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Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
December 29, 2008 - Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL)


BASEBALL

Arizona Winter League: The AWL, which is a short-season league operated by the independent Golden Baseball League, plans to increase from six to eight teams for its 2009 season that is expected to consist of 21 games played in the month of February. The American Division will include the Blythe (CA) Heat, Palm Springs (CA) Chill, San Diego Surf Dawgs and Yuma (AZ) Scorpions, while an International Division will feature teams called the Saskatchewan Silver Sox, San Luis (AZ) Athleticos, Team Canada and Western Canada Miners. All teams except Blythe, Palm Springs and San Luis will be based out of Yuma's Desert Sun Stadium.

Northern League: The owners of land that was to become home to a new ballpark for a Northern League franchise in the suburban Minneapolis town of Burnsville (MN) have not been contacted about a possible sale for several months. Due to the financial problems facing the potential developers the city does not think a ballpark for the proposed Metro Millers franchise will happen anytime soon.

Pacific Coast League: The possibility of building a proposed ballpark in Sarpy County (NE) for the Omaha Royals of the Triple-A PCL is dependent on funding for the project. The team's current home is to be torn down some time in 2010 to 2011 after the College World Series moves to a new downtown ballpark that still has to be built.

Northwoods League: The owner of the St. Cloud (MN) River Bats in the summer-collegiate Northwoods League has taken control of the Brainerd (MN) Blue Thunder franchise, which had been taken over by the league in the off-season due to financial issues. The Brainerd team will get a different nickname under the new ownership. The Blue Thunder joined the Northwoods League for the 2005 season.

BASKETBALL

American Basketball Association: The San Antonio-based South Texas Showboats have come under new ownership and the team has been renamed the South Texas Fuel, although the ABA has it listed as the Texas Fuel. The 2009-10 Fresno Rebels team that was to fill in for some of the Sacramento Heatwave games in 2008-09 has merged with the Washington Raptors. The new California-based club will be known as the Fresno-Washington Raptors with the Fresno Rebels dissolving. The Sacramento Heatwave is now listed as a potential 2009-10 team. The ABA announced it will place a 2009-10 team in the College Park (GA) area of the suburban Atlanta. The new Salt Lake City Saints franchise has reportedly suspended operations without playing a game in the 2008-09 season.

4 Ball League: The 4-on-4 full-court basketball league now known as the 4 Ball League is trying to form a semi-pro league in the Great Smoky Mountain area with a projected start in the spring of 2010. Some of proposed markets are located in western North Carolina (Asheville, Hickory), Upstate South Carolina (Greenville, Spartanburg) and eastern Tennessee (Knoxville, Chattanooga).

United Regions Basketball League: The URBL has announced its newest team is the Dallas-Fort Worth Disciples.

Eastern Basketball Alliance: The EBA plans to start its 2009 season next week with 15 teams. The Newark Rebels team is now listed as the Garden State Rebels.

FOOTBALL

Continental Indoor Football League: The CIFL has announced its schedule and divisional alignment for its fourth season in 2009. The league will consist of eight teams split into two divisions. The Eastern Division will feature the returning Fort Wayne Freedom and Marion Mayhem, along with the new Wheeling (WV) Wildcats and a yet-to-be-named Huntington (WV) franchise. The Western Division will include the returning Chicago Slaughter, Milwaukee Bonecrushers and Rock River Raptors (Rockford), along with the new Wisconsin Wolfpack (Madison). The CIFL alignment lost 10 of its 15 teams from last season. The Flint Phantoms, Kalamazoo Xplosion, Miami Valley Silverbacks and New Jersey Revolution will not be playing in 2009, but are still considered as part of the CIFL. Other departed teams from 2008 include the Chesapeake Tide, Lehigh Valley Outlawz, Muskegon Thunder, New England Surge, Rochester Raiders and Saginaw Sting.

American Indoor Football Association: The AIFA is reportedly close to signing a deal with a local ownership group to operate a franchise in Wenatchee (WA). The team would start play in the league's West Division in 2010. This central-Washington town has recently added a new indoor soccer team (Wenatchee Fire) in the 2008-09 Professional Arena Soccer League and a Tier II Junior-A hockey team (Wenatchee Wild) in the 2008-09 North American Hockey League.

Indoor Football League: The Frisco (TX) Thunder, formerly part of the Intense Football League that merged with United Indoor Football to form the IFL, was not listed as part of the new IFL's 2009 alignment because of renovations being made to its home arena. The Thunder played two seasons (2007, 2008) in the Intense Football League and some in the organization doubt the team will come back in 2010 if its sits out the 2009 season. Reportedly, the team is still considering a different venue for a possible 2009 return and a final decision is due next month.

HOCKEY

ECHL: After losing its Augusta Lynx franchise at the beginning of December, the ECHL's Fresno Falcons announced that the team is unable to continue to operate its ECHL membership for financial reasons. This terminated the Fresno ECHL franchise and all players became unrestricted free agents. The Fresno Falcons had joined the league for the 2003-04 season when the ECHL absorbed seven franchises from the former West Coast Hockey League, which had operated from 1995 to 2003. This western expansion led the former East Coast Hockey League to rename itself as simply the ECHL. The Fresno Falcons were an original WCHL member and played in all of that league's seasons. The team was briefly called the Fighting Falcons (1997-98). The former WCHL teams still active in the ECHL include the Alaska Aces, Bakersfield Condors, Idaho Steelheads and Las Vegas Wranglers. The two other former WCHL teams, the San Diego Gulls and Long Beach Ice Dogs, have since disbanded.

Central Hockey League: The New Mexico Scorpions, based in the Rio Rancho area of Albuquerque, were reported to be facing financial problems that could jeopardize the remainder of its 2008-09 CHL season. A meeting was held with the city council about the team's arena management and apparently the team should be able to complete the remainder of its season. The New Mexico Scorpions got their start in 1996-97 as an original member of the former Western Professional Hockey League, which merged with the CHL prior to the 2001-02 season.

SOCCER

Xtreme Soccer League: The new XSL has started its inaugural 2008-09 season with four teams-Chicago Storm, Detroit Ignition, Milwaukee Wave and New Jersey Ironmen-from the former Major Indoor Soccer League that folded after its 2007-08 season. The XSL operates under a single-entity ownership model as a way of controlling costs.

Major League Soccer: The investor behind the Miami MLS expansion team that plans to partner with the FC Barcelona club continues to push for a 2010 start. The FC Barcelona club reportedly wants the MLS team to start in 2010 or not at all. The league plans to add a Philadelphia expansion team in 2010 and two other expansion teams in 2011. There has been a suggestion that the Philadelphia team wait until 2011 or both Miami and Philadelphia be added in 2010. The Miami group has facility agreements with the Florida International University that are linked to a 2010 start.

OTHER

National Professional Paintball League: The NPPL, one of the most popular professional seven-man paintball leagues, filed for bankruptcy earlier this month and its future is uncertain. The NPPL usually held five national events during the year. The league had a professional division with 18 franchised pro teams, along with Semi-Pro, Division I, Division II and Division III classifications. NPPL matches were broadcasted on ESPN2 in the spring of 2006.

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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Continental Indoor Football League Stories from December 29, 2008


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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