Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
Published on June 9, 2008 under Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)

BASEBALL

Frontier League: The city of Normal (IL) and the Heartland Community College have come to an agreement with a group representing a Frontier League franchise to build a new ballpark on the college campus. The ballpark is expected to be ready for the 2010. In addition to the Bloomington-Normal market, the league hopes ground is broken soon on a new ballpark for a Frontier League franchise in Avon (OH) and the Oakland County (MI) Cruisers franchise is expected to start in 2009.

Midwest League: The Low Class-A Midwest League could see some changes in the near future with the Clinton (IA) LumberKings and Beloit (WI) Snappers as possible relocation candidates. The cities of Dubuque (IA) and Waukegan (IL), which is on the northern lakeside of the Chicago area, could eventually become home to Midwest League teams.

New York-Penn League: A proposed new ballpark in the Chester County area of Philadelphia could eventually become home to an affiliated team, possibly in the short-season Class-A New York-Penn League.

BASKETBALL

Premier Basketball League: The Augusta Groove franchise, formerly the Atlanta Krunk Wolverines of the Continental Basketball Association, has been accepted into the PBL for its 2008-09 season. The Krunk started as the Charlotte Krunk in the 2005-06 season of the American Basketball Association. The team was moved to Atlanta as part of the CBA in 2006, but the team sat out the 2006-07 CBA season. The Krunk was sold after playing in the 2007-08 CBA season and relocated to Augusta (GA). The owner of the PBL's Quad City Riverhawks is exploring the Bloomington-Normal (IL) market for a possible PBL team.

American Basketball Association: The ABA has announced it will have a team based in Modesto (CA) for its 2008-09 season. The ABA's Las Vegas Aces franchise, formerly the Orlando Aces, has been referred to as the North Las Vegas Aces. The league has another proposed Las Vegas-based team called the Las Vegas Lights. The ABA announced it will have a 2008-09 team in Aurora (IL), located in the western suburbs of Chicago, and referred to as the Force. A team called the Aurora Force was formed from the remnants of the departing Chicago Rockstars team in February 2007 of the 2006-07 season. The Force did not have a home venue at the time and played only one road game as part of the ABA.

United Basketball League: The UBL standings have a few prospective teams listed that have not played games this season-the San Antonio-based South Texas Showboats, Missouri (Springfield) Thrill, South Arkansas Allstars, Tyler (TX) I-20 Pros and a Houston team.

Mississippi Basketball Exposure League: The MBEL plans to start play this month and give players an opportunity to get exposure for possible play in other basketball leagues in the United States and abroad. The league has nine teams listed for its two-month season-Bulls, Clinton Kingz, Fighting Knights, Jackson Jam, Raiders, Simple Assault, Spann Stallions "A", Spann Stallions "B", and Warriors.

Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional: The LNBP will be returning to Mexico City for its 2008-09 season with a team called Estrellas Indebasquet del Distrito Federal. Two other new teams listed are the Loros de Colima and the Potros Itson de Ciudad Obregon. The LNBP season starts in early September.

Women's Blue Chip Basketball League: The WBCBL has two new teams called the San Antonio Dolphins and Las Vegas Stars listed as pending 2009 teams. The WBCBL 2008 season has started, but the Orlando Spirit team is no longer listed in the league standings.

FOOTBALL

American Professional Football League: The semi-pro indoor APFL officially suspended the remaining schedules of the Texas Regulators and Wichita Falls Diablos. The league had announced the Florida Scorpions were finished for the season, but the team is still playing without a home venue. Two of the five teams in the North division, the Missouri Minutemen and Nebraska Extreme, also do not have home venues and are unable to play home games.

National Football League: With a proposed new stadium project in Los Angeles, there is ongoing speculation as to which team would be in line for a move to the city. The Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers and San Francisco 49ers are all lobbying for a new stadium in their markets, but are considered relocation candidates if their stadium deals fall through.

HOCKEY

American Hockey League: The Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League announced it will place its AHL affiliate in Des Moines (IA) starting with the 2008-09 season. Anaheim had been affiliated with the Portland Pirates for the past three seasons. The NHL's Dallas Stars had its AHL affiliate in Des Moines for the past two seasons.

Central Hockey League: The Austin Ice Bats and Corpus Christi Rayz have officially suspended operations for the 2008-09 CHL season and the Youngstown (OH) SteelHounds are no longer a member of the CHL. The league announced it will have 15 teams participating in the 2008-09 season. The Austin area will be home to an American Hockey League affiliate for the 2009-10 season. The owner of the Youngstown SteelHounds is considering a move to either the International Hockey League or the ECHL.

Eastern Professional Hockey League: The EPHL has Brooklyn (NY) listed as a fourth location for a potential franchise in its inaugural 2008-09 season. The league is reportedly also interested in the Exeter (NH) market for one of its teams.

Midwest Hockey League: The new A-level professional MWHL has teams called the Evansville (IN) IceMen and Louisville (KY) Chill listed. Two other teams called the Rage and the Thunder do not yet have locations.

SOCCER

Major Indoor Soccer League: The MISL has ceased operations, but most of the teams are expected to play next fall in a restructured league format that will be announced later this month. This version of the MISL started in 2001 after its predecessor, the National Professional Soccer League, was restructured. The NPSL had started play back in 1984 as the American Indoor Soccer Association, taking the NPSL name prior to the 1990-91 season. The original MISL started play in 1978 and disbanded after the 1991-92 season. Several MISL teams and markets at that time then joined the NPSL.

Women's Professional Soccer: After starting with ten potential team nicknames, the Chicago-based WPS franchise has selected "Red Stars" as its team name from fan voting. The four red stars on the city's flag represent landmarks in Chicago history-the Fort Dearborn Massacre, the Great Chicago Fire, and the World's Fairs of 1893 and 1933.

OTHER

National Lacrosse League: The NLL is considering expansion into Vancouver (British Columbia) for the 2010 season. The city's previous NLL franchise called the Vancouver Ravens played in the league for three seasons (2002-04). The league is also interested in the Canadian markets of Halifax (Nova Scotia) and Winnipeg (Manitoba). The expansion Boston Blazers will start play in the 2009 NLL season.

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/2533047. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.

Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from June 9, 2008

• Cougars Sign Lilavois as Player/Coach - California Cougars
• 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.