Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
October 26, 2009 - Professional Arena Soccer League (PASL)
BASEBALL
Northern League: The Northern League has held its player draft to stock the expansion Lake County Fielders franchise that will be based in the city of Zion (IL). The league will increase from six to eight teams in 2010 with the addition of Lake County and the Rockford (IL) RiverHawks team, which is switching from the Frontier League.
South Atlantic League (SALLY): The Bowling Green (KY) Hot Rods and the Lake County Captains (Eastlake, OH) have been transferred from the Low Class-A SALLY to the Low Class-A Midwest League. The SALLY will now operate with 14 teams, while the Midwest League increases to 16 teams. Each seven-team SALLY League division will have one less team in 2010 with Lake County leaving the Northern Division and Bowling Green leaving the Southern Division. The 16-team Midwest League will have 8-team divisions with Lake County and Bowling Green being added to the Eastern Division, which previously had only six teams.
Mexican Pacific League: The winter-season Mexican Pacific League recently started its 2009 season that runs through December. The league has the same eight teams as last season and includes the Aguilas de Mexicali, Algodoneros de Guasave, Caneros de Los Mochis, Mayos de Navajoa, Naranjeros de Hermosillo, Tomateros de Culiacan, Venados de Mazatlan, and Yaquis de Obreon. The league champion moves on to the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) with other champions from the Dominican Winter League, Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League, and the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League.
Arizona Winter League: The Golden Baseball League has announced the eight teams that will participate in its fourth Arizona Winter League season, which starts in late January 2010 and runs through February 2010. Seven of the eight teams from last year will return, as the league's Palm Beach Chill left to form its own California Winter League in 2010. The AWL's U.S. Division will feature the Blythe (CA) Heat, San Diego Surf Dawgs, San Luis Athleticos and Yuma (AZ) Scorpions. The GBL's Calgary Vipers will field a 2010 winter league team in the Canadian Division to go with the Saskatchewan Silver Sox, Team Canada, and Western Canada Miners. The majority of AWL games are played in Yuma.
BASKETBALL
Women's National Basketball Association: The investors trying to bring a WNBA franchise to Tulsa (OK) have purchased the league's Detroit Shock franchise, which will be relocated and renamed for the 2010 season next summer. The Shock entered the WNBA as an expansion team for the league's second season in 1998.
International Basketball League: The IBL now has the Columbus (OH) Cavalry and Albany (NY) Tech Valley Legends listed as "Teams Coming Soon".
Eastern Basketball Alliance: The expansion Montgomery County All-Stars of the EBA have been renamed the Metropolitan All-Stars, as the team will represent the Washington (DC) metro area. A team called the Beltway Bombers, based in Alexandria (VA), is now listed as a 2010 expansion team. The EBA now has 18 teams listed for its upcoming season, with 4 other teams listed to join next season.
Mountain State Basketball League: The MSBL plans to start play in the spring of 2010. As of now, its list of proposed teams includes the Georgia Gwizzlies, International Angels, Madison (WV) Miners, Pikeville (KY) Power, West Virginia Wild (Clarksburg) and the Mustangs, one time listed as the Martinsburg Mustangs.
American Basketball Association: The ABA has added the Tri-City Suns expansion team for the 2009-10 season and the team will be based in the Washington (DC) metro area. New teams called the Carolina Kings and Akron (OH) Rise have appeared on the list of 2009-10 teams. Carolina was reportedly the Greenville-based franchise that had been trying to join the Premier Basketball League. The ABA's Stockton-based Delta King Ballers are now listed as the California Beach Ballers.
FOOTBALL
Arenafootball2: With the disbanding of the af2 after its 2009 season, some former league members were still making news. The owner of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers had been trying to sell the team to groups interested in moving the franchise to another league, but negotiations have ended and the Pioneers will not field a team in 2010. The Albany (NY) Firebirds are also expected to announce that the franchise will cease operations. The Pioneers and Albany Conquest entered the af2 as expansion teams in 2002, with Albany changing its name to the Firebirds for the 2009 season. The future of the af2's Stockton Thunder franchise is still uncertain for 2010.
