Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
July 30, 2012 - Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL)
BASEBALL
Arizona Fall League: Major League Baseball announced the six-team alignment and MLB team affiliations for its upcoming 2012 AFL season. The East Division will feature the Mesa Solar Sox, Salt River Rafters, and Scottsdale Scorpions, while the West Division will include the Peoria Javelinas, Phoenix Desert Dogs, and Surprise Saguaros. Each AFL team will have players from five different MLB teams.
American Association: The group working to build a new ballpark in Fort McMurray (Alberta), which is about 270 miles north of Edmonton, met with officials of the independent AA this past week to discuss the possibility of a Fort McMurray team joining that league when the ballpark is completed in 2014 or 2015.
Frontier League: The London (Ontario) Rippers of the independent Frontier League have ceased operations and the league has replaced the team with a travel-only team called the Road Warriors. The Rippers did not make it through its first season after the league's dormant Oakland County Cruisers moved to London for 2012. The city had three other failed teams-the London Tigers (1989-93) of the affiliated Double-A Eastern League, the London Werewolves (1998-2001) of the Frontier League, and the London Monarchs (2003) of the short-lived Canadian Baseball League.
BASKETBALL
Tobacco Road Basketball League: The Carolina Gladiators team in the TRBL announced a move from Smithfield (NC) in Johnson County to the Lumberton (NC) area of Robeson County for the 2013 season. A new team called the Johnson County Nighthawks has joined the TRBL and will replace the Gladiators in Smithfield for the 2013 season.
Universal Basketball Association: The UBA's Atlanta-based GIE Morrow Disciples team has been renamed the GIE Menfus Matrix.
FOOTBALL
United Football League: The UFL has signed a television contract with CBS Sports Network that should ensure the UFL will return for a 2012 season. All four teams-the Las Vegas Locomotives, Omaha Nighthawks, Sacramento Mountain Lions, and Virginia Destroyers-are expected to return and a fifth team, possibly in San Antonio, could be added for the 2012 season.
United Indoor Football League: The UIFL announced a new team called the Indianapolis Panthers will be part of the 2013 season. The league previously announced another new 2013 team called the Missouri Monsters, based in the St. Louis suburb of St. Charles, and the 2012 travel team known as the Rome Rampage has moved to Dalton as the Georgia Rampage.
Continental Indoor Football League: The CIFL announced the addition of two Kentucky-based teams called the Kentucky Xtreme (Louisville) and Kentucky Drillers (Pikeville). The Xtreme played two exhibition games against CIFL teams during the 2012 season. The Drillers competed as the Eastern Kentucky Drillers in the 2012 season of the United Indoor Football League. Louisville had a previous indoor football team called the Louisville Fire that played eight seasons (2001-08) in arenafootball2.
American Professional Football League: The Sioux City (IA) Bandits of the semi-pro indoor APFL have apparently left the league and will try to form a new regional indoor football league for 2013. The Bandits no longer appear on the APFL team list..
Stars Football League: The spring-summer SFL has announced the completion of its short 2012 regular season and will hold a championship game on July 28 between the Daytona Beach Racers and the Fort Lauderdale Barracudas. The SFL only had three teams in 2012 with the third being the Fort Myers Swamp Dogs. A fourth team called the Port St. Lucie Ironmen dropped just before the 2012 season. Daytona Beach and Fort Myers each played three games, while Fort Lauderdale played four games during the season. The SFL announced a new team called the Miami Ironmen will join as a 2013 expansion team. The league previously attached the Ironmen nickname to proposed teams in Little Rock, Los Angeles, Bradenton, Cleveland, and Port St. Lucie, but those teams never materialized.
Lingerie Football League-United States : The LFL-US has announced its 12-team league alignment for the 2013 spring-summer season. The league will have three teams in each of four divisions. The Pacific includes the Las Vegas Sin, Los Angeles Temptation, and Seattle Mist; the Midwestern has the Chicago Bliss, Green Bay Chill, and Minnesota Valkyrie; the Northeastern has the Baltimore Charm, Cleveland Crush, and Philadelphia Passion; and the Southeastern includes the Tampa Breeze with the expansion Omaha Hearts and St. Louis Saints. The LFL plans to start up its LFL-Australia with four teams in 2013 and its Sydney-based team has announced it will be called the New South Wales Surge.
HOCKEY
Federal Hockey League: The New Jersey Outlaws team, which was based in Wayne (NJ) for the 2011-12 FHL season, has officially announced its move to Williamsport (PA) for the 2012-13 season. The team has been renamed the Williamsport Outlaws and plans to play its 30-game home schedule on an outdoor rink to be constructed on the field of the city's minor league ballpark known as Bowman Field. The ballpark is the summertime home of the Williamsport Crosscutters in the short-season Class-A New York Penn League.
National Hockey League: The owner of the Chicago Wolves in the American Hockey League has announced plans to invest in an arena in Bellevue (WA) to bring an NHL team to the Seattle area. Earlier, another investor proposed plans for an arena in the city of Seattle that could become home to an NHL and a National Basketball Association team. That proposal is to be discussed and possibly voted on next week.
Major League Roller Hockey: The MLRH reports that it will have four to five teams each in a Pacific Division, Lonestar Division (Texas), Midwest Division, and Atlantic Division for its 2012-13 season. The league also plans to add some Canadian teams with one in Toronto and a possible four-team division of teams in the Edmonton area. The league will be hosting its MLRH Europe Summer Cup in England in early August and an MLRH Europe Octoberfest in Germany in early October.
SOCCER
United Soccer Leagues - Major Indoor Soccer League: The Chicago-based MISL franchise for the upcoming 2012-13 season has officially been introduced as the Chicago Soul.
Liga Mexicana de Futbol Rapdio: Mexico's professional indoor soccer league known as the LMFR completed its 2012 season at the end of last month with the Guerreros La Raza de Guadalajara as the season champion. Other teams included the Flash de Monterrey, Diablos Rojos Durango, VIRMAC CFR de Puebla, Astros Tepic, Rancho Seco Saltillo, Tlaquepaque 2000, and Diablos Macaaray (Chiapas). The LMFR is affiliated with the Professional Arena Soccer League. Each team played 12-14 games from late February to early June.
OTHER
North American Lacrosse League: The indoor NALL has added the new Providence-based Rhode Island Kingfish as a fourth team for its second season in 2013. Rhode Island is expected to join the three teams from 2012-the Kentucky Stickhorses (Louisville), Boston Rockhoppers, and Lehigh Flying Dutchmen. Only the Stickhorses had an arena lease in 2012, so the league held a short six-game Pro Invitational Season with all games played in Louisville. The NALL plans to add more teams in the near future.
Dan Krieger is the creator of the "The Leagueology Almanac 2011-12", which tracks the changes in league alignments, franchise movements and team nicknames in today's sports world. The publication is currently available at www.amazon.com.
Federal Prospects Hockey League Stories from July 30, 2012
- 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.
