Weekly Sports League & Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
Published on March 19, 2012 under American Indoor Football (AIF)

BASEBALL

South Atlantic League (SALLY): The city of Winchester (VA), which was trying to build a new ballpark to lure the Hagerstown (MD) Suns of the low Class-A SALLY, voted down a transfer of land for the ballpark location. The Suns could end up staying in Hagerstown and were working with the city on a lease extension and a possible new downtown ballpark in the future.

Mexican League: The Triple-A Mexican Baseball League, or Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, has started its 2012 season and added two teams to increase to 16 teams. The Rieleros de Aquascaliente were added to the Zona Norte (North Division), while the Delfines de Ciudad del Carmen (Campeche) were added to the Zona Sur (South Division). The league had two teams called the Dorados de Chihuahua and Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo that sat out the 2011 season. The Dorados relocated to become the Rieleros de Aquascaliente, while the Tecolotes were sold and moved to Ciudad del Carmen.

BASKETBALL

Independent Basketball Association: Five of the six teams from the IBA's inaugural 2011-12 fall-winter season have joined five other teams for the league's inaugural 2012 season that started this week. The Battle Creek (MI) Knights, Chicago Redline, Gary (IN) Splash, Kankakee County (IL) Soldiers, and Lake County (IL) Stars returned from the fall-winter season and will be part of the spring-summer season with the Albany (NY) Legends, Kenosha (WI) Ballers, Lansing (MI) Capitals, Los Angeles Lightning, and Springfield (IL) Express.

United Basketball League: The UBL has started its 2012 season and reports it will have seven teams. The North Conference includes the Arkansas Bobcats, Oklahoma On Point Hoops, and Tulsa Tornadoes, while the South Conference has the Arkansas Warriors, Mississippi Tornadoes (Jackson), Austin Rhythm, and Texas Wranglers (Addison). The Springfield (MO) Thrill is not part of the 2012 UBL schedule.

International Basketball League: The IBL has announced a partnership with the Los Angeles-based Summer Pro League. An IBL All-Star team and a Japan All-Star team, which is part of the IBL's 2012 season, will be part of the 2012 SPL season in July.

Circuito de Basquetbol de la Costa del Pacifico (CIBACOPA): After reporting on Mexico's Pacific Coast Basketball League known as the CIBACOPA and the start of its 2012 season with 11 teams, it was learned that the league's Bomberos de Mexicali team would not be part of the 2012 season. The league will now operate with ten teams. The Bomberos were part of the league for the past two seasons (2010-11). The team's management operated both the Bomberos and the Zonkeys de Tijuana teams, but decided to concentrate its efforts on the Zonkeys team in the 2012 CIBACOPA.

Baloncesto Superior Nacional: The Puerto Rican basketball league known as the BSN started its 2012 season earlier this month with eight teams. Of the ten teams from last season, the Cangrejeros de Santurce, Gallitos de Isabela, and Maratonistas de Coamo did not return. A team called the Brujos de Guayama was added. The BSN had a previous team called the Brujos de Guayama in its 2008 season.

American Basketball Association: The ABA has announced two new teams called the Las Vegas Knights and the Olympia (WA) Rise will be part of the 2012-13 season.

FOOTBALL

American Indoor Football: The Nevada Lynx, which was a last-minute replacement for the Las Vegas-based Sin City Blackjacks of the AIF, will play a five-game travel schedule in 2012. The team plans to become a full member of the AIF in 2013 and will be based out of the Laughlin (NV) area.

National Indoor Football Association: The new NIFA is apparently still on pace to start its inaugural 2012 season next month with four teams called the DFW Texans (Dallas), Conroe (TX) Jaguars, Texas Pirates (Houston), and Humble (TX) Colts. The NIFA lists Houma (LA), Kansas City (MO), College Station (TX), and Lafayette (LA) as future markets for 2013-14.

Lingerie Football League-Canada: The LFL Canada has announced its new team based in Saskatoon (Saskatchewan) will be called the Saskatoon Sirens. The league plans to start its inaugural season in August 2012 with four teams. The other teams include the Toronto Triumph, which participated in the 2011-12 season of the United States-based LFL, along with the new Regina Rage (Saskatchewan) and BC Angels from Abbotsford (British Columbia).

HOCKEY

North American Hockey League: After discussing proposals from the Federal Hockey League and the proposed Northern Professional Hockey League, the city of Johnstown (PA) decided to negotiate with the Tier II junior-level NAHL to bring a team to the city. The owner of the NAHL's Wenatchee (WA) Wild was trying to move to the junior-A British Columbia Hockey League for the 2012-13 season with the Wenatchee-based NAHL franchise moving to Johnstown. The BCHL already had its 2012-13 schedule and alignment established, so the Wild will not join that league until 2013-14. The move of the Wenatchee Wild NAHL team to Johnstown is off for 2012-13 and it will remain in the NAHL for one more season. The Wild ownership plans to help find a team that will consider a move to Johnstown for 2012-13.

North American 3 Hockey League: The Tier III NA3HL, which is affiliated with the Tier II North American Hockey League, has announced it will add a team called the Breezy Point (MN) North Stars for the 2012-13 season. The league currently has three other Minnesota-based teams.

International Junior Hockey League: The new Westchester (NY) Dragons will have a team in both the Super Elite and Elite divisions of the independent Tier-III IJHL for the 2012-13 season.

Federal Hockey League: The FHL recently lost out on bids to place teams in Johnstown (PA) and Elmira (NY). The league was reportedly trying to develop an affiliated junior hockey league.

Central Hockey League: The CHL has denied rumors that had the league either adding a junior-level league or switching to become a junior hockey league at some point. Over the past two seasons, the CHL lost three Texas-based teams in Amarillo, Corpus Christi, and Odessa that switched to junior hockey programs.

SOCCER

United Soccer Leagues - Major Indoor Soccer League: After its first season of operation as part of the USL, the MISL plans to expand for next season. The league does not plan on losing any of its seven teams from 2011-12, but could add a Chicago-based team along with other new markets. A proposed Chicago team for the 2011-12 season never materialized as planned. The USL also would like to affiliate its indoor MISL teams with outdoor teams, possibly from the USL PRO league (Division III) or the North American Soccer League (Division II). This could lead to year-round player contracts and provide clubs with greater marketing opportunities and better use of personnel.

OTHER

Rugby Super League: The RSL has started its 2012 season with only nine official teams instead of ten. The Utah Warriors were dropped from the Red Conference (Western) just prior to the start of the season due to a failure to comply with league guidelines. There will be no replacement team for the Warriors and other teams will be allowed to schedule games against other teams on dates held for the Warriors.

American National Rugby League: The AMNRL plans to establish a Midwest Conference and will have three teams called the Chicago Stockyarders, Iowa City Crash, and Western Stormers (Elgin, IL) each playing a six-game schedule in June and July 2012.

USA Rugby League: The USARL has announced the schedule for its second season in 2012 will again include eight teams. The new Baltimore Blues team will replace the New Jersey Turnpike Titans in 2012.

Other teams include the Boston Thirteens, Jacksonville Axemen, New Haven (CT) Warriors, Oneida FC (Boston), Philadelphia Fight., Rhode Island Rebellion (Providence), and Washington DC Slayers.

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 2010-11 edition is available at http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/leagues-teams-nicknames-the-leagueology-almanac-2010-11/15228513. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.

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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.