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Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
February 21, 2011 - North American Soccer League (NASL)


BASEBALL

Frontier League: The owner of the Frontier League's Kalamazoo Kings was intending for the franchise to sit out the upcoming 2011 season, but a new local offer for the team has put that on hold. A deadline of March 10 has been set for a final decision on the Kings' 2011 season. The Kings' owner reportedly had seven different offers for the team.

Southwestern States League: The SSL has decided not to move forward with a proposed Northern Division for its inaugural 2011 season. The league will plans to have southern teams called the Blackwell (OK) Broncos, Brenham (TX) Bulls, Clovis (NM) Rhythm, Elk City (OK) Wranglers, and Kingfisher (OK) Pioneers in 2011. The status was uncertain for the previously listed Steel City Wardogs (Pueblo, CO) and the Abilene (TX) Blue Sox appear to be out for 2011. The city of Clovis recently had a proposed team called the Clovis Pioneers in the Pecos League, but it dropped out for that league's inaugural 2011 season.

New York-Penn League: A proposed ballpark project in West Chester (PA) for a possible short-season Class-A New York Penn League team has been voted down for now.

Can-Am League: The Can-Am League's 2011 expansion team called the Rockland Boulders, based in Ramapo (NY), still needs to close a deal for financing to complete its new ballpark. Local voters recently filed suit to try to prevent the ballpark project from moving forward.

California League: The ownership of the High Desert Mavericks in the high Class-A Cal League has signed a lease that will keep the team in Adelanto (CA) through the 2012 season. There had been speculation the team would opt out of its lease after the 2011 season and consider relocation. Over the past couple of years, the Mavericks were unsuccessful in seeking ballpark improvements from the city.

BASKETBALL

United Basketball League: The seven-team UBL has opened its fourth season with a 2011 Season Kickoff Tournament. The Northern Division features the Arkansas Warriors (Little Rock), Oklahoma Impact (Oklahoma City), Springfield (MO) Thrill, and Tulsa (OK) Tornadoes, while a Southern Division includes the Texas Wranglers (Addison), Metroplex Lightning (DeSoto, TX), and Mississippi Tornadoes (Jackson). Metroplex has been added for 2011, as the other six teams were part of the 2010 season.

American Basketball Association: The ABA's second Chicago-based franchise that will join the North Central Division next season is now listed as the Chi-Town Bulldogs. The league plans to add new teams in Panama City (FL) and in the Greenville-Washington (NC) area for the 2011-12 season.

Americas Basketball International: After two years of trying to start league play, the Birmingham-based ABI has announced a proposed 2011 season that will start next month with a Tip Off Classic in Birmingham (AL). Two league-operated teams called the Wolf Pack and Gladiators with play a 20-game season from March to May 2011 against visiting international clubs from Central and South America.

FOOTBALL

Ultimate Indoor Football League: The UIFL has started its inaugural 2011 season with six franchises: the Canton (OH) Cougars, Eastern Kentucky Drillers (Pikeville), Huntington (WV) Hammer, Johnstown (PA) Generals, Northern Kentucky River Monsters (Highland Heights), and Saginaw (MI) Sting.

Indoor Football League: The IFL has started its third season with 22 teams split into 2 conferences, each with 3 divisions. The United Conference has the Atlantic Division with the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks (Bethlehem, PA), Reading (PA) Express, and Richmond (VA) Revolution; the Great Lakes Division with the Bloomington Extreme, Chicago Slaughter, Green Bay Blizzard, and La Crosse Spartans; and the Great Plains Division with the Nebraska Danger (Grand Island), Omaha Beef, Sioux Falls (SD) Storm, and Wichita Wild. The Intense Conference includes the Lonestar Division with the Allen Wranglers, Amarillo Venom, Oklahoma City Bricktown Brawlers, and West Texas Roughnecks (Odessa); the Mountain West Division with the Arizona Adrenaline (Prescott Valley), Colorado Ice (Fort Collins), and Wyoming Cavalry (Casper); and the Pacific Division with the Fairbanks (AK) Grizzlies, Kent (WA) Predators, Tri-Cities (WA) Fever, and Wenatchee Valley (WA) Venom. The IFL lost 10 of its 25 teams from last season, but added 7 other teams in 2011-4 expansion teams (Lehigh Valley, Nebraska, Oklahoma City, and Arizona) and 3 teams (Wyoming, Wenatchee Valley, and Reading) from the American Indoor Football Association. Last season's Arkansas Diamonds moved from Little Rock to become the Allen Wranglers in 2011. The Richmond Revolution will play its 2011 season outdoors while its indoor field is under construction.

American Professional Football League: The semi-pro indoor APFL has announced its 2011 schedule that will include five full-schedule teams called the Kansas Koyotes (Topeka), Springfield (MO) Wolf Pack, Mid-Missouri Outlaws (Sedalia), Sioux City (IA) Bandits, and Iowa Blackhawks (Council Bluffs), and two provisional teams called the Kansas City (MO) Matadors and Florida Scorpions (Tampa). Sioux City joined the APFL after playing the past two seasons as part of the Indoor Football League. The APFL season runs from March 25 to June 25, 2011. Kansas City will play road games against three full-schedule teams and Florida will play road games against two full-schedule teams.

