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Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
November 5, 2012 - North American Soccer League (NASL)


BASEBALL

International League: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (PA) Yankees of the Triple-A International League plan to announce the team's new nickname on November 14, 2012. The team was referred to as the Empire State Yankees during the 2012 season because it played its home schedule in six different cities, four of which were in New York, while its home stadium underwent renovations. The nicknames up for fan voting were the Blast, Black Diamond Bears, Fireflies, RailRiders, Porcupines, and Trolley Frogs.

Eastern League: The Reading (PA) Phillies of the Double-A Eastern League plan to undergo a re-branding process with a new identity before the 2013 season. An ownership group (Ryan-Sanders Entertainment) with current teams in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League and Double-A Texas League is rumored to be involved with the effort to relocate a current Eastern League team to Ottawa (Ontario) by 2014. There has been speculation the league's Binghamton (NY) Mets will be the relocated team with Binghamton then obtaining a team in the short-season Class-A New York/Penn League.

Can-Am League: With the uncertain return of a Can-Am team to Worcester for the 2013 season, a local businessman is trying to bring a summer-collegiate team in the Futures League to the city for 2013. The league had been trying to establish a new Worcester franchise after it revoked the membership of the Worcester Tornadoes franchise near the end of the 2012 season for failing to pay its bills. The Atlantic Baseball League is also said to be considering the Worcester market for a team in its new feeder league that is trying to get off the ground. It looks as though the league will again operate with five teams in 2013 with the new Trois-Rivieres Aigles (Eagles) replacing Worcester.

American Association: Some of the teams in the independent AA have announced their 2013 schedules and it appears the league will again play an interlocking schedule with teams from the Can-Am League. The AA had an uneven number of 11 teams in 2012, so it played games against the five Can-Am League teams. The AA is expected to have all 11 teams return for 2013.

Atlantic Baseball League: The independent ABL has announced its 2013 schedule and the league will have the same eight teams as last season with four-team Freedom and Liberty divisions.

Pecos League: The Pecos League is trying to move its Trinidad (CO) Triggers team to Raton (NM), about 25 miles south, for the 2013 season where the team would be known as the Trinidad-Raton Triggers. The Triggers were an expansion team in the 2012 season. The league apparently was having some lease issues concerning the ballpark in Trinidad.

BASKETBALL

National Basketball League of Canada: The NBL-Canada has started its second season for 2012-13 with eight teams aligned into a four-team Central Division and a four-team Atlantic Division. The league operated with seven teams last season and added the Windsor (Ontario) Express in the off-season. The league recently announced a new 2012-13 team for the province of Quebec will be called the Montreal Jazz to replace last seasons Quebec Kebs team that was based in Quebec City. The Kebs failed in an attempt to move to Laval (Quebec) as the Laval Kebs for 2012-13 and the franchise was taken over by the league. The Jazz will take over Laval's spot in the Central Division. Montreal had recent minor league basketball teams called the Montreal Matrix and Montreal Royal over three seasons (2005-08) in the American Basketball Association and a team called the Montreal Sasquatch in the 2009 Premier Basketball League.

American Basketball Association: Although the official start of the 2012-13 ABA season is next weekend, some of the teams have already started play. The league currently lists over 90 teams aligned into 12 regional conferences, along with 8 travel teams. The ABA also has 12 expansion teams listed for the 2013-14 season.

FOOTBALL

Continental Indoor Football League: The CIFL has announced an expansion team called the Detroit Thunder will be part of the league for the 2013 season. The league lost two of its six teams from last season, but has added three teams from other 2012 leagues and four new teams for 2013.

Champions Professional Indoor Football League: The new Salina (KS) team in the CPIFL will be called the Salina Bombers when its starts play in the league's inaugural 2013 season. The Bombers name won out over the Shock and the Storm.

Ultimate Indoor Football League: The UIFL announced that its 2013 expansion team in Corpus Christi (TX) will be called the Corpus Christi Fury.

HOCKEY

Major League Roller Hockey: The MLRH plans to start its 2012-13 season on November 17, 2012. The league has added a new Florida Division with teams called the Palm Beach Roller Hawks, Miami Mafia, and Fort Myers Alkali Gamblers, along with a new Texas Division with the Lone Star Wranglers (Denton) and Houston Venom. The MLRH will also have a division of teams based in California and a division of teams from the Midwest.

SOCCER

North American Soccer League: A new Division II NASL team based in Loudoun County (VA) is expected to be announced next week with a planned start in the 2014 season. A new ballpark is being built for the proposed Loudoun Hounds team in the Atlantic Baseball League and the owner of the Hounds will also operate the NASL team at that ballpark. A proposed new Ottawa NASL team is also supposed to start play in 2014. The NASL announced that new ownership has been found for its Minnesota Stars FC team and it will be part of the 2013 season. The Stars had been operated by the league for the past two seasons and were not expected to return in 2013, if new ownership was not found.

National Premier Soccer League: The men's NPSL announced several new teams that have been approved for the 2013 season. These include the FC Sparta Michigan, Las Vegas Stallions, Zanesville

Athletic FC, Cape Coral Hurricanes, Tampa Marauders FC, Miami FC, Chesterfield United FC (Virginia), Rock City Soccer Club (Little Rock), New Orleans Jesters, Virginia FC, and the RVA Football Club.

United Soccer Leagues - Major Indoor Soccer League: The MISL has started its 2012-13 season with seven teams aligned into one table. The Norfolk SharkX team did not return for 2012-13, but the league added the new Chicago Soul team. The other six teams are the Baltimore Blast, Milwaukee Wave, Missouri Comets (Independence), Rochester Lancers, Syracuse Silver Knights and Wichita Wings.

Professional Arena Soccer League: The PASL has started its 2012-13 season with 19 teams aligned into a four-team Southwestern Division and five-team Central, Eastern, and Pacific divisions. The league lost the Louisville Lightning and the Topeka-based Kansas Magic from last season, but added nine teams called the Harrisburg (PA) Heat, Chicago Mustangs, Dallas Sidekicks (Allen, TX), Rio Grande Valley Flash (Hidalgo, TX), Rockford (IL) Rampage, Texas Strikers (Beaumont), Sacramento Surge, Las Vegas Legends, and Real Phoenix. The league's Revolucion Tijuana team was renamed Toros Mexico and the Phoenix-based Arizona Storm moved to Prescott Valley (AZ) for 2012-13.

OTHER

North American Lacrosse League: The indoor NALL recently held its player draft for the four teams that will be participating in the league's second season starting in January 2013. Teams will include the returning Kentucky Stickhorses (Louisville) and three expansion teams called the Baltimore Bombers, Boston Rockhoppers, and Rhode Island Rockfish (Providence).

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.

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North American Soccer League Stories from November 5, 2012


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.


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