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Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
October 23, 2007 - Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL)


BASEBALL

- United League Baseball: The Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings franchise, based in Harlingen (TX), has changed its name to the Harlingen WhiteWings. Former Texas-Louisiana League (1994-2001) and Central Baseball League (2002-03) franchises based in Harlingen had been called the Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings. The ULB resurrected the name when it started play in 2006. The ULB is prepared to move into the Corpus Christi area (Nueces County), the territory of the American Association's Coast Bend Aviators, if that team's lease is officially terminated.

- Frontier League: The Crystal Lake (IL) city council voted down a proposal by McHenry County College to expand and build a ballpark on its campus. The proposed 6,500-seat ballpark would have been home to a Frontier League franchise. Possible traffic problems and overall poor planning were considered reasons for the negative vote. Preliminary planning continues in the Waterford Township outside Detroit for a proposed ballpark that could house a Frontier League franchise by the 2009 season.

- Golden Baseball League: The Calgary Vipers and Edmonton Cracker-Cats are expected to announce next week that the teams will join the GBL. The GBL is reportedly interested in placing a team in Kamloops, British Columbia.

BASKETBALL

- National Basketball Association: The NBA has entered discussions with authorities in China about establishing an NBA-based league in the country.

- Women's National Basketball Association: The WNBA has announced an expansion franchise for Atlanta that will start play in the 2008 season. Atlanta will become the league's 14th team. A team called the Atlanta Glory played in the first seasons (1996-98) of the women's American Basketball League, which folded midway into its third season in December 1998. A team called the Atlanta Justice played in the first two seasons (2001-02) of the semi-pro National Women's Basketball League. Some other possible expansion locations in the future include the San Francisco area, Kansas City, Albuquerque, Colorado, Philadelphia and Atlantic City.

- Premier Basketball League: The PBL has announced a schedule for its upcoming inaugural season from early January to mid-March 2008. The season will include ten teams split into two divisions. The Minnesota Ripknees will not participate in 2008 due to difficulty finding a home venue, but will return next season. The PBL also has two expansion teams called the Toronto Lasers and the Montreal Sasquatch listed for next season.

East Division West Division
Jacksonville Jam Arkansas Impact (Little Rock)
Maryland Nighthawks Chicago Aztecas
Reading Railers Dallas Defenders
Rochester Razorsharks Quad Cities Riverhawks
Wilmington (NC) Sea Dawgs Rock River Fury (Rockford, IL)

- American Basketball Association: The expansion Hawaii Hurricanes franchise has come under new ownership and the team has been renamed the Pacific Rim Rockers. The franchise still hopes to participate in the 2007-08 ABA season.

FOOTBALL

- Arena Football League: The owner of the Las Vegas Gladiators had been granted approval by the AFL to move the franchise to Cleveland for the 2008 season. The team is expected to change its nickname. Cleveland had a previous AFL franchise called the Thunderbolts from 1992 through 1994. Las Vegas had entered the league for the 2003 season when the New Jersey Gladiators relocated.

- Arenafootball2 (af2): After threatening to fold the Lexington Horsemen, the owner of the United Indoor Football franchise has announced plans to switch to the af2 for the 2008 season. The team would be a natural rival for af2 teams in Cincinnati and Louisville.

- Continental Indoor Football League: The Rock River Raptors franchise, based in Rockford (IL) and part of the 2007 United Indoor Football, has been approved to join the CIFL for the 2008 season. A new ownership group plans to place a CIFL franchise in Fort Wayne for the 2008 season, although the city has not been officially announced by the league. Fort Wayne had the Freedom in the National Indoor Football League (2003-04) and UIF (2005-06) and the Fusion in the arenafootball2 (2007).

- United Indoor Football: The Wheeling (WV)-based Ohio Valley Greyhounds franchise has ceased operations after nine seasons. The team started as the Steel Valley Smash in the defunct Indoor Football League (1999-2000) and then played as the Ohio Valley Greyhounds in the National Indoor Football League (2001-04) and United Indoor Football (2004-07).

- American Indoor Football Association: The AIFA announced that it will place a franchise in Prescott (AZ) as part of its new 2008 Western Division. The Lakeland Thunderbolts franchise has announced the team will not play in the 2008 due to internal issues. The Thunderbolts had joined the AIFA in 2007 after playing the 2005 and 2006 seasons in the National Indoor Football League. HOCKEY

- ECHL: An ECHL franchise is expected to be the main tenant at a new 10,000-seat arena to be built in the Ontario (CA) area. Arenafootball2 and National Basketball Association Development League teams could also become eventual tenants. The arena is expected to be completed in October 2009.

SOCCER

- Major Indoor Soccer League: The MISL has started its 2007-08 season with nine franchises, including three new franchises: Orlando Sharks, New Jersey (Newark) Ironmen and Monterrey (Mexico) La Raza. The league plans to add a tenth team next year in a Midwestern city and wants to have 12 teams by 2009.

- Developmental Indoor Soccer League: A Midwest division of the DISL has five teams ready to start in January 2008: Appleton (WI) Attack, Chicago Blaze, Green Bay Saturn, Eau Claire (WI) Clash and the Illinois Surge.

OTHER

- National Lacrosse League: The NLL has cancelled its upcoming 2008 season after a failure to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with the Professional Lacrosse Players' Association. The NLL has been around since its 1998 season and evolved from the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League (1987-88) and the Major Indoor Lacrosse League (1989-1997).

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/774026. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.

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Continental Indoor Football League Stories from October 23, 2007


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.


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