Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
Published on April 18, 2011 under Continental Basketball League (CBL)

BASEBALL

Pacific Coast League: The Triple-A PCL has started its 2011 season and had changes to two of its teams. The Omaha Royals moved into a new suburban ballpark and the team was renamed the Omaha Storm Chasers. The Portland Beavers were sold and the franchise was relocated to Tucson as the Tucson Padres. In the league's Pacific Conference, Tucson was placed in the South Division, while the Reno Aces were moved from the South Division to the North Division. There were no league alignment or nickname changes in the other Triple-A league (International League).

Southern League: The Double-A Southern League has started its 2011 season and the only change was the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx taking the new name of the Jackson (TN) Generals. The Diamond Jaxx were created in 1998 when the city of Memphis moved up to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League and the Double-A Memphis Chicks franchise was moved to Jackson. The Southern League's Carolina Mudcats franchise will move from Zebulon (NC) to Pensacola (FL) for the 2012 season. There were no league alignment or nickname changes in the two other Double-A leagues (Texas League and the Eastern League).

National Association of Baseball Clubs: The new NABC is forming as a summer collegiate wooden bat baseball league with teams to be located in Texas and Oklahoma.

Sunset League: The Bisbee Copper Kings, Tucson KFC, Tucson Nationals, Tucson Thunder, and Tucson Yarddogs have reportedly left the summer-collegiate Pacific Southwest League and will be part of the new summer-collegiate Sunset League along with a sixth team called the El Paso Sun Kings.

Midwest Collegiate League: The MCL, which operated as the Great Plains League in 2010, has added a new team called the Will County CrackerJacks that will be based in Joliet (IL).

BASKETBALL

International Basketball League: The IBL has started its 2011 spring-summer season with ten full-schedule teams. The International division includes the Albany (NY) Legends, Edmonton Energy, Gary (IN) Splash, Kankakee (IL) Soldiers, and Oregon Waves (Beaverton), while the Continental division features the Bellingham (WA) Slam, Olympia (WA) Reign, USA All-Stars, Vancouver (WA) Volcanoes, and the West Coast Hotshots (road team). Non-returning teams from last season include the BC Titans (British Columbia), Yamhill Highflyers, Battle Creak Knights, Holland Blast, Tacoma Tide, and Los Angeles Lightning. The Gary Splash was added for the spring-summer season after participating in the IBL's inaugural 2010-11 winter season. The IBL also plans to have several "branding" teams, which play a shorter schedule as they prepare to eventually become full-schedule teams. The Dayton Air Strikers, which recently completed its inaugural season as part of the 2011 Premier Basketball League, announced the team will play a short, eight-game schedule as one of the IBL's "branding" teams during the 2011 spring-summer season. A team called the Dayton Jets played in the IBL's inaugural 2005 season. The IBL currently has five other "branding" teams listed-the Lake County All-Stars, Lansing Capitals, Las Vegas Pride, Ohio Hidden Gems (Columbus), and Phoenix Raptors.

Continental Basketball League: The CBL has officially announced new teams called the Gainesville (FL) Galaxy and Cary (NC) Invasion will be part of the 2011 season. Another team called the Fayetteville (NC) Crossover has been added to the team list and appears to be replacing the Fayetteville-based Carolina Cougarz from last season.

National Basketball Association Development League: The owners of the New Mexico Thunderbirds in the NBA D-League are seeking additional investors to keep the team around as they try to negotiate a new lease for next season with the city of Rio Rancho (NM). The Southeast Texas Mavericks team from the American Basketball Association has announced it has left the ABA and will begin the process of applying to join the NBA D-League for the 2011-12 season. The Mavericks could try to purchase an existing NBA D-League franchise. The Mavericks are based in the town of Winnie, just southwest of Beaumont.

Premier Basketball League: The owners of the PBL's three Canadian teams-the Saint John (New Brunswick) Mill Rats, Quebec Kebs, and Halifax (Nova Scotia) Rainmen-are reportedly considering a move away from the league for next season. There has been talk of a possible all-Canadian league being created with the addition of at least one other team, possibly in Moncton (New Brunswick). After completing its inaugural 2011 season in the PBL, the Dayton Air Strikers will play an eight-game schedule as part of the 2011 spring-summer season in the International Basketball League. The Air Strikers have been removed from the league's web site and the 2011 final standings. An ownership group wants to bring the PBL back to Chicago in 2012 after a two-year absence. The Chicago Throwbacks were part of the PBL for its first two seasons in 2008 and 2009.

