Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
Published on July 7, 2008 under American Basketball Association (ABA)
BASEBALL
Frontier League: The city of Avon (OH) has broken ground on its new ballpark that will become home to an independent Frontier League franchise. The 3,500-seat ballpark is expected to be ready for the 2009 season. Avon is located just west of Cleveland.
Northern League: The independent Northern League is making a pitch to bring a franchise to a new ballpark in Topeka (KS), possibly by 2010. A Topeka team would be a natural rival for the league's Kansas City T-Bones franchise. The Northern League recently announced a proposed team for Burnsville (MN) and the six-team league wants to grow to ten teams by 2010. The independent American Association has also expressed an interest in placing a team in the Topeka market.
New York-Penn League: The Oneonta (NY) Tigers of the Short-Season Class-A New York-Penn League have been sold and the new owner has agreed to keep the team in the city through the 2010 season. Oneonta has been part of the league since 1966 as an affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and, since 1999, the Detroit Tigers.
Atlantic Coast League: The proposed independent ACL met with officials in Anderson (SC) to discuss the possibility of an ACL franchise for the city. The ACL could start in 2009, but the may have to wait until 2010. A team called the Anderson Joes played in the only season of the South Coast League in 2007. The ACL is also looking at Aiken (SC), Columbus (GA), Macon (GA), Albany (GA) and Fort Mill (SC) for possible teams.
Southern Rookie League: The proposed SRL is a developmental league trying to establish teams in the Southeast for a possible start in 2009. The SRL is considering the Albany (GA) market and some of the former South Coast League markets that are also being pursued by the new Atlantic Coast League. BASKETBALL
American Basketball Association: The ABA announced it has added the Washington Raptors, Alaska Dream and South Texas Showboats as 2008-09 expansion teams. The Raptors played as the Lewis County (WA) Raptors in the 2007 season of the International Basketball League, but sat idle for the 2008 IBL season after changing to the Washington Raptors. The new Alaska Dream is the league's first team in the state and will be based in Anchorage. The new South Texas Showboats will be based in San Antonio. The Showboats had been affiliated with the United Basketball League, which is finishing up its inaugural spring/summer season. The ABA failed in an attempt to add a San Antonio team called the Stallions back in the 2005-06 season. The new Kansas City ABA franchise will be called the Kansas City Spartans. The city's previous ABA team was called the Knights. The league confirmed the previously announced Phoenix Fury expansion franchise will play in the 2008-09 season and that the new Bowling Green (KY) franchise will be called the Kentucky Mavericks.
Southeast Exposure Basketball League: The SEBL confirmed it will have 12 men's teams in its NCAA-certified Metro A-League Conference and 10 men's teams in a non-NCAA certified City B-League Conference. The non-NCAA certified Women's SEBL will return for 2008 with five teams-Baseline USA, Prime Time, House of Liberty, Lady Colonels and Kennesaw. The SEBL starts play July 6.
Continental Basketball Association: The CBA's Rio Grande Valley Silverados franchise is considering a move out of McAllen (TX) after only one season. Team officials have reportedly toured home venues in the Beaumont (TX) area. The franchise still owes money to the McAllen Convention Center for last season.
National Basketball Association: The NBA's Seattle SuperSonics franchise has reached a financial settlement with the city of Seattle that will allow the team to move to Oklahoma City for the 2008-09 season. The franchise will have a new name when it starts playing in Oklahoma City next season. Eventually, Seattle hopes to rebuild its current arena, so the Seattle SuperSonics name has been reserved for another potential NBA franchise in the future. The SuperSonics joined the NBA as an expansion team in the 1967-68 season along with the San Diego Rockets, now the Houston Rockets. Oklahoma City was home to the league's New Orleans Hornets for most of the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons due to hurricane damage to the Hornets' arena.
FOOTBALL
Arenafootball2: The management of the af2's Daytona ThunderBirds reports that the franchise will disband after the 2008 season. The Thunderbirds had joined the af2 for the 2008 season, but the team was suffering from low home attendance. The city had previous teams called the Daytona Beach Hawgs in the 2005 National Indoor Football League and the Daytona Beach Thunder in the 2006 American Indoor Football League and the 2007 World Indoor Football League.
Continental Indoor Football League: The Chesapeake Tide, based in Upper Marlboro (MD), has come under new ownership and is expected to change its name prior to its start next season. The league had taken control of the franchise during the season and reportedly has found a new owner for the team.
National Football League: The San Diego Chargers appear to be making little progress toward a new stadium and the team can opt out of its current stadium lease as of January 2009. With a developer proposing a new stadium in Los Angeles, speculation has the Chargers possibly moving to Los Angeles in the future. Other cities like Las Vegas and San Antonio have also expressed interest in the Chargers.
