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Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
November 23, 2009 - USL First Division (USL-1)


BASEBALL

Florida Winter Baseball League: The four-team FWBL has suspended its inaugural 2009-10 season after only a couple of weeks. The Lake County Black Bears, Los Diamantes de Miami, Seminole County Naturals, and Space Coast Surge had each played 15 games of a proposed 60-game schedule. The league apparently ran out of money and has indicated it will recapitalize for a possible return in the future.

Atlantic Baseball League: The ABL has announced its schedule for the upcoming 2010 season. The league will have the same eight teams and divisional alignment as last season. The ABL started play back in the 1998 season.

Pacific Coast League: The owner of the Portland Beavers in the Triple-A PCL still needs to find a new location for the franchise before the 2011 season. The owner has been granted a Major League Soccer franchise for the Portland Timbers soccer club that will start play in 2011. The Beavers' current stadium will be renovated as a soccer-only facility to accommodate the MLS team.

BASKETBALL

Women's National Basketball Association: The owners of the Sacramento Kings in the National Basketball Association announced they would no longer operate the Sacramento Monarchs in the WNBA and the Monarchs have folded. The WNBA was reportedly talking with investors in the Bay Area to try to find new ownership for the franchise in time for the 2010 season. The Sacramento Monarchs franchise was one of the league's original eight teams in the inaugural 1997 season.

American Basketball Association: An Austin-based team called the Texas Chaparrals plans to play as a 2009-10 ABA expansion team. The Texas Professional Basketball League has a current team called the San Angelo (TX) Chaparrals that has been around since 2002. A team called the Dallas Chaparrals played six seasons (1967-73) in a previous version of the ABA, which operated from 1967 to 1976. The team was called the Texas Chaparrals for one season (1970-71). That franchise moved to become the San Antonio Spurs in 1973 and joined the National Basketball Association when the ABA folded in 1976. The Basketball Northwest Foundation will be overseeing eight of the nine teams for the ABA's proposed Pacific Northwest Division in 2009-10.

Texas Professional Basketball League: The TPBL announced that teams based in Spring (TX) and Abilene (TX) will be part of the 2010 season that starts in January. Abilene had a team called the Abilene Force that played a few previous seasons in the TPBL.

Mountain State Basketball League: The proposed MSBL plans to start play in April 2010 with teams playing a 20-game season. The league's proposed "Mustangs" team, which was previously called the Martinsburg Mustangs, is now listed as the Charlotte (NC) Mustangs. Other teams include the Georgia Gwizzlies, International Angels, Madison (WV) Miners, Pikeville (KY) Power, and West Virginia Wild.

Americas Basketball International: The ABI now reports that its 2009-10 regular season schedule will start on December 5, 2009. The league currently lists four ABI teams and eight international teams from Central America, South America, and Africa. The league had originally announced plans to start in the first week of November. The ABI will play under international FIBA basketball rules.

Women's Blue Chip Basketball League: A team called the St. Louis Surge is making plans to be part of the 2010 summertime season in the semi-pro WBCBL.

FOOTBALL

Arena Football 1: The new AF1 league dropped its plans for a two-tier market structure and has eliminated its proposed lower-level Tier 2 Division. Two proposed AF1 Tier 2 teams, the Little Rock-based Arkansas Twisters and the Tri-Cities Fever of Kennewick (WA), have left the AF1 to be part of the Indoor Football League for its 2010 season. The AF1 now lists 14 markets for its inaugural 2010 season.

Arena Football League: Ownership involved with the Chicago Rush franchise, which was part of the AFL's final season in 2008, is reportedly working toward a return of the AFL as a top-level indoor football league operating in National Football League cities, possibly in 2011. The league would operate with fewer teams than the 17 teams it had in 2008. The new Arena Football 1 league has made a bid on the AFL and its assets in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, so a revamped AFL would most likely operate under another name with different team names.

Arenafootball2: The Albany (NY) Firebirds, formally of the disbanded af2, will most likely not play in 2010. The team's owner has been unable to find financial partners to share the costs and the team would still need to find a league to join. The team could try to make a return in 2011.

Indoor Football League: The IFL has accepted the Arkansas Twisters (Little Rock) and Tri-Cities Fever (Kennewick, WA) as new franchises for its 2010 season. Both teams played in the 2009 arenafootball2 and had planned to be part of the new Arena Football 1 league in 2010. The AF1 recently dropped plans for a division of smaller market teams that was to have included both Arkansas and Tri-Cities. As of now, the IFL plans to have 26 teams in its 2010 season. The Arkansas Twisters were an original member of the af2 in 2000. The Tri-Cities Fever played two seasons (2005-06) in the defunct National Indoor Football League before moving to the af2 in 2007.

