Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
January 19, 2009 - Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL)
Golden Baseball League: The GBL has announced that a team called the Tijuana (Mexico) Potros will be part of the upcoming 2009 season. A team by the same name was disbanded by the Mexican League after the 2008 season and relocated to Reynosa. The GBL Tijuana Potros will be part of a five-team South Division that will also include the Yuma Scorpions, St. George (UT) Roadrunners, Orange County Flyers and the new Tucson Toros. The five-team North Division will include the Chico Outlaws, Long Beach Armada, Edmonton Cracker-Cats, Calgary Vipers and the new Victoria (British Columbia) Seals.
Continental Baseball League: The two-year-old Texas-based CBL has officially awarded a franchise to a group in Alexandria (LA). The new ownership purchased the remaining assets from an Alexandria Aces franchise that United League Baseball (ULB) operated for the past three seasons (2006-08). The new CBL team will also be called the Alexandria Aces and becomes the league's fifth team. A sixth CBL team is expected to be part of the 2009 season. Last season the league had four Texas-based teams called the Bay Area Toros (Texas City), Corpus Christi Beach Dawgs, McKinney Blue Thunder and Texarkana Gunslingers.
California League: The owner of the Bakersfield Blaze in the High Class-A Cal League is still working with the city on a possible new ballpark deal. Minor League Baseball reportedly has plans to move the Bakersfield Blaze and High Desert Mavericks franchises to the High Class-A Carolina League after the 2009 season. If the Blaze left town and a new ballpark moved forward, another Cal League team could possibly relocate to Bakersfield. The Golden Baseball League was also interested in the Bakersfield market.
BASKETBALL
American Basketball Association: The ABA has added a 2009-10 expansion team for the city of Lexington (KY). The team is listed as the Bluegrass Stallions. The league is interested in expanding into the Pacific Northwest and wants to add at least two more teams to the two teams from the state of Washington that plan to join the league for 2009-10. The Beaumont-based Southeast Texas Mustangs denied rumors the team would be leaving the city after the 2008-09 season. A team known as the Concord/Walnut Creek Showtime from the Oakland area has apparently joined the ABA for the rest of the season and will play league games through the end of March.
West Coast Professional Basketball League: The WCPBL has a proposed eight-week season posted that starts in April 2009 and includes the same eight teams from last season-Carlsbad Beach Dawgs, High Desert Rattlers, Hollywood Shooting Stars, Newport Beach Surf, Orange County Gladiators, Pasadena Slam, Santa Barbara Breakers and Ventura Jets.
FOOTBALL
Southern Indoor Football League: The Houston area's SIFL franchise has reportedly taken the name of the Texas Pirates, although the league has yet to make an official announcement. The CenTex (Central Texas) Barracudas, formerly of the Intense Football League, decided not to join the new Indoor Football League with other Intense Football League members because of an increase in travel and other costs that would be part of the new league. The owner of the Barracudas hoped to join the new SIFL and started a search for new investors, but the future of the team is uncertain at this time.
Continental Indoor Football League: The league's new Huntington-based team for its 2009 season will be called the West Virginia Wild. A Charleston-based basketball team in the American Basketball Association (ABA) is also called the West Virginia Wild.
National Football League: The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce has endorsed a developer's plan for a football stadium in the City of Industry that could become home to an NFL franchise. The stadium could open in 2012 if construction starts this year and a team can be obtained.
HOCKEY
American Hockey League: Although it has not been officially announced, the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League are expected to move its Quad City Flames AHL affiliate to a new arena under construction in Abbotsford (British Columbia), which is about 40 miles southeast of Vancouver. Teams in the ECHL and the junior-level Western Hockey League were also reportedly under consideration for the new arena that should be ready for next season. The Quad City Flames are playing their second season in Moline (IL) after moving from Omaha (NE) where the team was called the Ak-Sar-Ben Knights for two seasons. The AHL Flames have the league's second-lowest average attendance.
Eastern Professional Hockey League: The EPHL's proposed Cape Cod-based expansion franchise for next season called the Hyannis Storm is expected to play in a new 1,500-seat ice rink facility currently under construction. The EPHL is also expected to add an Exeter-based team called the New Hampshire Freeze next season. This could potentially increase the league membership from four to six teams.
United States Hockey League: The group trying to build a new ballpark in the Sarpy County (NE) area of Omaha for the Pacific Coast League's Omaha Royals is also considering the addition of a new ice rink next to the ballpark. The arena could become home to the city's Omaha Lancers team in the top junior-level United States Hockey League. The Lancers currently play across the Missouri River in Council Bluffs (IA).
National Hockey League: The Phoenix Coyotes franchise is hurting financially and may eventually file for bankruptcy, which could free the team up for a possible sale and relocation. Seattle and Portland have been mentioned as a possible new home for the team, but other typical NHL relocation cities like Winnipeg, Hamilton (Ontario), Hartford, Kansas City and Las Vegas would probably be in play. The mayor of Hartford recently met with the NHL to discuss plans for a new arena and the city's interest in a return to the NHL. The Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix to become the Coyotes for the 1996-97 season. The following season the Hartford Whalers moved to Raleigh (NC) as the Carolina Hurricanes.
Major League Roller Hockey: The MLRH Pro Series has started with four of the six teams in action-Chicago RollerSnakes, Boston Storm, Buffalo Wings and Michigan Thunder. Two other teams, the Florida Fusion and Washington Power, also plan to take part in additional events in the series.
SOCCER
Major League Soccer: The group trying to bring an MLS expansion franchise to Atlanta has apparently dropped out for now because potential partners could not commit to a 2011 start. The group could try to obtain an MLS expansion team in the future. The league has stated that the St. Louis expansion group needs more financial backing to be considered for one of the two 2011 expansion franchises that are to be announced in the near future. Miami and Vancouver are considered frontrunners for the league's 17th and 18th franchises. Philadelphia was announced as a 16th team to be added in 2010, but potential construction delays could move one of the other cities up a year, possibly Miami, with Philadelphia joining in 2011. Other cities that applied for 2011 expansion franchises were Portland, Ottawa and Montreal, but the Montreal application has already been dropped by the league.
United Soccer League First Division: Plans for a new soccer stadium at a site in the Town ân Country area of Tampa were not approved. The stadium was to become home to the Tampa Bay Rowdies franchise, which hopes to join the USL First Division as a 2010 expansion team. The Rowdies now plan to find a temporary home so the team can still start play in 2010, while they continue to look at other sites for its new stadium.
Professional Arena Soccer League: The San Diego Sockers have been added to the PASL-Pro league for the 2009-10 season. The Sockers have played two exhibition games this season against the Stockton Cougars. The league recently stepped in and took control of the Texas Outlaws (Dallas/Fort Worth) franchise. Management of the team has now been granted to the owner of the DFW Tornados organization, which has teams in the PASL-Premier league and the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League (PDL).
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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Southern Indoor Football League Stories from January 19, 2009
- 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.
