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Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
February 7, 2011 - North American Soccer League (NASL)


BASEBALL

Arizona Winter League: The month-long AWL, which is operated by the Golden Baseball League, has started its fifth season with ten teams. In the past couple of season some games were played in Blythe (CA) El Centro (CA), and San Luis (AZ), but in 2011 all games will be played in Yuma (AZ).

Atlantic Baseball League: The city of Frederick (MD), which is the current home to an affiliated team called the Frederick Keys in the high Class-A Carolina League, plans to open the city's ballpark lease to interests other than the Keys. The Keys' current lease runs through the 2011 season and the independent ABL has expressed interest in the market. This past year a developer with ties to the ABL had proposed a new ballpark in Rockville (MD), just south of Frederick.

Southwestern States League: The SSL now has seven proposed teams listed: the Steel City Warriors (Pueblo), Abilene Blue Sox, Pioneers, Broncos, Rhythm, Buccaneers, and the recently added La Grande (OR) Wildcats team that will be part of a proposed North Division.

Australian Baseball League: The new Australian Baseball League has completed its 40-game 2010-11 regular season that ran from late November to mid-January. The league is supported by Major League Baseball and operated with six teams called the Adelaide Bite, Brisbane Bandits, Canberra Cavalry, Melbourne Aces, Perth Heat, and Sydney Blue Sox.

International Spring Baseball League: Baseball's International Group (B.I.G.) planned to operate the ISBL as a one-month professional season during the month of April with all games played at Tucson Electric Park, which was to become the group's center for individual and team baseball development. The ISBL has lost its home filed as the Triple-A Tucson Padres of the Pacific Coast League moved from Portland and will use the field, which has been renamed the Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Western Major Baseball League: The Canada-based summer-collegiate WMBL has announced a new team called the Cranbrook (British Columbia) Eds will be added for the 2013 season, contingent on construction of a suitable ballpark.

BASKETBALL

FIBA Americas League: The international basketball organization known as FIBA (Federation International de Basketball Amateur) is sponsoring its fourth Americas League competition with 16 teams competing in 4 groups. The competition runs from early December 2010 to early March 2011 and is in the final stages of group play. The 2010-11 competition did not feature any teams from the United States. Mexico's Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP) was represented by the Halcones de la Universidad Veracruz-Xalapas, the Halcones Rojos de Veracruz, and the Toros de Nuevo Laredo. The Capitanes de Arecibo team from Puerto Rico's Baloncesto Superior National (BSN) is also part of the 2010-11 Americas League.

National Basketball Association: The NBA's New Orleans Hornets reached the average attendance required under its current lease agreement to keep the franchise in the city for another year. If the Hornets do not average 14,735 fans for two consecutive years on its current lease agreement, the franchise can opt out of its lease and consider relocation. The NBA recently took over the Hornets when new ownership could not be found and there has not been much progress in securing local ownership for the franchise.

American Basketball Association: The ABA has announced it will add an expansion team called the Milwaukee Blast to its North Central Division next season.

FOOTBALL

Canadian Football League: The Hamilton (Ontario) city council has officially approved a plan to rebuild the city's football stadium for the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats. This will prevent the CFL team from leaving town, but it will have to find a home field during the construction period.

Lingerie Football League: The women's indoor LFL has announced a franchise based in Green Bay (WI) will be added for the 2011-12 fall-winter season. The league already announced that the new Cleveland Crush and Las Vegas Sin will be added for 2011-12, along with one more market to be announced.

Independent Indoor Football Alliance: The IIFA has confirmed it will start its 2011 season with seven Texas-based teams: the Conroe Jaguars, East Texas Drillers (Tyler), North Texas Broncos (Allen), North Texas Crunch (North Richland Hills), Southlake Pirates, Texas Krush (Frisco), and Texas Pirates (Houston). The teams will play games against non-IIFA teams like the Dallas Americans, Reno Barons, and San Jose Wolves. The Wolves were still proposing a move to Stockton (CA) this year.

