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Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
February 23, 2009 - Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL)


BASEBALL

Canadian-American League (Can-Am): The new Ottawa franchise in the Can-Am League for the 2009 season will be called the Ottawa Voyageurs. Other nickname choices included the Colonels, Jax, Raftsmen and Trappers. An Ottawa Rapidz franchise, originally called the Rapids, played in the 2008 Can-Am season and then dropped out of the league. The new Ottawa team planned for 2009 was to be called the Rapids, but was changed to avoid confusion. A variation of the new Ottawa nickname has been used by the Great Falls (MT) Voyagers since the 2008 season of the affiliated rookie-level Pioneer League.

Eastern League: A deal is in place to sell the Norwich-based Connecticut Defenders of the Double-A Eastern League to a group in Richmond (VA), but Minor League Baseball (MiLB) would have to approve the sale. The Defenders would relocate to Richmond for the 2010 season and then move into a proposed new ballpark sometime after that. MiLB has indicated it wants some assurance on the new ballpark construction before approving the franchise sale and relocation. A group affiliated with the independent Atlantic Baseball League has expressed interest in building a new ballpark for the Richmond market.

New York-Penn League: With Norwich losing its Double-A Eastern League team to Richmond, there is the possibility of a short-season Class-A New York-Penn League team relocating to Norwich. Apparently, the city of Elmira (NY) is also interested in obtaining a New York-Penn League team. It is uncertain at this time what current franchises would be interested in relocation.

Frontier League: Indiana State University in Terre Haute has announced plans to renovate its baseball stadium. The Frontier League has expressed interest in the Terre Haute market. With these renovations, there is new discussion about the renovated stadium eventually hosting either a Frontier League franchise or a summer-collegiate team in the new Prospect League.

BASKETBALL

International Basketball League: The IBL has been trying to develop a franchise called the Oregon Wave, based in the Coos Bay/North Bend area, and a team by that name has appeared on the 2009 schedule of the Bellingham Slam.

American Basketball Association: As part of the ABA's proposed farm league called the Louisville Basketball League, the city was to become home to an ABA franchise. The Louisville-based ABA franchise will reportedly be called the Kentucky Travelers.

United Regions Basketball League: The URBL, whose organizer broke away from last season's United Basketball League, plans to start its inaugural season with a doubleheader on March 29, 2009. It is uncertain exactly how many teams will be part of the 2009 season, but the San Antonio Soul, Converse Flight, Universal City Warriors and a yet-to-be-named Fort Worth team will participate in the season opener. The URBL has had a team called the Dallas-Fort Worth Disciples listed as a member.

United States Basketball Association: The USBA has confirmed its inaugural season will start on April 11, 2009, and will consist of 12 teams in 2 divisions. The Appalachian Division will include the Atlanta Platinum, Birmingham Crusaders, Chattanooga Royal, Montgomery Generals, Nashville Thunder, and West Virginia Capitals. The Atlantic Division will include the Augusta Raging River, Charlotte (NC) Blue Wave, Columbia (SC) Centurion, Jacksonville Admirals, Richmond Colonials, and Savannah Seahawks. FOOTBALL

Continental Indoor Football League: The CIFL's new Huntington-based West Virginia Wild franchise will not play as planned in the 2009 season. The franchise failed to meet certain requirements by a league-enforced deadline. The CIFL was now down to only 7 teams for the 2009 season after operating with 15 teams in 2008. The league's idle Flint Phantoms franchise is searching for new ownership that would allow a return in 2010.

Arena Football League: The AFL team owners, who voted to cancel the 2009 season, set a March 1, 2009 deadline for deciding the league's future. Owners in Arizona, San Jose, New York and Tampa had voted to continue playing in 2009. There is speculation that a smaller version of the league will return in 2010.

Independent Indoor Football Alliance: The Kaufman County Crunch, which played home games in several Dallas-area venues in the 2008 IIFA season, will play its 2009 home games in Caddo Mills, located just northwest of Dallas. The team has been renamed the North Texas Crunch.

HOCKEY

National Hockey League: The Atlanta Thrashers could be the next NHL franchise to go on the market. The team's ownership controls the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association and may be interested in dropping the Thrashers franchise, whose attendance ranks 29 out of 30 teams. The Phoenix Coyotes officially announced the franchise is up for sale. The typical list of possible relocation cities for these teams has again been mentioned-Hamilton (Ontario), Kansas City, Quebec City, Seattle, Winnipeg and suburban Toronto.

Great Lakes Junior Hockey League: After playing its inaugural 2008-09 season at the Junior-C level, the GLJHL has been granted Junior-B level status by USA Hockey for the 2009-10 season. The league features teams in Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan and was started to fill the void created when the Central States Hockey League was promoted to Junior-A status for the 2007-08 season.

Western States Hockey League: The Sacramento-based Capital Thunder in the Junior-A level WSHL plans to relocate to Bakersfield for the 2009-10 season.

SOCCER

National Premier Soccer League: The NPSL's Northeast Region plans to grow to 11 teams with the addition of three Pennsylvania-based clubs-the Erie Admirals, Pocono Snow and FC Reading Revolution. The Northeast Region will be split into two conferences with the three new teams joining the Buffalo FC, Charm City FC and Pennsylvania Stoners in a new Keystone Conference. An Atlantic Conference will feature the Boston Aztec, Long Island Academy, Maine Sting, Morris County Colonials and New York Athletic Club. The NPSL also has teams in regions called the NorthWest, SouthWest, MidWest and SouthEast. The league had 24 full-schedule teams in 2008.

Women's Premier Soccer League: The WPSL, the women's counterpart to the men's National Premier Soccer League, has added a few new teams for the upcoming 2009 season. Some of these new clubs include the Galactics Clearwater Amazons, Seattle Synergy, PSSCV-Santa Clarita (CA) and Alamo FC San Antonio. The WPSL had over 50 participating clubs in its 2008 season.

Pacific Coast Soccer League: The PCSL plans to operate its 2009 season with over 30 teams in British Columbia (Canada) and Washington State. The men's division will feature an 11-team Premier Division and a 7-team Reserve Division, while the women's division will feature a 9-team Premier Division and an 8-team Reserve Division. OTHER

Major League Lacrosse: The MLL has officially announced it will operate with only six clubs in its 2009 season. The Boston Cannons, Chicago Machine, Denver Outlaws, Long Island Lizards and Washington Bayhawks return from the 2008 season and join the new Toronto Nationals expansion franchise for the 2009 season. Although it is not considered a relocation of the Rochester Rattlers franchise, the new Toronto Nationals will be comprised of many former Rochester players. The New Jersey Pride, Philadelphia Barrage, Los Angeles Riptide and San Francisco Dragons will not return in 2009 and their players will be dispersed throughout the league.

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.



Continental Indoor Football League Stories from February 23, 2009


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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