HOCKEY

Major League Roller Hockey: The Pacific Pro Division of the MLRH has finished its regular season with only five teams-the Mission Axiom, Anarchy, LA Pama Cyclones, Revision Vanguard, and Hollywood Dream-playing the majority of games. It looks as though the Midwest Pro Division will hold one more event next weekend in Detroit with participating teams to include the Chicago Carnage, Grand Rapids Grim Reapers, Detroit Revolution, Buffalo Wings, and Tour Bordercats. The MLRH then plans to start playoffs the following weekend.

SOCCER

North American Soccer League: The Miami FC Blues team in the NASL has officially been renamed the Fort Lauderdale Strikers for the upcoming 2011 season. Other choices under consideration were the Strikers FC and South Florida Strikers. A team called the Fort Lauderdale Strikers was part of the original NASL from 1977 to 1983 and the nickname was resurrected for a second division team as part of the American Professional Soccer League from 1988 to 1994. The owner of the Strikers, Traffic Sports USA, has become majority owner of the NASL's Carolina RailHawks and Atlanta Silverbacks, and has financial interests in the league-operated NSC Minnesota Stars franchise. The operator of the proposed San Antonio Scorpions franchise, which will join the NASL in 2012, has run into funding problems for a proposed stadium in San Antonio.

Women's Professional Soccer: The WPS has announced its 2011 season schedule that will include six teams-the Atlanta Beat, Boston Breakers, Philadelphia Independence, Sky Blue FC (New Jersey), Washington Freedom, and Western New York Flash. Although the Washington Freedom is listed as a member of the WPS, the team will be based at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton (FL) and might play only one or two home games in the Washington (DC) area in 2011. The new owner of the Freedom wanted to re-brand the team as the magicJack FC for 2011. The 2011 Washington Freedom uniforms had already been ordered and a decision to re-brand the team for 2011 has not yet been made.

Major League Soccer: The MLS has apparently decided not to pursue a once-proposed fall-winter schedule for its season that would have better coincided with the FIFA international calendar. The current MLS schedule will have to expand as the league grows to 18 teams in 2011 with the addition of the Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers. The league will add the Montreal Impact as a 19th team in 2012 and a 20th team, probably in New York, could be added in 2013 or 2014. The MLS could grow to 22 teams by the end of the decade, but it is in no hurry to expand.

United Soccer Leagues - Premier Development League: The PDL has announced it will have 64 teams in four geographic divisions and nine divisions in 2011. The Eastern Conference will have three divisions, while the Southern, Central, and Western conferences will have two divisions each. The PDL announced another one of its nine new teams for 2011 will be the Rio Grande Valley Grandes FC based in Brownsville (TX). The league had the Rio Grande Valley Bravos for the past two seasons (2009-10), but the USL terminated the Bravos after the 2010 season due to financial issues. The Bravos went on to join the Southern Premier Soccer League for its inaugural fall-winter 2010-11 season. The PDL's El Paso Patriots have been renamed the Chivas El Paso Patriots.

United Soccer Leagues - W-League: The USL W-League (women's) has announced it will have 27 teams in three geographic conferences-Eastern, Central , and Western-for the 2011 season. The Eastern Conference will have two six-team divisions called the Atlantic and Northeast, while the Central Conference will have seven teams and the Western Conference will have eight teams. The W-League's Hamilton Avalanche has been renamed the Hamilton FC Rage, which is also the name of a new USL Premier Development League team that will operate both clubs in 2011.

OTHER

World TeamTennis: The WTT has announced that its two New York-based teams-the New York Sportimes (New York City) and New York Buzz (Albany)-will consolidate as the New York Sportimes for the 2011 season. The Sportimes will play five of its seven home games in New York City and the other two in Albany. With the loss of the New York Buzz from the Eastern Conference, the WTT will be down to nine teams-four in the Eastern Conference and five in the Western Conference-for 2011.

USA Rugby League: The new USARL was formed last month after seven team teams from the 2010 American National Rugby League (AMNRL) left to join the new league. The seven former AMNRL teams include the Boston 13s, Fairfax (VA) Eagles, Jacksonville Axemen, New Haven (CT) Warriors, Philadelphia Fight, Washington D.C. Slayers, and Pittsburgh Sledgehammer, formerly the 2010 Pittsburgh Vipers. Two other teams called the New Jersey Knights and Kodiak Rugby (New York City) will also be part of the USARL. The AMNRL was still planning to play a 2011 season with at least five teams.

United Rugby League: The proposed URL, which wanted to be a minor rugby league featuring an 11-aside version of rugby called "gridiron rugby" that is more suited to American football fields, will not start as planned in 2012. The URL will consider a regional semi-professional league for 2012 instead.

Dan Krieger is the creator of the Leagueology™ almanac known as "Leagues, Teams & Nicknames", which tracks the changes in league alignments, franchise movements and team nicknames in today's sports world. The latest 2009-10 edition is available at http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/leagues-teams-nicknames-2009-10/6534940. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.

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North American Soccer League Stories from February 21, 2011


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