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IFL Indoor Football League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
October 18, 2010 - Indoor Football League (IFL)


BASEBALL

Pacific Coast League: The city of Escondido (CA) is still negotiating with the owner of the San Diego Padres on a lease of a proposed ballpark to be built for the Portland Beavers of the Triple-A PCL. Some pollution was recently discovered on the proposed site in Escondido that could delay the ballpark approval process. The Padres' owner is expected to close on the purchase of the Beavers and hopes to have the team playing in a new Escondido ballpark by the 2012 season. The Beavers were planning to spend the 2011 season in Lake Elsinore (CA), home of the Padres' Class-A team in the California League, but now it appears the Beavers will be based in Tucson for the 2011 season. The owner of the Tucson Toros in the independent Golden Baseball League is negotiating to operate the PCL's Tucson team, so the prospect of a Tucson-based GBL team in 2011 is doubtful.

American Association: The independent AA has added the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, Gary SouthShore RailCats, Kansas City T-Bones, and Winnipeg Goldeyes from the Northern League for the 2011 season. The league increases to 14 teams and will be aligned into 3 divisions. The North Division will include the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, St. Paul Saints, Sioux Falls Pheasants, and Winnipeg Goldeyes; the Central Division will include the Gary SouthShore RailCats, Kansas City T-Bones, Lincoln Saltdogs, and Wichita Wingnuts; and the South Division will remain the same with the AA's El Paso Diablos, Fort Worth Cats, Grand Prairie AirHogs, Pensacola Pelicans, and Shreveport-Bossier Captains. The Shreveport-Bossier owner has expressed interest in placing an AA franchise in Amarillo, which recently lost the Amarillo Dillas of United League Baseball.

Northern League: With the loss of four teams-the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, Gary SouthShore RailCats, Kansas City T-Bones, and Winnipeg Goldeyes-to the American Association for 2011, the Northern League is left with four Chicagoland teams-the Rockford RiverHawks, Lake County Fielders, Joliet JackHammers, and Schaumburg Flyers. The Joliet and Schaumburg teams have been up for sale and there was speculation that all or some of the four remaining Northern League teams could switch to the Frontier League, which has the Chicago-based Windy City ThunderBolts and three other Illinois-based teams (Southern Illinois Miners, Gateway Grizzlies, and Normal CornBelters).

West Coast League: Although the summer-collegiate WCL will lose the Moses Lake Pirates team next season, the league plans to add the Klamath Falls (OR) Gems team. The WCL Tri-State, a lower level feeder league to the WCL, will not operate in 2010.

Golden Baseball League: In addition to the possible loss of the Tucson Toros franchise for the 2011 GBL season, the league's Chico Outlaws franchise is at the end of a six-year ballpark lease at Chico State University and needs to fulfill certain aspects of its 2010 contract before being considered for a new lease.

Mexican Rookie League: The proposed Mexican Rookie League has announced a team called the Tucson Cowboys will be the sixth team when the league starts play next summer. The Arizona Black Sox and four other Mexican cities-Cananea, Nogales, and San Luis in Sonora, and Tecate in Baja California-have committed to the new league.

BASKETBALL

International Basketball League: The IBL plans to operate a four-team winter division with teams based in the Midwest. The season will run from November 2010 to mid-January 2011. The four teams are the Battle Creek Knights, Kankakee County Soldiers, Great Lakes All Stars, and South Shore Splash (Gary, IN). The IBL plans to operated its traditional spring-summer season with only eight teams in 2011.

Eastern Basketball Alliance: The EBA has announced that the South Jersey Enterprise (Pine Hill, NJ) has been added as the latest expansion team for the upcoming 2010-11 season.

American Basketball Association: The ABA has announced that it has added 2011 expansion teams in Greensboro (NC) and Raleigh/Durham (NC). The Greensboro team will be called the Carolina Cheetahs, while the Raleigh/Durham team will be the Carolina Jaguars. The Texas Rimrockers are now listed as an ABA "Travel Team" for the upcoming 2010-11 season.

FOOTBALL

American Indoor Football Association: The Western Division of the AIFA is now its own league called the AIFA West. The AIFA West currently has teams in California (San Jose Wolves), Washington (Yakima Valley Warriors), Nevada (Reno Barons), Arizona (Tucson Thunder Cats), and is finalizing a team in Oregon (Eugene). The league could add additional teams in California, New Mexico, and Utah.

