Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
January 10, 2011 - Women's Professional Soccer (WPS)

BASEBALL

American Association: The new Amarillo-based AA franchise, which originally took the Amarillo Gold Sox as its team name, will now be called the Amarillo Sox when it starts play in the 2011 season. The Gold Sox name had been trademarked by a baseball team in California. The Amarillo Sox replace the city's Amarillo Dillas team that had been a member of United League Baseball since that league was started play in the 2006 season.

Can-Am League: The Can-Am League is expected to have eight teams when its starts play in 2011. Of the six teams from last season, the Sussex Skyhawks (Augusta, NJ) will not be returning. The team's owner has been unsuccessful in trying to sell the Skyhawks. The league will add the Newark Bears from the Atlantic Baseball League, along with an expansion team in Ramapo (NY) called the Rockland Boulders. The league also plans to operate a travel team called the New York Federals as its eighth team in 2011.

Frontier League: The new Frontier League franchise in Joliet (IL) is expected to announce its team name next week. The team replaces the city's former Northern League team called the Joliet Jackhammers.

Golden Baseball League: The GBL is one of three leagues whose teams from the 2010 season will be part of the new North American League in 2011. Of the ten teams from the 2010 GBL season, only five teams-the Chico Outlaws, Edmonton Capital, Calgary Vipers, Yuma Scorpions and the Maui Na Koa Ikaiki.-are currently listed as part of the NAL. The St. George (UT) Roadrunners, Victoria (British Columbia) Seals, Orange County Flyers, Tijuana Cimarrones, and Tucson Toros are not returning. The GBL took control of the Tijuana Cimarrones during the 2010 season, but a new Tijuana team called the Embajadores is now listed as part of the NAL.

BASKETBALL

Eastern Basketball Alliance: The EBA has officially announced the Maryland Marvels team, which played as part of the American Basketball Association in 2009-10, will be part of the EBA's 2010-11 season. The Marvels are based in Annapolis and were added to the league's Southern Division.

FOOTBALL

Indoor Football League: The Indoor Football League plans to have 22 teams in its upcoming 2011 season. The 11-team United Conference will feature a three-team Atlantic Division, and four-team Great Lakes and Great Plains divisions. The 11-team Intense Conference will have a three-team Mountain West Division and four-team Lonestar and Pacific divisions. The league lost 10 of its 25 teams from last season, but added 7 other teams for 2011. Of the ten non-returning teams, the Abilene Ruff Riders and Corpus Christi Hammerheads left for the Southern Indoor Football League; the Sioux City Bandits moved to the indoor American Professional Football League; the Austin Turfcats and Alaska Wild (Anchorage) dropped from the league; while the San Angelo Stampede Express, Billings Outlaws, Maryland Maniacs, Rochester Raiders, and West Michigan ThunderHawks entered a dormant status for 2011 with plans to return in 2012. The IFL added four expansions teams called the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks (Bethlehem), Nebraska Danger (Grand Island), Arizona Adrenaline (Prescott Valley), and the Oklahoma City Bricktown Brawlers. The league also added the Reading Express, Wyoming Cavalry, and Wenatchee Valley Venom from the American Indoor Football Association. The league's Arkansas Diamonds franchise relocated to become the Allen (TX) Wranglers for 2011.

American Indoor Football Association - West: It is uncertain whether the new AIFA-West will start play as planned in 2011, but the league's San Jose Wolves franchise is still trying to work out an arena deal to relocate the team to Stockton (CA) for 2011. The Wolves had been waiting for a change in arena management in Stockton to finalize a lease. The league has only two other announced teams called the Reno Barons and Yakima Valley Warriors, but was hoping to add a fourth team in Oregon.

Lingerie Football League: The women's LFL has announced a new team called the Cleveland Crush will be part of the league's indoor schedule in the 2011-12 season. The league was also considering the Columbus (OH) market for future expansion.

HOCKEY

All American Hockey League: The AAHL announced that it took control of the Lapeer (MI) Loggers franchise due to financial difficulties and has been trying to find new ownership. Only two of the league's five teams , the new Chi-Town Shooters and the Battle Creek Revolution, were active and played games this past weekend. The AAHL's other teams were the Troy (OH) Bruins and Queen City Storm (Cincinnati). The Troy Bruins recently announced the team has suspended operations due to the instability of the AAHL and all players have been released.

Northern Professional Hockey League: The proposed NPHL plans to announce the league structure and business plan next week.

SOCCER

United Soccer Leagues I-League: The USL's new indoor soccer league called the I-League has announced that Syracuse (NY) will have a team when the league starts play in the fall of 2011. The I-League previously announced one other team called the Rochester Lancers will be part of the 2011 season. Eventually, the league plans to have Northeast, Midwest, and Mid-Atlantic divisions.

United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League: The Newark area's Ironbound Express team in the USL PDL has been renamed the Jersey Express, as the club tries to expand its base throughout other counties in New Jersey. The Express joined the PDL for the 2008 season.

United Soccer Leagues PRO League: An ownership group in San Antonio plans to bring a proposed USL PRO league team to the city in the near future and eventually hopes to upgrade the team to a Major League Soccer franchise playing at the Alamo Stadium. Another owner plans to start up a North American Soccer League team in San Antonio for the 2012 season.

Women's Professional Soccer: The WPS has approved the request by the Washington Freedom to play some 2011 home games in South Florida. It was unclear home many home games would be played at last season's home field in Montgomery County (MD) and there was speculation the team will eventually relocate to South Florida. The team's owner also plans to rename the Freedom, possibly for the 2011 season.

North American Soccer Leagues: The NASL has announced that the National Sports Center (NSC) will no longer own any part of the league's NSC Minnesota Stars and the Minnesota Stars will be a league-owned team for the 2011 season.

OTHER

Major League Lacrosse: The Toronto Nationals of the outdoor MLL are still trying to work out details to move the franchise to Hamilton (Ontario) for the 2011 season. The Nationals have been part of the MLL for the past two seasons.

National Lacrosse League: The NLL has started its 2011 season with ten teams. The NLL lost one team from last season as the Orlando Titans dropped out after playing only one season as part of the East Division. The 2011 East Division includes the Boston Blazers, Buffalo Bandits, Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Knighthawks, and Toronto Rock. The West Division has the Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Edmonton Rush, Minnesota Swarm, and Washington Stealth.

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.

Women's Professional Soccer Stories from January 10, 2011

• 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.