Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
March 14, 2011 - North American League (NAmL)
BASEBALL
Pacific Coast League: The owner of the San Diego Padres recently purchased the Portland Beavers franchise in the Triple-A PCL and relocated the team to Tucson as the Tucson Padres. This was considered a temporary location while waiting for completion of a proposed new ballpark in Escondido (CA), just north of San Diego, to be completed for the 2013 season. Anticipated California state funding may not be available for the Escondido ballpark and if that project dies, the owner would consider putting the PCL franchise back on the market.
North American League: The village of Schaumburg (IL) has selected a new ownership group to lease its ballpark and decided not to move forward with the group affiliated with the Schaumburg Flyers franchise, which had been behind on back rent. The Flyers had been a member of the Northern League since the 1999 season after the purchase and relocation of the Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks. The Flyers planned to be part of the new NAL for its inaugural upcoming season in 2011, but now could wind up as a travel team or move to another city. The new Schaumburg team will not play in 2011, but will start play in 2012 as part of the independent American Association. The new owner is also owner of the new Joliet (IL) Slammers of the Frontier League that just replaced that city's Northern League team called the Joliet JackHammers.
Can-Am League: Construction of a new ballpark in Ramapo (NY) for the expansion Rockland Boulders of the Can-Am League has been temporarily shut down and could jeopardize completion in time for the team's inaugural 2011 season in the league.
Futures Collegiate Baseball League: The Seacoast Mavericks, one of the four teams in the new summer-collegiate FCBL, have announced the team will play in Rochester (NH) in 2011.
Wine Country Baseball Premier Collegiate League: The new WCBPCL has been announced and plans to start in 2012 with six teams playing in the California counties of Napa and Sonoma. The teams include the Healdsburg Owls, Novato Knicks, Petaluma Piratos, Santa Rosa Gnats, Sonoma Grape Crushers, and Vacaville Rattlers.
BASKETBALL
West Coast Professional Basketball League: The WCPBL will start its fourth season on April 1, 2011. The league currently has eight teams listed with another four teams still finalizing plans for 2011. The eight teams include the Los Angeles Loop, Marina Del Ray Advantage, Nationwide All-Stars, Newport Beach Surf, San Diego Sol, Santa Barbara Breakers, Venice Beach Ninjas, and Ventura County Jets. The teams in Marina Del Ray, Newport Beach, Santa Barbara, and Ventura County were part of the 2010 season. The San Diego Sol has been part of the 2010-11 American Basketball Association season..
American Basketball Association: The ABA has announced a new team called the Wyoming Roughnecks will be part of league's 2011-12 season. The owner wants the team to play in various cities across the state, such as Cheyenne, Casper, and Gillette.
United Basketball League: The UBL has started the regular season schedule for its fourth season. The 2011 UBL consists of seven teams called the Arkansas Warriors (Little Rock), Oklahoma Impact (Oklahoma City), Springfield (MO) Thrill, Tulsa (OK) Tornadoes, Texas Wranglers (Addison), Metroplex Lightning (DeSoto, TX), and Mississippi Tornadoes (Jackson). Metroplex was the only new team, as all six teams listed from last season have returned.
FOOTBALL
Arena Football League: The reborn AFL has started its second season of play with 18 teams, an increase from the 15 teams in the 2010 season. The league lost the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings and Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz, but added the Pittsburgh Power, Philadelphia Soul, Kansas City Command, San Jose SabreCats, and New Orleans Voodoo. Philadelphia, San Jose, and New Orleans took nicknames of the teams that were part of the original AFL that last played in 2008. The Kansas City Brigade was part of the last original AFL season in 2008, but the new AFL team decided to change nicknames. The original AFL had a team called the Pittsburgh Gladiators for four seasons (1987-90), but it moved to Tampa Bay as the Storm for the 1992 season. Also, the Huntsville-based Alabama Vipers moved to the Atlanta area and were renamed the Georgia Force for the 2011 season. The original AFL had an Atlanta-based team called the Georgia Force for seven seasons (2002-08).
Indoor Football League: The Fairbanks Grizzlies of the IFL announced that its third game on March 12 would be the team's last game due to increases in compensation insurance cost. The league has stated that it is working on a plan to save the Grizzlies and thinks such a plan will be worked out.
