Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
Published on April 25, 2011 under Premier Basketball League (PBL)

BASEBALL

Pacific Coast League: The owner of the Tucson Padres in the Triple-A PCL has indicated there is a good chance the team could remain in Tucson for the near future. Tucson was to be a two-season stopover for the former Portland Beavers franchise as it eventually was to move to a proposed ballpark in Escondido (CA), just north of San Diego, for the 2013 season. Anticipated California state funding for the Escondido ballpark might not be available as planned.

North American League: The new McAllen (TX) Thunder of the NAL will be operated by the group that owns the league's Edinburg Roadrunners franchise and the Thunder will play its 2011 home games in Edinburg. This ownership group also operates two of the other teams in the five-team Southern Division, the nearby Harlingen-based Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings and the San Angelo Colts. The McAllen team took the Thunder nickname that was used by the Coastal Bend Thunder in last season's United League Baseball.

Atlantic Baseball League: An ownership group trying to bring an independent ABL team to Frederick (MD) has submitted a bid to lease the city's ballpark starting next season. The other bid for the lease was submitted by the ballpark's current tenant, the Frederick Keys of the affiliated Class-A Carolina League.

BASKETBALL

International Basketball League: The Battle Creek Knights team, which was part of the IBL's inaugural 2010-11 winter season, has committed to play in the 2011-12 winter season. The league's Los Angeles Lightning previously announced a switch from the spring to the winter season in 2011-12. The Oregon Waves team, which is currently a member of the 2011 spring season, will play in the winter season and could change its name to the Portland Chinooks after a previous Portland-based team that played four seasons (2005-08) in the IBL.

West Coast Professional Basketball League: The eight-team list of 2011 WCPBL teams no longer includes the San Diego Sol, which was part of the 2010-11 American Basketball Association. A team called the Hollywood Aztecs has been added to replace San Diego.

Premier Basketball League: The PBL's three Canadian teams-the Saint John (New Brunswick) Mill Rats, Quebec Kebs, and Halifax (Nova Scotia) Rainmen-have officially left the PBL and their plans for next season are currently uncertain. The Canadian teams have talked about forming their own Canada-based league with a possible fourth team in Moncton (New Brunswick). The International Basketball League and the Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League have reportedly expressed interest in adding these three Canadian teams. The PBL's Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry also pulled out of the PBL and ceased basketball operations. The Rochester RazorSharks is the lone remaining team of the six PBL teams from the end of the 2011 regular season. The league's sixth team called Kentucky's Bluegrass Stallions had already notified the league it would not return in the future. The PBL is moving forward with plans for its next season in 2012 and has approved new teams in Chicago and Scranton (PA). Possible new teams in St. Louis, Madison (WI), and Chattanooga (TN) are still waiting league approval.

Women's American Basketball Association: The American Basketball Association reported that Greenville (NC) will be the first team to sign up for the new WABA that will start play in January 2012. The ABA states that it is working with 27 teams for the new league.

Women's Blue Chip Basketball League: The WBCBL has posted its 2011 summertime schedule that will run from May 15 to July 23. The league is in its seventh season and has 56 participating teams. Some recently added new teams include the New York Fame, Minnesota Jaguars, California Sun, Nevada Dynasty, and Northwest Magic (Tacoma, WA).

American Basketball Association: The ABA's new Johnson City (TN) team, which operated as the Florida Makos in the 2010-11 season, will be called the Johnson City Mad Hatters. The team has also been listed as the Tennessee Mad Hatters.

FOOTBALL

Ultimate Indoor Football League: The UIFL plans to announce its first Florida-based franchise next week. The team is expected to start play in 2012 at the Germain Arena in Estero, near Fort Myers. It was previously thought that the team would be called the Florida Tarpons. A team called the Florida Stingrays, which planned to be part of the Southern Indoor Football League, had also been trying to obtain a lease for the Germain Arena.

Professional Indoor Football League: The proposed PIFL, which failed to get off the ground as planned for the 2011 season, has announced it will play its first season in 2012 as a Tier I junior football league with all players between the ages of 18 and 21.

