Natsu Koshien Prefectural Brackets/Qualified Teams

Does anyone know where I can host web page stuff? Since Google Docs completely ruins my Excel tables, I need to save the files as a web page and upload them somewhere.

Any ideas?

For now, here's a list of all the qualified teams. A lot of teams that haven't been here in a while.

____________________________________________________________

I like seeing fresh teams, and I'm getting even more and more mad that I'm not going this year...

26 of the 42 teams that have qualified are either newcomers or have not been since 2005 or earlier.

15 of the 42 teams are either newcomers or have not been since 1999 or earlier.

Last year (which is when I originally wanted to go), those numbers were 28 and 20 AND it turned out to be one of the better Koushien tournaments I've seen (which I started around 2005ish).

Of the teams that have qualified, there are many that I'm interested in seeing:

Hokushou (Minami Hokkaido) - Who knew there'd be a decently strong team based out of Otaru? And why do I care about Otaru? Saishuu Heiki Kanojyo. Bad reason? Perhaps. But I liked the city when I came to visit, and so I root for this team.

Hachinohe Koudai Dai-ichi (Aomori) - They've always been in the shadow of Aomori Yamada and they finally break through. I'd like to see what they can do on the big stage.

Ichinoseki Gakuin (Iwate) - This team was passed up for the spring senbatsu, and perhaps rightly so. So they've decided to win outright to show what they can really do.

Yamagata Chuo (Yamagata) - I kinda like Yamagata in general, so any team that comes out of there I root for. I think I'd root for them more if it was either Haguro or a Yonezawa team.

Suijyou (Ibaraki) - New team, enough said.

Narita (Chiba) - I would have much preferred Narashino, but when you seem to have a dominating pitcher as they do, you can't help but watch. But be prepared for a 2009 Kounan result.

Matsumoto Kougyou (Nagano) - See Yamagata. Nagano is another prefecture I generally root for.

Tonami Kougyou (Toyama) - Tonami has been good in prefecture the last couple of years, it's nice to seem them make their first appearance.

Yuugakukan (Ishikawa) - Same as Tonami, although they've been to Koshien in the past.

Hikawa (Yamanashi) - Haven't been in a long time, I usually root for these teams to go far because who knows when they'll be back again?

Tokoha Tachibana (Shizuoka) - Did I mention I like the Tokoha schools?

Toki Shougyou (Gifu) - In Gifu, it's generally the Gifu Shougyou schools that qualify out of here, so to see a different team is nice to see.

Inabe Sougou (Mie) - See Yamagata and Nagano. But Inabe Sougou has also been a good team that's never made good on their talent. Until now.

Tenri (Nara) - I had spend time in Tenri who's people were very hospitable and friendly. I can't say that I completely understand their religion, but it doesn't deter me from rooting for them. Except that it seems year after year there's a key moment when I know they shouldn't do something, and then they do, and they lose. Case in point, 2006 when I was there. Game tied vs. Kanazawa, runner on 3rd, I yelled from the Tenri oen-dan, "DON'T SQUEEZE!!!"

Well, they did, it failed, and Kanazawa scored the next half-inning.

Last summer, they lost a key player due to injury and fell to Nagano Nichidai.

Then this past spring, they inexplicably pulled their ace after just 4 innings, and the team fell apart against Tsuruga Kehi.

I'm almost afraid as what to expect this year...

Kyoto Gaidai Nishi (Kyoto) - KGN became a favorite team of mine when they had reliever #10 Honda come in and close games at Koushien. When he came in, you knew it was over. He's since moved on, but my liking of the school hasn't.

Kaisei (Shimane) - I generally like rural schools because they are generally an underdog. Kaisei is a strong team, that has had a bit of leadership issues (i.e. the Nonomura Incident), but I think if they put it together they have a decent shot.

Eimei (Kagawa) - See Ibaraki and Gifu.

Nishi Nippon Tankidai Fuzoku (Fukuoka) - Now that I see Fukuoka for what they are, I'm interested to see how this team does this year.

Kyushu Gakuin (Kumamoto) - Team that finally made good and gets a return trip back to Koushien.

19 teams... *sighs*