Southern Indoor Football League: The proposed new SIFL team in Albany (GA) will be called the Albany Panthers if its starts play in 2010. The city plans to decide on an arena deal next week. The team would replace the South Georgia Wildcats that were part of arenafootball2 in 2009. The Augusta (GA) Colts ownership has announced the team plans to be part of the 2010 SIFL. The team last played in the 2008 American Indoor Football Association, but sat out the 2009 indoor football season. The SIFL expects to have 10 teams for its second year of operation.

Continental Indoor Football League: The CIFL's Miami Valley Silverbacks franchise, which was based in Troy (OH) and played mostly a road schedule in 2009, has moved to the Cincinnati area where the team will be called the Cincinnati Commandos.

American Professional Football League: The Sedalia-based Mid-Missouri Outlaws plan to join the semi-pro APFL for its 2010 indoor season. The team has played 8-man outdoor football the past three seasons as part of the semi-pro Central Plains Football League.

Canadian Football League: An initial vote by the Ottawa city council went in favor of a proposed new development that would include renovations to the city's idle CFL stadium and could lead to a new Ottawa-based CFL franchise by the 2013 or 2014 season. The approval has certain conditions that must be met before another council review in May 2010. An Ottawa-based United Soccer Leagues First Division franchise has also been proposed for use of the renovated stadium. The new CFL team will have to decide whether to name the team the Ottawa Rough Riders, after the city's longtime CFL team that last played in 1996, or take a totally new name. The city's most recent CFL team was called the Ottawa Renegades that lasted only four seasons (2002-05).

United States Football League: The proposed new USFL has pushed its start back until the spring of 2011. The professional spring football league plans to have 10 to 12 teams that will be announced later.

United Football League: For its second season in 2010, the UFL plans to add two more teams and extend the length of its regular season. The league's California Redwoods franchise, which the league wanted to establish in San Francisco, will most likely make San Jose its home in 2010.

HOCKEY

United States Hockey League: The Tier I Junior-A USHL has announced it will add a team in Dubuque (IA) for the 2010-11 season. The team's owner currently operates the Dubuque Thunderbirds in the Tier III Junior-A Central States Hockey League. A team called the Dubuque Fighting Saints was part of the USHL from 1980 to 2001.

Western Women's Hockey League: The WWHL has started its 2009-10 season with only three full-schedule teams-the Edmonton Chimos, Minnesota Whitecaps, and Strathmore Rockies (Alberta). The BC Breakers team had dropped out of the league in the second half of last season and did not return. The Calgary Oval X-treme has come under new ownership and plans to play some exhibition games this season. The X-treme hopes to return to a full schedule next season. The WWHL champion meets the champion of the Canadian Women's Hockey League at the end of the season to play for the Clarkson Cup.

SOCCER

Team Owners Association: The Tampa Rowdies and Crystal Palace Baltimore clubs from the United Soccer Leagues have reportedly jumped to a new league being planned for 2010 by the TOA. The Rowdies were supposed to be a 2010 expansion team in the 2010 USL First Division and Baltimore was a 2009 USL Second Division team that had planned to move up to the First Division for 2010. The TOA consisted of five 2009 USL First Division teams (Vancouver Whitecaps, Minnesota Thunder, Carolina Railhawks, Montreal Impact, and Miami FC Blues) that left the USL First Division in an attempt to create a new Division II league for the 2010 season. The TOA also added teams called the Atlanta Silverbacks and St. Louis United. The TOA now has nine teams and plans to announce its league name next week. The North American Soccer League is reportedly one name under consideration. Meanwhile, another group has been trying to form a new USL First Division team in Minneapolis-St. Paul to replace the Minnesota Thunder.

United Soccer Leagues-Premier Development League: The USL has announced its newest expansion team for 2010 is the Dayton Dutch Lions, which will be operated by the FC Twente club in Europe's Dutch Premier League.

Major League Soccer: The MLS is interested in Montreal as a possible expansion city for the league's 19th franchise. The league completed its 2009 season with 15 teams and will add the Philadelphia Union franchise in 2010, while the Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers will be added in 2011. There are no active discussions concerning the location of a possible 20th team.

National Premier Soccer League: The NPSL, which is a rival to the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League, has announced that the Minneapolis-St. Paul area will be home to the Kings FC soccer team in the 2010 NPSL summer season. The Kings FC will be part of the league's Midwest Conference, which has had another team called the St. Paul Twin Stars since it inaugural 2005 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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