Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
March 11, 2013 - Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL)
BASEBALL
Pacific Coast League: The Houston Astros of Major League Baseball are considering a move of its Triple-A PCL team to The Woodlands, a suburban area about 30 miles north of Houston, where a new stadium would have to be built. The Astros' current PCL affiliate is the Oklahoma City RedHawks and that affiliation agreement runs through the 2014 season. The independent Atlantic Baseball League has a team in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land and the ABL, along with the independent American Association, had been considering The Woodlands for a possible expansion team.
Atlantic Baseball League: Plans for a new ballpark to be built for the proposed ABL expansion Loudoun Hounds (Ashburn, VA) team were approved by the county's planning commission, but a final vote is needed by the board of supervisors next month. The ballpark has faced opposition from local residents. The Hounds hope to start play in the 2014 season, along with a new North American Soccer League team called the Virginia Cavalry that would share the facility.
Pecos Spring League: The Pecos Spring League has started its second season with four teams called the Galveston Sea Lions, Houston Apollos, Las Cruces Vaqueros and Mesa Arizona Garden of Gears. The schedule runs from March 6 to March 27, 2013 with all games played in the Houston area.
Frontier League: The proposed new ballpark in Parkersburg (WV) for a Frontier League team could be a couple of years away. The state is considering financing for a ballpark to be built in Morgantown (WV) for a possible team in the short-season Class-A New York-Penn League. There was also talk of a ballpark for a Frontier League team in Bridgeport (WV), which is about 35 miles from Morgantown.
BASKETBALL
Florida Basketball Association: The four-team FBA has announced the schedule for its second season in 2013 will start on April 27 and end in late July. The Tampa Bay Rebels, Florida Flight (Orlando) and Heartland Prowl (Lake Wales) return from last season, while the Palm Beach Knights replace the Palm Beach Titans
FOOTBALL
Professional Indoor Football League: The PIFL has started its second season with a seven-team alignment. All six teams-Alabama (Huntsville) Hammers, Albany (GA) Panthers, Columbus (GA) Lions, Louisiana Swashbucklers (Lake Charles), Knoxville Nighthawks, and Richmond (VA) Raiders-from the inaugural 2012 season returned for 2013. The league added the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks (Bethlehem, PA) from the 2012 Indoor Football League (IFL) as its seventh team. A team called the Charlotte Speed, originally announced as a 2013 IFL expansion franchise, was announced as the PIFL's eighth team, but dropped out of the 2013 season in January.
Continental Indoor Football League: The CIFL has terminated its Kane County (IL) Dawgs franchise, which had an 0-2 record. Kane County had to cancel its first home game two weeks ago due to unsafe turf conditions at its arena. The Dawgs have been replaced by a team simply called the "CIFL" in the league standings. Apparently, the remaining away games of the Dawgs will be played by two different teams that are trying to join the CIFL in 2014. One of the proposed new teams plans to be located in Flint (MI).
Champions Professional Indoor Football League: The CPIFL has started its inaugural 2013 season with ten teams aligned into one table. The league is comprised of some new teams, along with teams from the Indoor Football League and American Professional Football League. The Bloomington Edge, Wichita Wild and Omaha Beef (under new ownership) joined the CPIFL from the 2012 IFL. The Kansas Koyotes (Topeka), Lincoln (NE) Haymakers, Mid-Missouri Outlaws (Sedalia), Oklahoma Defenders (Tulsa) and Sioux City (IA) Bandits joined the CPIFL from the 2012 APFL. Lincoln operated as the Council Bluffs (IA) Express in 2012. The Kansas City (MO) Renegades and Salina (KS) Storm were added as CPIFL expansion teams for 2013.
Canadian Football League: The CFL has announced its 2013 schedule that will feature the same eight teams aligned into a four-team East Division and a four-team West Division. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats will play its 2013 home season at Guelph University in Guelph (Ontario), about 50 miles northwest of Hamilton, while a new stadium is built on the site of its previous stadium in Hamilton.
HOCKEY
Central Hockey League: The CHL has finalized a deal with the city of Brampton (Ontario) that will bring a new CHL franchise to Brampton for the 2013-14 season. The Brampton ownership has initiated a name-the-team contest. The CHL's proposed new St. Charles (MO) Chill franchise is under development and plans to start play in the 2013-14 season.
National Hockey League: The NHL Players' Association has supported the latest realignment plan that will feature an Eastern Conference with an eight-team Central Division and an eight-team Atlantic Division, along with a Western Conference that includes a seven-team Midwest Division and a seven-team Pacific Division. The new alignment is expected to be in place for the 2013-14 season.
SOCCER
Major League Soccer-Reserve League: The MLS Reserve League has announced its 2013 season schedule and league alignment. The schedule will include 26 inter-league games with each of the 13 teams from the Division III United Soccer Leagues PRO league playing two games against Reserve League teams. Since 4 of the 19 MLS teams entered into one-to-one affiliations with 4 different USL PRO teams earlier this year, those MLS teams will not have their own separate Reserve League team. The remaining 15 MLS teams will have Reserve League teams aligned into a seven-team East division and an eight-team West division. The four MLS/USL PRO affiliations include the DC United/Richmond Kickers, Sporting Kansas City/Orlando City SC Lions, New England Revolution/Rochester Rhinos and Philadelphia Union/Harrisburg City Islanders.
Major League Soccer: The MLS stated this past week that the focus for its 20th team is New York City, even though groups in Orlando and Miami have expressed interest in an MLS expansion team. The league wants to eventually expand into the Southeast, but that will have to wait for now.
North American Soccer League: The Minnesota Stars FC of the Division II NASL has been renamed the Minnesota United FC for the 2013 season and the team's nickname will be the Loons. The Stars came under new ownership after the 2012 season and decided to change its name. The Twin Cities area had a Division II team called the Minnesota Thunder that was replaced by the NSC Minnesota Stars, named after its home at the National Sports Center in Blaine (MN), for the 2010 season. The NSC team changed its name to the Minnesota Stars FC prior to the 2012 NASL season.
National Premier Soccer League: The D.C. United of Major League Soccer has signed an agreement for its D.C. United U-23 Academy team to play in the 2013 NPSL under a partnership with the league's Federal City FC team.
OTHER
Canadian Lacrosse League (CLAX): The CLAX is interested in placing a future team in Cobourg (Ontario), so the league's Brampton Inferno and Durham Bulldogs recently played a regular-season game in the city to test the market.
World TeamTennis: The Mylan-sponsored WTT has announced its 2013 season schedule that will run from July 7 to July 24 with each team playing 14 matches. The Eastern Conference will include the Boston Lobsters, New York Sportimes, Philadelphia Freedom and Washington (DC) Kastles. The Western Conference will feature the Orange County Breakers, Sacramento Capitals, Springfield (MO) Lasers and the Irving-based Texas Wild, which operated as the Kansas City (MO) Explorers in 2012.
Dan Krieger is the creator of the "The Leagueology Almanac 2011-12", which tracks the changes in league alignments, franchise movements and team nicknames in today's sports world. The publication is currently available at www.amazon.com.
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Continental Indoor Football League Stories from March 11, 2013
- Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report - OSC Original by Dan Krieger
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.