Lingerie Football League: The new Green Bay-based team in the 2011-12 season of the women's indoor LFL will be called the Green Bay Chill. Two other new teams called the Cleveland Crush and Las Vegas Sin will also join the league for the 2011-12 season.
Professional Indoor Football League: The proposed new PIFL, which failed to start as planned in 2011, will announce its 2012 teams and schedule in June.
Ultimate Indoor Football League: The UIFL was reportedly ready to announce a 2012 expansion team called the Florida Tarpons based in Fort Myers, but has not yet confirmed a home at the areas Germain Arena. A team called the Florida Stingrays, which was trying to join the Southern Indoor Football League for its 2012 season, had also been planning on playing in this arena.
HOCKEY
American Hockey League: The owners of the AHL's Adirondack Phantoms will keep the team based in Glens Falls (NY) for the next two seasons. The team will eventually move to a new arena in Allentown (PA) that could be ready for the 2013-14 season. The Philadelphia Phantoms moved to Glens Falls prior to the 2009-10 season and planned to use the city as a temporary home until the Allentown arena was built.
There has been speculation that if a National Hockey League team moves to Winnipeg and displaces the AHL's Manitoba Moose, which is an affiliate of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks, the Canucks would try to move the AHL team closer to Vancouver. One scenario had the Moose moving to Abbotsford, home of the AHL's Abbotsford Heat and an affiliate of the Calgary Flames, while the Heat would move to the town of Chilliwack (British Columbia).
National Hockey League: A proposed sale of the Phoenix Coyotes franchise, which is currently owned by the NHL, has hit a snag in the sale of municipal bonds that are needed to complete a sale of the franchise and keep it in Phoenix. The NHL wants to sell the Coyotes, so the bonds need to be sold. If the sale drags on too long or falls apart, the league could move quickly to relocate the team to Winnipeg (Manitoba) for the 2011-12 season. The NHL's Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix as the Coyotes for the 1996-97 season.
SOCCER
Women's Premier Soccer League: The new Spokane team in the 2011 WPSL will be called the Spokane Shine. The team replaces the city's Spokane Black Widows team that played only the one season in 2010.
Professional Arena Soccer League: The PASL-Pro league officially announced the new Anaheim Bolts will join the league for its 2011-12 season. The city last had the Anaheim Splash indoor pro team that was part of the defunct Continental Indoor Soccer League for four seasons (1994-97). The league recently held its North American Championships with indoor teams from Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The Cincinnati Kings, San Diego Sockers, and Tacoma Stars represented the PASL-Pro League; the Calgary United represented the Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League; and the PPM Sidekicks del Estado de Mexico and Guerreros de la Raza de Guadalajara represented the Mexican indoor league known as Liga Mexicana de Futbol Rapido (LMFR).
Major League Soccer: The 19th MLS franchise will be the Montreal Impact in 2012 and the team will increase its current stadium capacity from about 13,000 to about 20,000. The Montreal Impact is playing as part of the Division II North American Soccer League for 2011. The MLS wants New York City and a proposed team called the New York Cosmos to be its 20th team for the 2013 season. If that group is not ready, cities such as Atlanta, Phoenix, San Diego, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami have expressed interest in MLS teams.
North American Soccer League: The city of San Antonio announced that it will not be supporting a soccer stadium plan by the owner of a proposed 2012 NASL team called the San Antonio Scorpions. Another competing bid in San Antonio wants to place a United Soccer Leagues-PRO franchise in the city next season.
OTHER
National Lacrosse League: Independent businessmen have come forward to pay for two road trips by the NLL's Calgary Roughnecks in order to keep the franchise alive. The owner of the Calgary Roughnecks announced two weeks ago that the Roughnecks would need financial assistance to finish the current season.
World TeamTennis: The WTT has announced its three-week 2011 season will operate from July 4 to July 24. The league will feature nine teams in an Eastern Conference consisting of the Boston Lobsters, New York Sportimes, Philadelphia Freedoms, and Washington Kastles, and a Western Conference that includes the Kansas City Explorers, Newport Beach Breakers, Sacramento Capitals, St. Louis Aces, and Springfield (MO) Lasers.
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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North American League Stories from March 14, 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.
