Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
May 31, 2011 - National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada)
BASEBALL
Southern League: The new Pensacola Double-A Southern League team, which will be the relocated Carolina Mudcats next season, announced the team will be called the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. The nickname is taken from certain fish common to the area and the explosive way they pull out of the water. Other finalists were the Aviators, Loggerheads, Mullets, Redbones, and Salty Dogs.
Carolina League: After reviewing ballpark lease proposals from both the Frederick (MD) Keys of the Single-A Carolina League and a group representing a possible franchise in the independent Atlantic Baseball League, a committee in Frederick has recommended that the city negotiate a new long-term lease with the Frederick Keys. The Keys have been part of the Carolina League since 1989.
North American League: The new ten-team NAL has started its inaugural 2011 season with one brand new team and nine teams that came from three other 2010 independent baseball leagues. The North Division features the Lake County Fielders from last season's Northern League, along with the Calgary Vipers, Chico Outlaws, Edmonton Capitals, and Maui Na Koa Ikaika from last year's Golden Baseball League. The South Division has the Edinburg Roadrunners, Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings, and San Angelo Colts from last year's United League Baseball; the Yuma Scorpions from the GBL; and the new McAllen Thunder. A proposal to bring a 2012 NAL expansion team to San Rafael (CA) has been approved by one local commission and will now be put before the city council.
Canadian-American League: The Can-Am League has increased from six to eight teams as it recently started its 2011 season. The league lost the Sussex County (NJ) Skyhawks team after the 2010 season, but added the Newark Bears from the 2010 Atlantic Baseball League, the expansion Rockland Boulders (Ramapo, NY), and the New York Federals travel team. The Federals are staffed and operated by the developmental New York State League.
Peach State League: The developmental Peach State League plans to try a second season starting on June 25, 2011. All games are again expected to be played at Luther Williams Field in Macon (GA) featuring the returning hometown Macon Pinetoppers as one of the teams.
BASKETBALL
National Basketball League of Canada: The recently announced NBL-Canada is still trying to develop additional teams than its three charter teams-the Saint John (New Brunswick) Mill Rats, Quebec Kebs, and Halifax (Nova Scotia) Rainmen. The Ontario cities of Kingston, Oshawa, and London have apparently made deposits to join the new league for its inaugural 2011-12 season. The league is said to still be working with groups in Moncton (New Brunswick), Charlottetown (Prince Edward Island), and the Ontario cities of Kitchener and Ottawa. A deadline of June 15 has been set for 2011-12 teams.
International Basketball League: Currently, the Edmonton Energy is the only Canadian team in the IBL, but the league is trying to add teams in Calgary and Saskatoon for next season. The league is not sure if the teams would play a full schedule or be one of the league's partial-schedule "branding teams".
Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League: The ACPBL has announced the addition of The Destroyers basketball team for its 2011-12 season. The team has been part of the Eastern Basketball Alliance for the past several seasons and was known as the Delaware Destroyers until moving to Philadelphia as The Destroyers for the 2010-11 EBA season.
FOOTBALL
Ultimate Indoor Football League: The proposed new Rome (GA) River Dogs team that plans to start play in the UIFL's 2012 season has been renamed the Rome Rampage.
Southern Indoor Football League: One of the owners of the SIFL's Rio Grande Valley Magic has stated that the Magic and other teams like the Corpus Christi Hammerheads, Houston Stallions, and a proposed Laredo expansion franchise will consider moving out of the SIFL for next season. Teams were forced to use replacement teams on the 2011 schedule due to the early folding of the Lafayette Wildcatters and Mobile Bay Tarpons. No local ownership group has come forward to run the financially struggling Fayetteville (NC) Force and its future is uncertain.
HOCKEY
Central Hockey League: The city of Bloomington (IL) has signed a new lease with an ownership group that will bring a new CHL franchise to the city and replace the financially troubled Bloomington Prairie Thunder franchise for the 2011-12 season. The final lineup of teams for the CHL's 2011-12 season is expected to be finalized after an owners' meeting scheduled for June 10.
North American 3 Hockey League: The ownership of the Amarillo Bulls in the Tier II Junior-A NAHL has purchased a team in the Tier III Junior-A NA3HL. The new NA3HL team will be based in Mason City (IA) and will be called the North Iowa Bulls. Mason City had been home to an NAHL team called the North Iowa Outlaws for five seasons (2005-10).
