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Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
March 10, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)


BASEBALL

- Mexican League: The Mexican League's Aquascalientes Rieleros (Railroadmen) are moving to Nuevo Laredo for the 2008 season and will become the Nuevo Laredo Tecolotes (Owls). Nuevo Laredo last had the Tecolotes de los dos Laredos (Two Laredos Owls) in the 2003 season. That team represented Nuevo Laredo in Mexico and Laredo in Texas. That franchise moved to Tijuana as the Toros (Bulls) for the 2004 season. The Tijuana owners then failed in an attempt to join the Golden Baseball League for its inaugural 2005 season. Meanwhile, the Mexican League sold the Tijuana franchise rights to another group and the team became the Tijuana Potros (Colts) for the 2005 season. The last minute failure of the Tijuana Toros forced the GBL to operate a visiting travel team called the Japan Samurai Bears during its inaugural season. Laredo (TX) has been home to the Broncos in the United League Baseball since 2006. Aquascalientes had joined the Mexican League in 2004 when the Cordoba Cafeteros (Coffeegrowers) moved and became the Rieleros.

- South Atlantic League (SALLY): The sale of the Columbus Catfish, along with a possible move to a new ballpark in Bowling Green (KY), still needs to be approved by the league and by Minor League Baseball. Bowling Green would be the westernmost city in the league and is about 50 miles west of the league's Lexington (KY) market. The seller of the Catfish moved the Albany-based South Georgia Waves to Columbus and renamed the team for the 2004 season. The SALLY's Columbus RedStixx franchise had just moved to Eastlake (OH) to become the Lake County Captains for the 2003 season.

BASKETBALL

- American Basketball Association: The new ABA Nashville franchise that was recently announced for the 2008-09 season will be called the Nashville Broncs. The league also has announced a new team called the Fresno Legends will be part of the ABA's 2008-09 season and might play a couple of games in the upcoming week against the San Francisco Rumble. A team called the Fresno Heatwave played in the ABA for three seasons (2003-06), but became the Sacramento Heatwave at the start of the 2006-07 season. The original Fresno franchise was first announced as the San Joaquin Sun Devils and then the Fresno Heat before switching to the Heatwave. The ABA has used the "Legends" nickname with two previous teams, the Indiana Legends (2000-02) and the SoCal Legends (2005-06). SoCal was originally announced as the Valley Legends. The owner of the SoCal Legends left for the Continental Basketball Association in 2006, but the SoCal CBA franchise has not yet been activated.

- United Basketball League: The UBL's Arkansas Warriors and Texas Wranglers have schedules posted for the 2008 season. It looks like the regular-season will start in the first week of April and end in mid-July. Some of the other teams listed on these schedules include the Dallas Outlaws, Tyler I-20 Pros, North Missouri Hawks, Midland Whirlwind, San Antonio Soul, San Marcos Knights, Fort Worth Falcons and Oklahoma On Point.

- National Basketball Association: Oklahoma City recently voted in favor of a new sales tax to help fund improvements for its Ford Center, which could become home to the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics franchise. In Seattle, several local business leaders are looking at plans to fund improvements to the city's KeyArena for either the SuperSonics or another NBA franchise. The league is set to discuss the SuperSonics relocation issue next month.

FOOTBALL - All American Football League: The AAFL may have to postpone its first season if it is unable to find additional financial support for its inaugural season. The league was forced put training camps on hold for its six proposed teams in Birmingham, Detroit, Gainesville, Houston, Knoxville and Little Rock.

- Arena Football League: The AFL is considering switching to a single-entity ownership model as a way to control costs in the areas of team marketing and sponsorships. The league plans to add one to three new teams for the 2009 season and should have 20 teams by 2010. Cities like Miami, Houston, Boston, Minneapolis and Newark are strong candidates for expansion, while Washington, Pittsburgh and San Francisco are also under consideration. In the future, the league feels it can grow to 30 teams domestically, but could also expand internationally into markets like London and Berlin.

HOCKEY

- ECHL: The league recently held its mid-season meeting and announced the Columbia (SC) Inferno will sit idle next season as part of a voluntary suspension. The team could not work out a lease agreement to meet league requirements, but is working on plans for a new 5,300-seat arena in the area. The ECHL announced that the Beaumont-based Texas Wildcatters franchise will be transferred to a new group in Ontario (CA) and become the Ontario Reign for next season. There has been talk that the Beaumont market could be looked at by the Central Hockey League. The Wildcatters ranked last in the ECHL for average attendance. The ECHL also extended the voluntary suspension of a Myrtle Beach franchise for the 2008-09 season, as it works toward building a new arena. This franchise was formerly based in Florence (SC) as the Pee Dee Pride and last played in the 2004-05 season.

SOCCER

- Women's Professional Soccer: The Chicago entry in the WPS is allowing fans to vote for the team's nickname when it starts play in 2009. Ten possible nickname choices are available: Blues, Massacre, Red Stars, Riot, Stinking Onions, Progress, Towers, Union, Wind and 1871.

- Major League Soccer: The city of Santa Clara (CA) has approved Santa Clara University's Buck Shaw Stadium as a temporary home for the new San Jose Earthquakes franchise, which starts play in the upcoming 2008 season. The expansion team replaces the former San Jose Earthquakes franchise that moved to Houston for the 2006 season. The Santa Clara deal is apparently for three years while the franchise tries to build a soccer-specific stadium in the city of San Jose.

OTHER

- World TeamTennis: The WTT officially announced its 2008 season that will take place in the month of July with each of the 11 teams playing a 14-match season. The Eastern Conference will feature the Boston Lobsters, Delaware Smash, New York Buzz, New York Sportimes, Philadelphia Freedoms and Washington (DC) Kastles. The Western Conference will include the Kansas City Explorers, Newport Beach Breakers, Sacramento Capitals, St. Louis Aces and Springfield (MO) Lasers.

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/1375144. 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.


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