swimming pools. As stated in those Skaterboarder articles, "two hundred years of American technology has unwittingly created a massive cement playground of unlimited potential. But it was the minds of 11 year olds that could see that potential." The documentary “Dogtown and Z-Boys” and the fictionalized “Lords of Dogtown,” both produced by skater turned filmmaker Stacy Peralta, chronicle the age (“Lords of Dogtown” is probably not appropriate for the classroom). The Video has been removed from YouTube, but the first part is viewable here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ8xmI2yVQg&playnext=1&list=PL2279B6A628D53D8A&feature=results_main
Don Brown Jr's comment,
July 11, 2012 9:27 PM
This is definitely a great example of how environmental factors both physical and social economic can influence culture, especially leisure or recreation activities. It makes me think about what other sports around the globe also own their success or failure to their surroundings. American football for example is almost exclusive to this country partly because it is so expensive to facilitate. Yet in soccer, all you need is a ball and perhaps this is why it is the most popular sport on the planet.
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