Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
March 30, 2009 - Continental Basketball Association 1 (CBA 1)
BASEBALL
United League Baseball: The assets of the ULB have been purchased out of bankruptcy by the league's former founders and a revamped ULB plans to play an 80-game 2009 season starting in June. The ULB interests apparently outbid a group representing the American Association. The ULB will now have five of its six teams returning from last season-the Amarillo Dillas, Edinburg Coyotes, Harlingen WhiteWings, Laredo Broncos and San Angelo Colts. The ULB's other 2008 franchise, the Alexandria Aces, had already been sold and a new franchise under the same name will be part of the 2009 Continental Baseball League. To replace Alexandria, the ULB will place a sixth franchise in the Corpus Christi-Robstown area, which had been home to the Coastal Bend Aviators of the defunct Central Baseball League (2003-05) and the American Association (2006-07), and also the Corpus Christi BeachDawgs in the Continental Baseball League (2008).
Continental Baseball League: The CBL has confirmed its sixth team will be a travel team based in Texarkana (TX) and called the Texas Mariners. The Bay Area Toros and Texarkana Gunslingers are the only teams returning from the four-team 2008 season. Other new teams include the Dallas Aviators, Alexandria Aces and a team based in Alpine (TX) that will reportedly be called the Big Bend Blue Sox.
Frontier League: The Frontier League's proposed franchise based in Normal (IL) has announced a name-the-team contest. The Bloomington-Normal area franchise is expected to start play in the 2010 season and groundbreaking for a new ballpark on the campus of Heartland College is expected to take place next week.
BASKETBALL
American Basketball Association: The ABA has announced it will return to the state of Maryland with a 2009-10 expansion franchise expected to be based in the Baltimore area. The ABA had a team called the Baltimore Pearls playing in the 2005-06 season and for a couple of games in the 2006-07 season. A proposed team for the 2007-08 season called the Baltimore Bay Lions never started play. The league had the Maryland Nighthawks for parts of three seasons (2004-07), but that team was based closer to Washington (DC) in Upper Marlboro and Rockville. The Nighthawks left for the Premier Basketball League after the 2006-07 ABA season.
Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional: The LNBP, Mexico's top basketball league, plans to start its 2009 season in early July instead of September. The league will be reduced from 24 to 20 teams, all grouped in one table with no divisions. The Soles de Mexicali, Tijuana Galgos, Santos Reales de San Luis Potosi and Loros de Colima have apparently left the league. The Correcaminos UAT Victoria team has moved to Mexico City as the Pilares del Districto Federal and the Bravos Piedras Negras-Eagle Pass team has moved to Irapuato as the Aguilas Negras de Irapuato. The Lobos de la UAC Saltillo team is waiting for approval to move to Tampico where the team would be called the La Jaiba Brava de Tampico-Madero.
United Regions Basketball League: The Texas-based URBL has added a yet-to-be-named Houston team for its inaugural 2009 season that was to start this weekend. The league has pushed its start back one week.
West Coast Professional Basketball League: The Beijing Aoshen Olympian team, which has played as part of the American Basketball Association for the past couple of seasons, is now listed as a participant in the 2009 season of the eight-team WCPBL. The league's second season starts later next month. Of the eight teams from last season, the Carlsbad Beach Dawgs team is no longer listed and the Hollywood Shooting Stars team is listed as the Hollywood Jammers.
Continental Basketball Association: The possibility of the CBA returning for the 2009-10 season does not look good. Of the four teams that participated in the league's shortened 2008-09 season, only the Albany Patroons and Lawton-Fort Sill (OK) Cavalry have committed to play in 2009-10. The Minot (ND) Skyrockets and East Kentucky Miners are not expected back next season. The league continues to explore potential markets and has set a June 1 deadline for teams to be in place if there will be a 2009-10 season.
FOOTBALL
Arena Football League: If the AFL returns next season under a new ownership model, there is the possibility of a new Pittsburgh expansion franchise being added to the league.
