Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
Published on April 26, 2010 under Major League Lacrosse (MLL)

BASEBALL

Continental Baseball League: The South Louisiana Pipeliners, which played as a travel team in the 2009 CBL, had hoped to make a home in New Iberia (LA) for 2010 but were unable to meet the CBL's financial requirements. The CBL is still interested in the market with the right ownership group. The city has expressed interest in an amateur summer collegiate team, possibly in the 2011 Texas Collegiate Baseball League. A potential rival would be the Alexandria (LA) Aces, which left the CBL for the TCBL after the 2009 season.

Frontier League: Developers hope to start construction this summer on the new ballpark in Woodstock (IL) for the proposed Frontier League franchise called the McHenry County K-Nines. The team hopes to start play in the 2011 season. The nickname came from a combination of the "K" used as a strikeout symbol in baseball scoring and the nine innings for the length of a game.

Major League Baseball: The city of San Jose is moving forward with efforts to create a potential downtown site for a new stadium that could become home to the Oakland A's in the American League. A new fall-winter Australian Baseball League plans to launch in November 2010 and reportedly has financial backing from MLB and the Australian Baseball Federation. The league hopes to become an alternative for some of the fall-winter Latin American leagues.

BASKETBALL

West Coast Professional Basketball League: The WCBL has started its third season for 2010 with six teams. Three new teams called the Long Beach Lights Out, Los Angeles Buzz, and Marina Del Ray Advantage join the returning Newport Beach Surf, Santa Barbara Breakers, and Ventura Jets. The league's nine-week season runs through June 13. Gone from 2009 are the Orange County Gladiators, Pasadena Slam, Hollywood Jammers, and the Beijing Aoshen Olympian team that dropped out during last season.

Global Professional Basketball League2: The new GPBL2 has posted its inaugural 2010 schedule that includes just four North Division teams-the Canton (OH) Conquest, River City Red Wasps (Johnson City, TN), Lancaster (PA) Liberty, and Stark Revolution (North Canton, OH). River City, which had been listed as part of a proposed South Division with three Texas-based teams, replaced the previously announced Barberton Wizards in the North Division. The GPBL2 season runs from April 25 through June 11.

American Basketball Association: The ABA's new Oklahoma City-based team called the Oklahoma Stallions has been added to the Southwest Division. The league announced another Texas-based team called the North Dallas Vandals will join the Southwest Division for 2010-11. The ABA's new Indiana Diesels franchise has also been referred to as the Columbus (IN) Diesels. The Smart-Gilas Philippines National Team plans to be part of the 2010-11 ABA season and was scheduled to play three exhibition games in the United States this month against the league's San Diego Surf, Los Angeles Slam, and Riverside Rainmakers.

Americas Basketball International: The start of the ABI regular season has been postponed again due to difficulties bringing foreign teams to the United States. The ABI is working on a possible tournament this May or June with teams from Guatemala and El Salvador. The league is also working on its 2010 international tournament billed as the Freewill Games that would be played in the first two weeks of August 2010.

International Basketball League: The Lansing Capitals team, which has been idle since playing two seasons (2006-07) in the IBL, has been added as one of the league's 2010 "Branding Teams" with plans to return as a full-schedule team in the future. The Capitals recently played two games against the IBL's USA All-Stars and will play ten road games in 2011.

New World Professional Basketball League: The NWPBL plans to kick off a league tour in Jackson (MS) on May 1, 2010. The league has been trying to form since 2007 and it currently shows logos for three proposed teams: the Pine Bluff (AR) Armadillos, Evansville (IN) Knights, and Mobile (AL) Stingrays.

FOOTBALL

National Football League: The NFL's Buffalo Bills announced they will play the Chicago Bears in Toronto during the 2010 regular season. This will be the third of five annual regular-season games in the "Toronto Series" that is due to expire in 2012. A group in Toronto has been hoping to showcase the city as a possible full-time home to an NFL franchise. The series has led to speculation that the Buffalo Bills would eventually relocate to Toronto.

United Football League: It looks as though the UFL will play the 2010 season with only five teams, one short of the two teams it hoped to add for its second season. The league plans to announce a schedule for five teams next week. Another expansion team could be announced in the near future, but it would not start play until 2011. San Antonio is at the top of the list for possible expansion.

American Professional Football League: The semi-pro indoor APFL started its 2010 season last week with four indoor home games against eight-man outdoor teams-the Missouri Mustangs, Kansas City Bulldogs, Springfield (MO) Lightning, and Topeka Thunder-from the semi-pro Central Plains Football League. The 2010 APFL teams are the Iowa Blackhawks (Council Bluffs), Kansas Koyotes (Topeka), Mid-Missouri Outlaws (Sedalia), and Springfield (MO) Wolf Pack. The Junction City (KS) Force of the CPFL is listed as an APFL team in the standings, as the Force will play a road game against each of the APFL teams in 2010.