World Basketball Association Exposure League: The Franklin (TN) Knights have decided to play an independent schedule after playing its inaugural season as part of the 2010 WBA Exposure League.

American Basketball Association: The ABA has announced the addition of another Indiana-based team called the Greencastle Golden Knights that will be added for the 2011-12 season. Other Indiana teams in the ABA are the Indianapolis Drive, Indiana Diesels (Columbus), Michiana Monarchs (South Bend), and the Northwest Indiana Magical Stars. The league also announced that the Gainesville-based Florida Makos team will move to Johnson City (TN) for the 2011-12 season. The league's Southeast Texas Mavericks announced the team will be leaving the ABA and will try to join the National Basketball Association Development League (D-League). The Mavericks joined the ABA as the Southeast Texas Mustangs when the McAllen-based Rio Grande Valley Silverados of the Continental Basketball Association moved to Beaumont (TX) for the 2008-09 season. The team was renamed the Mavericks the following season and eventually moved to its own facility in Winnie (TX). It appears as though the 2011-12 Richmond-based ABA expansion team that is listed as the Warriors has been renamed the Richmond Elite.

FOOTBALL

Lingerie Football League: The women's indoor LFL has announced its 2011-12 schedule and the yet-to-be-named sixth team in the Eastern Conference will be based in Toronto. The league plans to start a six-team Canadian LFL in 2012 and is currently evaluating other Canadian markets.

Indoor Football League: After six games in the 2011 IFL season, the Kent (WA) Predators team has come under new ownership and has been renamed the Seattle Timberwolves.

Continental Indoor Football League: After playing its first three 2011 games on the road, the CIFL's Chicago Knights announced it will play its five remaining home games in Rockford (IL).

Western Indoor Football Association: The WIFA is a new league and not a renamed version of the proposed American Indoor Football Association - West. The Reno Barons and Stockton Wolves, which were last season's San Jose Wolves, had been affiliated with the AIFA-West, but that league has apparently closed down operations. The new 2011 WIFA lists the Reno Barons, Stockton Wolves, Tucson Trojans, and Las Vegas Cobras, along with some non-league opponents.

Independent Indoor Football Alliance: A team called the Waco Twisters has replaced the Dallas Americans for the remainder of the 2011 IIFA season. Dallas had an 0-2 record.

American Football League: The proposed new AFL, which planned to start this fall with 16 teams as a major professional football league competing with the National Football League, has announced it will be unable to start as planned in 2011. The league will decide in the near future whether to try again in 2012.

HOCKEY

North American Hockey League: The Tier II Junior-A NAHL has announced its third season of the North American Prospects Hockey League in 2011-12 will feature 48 lower-level teams at the Midget Major (under 18), Midget Minor (under 16), and Bantom Major (under 14) levels.

Major League Roller Hockey: The MLRH announced that teams called the Anaheim Bullfrogs and the Arizona Arsenal will be part of the league in 2011-12. A team called the Anaheim Bullfrogs played the 1998 season as part of the MLRH and played six seasons (1993-97 and 1999) as part of the defunct Roller Hockey International.

SOCCER

Women's Premier Soccer League: The WPSL has announced its Big Sky Conference will have 12 teams in 2 divisions. The North Division will include the same five teams as last season: the Arizona Rush (Tucson), FC St. George (UT), Phoenix del Sol, Salt Lake City Sparta, and Utah Starzz (Orem). The South Division will return four teams-the Fort Worth Panthers, Houston South Select, Oklahoma Alliance FC, and Tulsa Spirit-from last season with the Dallas Premier not returning. Three other new teams called the American Eagles SC (Dallas/Fort Worth), Arkansas Comets (Fayetteville), and FC Dallas have joined the seven-team South Division for 2011.

National Premier Soccer League: The new Bellingham (WA) United men's soccer club is preparing for its inaugural season in 2012 and is considering membership in the NPSL, if the league expands as planned into the Pacific Northwest. The Bellingham United is also considering the Pacific Coast Soccer League and the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League.

OTHER

Major League Lacrosse: The summertime outdoor MLL has announced its new Columbus-based franchise will be called the Ohio Machine when it starts play in the 2012 season. For six seasons (2005-10) the MLL had a team called the Chicago Machine, which was without a home field last season and played its six home games in potential MLL expansion markets. One of those 2010 games was played in Columbus. The league also plans to add a yet-to-be-named Charlotte (NC) franchise for the 2012 season.

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 2010-11 edition is available at http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/leagues-teams-nicknames-the-leagueology-almanac-2010-11/15228513. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.

Continental Basketball League Stories from April 18, 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.