HOCKEY

All American Hockey League: The AAHL planned to end its 2010-11 season early with a three-team tournament that included the Battle Creek Revolution, Chi-Town Shooters, and Michigan Moose. This was then changed to a championship series between only Battle Creek and Chi-Town. The AAHL started the 2010-11 season with six teams and the schedule was to run until March 23, 2011. The league lost the Madison Muskies/Wooster Korn Kings, Troy Bruins, Lapeer Loggers, and Queen City Storm, while the Dyer-based Indiana Blizzard was replaced by the Chi-Town Shooters. After the loss of Lapeer, a league-operated team called the Michigan Moose played a few regular-season games.

Southern Professional Hockey League: The eight-team SPHL recently held a league meeting and discussed possible expansion. The league has groups interested in adding an SPHL team as early as next season, but the league wants to confirm that the ownership groups are financially stable.

Northern Professional Hockey League: The proposed Single-A NPHL has announced its first commissioner, who wants to have two divisions of four teams each when the league starts its inaugural 2011-12 season. The league is currently considering the Michigan cities of Flint and Port Huron, the Ohio cities of Wooster and Troy, along with Johnstown (PA) and locations in West Virginia for possible teams.

Federal Hockey League: There have been reports that the Rome (NY) Frenzy of the FHL has run out of travel money and the team will not be able to complete the rest of the 2010-11 season.

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League: The deadline for QMJHL teams to announce relocation for next season has passed with no teams requesting permission to move. There had been reports that the Lewiston Maineacs signed a deal to relocate to Summerside (Prince Edward Island) for next season. The league has the current Prince Edward Island Rocket team based in Charlottetown. Another group is interested in buying a QMJHL team and moving it to Sherbrooke (Quebec).

SOCCER

Professional Arena Soccer League: The proposed outdoor soccer team called the Phoenix Monsoon, which plans to play some exhibition matches this summer and join the outdoor National Premier Soccer League for 2012, now plans to join the indoor PASL-Pro league and hopes to start play in October 2011.

National Premier Soccer League: The NPSL has several new teams listed for its upcoming 2011 season. The list includes the FC Hasental (Conejo Valley, CA), Lancaster (PA) Rattlers FC, San Diego Flash, Santa Ana Winds, Georgia Revolution, Knoxville Force, AC Crusaders (New Jersey), BuxMont Torch (Pennsylvania), Mass United FC, and Seacoast United (New Hampshire). The league's Atlanta FC team, which has been part of the league since 2007, has announced an affiliation with the Atlanta Silverbacks of the North American Soccer League and the fourth-level NPSL team has been renamed the Atlanta Silverbacks Reserves.

North American Soccer League: The previous ownership of the Carolina RailHawks in the NASL has been dissolved. Traffic Sports USA has taken over rights to the Carolina RailHawks brand and will have a majority ownership interest in a new team by the same name in the 2011 NASL season. Traffic Sports owns the league's Miami FC Blues team, which plans to be renamed the Strikers in the near future, and a majority interest in the league's Atlanta Silverbacks team. The NSC Minnesota Stars are owned by the league, so Traffic Sports has a stake in that team as well. The NASL is still awaiting a decision by the United States Soccer Federation for sanctioning to operate a Division II league for the 2011 season.

OTHER

Major League Lacrosse: The Toronto Nationals of the outdoor MLL have officially relocated to Hamilton (Ontario) as the Hamilton Nationals for the upcoming 2011 summertime season. The Nationals will play at the 6,000-seat stadium on the campus of McMaster University.

World Series of Boxing: The team-based international boxing league called the World Series of Boxing started its inaugural 12-week season on November 19, 2010 with 12 teams. Prior to its match on January 28, 2011, the Incheon (Korea) Red Wings moved to Posang (Korea) and were renamed the Posang Poseidons. The league has a four-team Americas Conference with the Los Angeles Matadors, Memphis Force, Mexico City Guerreros, and Miami Gallos.

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.



North American Soccer League Stories from February 7, 2011


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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