Regional Indoor Football League: The proposed semi-pro RIFL has announced that a team called the Charlotte (NC) Titans will be a 2011 expansion team. The Delmarva Bayriders and East Coast Executioners, two teams that have been listed with the proposed Premier Indoor Football League, are now listed with the RIFL. The Columbus (GA) Lions of the Southern Indoor Football League played a non-league game against the RIFL's North Georgia Bulldogs last week.

Professional Indoor Football League: A group with previous ties to the Regional Indoor Football League is apparently trying to form the new PIFL. The league plans to have five divisions when it starts in 2011.

Lingerie Football League: In addition to future expansion in the United States, the LFL is working on plans to develop a five-team European league in 2012 and a five-team Asian league in 2013.

HOCKEY

International Hockey League: The IHL operated with seven teams this season, but the Muskegon Lumberjacks will not return next season. The league wants to keep a six-team league and is working to keep the Flint Generals and Dayton Gems for next season. Muskegon will have a team in the Tier I junior-level United States Hockey League and there has been speculation that Flint will obtain a Tier II junior-level team in the North American Hockey League. The owner of the IHL's Quad City Mallards has stated that the franchise would not be part of the IHL if it had less than six financially sound teams. The Mallards would consider moving to the ECHL, but the ECHL has stated that it will not be adding teams before 2011-12, so the Mallards could sit out next season. The IHL reportedly was working on a merger with the Central Hockey League, but that deal apparently fell through.

North American Hockey League: The Marquette (MI) Rangers team in the Tier II junior-level NAHL has been sold and will reportedly relocate to another Michigan location. The Rangers joined the NAHL as an expansion team for the 2006-07 season. The league is looking for new ownership to take over its Albert Lea (MN) Thunder team, whose ownership was terminated during the 2009-10 season. The Amarillo Gorillas of the professional Central Hockey League are rumored to be interested in moving an NAHL team to the city.

SOCCER

Major League Soccer: The MLS plans to expand by adding its 19th team in Montreal in the near future. The league would also like to return to the southeast with a team in either Atlanta or South Florida. The owner of the Division-II Montreal Impact professional soccer team is behind efforts to bring an MLS team to the city. The MLS is operating with 16 teams in 2010, but has already announced the Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers as expansion teams for 2011. The MLS had two previous Florida-based teams called the Tampa Bay Mutiny (1996-2001) and the Miami Fusion (1998-2001).

North American Soccer League: The new FC Edmonton team is making plans to start play as part of the NASL in 2011 and plans to play some exhibition games against NASL teams this year.

Canadian Soccer League: The CSL First Division will feature all 13 teams in one table for the 2010 season. The league has ended the four-year experiment with a National Division of community teams and a separate International Division of teams representing a specific country of origin, although the 2010 season will still include some country-specific teams. The CSL plans to announce its Reserve Division teams and schedule by the end of the month.

National Star Soccer League: The amateur-level NSSL plans to grow to over 60 teams in several regional conferences for its second season in 2010. Last year's champion was the KC Jaguars FC of Kansas City (KS). The 2009 runner-up team called the Siouxland Twisters FC from Sioux City (IA) has been renamed the Siouxland United FC. Along with the returning Omaha Red Fury FC, some new teams for 2010 include: the JC United FC (Joplin/Carthage, MO), California Dorados FC (Hayward), Knox Tunnel FC (Houston), Schuyler (TX) Warriors, Estudiantes Tecos de Oregon (Portland), and the Fort Worth Intertunnal FC.

OTHER

Major League Lacrosse: The outdoor MLL has announced the Chicago Machine franchise will play as a travel team during the 2010 season. As of now, four of the team's home games will be played at neutral sites that are under consideration for possible MLL expansion. These include Pittsburgh, Rochester (NY), Virginia Beach (VA), and Columbus (OH). During the 2008 season, the league's former Philadelphia Barrage franchise was without a home and played five neutral-site games in St. Louis, Dallas, Portland (OR), Cary (NC), and Virginia Beach.

American National Rugby League: The AMNRL is preparing for its 2010 summer season and plans to add the new Pittsburgh Vipers team.

Dan Krieger is the creator of the Leagueology™ almanac known as "Leagues, Teams & Nicknames", which tracks the changes in league alignments, franchise movements and team nicknames in today's sports world. The latest 2009-10 edition is available at http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/leagues-teams-nicknames-2009-10/6534940. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.

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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.