Continental Indoor Football League: The Miami Valley Silverbacks, based in Troy (OH), had planned to sit out the 2009 CIFL season, but decided to play in 2009 after a proposed team in Huntington (WV) did not develop. The Silverbacks will be somewhat of a travel team with only 2 of its 12 regular-season games scheduled to be played at home.
National Football League: The NFL's Buffalo Bills have an arrangement to play one regular-season home game in Toronto for the next four seasons, but organizers of the series are reportedly interested in adding one more Toronto-based game per year over the last three seasons (2010-12) of the deal.
Independent Indoor Football Alliance: For its second season, the six-team, semi-pro IIFA will be based primarily in the Dallas/Fort Worth area with the North Texas Crunch (Caddo Mills), DFW Doom, Texas Krush (Irving), Dallas Knights, Texas Smash (Oak Cliff) and Texas Wranglers (Collin County). Two recent additions, the Dallas Knights and Texas Smash, are part of the 2009 American Eightman Football League outdoor season that ends next month.
HOCKEY
Southern Professional Hockey League: The Twin City Cyclones franchise, based in Winston-Salem (NC), will not return for the 2009-10 season in the Single-A level SPHL. Although the team's owner announced the club was suspending operations, the league has stated the franchise is expected to relocate to another city for next season. Prior to moving to Winston-Salem in 2007, the Cyclones had operated as the Pee Dee Cyclones in Florence (SC) for two seasons (2005-07). Another SPHL team called the Winston-Salem Polar Twins played in the league's inaugural 2004-05 season before folding. The owner of the league's Richmond Renegades franchise previously announced plans to suspend operations for next season.
Eastern Professional Hockey League: Rumors have surfaced about financial problems facing the EPHL's Danbury Mad Hatters franchise. The league is trying to find local investors or owners to take over the franchise, while trying to add some expansion teams for next season. The four-team EPHL is finishing up its inaugural season.
United States Hockey League: The owner of the Youngstown-based Mahoning Valley Phantoms in the Tier II Junior-A North American Hockey League is interested in bringing a higher level Tier I Junior-A USHL team to the city. The ECHL has also held talks with the city about a franchise possibly relocating to Youngstown. Youngstown (OH) lost its professional Central Hockey League team called the Youngstown SteelHounds after the 2007-08 season.
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League: After considering relocation for next season, the QMJHL's Lewiston Maineiacs and Acadie-Bathurst Titan franchises have decided to remain in their respective cities. Lewiston first considered a move to the Montreal area and then Fredericton (New Brunswick), while Bathurst considered a move to St. John's (Newfoundland).
SOCCER
Women's Professional Soccer: The WPS has started its inaugural season with seven teams-Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, FC Gold Pride (San Jose), Los Angeles Sol, St. Louis Athletica, Sky Blue FC (New York/New Jersey) and Washington (DC) Freedom. Each team will play a 20-game schedule ending in early August 2009.
Major League Soccer: The MLS has indicated it is still interested in an Ottawa expansion franchise in the future. The city's upcoming decision on funding for either an MLS stadium or a Canadian Football League stadium could be a determining factor. After recently pulling its support for a Miami-based MLS expansion franchise, the FC Barcelona soccer club is reportedly exploring investment in the Philadelphia-based MLS expansion franchise.
United Soccer Leagues Super-20 League: The Mecklenburg (NC) Union Futbol Club will be the joining the USL's four-year-old Super-20 League with both men's and women's teams. The men will compete in a division against six other clubs-Carolina Dynamo, East Tennessee Soccer Federation, FC Fredericksburg, Hampton Road Piranha, Northern Virginia Royals and Triangle FC. The women will compete against the Northern Virginia Majestics, NOVA FC-Leesburg and Triangle FC. The USL Super-20 League if for elite players that are 17-20 years old. Last season the men's league had over 50 teams in 7 divisions, while the women's league had 25 teams in 4 divisions.
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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Continental Basketball Association 1 Stories from March 30, 2009
- Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report - OSC Original by Dan Krieger
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