Women's Spring Football League: A few WSFL teams played short schedules in 2010 as the league tried to get off the ground. The WSFL has yet to post its 2011 schedule, but has 18 member teams listed, 8 of which are listed as 2012 teams. New to the team list are the Cape Fear Thunder, Huntsville Invasion, and Kansas Phoenix (Kansas City). More recently, the Cape Fear Thunder played three seasons (2007-09) as part of the Independent Women's Football League after two seasons (2005-06) in the Women's Professional Football League; and played a few games in 2003 and 2004 as the Fayetteville Warriors and Fayetteville Thunder in the Women's Football League.

Canadian Lingerie Football League: The proposed CLFL, also known as Canadian Fantasy Football, plans to hold an exhibition event in Winnipeg in July 2011 as it prepares to launch in 2012. A potential Winnipeg team in the new league has been named the Winnipeg Wild.

United Football League: The UFL currently has five teams that it says are ready for its 2011 season, but is undecided on whether to add a sixth team in either Portland, Salt Lake City or Chattanooga. The league would like to take advantage of a possible delay in the National Football League's season due to current negotiations on a players' labor contract. The UFL has no television contract in place for 2011 and is still trying to pay off various debts from last season.

Stars Football League: The proposed SFL, which plans to start play on May 21, 2011, now has eight teams listed-the Charleston (SC) Admirals, Dayton Beach Racers, Fort Lauderdale Barracudas, Las Vegas Gamblers, Little Rock Ironmen, Michigan Coyotes (Detroit), Mobile Gladiators, and New Orleans Jazz.

HOCKEY

United States Hockey League: The Tier I Junior-A USHL is reported to be holding discussions with Tier 1 Elite Hockey, which is an elite-level youth hockey league with 19 organizations, to create a possible national affiliation and have Tier I Elite Hockey become the USHL's official developmental league. Tier I Elite Hockey could be re-branded to reflect is affiliation with the USHL.

Atlantic Junior Hockey League: The Boston Bulldogs of the Tier III Junior-A Atlantic League have established a Junior-B team that will play in the 2011-12 Junior-B Metropolitan Junior Hockey League. The new Met League team will act as a feeder to the Atlantic League team.

Western Hockey League: After only five seasons in the city, the Chilliwack (British Columbia) Bruins of the major-junior WHL have been sold and will be relocated to Victoria (British Columbia) for the 2011-12 season. The Bruins started as a WHL expansion team in the 2006-07 season. Victoria had a WHL team called the Victoria Cougars that moved to Prince George in 1994. Victoria tried to obtain a WHL team for its new arena when it was built in 2003, but settled for an ECHL team that started play for the 2004-05 season. The Victoria WHL team will play in the same arena that has been used by the Victoria Salmon Kings of the ECHL and the fate of the ECHL franchise for 2011-12 has yet to be announced officially. The Bruins said their attendance was hurt when the Abbotsford Heat, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Calgary Flames, move to nearby Abbotsford for the 2009-10 season.

National Hockey League: The NHL acknowledged that the New York Islanders need a new or renovated arena before the team's lease expires in 2015. The owner wants to stay on Long Island, but local government has opposed a redevelopment plan that would have included arena renovations.

SOCCER

Major League Soccer: The MLS is still very interested in adding a second franchise in the New York City area as the league's 20th franchise. This team would be a natural rival for the league's New York Red Bulls team based in Harrison (NJ). One group proposed using the New York Cosmos name for the new MLS franchise. The MLS has stated it will keep its March-to-November schedule instead of aligning with the international soccer seasons that run from August to June. The MLS also does not plan on switching to a single-table alignment or instituting promotion and relegation of teams like the international leagues.

National Premier Soccer League: The Phoenix Monsoon soccer club plans to play both indoor and outdoor soccer seasons. The indoor professional Phoenix Monsoon team will be part of the 2011-12 season in the Professional Arena Soccer League and the outdoor Phoenix Monsoon team is expected to be part of the 2012 season in the NPSL.

OTHER

National League Lacrosse: The Calgary Roughnecks of the indoor NLL are still up for sale and the owner has apparently turned down offers from groups in Pittsburgh, New York, Detroit, and Las Vegas. The team won home field advantage throughout the playoffs, but may not be able to host home games if enough tickets are not sold for the team's playoff opener.

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.

Premier Basketball League Stories from April 25, 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.