Indoor Football League: The IFL group that owns both the Omaha Beef and the River City Rage (suburban St. Louis) has basically merged the two teams by trading several Rage players to Omaha, while releasing any remaining Rage players and shutting down that franchise. The IFL has lost both River City and the Saginaw Sting from last season, but plans to add at least five other teams for the 2010 season.
Women's Football Alliance: After starting its inaugural 2009 spring season with 34 teams, the WFA has announced several proposed new teams for 2010. Some of these include the Houston Power, Utah Blitz (Salt Lake City), Central Cal War Angels (Fresno), Sacramento Rush, Nebraska Stampede (Omaha), Carolina Raging Wolves (Fayetteville, NC), New England Nightmare (Windsor, CT), Mid-South Sol (Memphis), Portland (OR) Fighting Fillies, Kansas City Spartans, Acadiana Zydeco (Arnaudville, LA), Tampa Bay Admirals, Central Florida Anarchy (Orlando), Arizona Assassins (Phoenix), Monterrey (Mexico) Aguilas Regias, and the Pacific Warriors (Hermosa Beach), formerly the California Lynx.
Lingerie Football League: The ten-team LFL is playing its inaugural 2009-10 season of women's 7-on-7 football with each team playing two home and two away games. The New York Majesty has switched its home games for the 2009-10 season from Nassau County to Reading (PA). The Philadelphia Passion planned to play its home games in Trenton (NJ). The league recently announced it will add a Houston team to the Western Conference and an Orlando team to the Eastern Conference for its next season in 2010-11.
Independent Women's Football League: The IWFL has announced the Memphis Belles and the San Francisco-based Bay Area Bandits will join the league for its 2010 spring schedule. The Memphis Belles played in the 2009 inaugural season of the Women's Football Alliance. For its 2009 season, the IWFL had 22 teams in its Tier I markets and 26 teams in its smaller Tier II markets.
HOCKEY
National Hockey League: If plans for a new arena in Quebec City move forward, it could eventually see the return of an NHL franchise to the city. The proposed arena could be completed in 2012. The NHL appears interested in the Canadian markets of Quebec City, Winnipeg, and Hamilton for possible relocation of financially struggling teams like the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Atlanta Thrashers, Nashville Predators, or Phoenix Coyotes. The Quebec Nordiques were members of the NHL from 1979 to 1995 and moved to Denver as the Colorado Avalanche. The Winnipeg Jets played in the NHL from 1979 to 1996 and moved to Phoenix as the Coyotes. Hamilton has been mentioned as a possible second NHL city for southern Ontario, but an agreement would have to be reached with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
MLRH: The proposed MLRH2 full-contact league is scheduled to start play this fall and now has nine teams that also plan to operate teams in both the MLRH-AAA and MLRH-AA non-contact leagues. As of now, the MLRH2 teams include the Chicago RollerSnakes, Cincinnati Smoke, Detroit Revolution, D.C. Filibusters, Florida Fusion (Gainesville), Michigan Thunder (Grand Rapids), Pennsylvania Blackout (Pottsville), South Carolina Buccaneers (Greenville), and Virginia Wings (Chantilly).
SOCCER
Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League: The CMISL has had discussions with groups interested in bringing a CMISL franchise to Victoria (British Columbia), but a decision would likely not be made until next year.
Professional Arena Soccer League: The new Canton-based Ohio Vortex team is reportedly still in negotiations for a home venue in Canton. The team is training in the Cleveland area and could move its home there if an arena deal cannot be reached in Canton.
OTHER
National Pro Fastpitch: The NPF recently announced it is moving its offices from Denver to Nashville and is positioning for expansion of league teams and oversight of operations. The league operated with five teams in its recent 2009 season.
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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Professional Arena Soccer League Stories from October 26, 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.
