Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
May 23, 2011 - Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL)
BASEBALL
Frontier League: The independent Frontier League has started its 2011 season and remained at 12 teams split into East and West divisions. The Kalamazoo Kings and Oakland County (MI) Cruisers did not return from last season, but the league added the Rockford (IL) Riverhawks and the new Joliet (IL) Slammers for 2011. Kalamazoo had been part of the league since the 2001 season. Oakland County played road games last season and decided to sit out the 2011 season while working on financing for its proposed ballpark. The Rockford Riverhawks were part of the Frontier League from 2002 to 2009 before moving to the Northern League last season. The team was supposed to be part of the new North American League for 2011, but came under new ownership and switched to the Frontier League. The city of Joliet had the Joliet JackHammers in the 2010 Northern League, but the team was sold and new ownership shifted the renamed team to the Frontier League.
North American League: The new ten-team NAL will soon be starting its inaugural 2011 season, but plans to expand to 16 teams for next season. The league reportedly will add a team on the island of Hawaii in the city of Hilo to go with its current team based on the island of Maui.
Southern League: The new Pensacola Double-A Southern League team, which will be the relocated Carolina Mudcats next season, will announce its team nickname next week from six finalists-the Aviators, Blue Wahoos, Loggerheads, Mullets, Redbones, and Salty Dogs.
Arizona Rookie League: The National League's Arizona Diamondbacks have added a Scottsdale-based rookie-level team to the summertime Arizona Rookie League for 2011. The 13-team league will start play on June 20.
BASKETBALL
World Basketball Association Exposure League: The WBA Exposure League has started its 2011 season and has seven teams listed: the Conyers (GA) Court Kings, Gainesville (GA) Knights, Gwinnett (GA) Majic, Marietta (GA) Storm, Rome (GA) Gladiators, Tennessee Tornadoes (Fayetteville), and Upstate Heat (Anderson, SC). Of the six teams in the 2010 season, the Jacksonville Bluewaves, Franklin (TN) Knights, and Florida Flight did not return. Gainesville, Rome, Tennessee and Upstate are new for 2011. Conyers was the Decatur (GA) Court Kings last season. The Upstate Heat was originally listed as the Easley (SC) Heat and a proposed 2011 team called the Columbus (GA) Stars was no longer listed.
American Basketball Association: The ABA plans to have a new team called the Port City Pirates based in Stockton (CA) for the 2011-12 season. Also announced for 2011-12 are teams called the Delta Storm, based in the Helena/West Helena area of Arkansas, and the Portsmouth (VA) Cavaliers. A team called the Portsmouth Cavaliers was part of the Eastern Basketball Alliance 2011 season.
Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League: The ACPBL has announced an expansion franchise called the Bay Area Shuckers will be based in the Chesapeake Bay region of Maryland and will be part of the league's second season in 2011-12. The league plans to expand from 8 to 14 teams for 2011-12.
Continental Basketball League: The CBL has now split its eight teams into two divisions. The North includes the Birmingham Sabers, Cary (NC) Invasion, Fayetteville (NC) Crossover, and Wilmington (NC) Sea Dawgs. The South has the Florida Flight, Gainesville (FL) Galaxy, Heartland Prowl, and the new Savannah-based Port City Sharks.
National Athletic Basketball League: After playing its inaugural spring-summer season in 2010, the NABL reports that league play has been suspended for 2011 and the league is being revised. The NABL's Snohomish County Explosion plan on playing a full season of exhibition games. Other teams listed as being part of the league are the Portland Showtime, Salem Stampede, Seattle Flight, and Troutdale (OR) Rainmakers.
Women's United States Basketball Association: The WUSBA has announced the schedules for 14 teams that will be part of the its inaugural 2011 season, which will run from June 5 to August 25.
FOOTBALL
Indoor Football League: The owner of the Amarillo Venom in the IFL wants to sell the team and restart an IFL team closer to his home in San Angelo. This owner had purchased the IFL's San Angelo Stampede-Express franchise after the 2010 season, but it sat out the 2011 season. The Stampede-Express played two seasons (2009-10) in the IFL. With or without a sale, the owner claims the Venom will return in 2012.
Stars Football League: The new SFL has announced it will start its inaugural 2011 outdoor season in late June. The league listed seven teams called the Fort Lauderdale Barracudas, Daytona Beach Racers, Charleston (SC) Admirals, New Orleans Jazz, Michigan Coyotes, Las Vegas Gamblers, and the Los Angeles Ironmen. The Ironmen had previously been listed as the Little Rock Ironmen.