Indoor Football League: Although the 2011 IFL schedule is due to be released in the near future, the Rochester (NY) Raiders, Maryland Maniacs, Austin Turfcats, San Angelo Stampede Express, Sioux City (IA) Bandits, and West Michigan Thunderhawks (Grand Rapids) are not expected to be part of the 2011 season. The IFL is expected to have 21 teams for the 2011 season, down from the 25 teams in 2010. Other 2010 teams that will not return include the Billings Outlaws, Alaska Wild, the Abilene Ruff Riders, and Corpus Christi Hammerheads. As of now the IFL has added six other teams: the Nebraska Danger (Grand Island), Wyoming Cavalry, Arizona Adrenaline, Wenatchee Valley Venom, Reading Express, and Lehigh Valley Steelhawks.

National Football League: The operator of the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles is exploring the possibility of redeveloping a nearby convention center into an indoor stadium for a potential NFL franchise. Another developer is still planning to build a 75,000-seat football stadium in the Los Angeles area near the city of Industry, but will not start construction until it secures an NFL team.

Women's Football Alliance: As the WFA prepares for its third season in the spring of 2011, the league has added the So Cal Scorpions and Erie Illusion from the Independent Women's Football League, along with other new teams called the Spokane Scorn, Little Rock Wildcats, Baltimore Crush, and the Northeastern Nitro of Danbury, CT. The WFA teams called the Baltimore Burn and Indiana Speed have left to join the Women's Spring Football League for 2011.

Women's Spring Football League: The new WSFL had about six of its teams playing games in 2010, but the league is gearing up for a full start in 2011. The list of 17 teams now includes a team called the Southern Cal Undertow, while the Roc City Ravens (Rochester, NY) have been renamed the Finger Lakes Falcons. In addition, the league reports that the Clinton County (OH) Chaos, the Las Vegas-based Nevada Desert Heat, and Arkansas Lady Tuskers (originally the War Kittens) have joined for the 2011 season. Also, two teams from last year's Women's Football Alliance, the Indiana Speed and Baltimore Burn, will be part of the 2011 WSFL.

HOCKEY

Central Hockey League: The Double-A CHL has started its 2010-11 season with 18 teams, 3 more than last season. The league lost the Amarillo Gorillas and Corpus Christi IceRays, but added five franchises from the International Hockey League as part of a CHL-IHL affiliation for the 2010-11 season. The IHL franchises include the Fort Wayne Komets, Bloomington Prairie Thunder, Dayton Gems, Quad City Mallards, and Evansville IceMen, which was the Muskegon Lumberjacks franchise in 2009-10. The nine-team Southern Conference was renamed the Berry Conference, while the nine-team Northern Conference was renamed the Turner Conference for 2010-11.

ECHL: The Double-A ECHL has started its 2010-11 season with 19 teams, one less team than last season. The league lost the Charlotte Checkers for 2010-11, as the city was granted an American Hockey League Triple-A franchise that took the same team name. The Johnstown (PA) Chiefs relocated and became the Greenville (SC) Road Warriors. Greenville was moved to the South Division to replace Charlotte. The American Conference was renamed the Eastern Conference, while the National Conference was renamed the Western Conference. The East Division was renamed the Atlantic Division and the West Division was renamed the Mountain Division. The Eastern Conference has the three-team Atlantic Division and the four-team North and South divisions, while the Western Conference has the four-team Mountain and Pacific divisions.

Professional Inline Hockey Association: The PIHA has started the 2010-11 seasons for its Pro and Minor divisions. The Pro level has 15 teams and the Minor level has 20 teams that are split among divisions called the Mason-Dixon, Eastern, Gateway, and Rocky Mountain.

SOCCER

North American Soccer League: Due to a trademark dispute over the "Rowdies" nickname, the FC Tampa Bay Rowdies in the NASL will not use "Rowdies" in its name. The team will continue to be called FC Tampa Bay. A company that produces shirts with retro logos apparently owns the rights to use Tampa Bay Rowdies name from a team in the original NASL of the 1970s and 1980s.

National Star Soccer League: The amateur-elite NSSL has announced that teams called the Austin (TX) Millenium FC, Quad City Eagles FC, and Capital City FC (Olympia, WA) will be part of the 2011 season. The NSSL is also planning to start a Women's National Star Soccer League in 2011.

Major Indoor Soccer League: The Philadelphia KiXX franchise is reportedly joining the Rockford Rampage and Monterrey (Mexico) La Raza as MISL teams that will not return for 2010-11. The league still plans to add a fifth team, possibly in Chicago, to replace Philadelphia and plans announce its 2010-11 schedule next week.

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.



Indoor Football League Stories from October 18, 2010


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.


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