American Hockey League: The Allentown (PA) city council recently approved the acquisition of some land for a proposed new arena that is to become home to the league's Adirondack Phantoms. The former Philadelphia Phantoms franchise has been playing in Glens Falls (NY) since the 2009-10 season while waiting for completion of the Allentown arena. The latest estimate for completion is by the start of the 2013-14 season. With the proposed move of the National Hockey League's Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg for the 2011-12 season, the Winnipeg-based Manitoba Moose of the AHL is reportedly considering a move to St. John's (Newfoundland) for next season. The AHL had a team called the St. John's Maple Leafs that last played in the league for the 2002-03 season.
Minnesota Junior Hockey League: After recently losing the Granite City (MN) Lumberjacks and the Minnesota Flyer Aces teams to the Tier III Junior-A North American 3 Hockey League, the Tier III Junior-A MnJHL recently announced two new teams called the Dells Ducks (Wisconsin Dells) and the Maple Grove (MN) Energy will be part of the league's 2011-12 season. The league would like to add an eighth team in Owatonna (MN) for 2011-12. A team called the Owatonna Express of the Tier II Junior-A North American Hockey League recently left the town to become the Odessa (TX) Jackalopes for 2011-12.
Northern Pacific Hockey League: The Tier III Junior-A NorPac has suspended four Montana-based teams-the Billings Bulls, Bozeman IceDogs, Helena Bighorns, and Missoula Maulers-for its upcoming 2011-12 season. These four teams had already been rumored to be leaving to create a new junior league, possibly under the name of the America West Hockey League. The NorPac has added a new team called the Glacier Nationals (Whitefish, MT) and plans to operate with eight teams in its upcoming season.
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League: The Lewiston (ME) Maineiacs of the QMJHL have denied rumors that the team will be folding for the 2011-12 season to eventually be replaced by an expansion team in Sherbrooke (Quebec) for the 2012-13 season. The Maineiacs are struggling financially and rumors about the team's relocation have surfaced over the past two seasons.
SOCCER
Women's Professional Soccer: The ownership of the New York Fury, which currently plays in the Women's Premier Soccer League and is the semi-pro affiliate for the Philadelphia Independence of the WPS, plans to join the WPS for the 2013 season. The Fury organization also has its Long Island Fury collegiate-player team playing in the 2011 WPSL.
United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League: The USL PDL has started its 2011 season with 64 teams, down from the 67 teams in 2010. The league lost 13 teams from last season, but added 10 new teams called the River City Rovers (Louisville), Fredericksburg (VA) Hotspur, FC Jax Destroyers (Jacksonville), Real Maryland FC Monarchs, North Sound SeaWolves FC (Everett, WA), WSA Winnipeg, Akron Metro FC Summit Assault, Rio Grande Valley Grandes FC, Hamilton FC Rage, and Los Angeles Blues U23. The league is aligned into four conferences: the Eastern Conference with Northeast, Mid Atlantic, and South Atlantic divisions; the Southern with Southeast and Mid South divisions; the Central with Heartland and Great Lakes divisions; and the Western with Southwest and Northwest divisions.
United Soccer Leagues Super-League: The USL Super-20 League, which operates both a men's and a women's league, has started its 2011 schedule. The Super-20 League bridges the gap between youth and adult soccer and allows players 17 to 20 years old compete at an elite level. The men's Super-20 League features 55 teams split into 6 regional conferences (Mid-Atlantic, New England, Midwest, Northwest, Pacific Southern California, and South Atlantic), while the women's Super-20 League has 28 teams split into 5 regional conferences (Mid-Atlantic, New England, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, and South Atlantic). The USL Super-20 League started play in 2006.
OTHER
Midwest Lacrosse Association: The new semi-pro indoor MLA has been announced and plans to start play in August 2011. The league currently has nine teams listed. The four-team East division has the Celtic Lacrosse (Cincinnati), RCSA Elite (Louisville), Champion Lacrosse (Detroit), and Grand Rapids (MI) Hellfish. The five-team West division includes the Infinity Lacrosse (Madison, IL), Oxygen Lacrosse (Chicago), True Players Lacrosse (Naperville, IL), St. Louis Pride, and Team Milwaukee.
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.
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National Basketball League of Canada Stories from May 31, 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.