HOCKEY
Eastern Professional Hockey League: The EPHL held a pre-season meeting with its five teams-the Brooklyn Aces, Danbury Mad Hatters, Jersey Rockhoppers, Copper City Chiefs and New Hampshire Freeze. The league hopes to accept a sixth team next week. The Copper City Chiefs are based in Rome (NY) and the owner decided to keep the name of a team by the same name that played last season in the North Eastern Hockey League. The Mohawk Valley Warbirds was the second choice for the team's nickname. The previously announced Exeter (NH) Freeze has decided to change its name to the New Hampshire Freeze.
American Hockey League: The nickname for the new Des Moines-based AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks will not be the same as its National Hockey League parent club. Names like Capitols, Honkers and Dragoons are possibilities. Two developers are interested in building a new arena in Allentown (PA) that could eventually become home to the AHL's Philadelphia Phantoms. The Phantoms' home arena is supposed to be torn down in the near future. The defunct United Hockey League announced an Allentown-based team called the Lehigh Valley Xtreme back in 2000, but after several years of delays a proposed arena and UHL franchise never developed.
Major League Roller Hockey: The MLRH announced that its Michigan-based franchise, formerly the Michigan Rebels, will be called the Michigan Thunder and based out of Grand Rapids. The team will participate in the league's 2008 Euro Cup event in July, the MLRH Pro Tour from November 2008 through April 2009, and the new pro league schedule in the summer of 2009.
United States Hockey League: The USHL, the top Junior-A hockey league in the United States, has announced its 2008-09 season schedule, which again will feature 12 teams split into a 6-team East Division and West Division. After two seasons in the league, the Columbus-based Ohio Junior Blue Jackets will not return and its protected players have been assigned to the expansion Fargo (ND) Force team. Fargo has been added to the league's West Division, while the Des Moines Buccaneers have been moved to the East Division to replace the departed Ohio team.
North American Hockey League: The NAHL, the top Tier II Junior-A hockey league in the United States, has announced its 2008-09 season schedule that will feature 19 teams, one more than last season. From its 18 teams of last season, the Fargo-Moorhead Jets dropped out and the Texas Tornado (Frisco) team became inactive in 2008-09. The league added three new teams-the Wenatchee (WA) Wild, Albert Lea (MN) Thunder and Owatonna (MN) Express. Last year's Owatonna-based Southern Minnesota Express relocated to Detroit as the Motor City Machine, but a new team called the Express was placed in Owatonna for 2008-09. The league added a new South Division to its Central, North and West divisions for 2008-09.
SOCCER
Premier Arena Soccer League (Pro Division): The PASL Pro Division has added the 1790 Cincinnati club for its upcoming inaugural 2008-09 season. The Cincinnati team will use the personnel from the Cincinnati Excite organization that has played in the American Indoor Soccer League for the past four seasons. The 1790 Cincinnati club had a 2007 outdoor soccer team in the United Soccer Leagues Super-20 (U-20) League. In addition to previously announced teams in Wenatchee (WA) and Stockton, the PASL Pro Division has several other U.S. teams (Colorado Lightning, Dallas, New York and Southern Colorado), Mexican teams (Oaxaca, Mexico City, Morelia and Pachuca), and Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League teams (Edmonton Drillers, Calgary United, Saskatoon Accelerators and Winnipeg Alliance) listed.
Canadian Soccer League: The 11-team CSL, which features a 7-team National Division and a 4-team International Division, has started a 5-team Reserve Division for its 2008 season. The North York Astros and Toronto FC Academy teams of the National Division and the Italia Shooters, Portugal FC and Toronto Croatia of the International Division are operating reserve teams. The CSL expects more clubs to have reserve teams in 2009. The Toronto FC Academy teams are affiliated with the Toronto FC of Major League Soccer and were added to the CSL for the 2008 season. The league's 2007 Canadian Lions became the Brampton Lions for the 2008 season and the Toronto Supra Portuguese became Portugal FC for 2008.
OTHER
National Lacrosse League: The ownership of the Arizona Sting franchise, which decided to remain dormant during the recent 2008 season, has informed the league it will not play in 2009 and the franchise is for sale. The Sting became part of the NLL for the 2004 season when the Columbus (OH) Landsharks franchise moved to the Phoenix area after two seasons in Columbus.
Dan Krieger is the creator of "Leagues, Teams & Nicknames", which tracks the changes in league alignments, franchise movements and team nicknames in today's sports world. The latest version can be found at http://www.lulu.com/content/2533047. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.
Note: OurSports Central no longer actively covers the American Basketball Association (ABA) as a professional league due in part to its inability to publish and play a schedule and the transitory nature of many of its teams. For information on professional minor leagues, please see OSC's basketball section.
American Basketball Association Stories from July 7, 2008
- Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report - OSC Original by Dan Krieger
- South Chicago Ball Stars To Hold Dance Tryouts Saturday - ABA
- Fresno Legends Name New Director Of Player Personnel - ABA
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
