Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
July 11, 2011 - NBA G League (G League)
BASEBALL
Carolina League: The Kinston (NC) Indians of the High Class-A Carolina League will be moving to Zebulon (NC) to become a new version of the Carolina Mudcats in the 2012 Carolina League. The current Carolina Mudcats team in the Double-A Southern League will be moving to Pensacola in 2012. Minor League Baseball is trying to find a replacement team for Kinston, possibly as soon as next season. There had been talk over the past several years of trying to move two High Class-A California League teams to the Carolina League, but that would probably be sometime in the future, if it ever happens.
North American League: A proposed NAL team called the Omaha Flame has been trying to work out a lease for the city's TD Ameritrade Park, which is the new home of the College World Series, and would like to start play in 2012. The city is apparently also talking to a representative from another league, possibly the American Association. The Omaha Flame was originally presented as an expansion franchise of the Northern League, which eventually disbanded when four of its eight teams left to join the American Association for its 2011 season. Of the four remaining Northern League teams, only the Lake County Fielders joined the NAL for its inaugural 2011 season.
Arizona Rookie League: Major League Baseball's summertime rookie-level AZL started its 2011 season that runs from late June to late August. The league has 13 teams split into two four-team Central and West divisions and a five-team East division. The National League's Arizona Diamondbacks added a Scottsdale-based rookie-level affiliate as the league's 13th team for 2011. Like its counterpart Gulf Coast League in Florida, the AZL is developmental in nature and teams play at MLB spring training complexes.
Gulf Coast League: Major League Baseball's rookie-level GCL started its 2011 season that runs form late June to late August. The league has 15 teams split into a six-team North division, a five-team East division, and a four-team South division. There were no changes to the teams or alignment from last season. Like its counterpart Arizona Rookie League, the GCL is developmental in nature and teams play at MLB spring training complexes.
BASKETBALL
National Basketball Association Development League: The Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association have purchased the New Mexico Thunderbirds franchise in the NBA D-League and announced plans to move the team to Canton (OH) for the upcoming 2011-12 season. The Thunderbirds had been part of the league since the 2005-06 season. Cleveland will own and operate the yet-to-be-named Canton team. Four other NBA D-League teams are owned and operated by NBA teams: the Los Angeles D-Fenders (Los Angeles Lakers), the Austin Toros (San Antonio Spurs), Tulsa 66ers (Oklahoma City Thunder), and Dakota Wizards (Golden State Warriors). Four additional NBA D-League teams have some sort of single-affiliation partnership with NBA teams. The seven remaining NBA D-League teams will each have three NBA parent teams for the 2011-12 season. The league will again have 16 teams in 2011-12. The Orem-based Utah Flash will sit out the 2011-12 season while new ownership is sought for the team. The Los Angeles D-Fenders returned to the league for 2011-12 after sitting out the 2010-11 season.
Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League: The ACPBL has officially announced that the Hartford (CT) Lightning will be part of its 2011-12 season. The league had eight teams in its inaugural 2010-11 season and has announced a total of four new teams. However, the current team list does not include the Tri-City Suns and Westchester Wildkatz teams that were part of last season.
Premier Basketball League: The PBL has announced it will add a team in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (PA) for its 2012 season. The league started its 2011 season with eight teams, but by the end of the 2011 playoffs only the champion Rochester RazorSharks remained as a PBL team.
American Basketball Association: The ABA announced the addition of the Lansing (MI) Law to its North Central Division for the upcoming 2011-12 season. The league recently announced the creation of a new 12-team ABA Classics Division that will be comprised of top ABA players, along with former professional and college players. The ABA reported that another new team called the Porter County Punishers, based in Valparaiso (IN), is holding tryouts for the 2011-12 season.
FOOTBALL
Stars Football League: After playing its inaugural game on June 30 between the Daytona Beach Racers and Fort Lauderdale Barracudas, the new professional outdoor SFL has announced the rest of its 2011 schedule that will run from July 16 to August 26. The 2011 season will include two other teams called the Michigan Coyotes (Detroit) and New Orleans Jazz. Each team will play four or five games.
Lingerie Football League: The women's indoor LFL plans to launch additional leagues in Canada (2012), Australia (2013), and Europe (2014). The Toronto Triumph will play in the U.S.-based LFL during the 2011-12 season and plans to be part of the inaugural 2012-13 season in the Canadian LFL, which is also considering Edmonton, Vancouver, Regina, Calgary, and Montreal for possible teams. The Australian LFL is looking at the cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide, while the European LFL is considering Barcelona (Spain), Rhein (Germany), Dublin (Ireland),and Manchester (England). The LFL is holding its All-Fantasy exhibition game in Hamilton (Ontario) on July 30.