HOCKEY
Central Hockey League: The owner of the Laredo Bucks stated that the team will remain affiliated with the CHL, but will consider the number of season ticket renewals for the upcoming season before deciding whether or not the Bucks will continue. After the announcement last week that the Quad City Mallards suspended operations, other groups have expressed interest in trying to return a team to the area for 2011-12. The Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees are involved in a lawsuit with the team's previous owner and temporarily shut down its offices due to a lack of funds. The team has stated that is has not folded or discontinued operations.
Federal Hockey League: The FHL has announced its newest expansion franchise based in Wayne (NJ) will be called the New Jersey Outlaws. Of the six teams from the end of the 2010-11 season, the Rome (NY) Frenzy will not return for 2011-12. The five returning teams for 2011-12 are the Cape Code Barons (Hyannis, MA), Akwesasne (Ontario) Warriors, Danbury (CT) Whalers, Thousand Islands Privateers (Alexandria Bay, NY), and the Brooklyn-based New York Aviators. The FHL previously announced two other 2011-12 expansion teams called the Green Mountain Rock Crushers (Jay Peek, VT) and a yet-to-be-named team in Danville (IL). The league could grow to ten teams as it reportedly is considering the markets of Cincinnati and Niagara Falls (Ontario) for new teams.
National Hockey League: The ownership of the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers has entered into negotiations with True North Sports & Entertainment, which owns and operates the Winnipeg-based Manitoba Moose in the American Hockey League, for a possible sale and relocation of the franchise to Winnipeg. There were also reports that a local Atlanta group could bid on the Thrashers. Atlanta previously lost the Atlanta Flames, a 1972 NHL expansion team, when the Flames moved to Calgary (Alberta) for the 1980-81 season. The NHL's Winnipeg Jets franchise left to become the Phoenix Coyotes for the 1996-97 season.
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League: It appears as though the proposed move of the Lewiston (ME) Maineiacs to Summerside (Prince Edward Island) for the 2011-12 QMJHL season will not materialize. The league's Prince Edward Island Rocket team, which is based in nearby Charlottetown and was rumored to be looking for a new home, recently signed a new three-year arena lease. Apparently, the QMJHL does not want two teams located so close together. Lewiston is the only U.S.-based team in the league.
United States Hockey Leagues: The Tier I Junior-A USHL has signed an agreement that will make Tier 1 Elite Hockey, which is an elite-level youth hockey league that had 19 member organizations in 2010-11, the USHL's official developmental youth hockey league. Tier I Elite Hockey will increase to 25 members for the 2011-12 season with the addition of the D.C. Capitals, Milwaukee Junior Admirals, Oakland (MI) Junior Grizzlies, Atlanta Thunder, Las Vegas Storm, and Rocky Mountain RoughRiders (Westminster, CO). The goal is to move Tier I Elite Hockey players to the top junior league in the United States. The city of Marion (IN) announced plans to build a new hockey arena for a proposed USHL team.
SOCCER
Major Indoor Soccer League: The United Soccer Leagues organization, which was planning to start its new I-League indoor soccer league for the 2011-12 season, has entered into an agreement to operate the MISL starting with the 2011-12 season. Three of the five MISL teams-the Baltimore Blast, Milwaukee Wave, and Missouri Comets (Independence)-from the 2010-11 season, along with the MISL's previously announced Wichita Wings expansion team, will join with the three previously announced USL I-League markets of Syracuse, Norfolk (SharkX), and Rochester (Lancers). The new league does not include the MISL's Chicago Riot and Omaha Vipers. The Vipers recently announced a move to the Professional Arena Soccer League for 2011-12.
United Soccer Leagues W-League: The women's USL W-League has started its 2011 season with 27 teams, down from the 29 teams in 2010. The league lost seven teams from last season, but added five new teams. The league is split into a 12-team Eastern Conference with 6-team Northeast and Atlantic divisions; a 7-team Central Conference with just the Great Lakes Division, and an 8-team Western Conference with no divisions. New teams for 2011 include the Victoria (British Columbia) Highlanders, Fredericksburg (VA) Impact, Dayton Dutch Lions, Los Angeles Strikers, and the D.C. United Women.
Women's Premier Soccer League: The WPSL has started its 2011 season with 64 teams, an increase from the 55 teams in 2010. The league lost 12 teams in the off-season, but added 21 other teams. The league is split into six regional conferences. The Pacific, Big Sky, and Midwest conferences each have North and South divisions; the East Conference has Northeast and Mid-Atlantic divisions, and the Sunshine and Northwest conferences do not have divisions.
Premier Arena Soccer League: The PASL-Premier has started its 2011 indoor summer season. The Men's Division features the Chico Bigfoot, Redding Velocity, Sacramento Scorpions, Soccer Nation Vacaville, Soccer World Elk Grove, and Turlock Express. The Women's Division, which only plays a summer season, includes the Chico United, Sacramento Knights, Soccer World FC, and SSA United.
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.
Major Indoor Soccer League Stories from May 23, 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.
