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Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
March 2, 2009 - SPHL (SPHL)


BASEBALL

Golden Baseball League: With a recent change in the ownership of the Edmonton Cracker-Cats franchise, the new owners of the GBL club have announced it will rename the team as part of a name-the-team-contest.

Continental Baseball League: New ownership needs to be found for the Edinburg Coyotes, formerly of United League Baseball, in order for the team to be part of the 2009 CBL season. Three other former ULB teams-the Amarillo Dillas, Laredo Broncos and San Angelo Colts-are expected to play in the 2009 CBL. Another former ULB team called the Alexandria Aces had already come under new ownership as part of the CBL and decided to keep the nickname of the former ULB team.

Frontier League: Efforts are moving forward for the new Frontier League franchise in the Bloomington- Normal (IL) area. The franchise plans to have a new 6,000-seat stadium on the campus of Heartland Community College in Normal ready for the Frontier League team to start play in the 2010 season.

American League: Plans for a new ballpark in Fremont (CA) for the Oakland A's appears to be dead. The city of San Jose, which is in the territory of the National League's San Francisco Giants, is now interested in acquiring the American League club.

BASKETBALL

Premier Basketball League: The PBL has allowed the Mid-Michigan Destroyers to suspend operations for the remainder of the season. The Bay City-based team had played 13 games of its 20-game schedule. The league stated that team could return next season with a restructured organization and it could end up in a different location.

International Basketball League: The Portland Chinooks are no longer part of the league and the team has been replaced by the Oregon Wave. An IBL article for the team has a logo for the Oregon Waves, not Wave, and states that team will be based in the Beaverton (OR) area of Portland. The team also plans to be a statewide touring team playing games in other cities like Medford, Coos Bay, Lincoln City and Pendleton.

American Basketball Association: The ABA has added the Inland Empire 5 Linx, Los Angeles Slam and Riverside Rage to its Northwest division. The Monterey-based Seaside Sea Kings team has been added to the 2009-10 list of expansion teams. The Savannah 2009-10 expansion team, previously called the Pride and the Kings, is now listed as the Savannah Prowl. The Winston-Salem Storm is no longer listed as a 2009-10 expansion team. A team called the New York Thunder has reportedly broken away from the league's New York Internationalz team to form another ABA franchise.

United Basketball League: The UBL has its 2009 draft selections listed for five participating teams-the Tulsa Tornados, Arkansas Warriors, Oklahoma Impact, Missouri Thrill and Texas Wranglers.

United Regions Basketball League: The URBL listed its 2009 draft selections for four teams-the Converse Flight, San Antonio Soul, Universal City Warriors and Dallas-Fort Worth.

World Basketball Association Exposure League: The WBA Exposure League now has a team called the Tupelo (MS) Rock-N-Rollers as one of its eight teams for 2009. The Birmingham-based Alabama Airmen team is no longer listed.

Women's Blue Chip Basketball League: The WBCBL is looking to expand into the Northwest with possible teams in Tacoma, Bellevue/Seattle and Portland. The city of Monroe (WA), which is home to the Snohomish County Explosion in the men's International Basketball League, could also be added. The owner of the Explosion is reportedly interested in adding a WBCBL team that would play during the same season as the IBL team.

FOOTBALL

Continental Indoor Football League: With the departure of the new Huntington-based West Virginia Wild franchise, the CIFL has brought back the Miami Valley Silverbacks for the 2009 season. The Silverbacks, based in Troy (OH), had planned to sit out the 2009 season. The team is planning to play a full 12-game schedule, but most of those games are expected to be on the road.

National Football League: The City of Industry in the Los Angeles area has approved a proposal for a developer to build a new football stadium that could see the return of the NFL to the Los Angeles market. Several current teams with stadium issues, such as the San Diego Chargers, Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, Oakland Raiders and New Orleans Saints, could be interested in relocation. The proposed new stadium is expected to be ready by the 2012 season.

HOCKEY

Southern Professional Hockey League: The owner of the Richmond Renegades plans to suspend operations of the franchise next season, unless new investors or buyers can be found in the next two months. The six-team SPHL is interested in the Pensacola (FL) and Augusta (GA) markets for possible teams. Both of these cities had recent ECHL franchises. The Pensacola Ice Pilots dropped from the ECHL after the 2007-08 season and the August Lynx dropped from the ECHL in the current 2008-09 season.

American Hockey League: A proposed new arena in suburban Dayton for a possible AHL franchise has lost its public funding, while the Dayton Bombers of the ECHL are moving forward with plans for a new downtown arena. The proposed move of the Quad City Flames to a new arena in Abbotsford (British Columbia) would be the league's first team west of the Rocky Mountains and could see other western AHL teams being established to support some of the western teams in the National Hockey League.

United States Hockey League: The team that represents the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NTDP) and currently plays as part of the Tier II Junior-A level North American Hockey League, will move up to the Tier I Junior-A USHL next season. The a NTDP team has been part of the NAHL since the 1997-98 season.

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League: The proposed move of the Lewiston (ME) Maineiacs of the QMJHL to the Montreal suburb of Boisbriand has been blocked by the league's Montreal Junior franchise. The Maineiacs might try other Quebec cities like Sherbrooke or Trois-Rivieres. If the Maineiacs leave the city, a group wants to move the Charlottetown Abbies (Prince Edward Island) of the Maritime Junior-A Hockey League to Lewiston. The Abbies team sat idle this season for financial reasons.

Major League Roller Hockey: The MLRH held made the second stop on its Pro Tour in Chicago last weekend with the Chicago RollerSnakes, Washington (DC) Power, Florida Fusion and Michigan Thunder participating. The league also held the first session of its made-for-TV Slamm Hockey League, which features full-contact co-ed rollerhockey. Participating teams included the Miami Mambo, New York Flash, LA Cru and Washington Spin.

SOCCER

Major League Soccer: Due to financial concerns with its overall soccer organization, Barcelona FC is reevaluating plans for partial ownership of a MLS franchise based in Miami. With Barcelona FC involved, the MLS had been expected to name Miami as one of the next two expansion cities, possibly starting play in 2010.

United Soccer Leagues W-League: The new Quebec City women's soccer team in the USL W-League will be called the Quebec City Amiral SC. Amiral is the French equivalent to the Admiral military rank and the name was taken from the city's military history. The franchise was originally announced last year as the Quebec City Arsenal.

Professional Arena Soccer League: Under the PASL-Pro league's "Provisional, Expansion, Exhibition" heading, a team called the Windsor (Ontario) Border Stars is now listed and planned to play an exhibition game against the league's Detroit Waza. The Border Stars have been a member of the outdoor Canadian Soccer League since 2004. The Border Stars played an indoor season in 2004-05 as part of the American Indoor Soccer League. The PASL-Pro league's Louisville Mockingbird team is now listed as the Derby City Stars and planned to play an exhibition game against the league's 1790 Cincinnati club.

OTHER

World Team Tennis: The WTT has officially announced its 2009 season will take place in the month of July with 10 participating teams each playing a 14-match schedule. Only the Delaware Smash team will not return from last season. The Western Conference will feature the Kansas City Explorers, Newport Beach Breakers, Sacramento Capitals, St. Louis Aces and Springfield (MO) Lasers. The Eastern Conference will include the Boston Lobsters, New York Buzz, New York Sportimes, Philadelphia Freedoms and Washington (DC) Kastles.

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 2008-09 version can be found at http://www.lulu.com/content/6218580. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.

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