Arena Football League: One of the owners of the Tulsa Talons of the AFL reported that there is a 50-50 chance the team will stay in Tulsa or will be sold and moved to a different market.
Ultimate Indoor Football League: The Marion (OH) Blue Racers, which recently completed its first season as part of the Continental Indoor Football League, has switched to the UIFL for the 2012 season. Marion is one of five new teams the UIFL has added for 2012. The UIFL is looking to add other teams and reportedly has approached the owner of the Corpus Christi Hammerheads from the Southern Indoor Football League.
HOCKEY
ECHL: The National Hockey League's New Jersey Devils have decided to suspend play of its Trenton (NJ) Devils ECHL affiliate for the 2011-12 season. The ECHL franchise started play as the Trenton Titans for the 1999-2000 season, but the New Jersey Devils purchased the franchise and renamed it the Trenton Devils for the 2007-08 season.
American Hockey League: The 30-team AHL has announced a new six-division format for the upcoming 2011-12 season. Each conference will add a division and each division will have five teams. The Eastern Conference adds the Northeast Division to go with the Atlantic and East divisions, while the Western Conference adds the Midwest Division to the West and North divisions.
Western States Hockey League: A new team called the Dallas Ice Jets, based in Grapevine (TX), will begin play in the 2011-12 season of the Tier III Junior-A WSHL. The league previously announced other new teams called the Dallas Snipers, based in Euless (TX), and Park City (UT) Moose for the 2011-12 season. After the 2010-12 season, the league's Bakersfield Junior Condors relocated to become the Ogden (UT) Mustangs and the Tulsa Rampage moved to become the Cheyenne (WY) Stampede.
SOCCER
Mexican Primera Division: The 18-team Primera Division (First Division) of the Federacion Mexicana de Futbol Asociacion (FMF) will start its 2011-12 season later this month. The season is split into Apertura (Opening) and Clausura (Closing) sessions, which generally run from July to November and January to May, respectively. The Primera Division has eliminated the three six-team divisions, or groups, and the standings will feature all teams listed in one table. After the 2010-11 Apertura-Clausura, the Necaxa Los Rayos club was relegated to the lower level Liga de Ascenso, while the Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente club was promoted from the Liga de Ascenso to the Primera Division.
Liga de Ascenso: The 16-team Liga de Ascenso, which is the next level of soccer below the Primera Division (First Division), will start its 2011-12 Apertura-Clausura season on July 23. The Liga de Ascenso operated with 17 teams last season, but the Albinegros de Orizaba club was granted a leave of absence, the Alacranes de Durango dropped out due to financial problems, and the Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente club was promoted to the Primera Division.. New to the league are the Atletico Celaya club, which was promoted from the Segunda Division, and the Necaxa Los Rayos club, which was relegated from last season's Primera Division. The Veracruz Tiberones Rojos club was dropped from the league for failure to make financial obligations, but a different group of investors was granted rights for a new club that will operate with the same name for the 2011-12 season.
OTHER
North American Lacrosse League: The proposed new indoor NALL has awarded its second franchise to Charlotte (NC) for the league's inaugural season that starts in January 2012. The league previously announced Wilkes-Barre (PA) as the first host city for a franchise. Charlotte was recently awarded an outdoor lacrosse franchise called the Charlotte Hounds in the summertime Major League Lacrosse season that runs from May to August. Charlotte had a previous indoor pro lacrosse franchise called the Charlotte Cobras that played only the 1996 season in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League, which was a predecessor to the current National Lacrosse League.
World TeamTennis: The WTT has started its 36th annual three-week season that runs from July 4 to July 24, 2011. The nine-team league features 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. The Albany-based New York Buzz did not return for the 2011 season and was basically combined with the New York Sportimes team, which will play five of its seven home games in New York City and the other two in Albany. The upstate New York franchise joined the league in 1995 as the New York OTBzz, named after "Off Track Betting" facilities, changed to the Schenectady County Electrics in 1999, and became the New York Buzz in 2001. The Buzz moved to Albany for 2008 after 13 seasons in Schenectady (NY).
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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NBA G League Stories from July 11, 2011
- Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report - OSC Original by Dan Krieger
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