Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
February 22, 2010 - Arena Football League (AFL)
BASEBALL
American Association: The Sioux Falls (SD) Canaries have been renamed the Sioux Falls Fighting Pheasants for the 2010 AA season. The Canaries were an original member of the Northern League in 1993 and moved to the AA when it was formed with several other Northern League teams for the 2006 season. An investment group is working to develop a ballpark and bring a professional minor league baseball team to the Houston suburb of Sugar Land. The independent AA has been mentioned in the past as a possibility for the market and the ballpark could be ready for the 2012 season.
Atlantic Baseball League: The proposed new ABL franchise in Loudoun County (VA) has selected three possible team names-the Loudoun Hounds, Virginia Silver Stars, and Dulles Blue Heron. A new ballpark is planned for a mixed-use development just southeast of Leesburg for the 2011 season, but construction has not yet started. Other locations in Virginia and Maryland have expressed an interest in an ABL team.
Continental Baseball League: The owner of the CBL's new Las Cruces Vaqueros franchise is apparently trying to develop a second team called the Desert Valley Mountain Lions for the 2010 season. The owner is still looking for a possible home ballpark in West Texas, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, or Arizona.
New York Collegiate Baseball League: The new Oneonta (NY) team in the 2010 NYCBL will be called the Oneonta Outlaws, formerly the Saratoga Phillies.
BASKETBALL
Continental Basketball League: The CBL is trying to launch this spring and has announced two new teams called the Savannah Wildcats and the Carolina Cougarz (Fayetteville, NC). An established team called the Georgia Gwizzlies, which was most recently associated with the proposed Mountain State Basketball League, has also announced it will be part of the league's inaugural 2010 season.
Global Professional Basketball League: The four-team GPBL has come under new ownership and has created the GPBL2 through the acquisition of the United Regions Basketball League. Apparently, four of the URBL's previously announced teams will comprise in the GPBL2 South Division that will include the Austin Flame, Houston Asteroids, River City Red Wasps, and San Antonio Airmen. The North Division has the four previously listed GPBL teams-the Barberton Wizards, Canton Conquest, Lancaster Liberty, and Stark Revolution. After its inaugural 2009 season, the URBL was purchased by the new Universal Basketball Association. The UBA then planned to operate the springtime URBL as a development league to the fall-winter UBA, but apparently those plans have changed.
World Basketball Association Exposure League: The Florida Flight, which had been attempting to join the Premier Basketball League and recently was associated with the Universal Basketball Association, has decided to play in the 2010 season of the WBA Exposure League. In addition to the Flight, the WBA has several other possible 2010 teams listed-the Decatur (AL) Court Kings, Cartersville (GA) Baseline Warriors, Gwinnett Majic, Jacksonville Bluewaves, Marietta Storm, and Tupelo (MS) Rock-n-Rollers.
Women's Independent Basketball League: The new professional WIBL is holding tryouts for its first season that is expected to start in April 2010. All games will be played in the San Fernando Valley (CA).
National Athletic Basketball League: The new NABL has been formed with six Pacific Northwest-based teams, four of which had been part of the International Basketball League. The four former IBL teams are the Salem Stampede, Seattle Mountaineers, Snohomish County Explosion, and Tacoma Thunder. Two new teams include the BC of Portland and Tualatin (OR) Rainmakers. The NABL's inaugural 2010 season will run from late March to early June. The Mountaineers were also playing as part of the 2009-10 American Basketball Association.
FOOTBALL
Arena Football 1: Since the AF1 owned all of the assets, team names, and trademarks of the former Arena Football League, it has decided to change its name to Arena Football League for its inaugural season that starts in early April 2010. The new AFL will have 7 of its 15 teams based in markets that had former AFL teams from that league's last season of 2008. The former AFL markets include Phoenix (Arizona Rattlers), Dallas (Dallas Vigilantes), Orlando (Predators), Tampa Bay (Storm), Salt Lake City (Utah Blaze), Cleveland (Gladiators), and Chicago (Rush). Only Dallas has a different team name than its original AFL team that was called the Desperados. The new AFL is looking to expand into Philadelphia, Denver, Southern California, and Pittsburgh.
Continental Indoor Football League: The CIFL's proposed Columbus Aces franchise has announced the team will not be part of the 2010 CIFL season and would try to start play in 2011. Without Columbus, the league was currently down to five teams for 2010.
United Football League: The UFL made the official announcement that the New York Sentinels franchise will be moving to Hartford (CT) for the league's second season in 2010. The team will be renamed at some time in the future. The Sentinels played one of its 2009 home games in Hartford.
All American Football League: The proposed AAFL, which originally planned to start a spring/summer college-style football season in 2008 with teams based at six different college venues, now plans to start play in the spring of 2011. The league's first six proposed locations in 2008 were Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Michigan, Tennessee, and Texas.
HOCKEY
ECHL: The Johnstown (PA) Chiefs have announced the team will move to Greenville (SC) for the 2010-11 ECHL season. The city of Greenville had the Greenville Grrrowl franchise that played in the ECHL from 1998 through the 2005-06 season. The Chiefs were the only original league member remaining in the same city since the ECHL started play with five teams in 1988. With the owner of the ECHL's Charlotte Checkers moving the operation up a level to the American Hockey League next season, the Checkers plan to relinquish their ECHL franchise rights. The ECHL plans to operate with 19 teams next season. The league again approved the voluntary suspension for the Columbia (SC) market as the city works on plans for a new arena. The Columbia Inferno franchise went dormant after the 2007-08 ECHL season.
Ligue Nord Americaine de Hockey: Quebec's seven-team LNAH, or North American Hockey League, has removed the Pont-Rouge Lois Jeans franchise from the league for the remainder of the season because it failed to pay a fine assessed earlier in the season. The league will complete its 2009-10 season with six teams. The LNAH formed for the 2004-05 season when the Quebec Semi-Pro Men's Hockey League decided to turn professional after its 2003-04 season.
United States Hockey League: The Tier I Junior-A USHL has officially announced it will add an expansion team called Muskegon Lumberjacks as its 16th member for the 2010-11 season. A professional team by the same name currently plays in the International Hockey League, but announced it would not return to the IHL for the 2010-11 season.
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League: Although rumors had the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the QMJHL relocating after the 2009-10 season, the team's ownership announced they have no intention of moving even though the team is last in average attendance. The Titan almost moved out of northern New Brunswick last year when the team's owner entertained an offer from St. John's, Newfoundland.
SOCCER
National Premier Soccer League: The Thunder Soccer Club (TSC) of Howard County (MD) will have a team called the TSC Maryland Red Devils in the 2010 NPSL season. The league's Bangor-based Maine Sting has moved to Boston and will play the 2010 season as the Boston Tea Men. A team called the FC Sonic Lehigh Valley, based in the Allentown (PA) area, will be part of the 2010 NPSL. The Lehigh Valley had the Pennsylvania Stoners team in the NPSL the past two seasons.
Women's Premier Soccer League: The WPSL has added the new Pasadena-based Los Angeles FC Chelsea to its Pacific-South Division. The league's Midwest Conference has doubled in size to ten teams for 2010 and eight of those are new teams. These new teams include the Classics Hammer FC (Cincinnati), Eclipse Select (Libertyville, IL), Iowa Rush, KUFC Pursuit (Chicago), Madison 56ers, Metro Magic St. Louis, St. Louis Scott Gallagher Elite, and West Michigan Fire.
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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