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MWL1 Midwest League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
July 14, 2008 - Midwest League (MWL1)


BASEBALL

Midwest League: The Midwest League's Fort Wayne Wizards continue their search for a new team nickname that will be used starting in the 2009 season when the team moves into a new ballpark. The team is hoping to narrow down over 2,500 suggestions into four possible categories. The mayor of Waukegan (IL) on the northern Chicago lakeside is still trying to build a ballpark for an affiliated team. The Midwest League currently has the Kane County Cougars in Chicago's western suburbs.

New York State League: The developmental NYSL based in Westchester County is playing with only two teams this summer. The NYSL Federals and the NYSL Capitols started a 2008 season during the last week of June and apparently have already completed a short season. The league is for players who have no more collegiate eligibility and are trying to advance to higher level independent and affiliated leagues. The NYSL plans to return for a 2009 season. BASKETBALL

American Basketball Association: The Las Vegas Aces team, now listed as the North Las Vegas Aces, will apparently attempt to be one of two Las Vegas-based teams in the 2008-09 season along with the Las Vegas Lights. The Chicago-based ABA team is now listed as the South Chicago Ball Stars. The team was previously referred to as the "All-Stars". The South Texas Showboats, formerly affiliated with the United Basketball League, are now listed by the league as the San Antonio Showboats. The First State (Delaware) Fusion is now listed as a 2009-10 expansion team. The league's new Winston-Salem (NC) and Knoxville (TN) teams share the same "Storm" nickname.

Continental Basketball Association: In addition to looking at the Beaumont (TX) market, the CBA's Rio Grande Valley Silverados franchise also visited Corpus Christi (TX) to look at possible home venues for the upcoming season. The idea of inter-league play between the CBA and the American Basketball Association had been mentioned, but apparently was voted down by the CBA. Nothing has been heard about the results of a meeting to be held in June 2008 to discuss the league's proposed CBA Caribbean expansion project.

Premier Basketball League: The PBL's new Augusta (GA) Groove franchise, formerly the Atlanta Krunk Wolverines of the Continental Basketball Association, has found a home venue to assure its participation in the upcoming 2008-09 season.

Texas Professional Basketball League: The TPBL announced that a new team based in Killeen (TX) called the Cen-Tex Blackhawks is the league's newest member for its 2009 season. A team called the Killeen Barnone participated in the 2008 TPBL season, which ran January to March.

Women's National Basketball Association: The mayor of Baltimore would like to have a new arena built in downtown and mentioned the possibility of attracting a WNBA team for the facility.

FOOTBALL

Arena Football League: The AFL is considering the addition of one or possibly two expansion teams for the 2009 season with Boston, Pittsburgh and South Florida under consideration. The league is also considering international expansion with London and Berlin mentioned as possibilities. The AFL has held over 20 successful international exhibitions in the past few years.

Independent Indoor Football Alliance: The IIFA's Bay Area Buccaneers team, based in Pasadena (TX) on Galveston Bay, has apparently folded as the league's inaugural season comes to an end. The Buccaneers came into the league when the area's proposed Texas Blackout team was bought by a new group prior to the 2008 season.

HOCKEY

American Hockey League: The nickname for the new Des Moines-based AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks will be the Iowa Chops with its logo being that of a boar's head. The Des Moines AHL team had been called the Iowa Stars since starting play in the 2005-06 season. Atlantic City (NJ) is another possible location under consideration for the Philadelphia Phantoms if their home arena is torn down for a proposed new development. The Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies played four seasons (2001-05) in the ECHL. The group that owns the Dayton Dragons baseball team in the Midwest League wants to bring an AHL franchise to a proposed new arena in the Dayton area. An expansion franchise is not an option, so an existing AHL franchise would have to move to Dayton. The Dayton Bombers currently play in the ECHL, a level below the AHL.

ECHL: The Reading (PA) Royals franchise, which has been affiliated with the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League since its inaugural 2001-02 season, has signed an affiliation deal with the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs and its Toronto Marlies American Hockey League team for the 2008-09 season. Reading's name is not expected to change for this season. Toronto had been affiliated with the Columbia (SC) Inferno team that suspended operations for the 2008-09 season. The Los Angeles Kings planned to work with the ECHL's new Ontario (CA) Reign franchise. A former owner of the Pensacola Ice Pilots has inquired about bringing a new Pensacola ECHL franchise back to the city, possibly for the 2008-09 season.

United Junior Hockey League: The new Tier III Junior-A level UJHL has six teams listed for its inaugural 2008-09 season: the Cleveland Harrow, Findlay Grrrowl, Jamestown Jets, Penn Enforcers, Philadelphia Thunder, and Wooster Oilers. The Penn Enforcers and Wooster Oilers were part of the America East Hockey League last season.

America East Hockey League: The Junior-A level AEHL has added four Quebec-based teams for its upcoming 2008-09 season: the St. Lawrence Lions (Ste-Foy), Lionel-Groulx Nordiques (Saint-Therese), Team Ulysee (La Plaine) and Trois-Rivieres.

Minnesota Junior Hockey League: The St. Louis Lightning team in the Tier III Junior-A level MJHL has relocated to Maple Grove (MN) and has been renamed the Minnesota Wildcats.

Atlantic Junior Hockey League: The Philadelphia Junior Flyers team has joined the Tier III Junior-A level AJHL for the upcoming 2008-09 season. The Flyers have been added to the South division giving the league 12 teams split into 6-team North and South divisions.

SOCCER

Women's Professional Soccer: The WPS will begin allocating players in September to its seven clubs located in Boston (Breakers), Chicago (Red Stars), Dallas, Los Angeles, New Jersey (Sky Blue), St. Louis and Washington (Freedom). The league will start play in April 2009 and has already announced that a Philadelphia team will join in 2010. The league is also actively involved in discussions with groups in San Diego and San Jose and teams in one or both of these cities could start in the inaugural 2009 season.

Major Indoor Soccer League: The MISL has not yet announced its restructuring plans for the 2008-09 season, but the Monterrey La Raza is no longer listed as one of the teams. The Stockton-based California Cougars are still listed, but that team's owner has already announced the team has moved to the Premier Arena Soccer League Pro Division for 2008-09.

American Indoor Soccer League: The AISL has expressed an interest in placing a team in the Fort Wayne (IN) market and has had some preliminary discussions with local arena officials. The Fort Wayne Flames (1986-89) and the Indiana Kick (1989-90) indoor soccer teams were members of the former American Indoor Soccer Association.

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.

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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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