Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
Published on January 7, 2013 under Northwoods League (Northwoods)

BASEBALL

Frontier League: The Rockford RiverHawks of the independent Frontier League have announced a name-the-team contest to rename the team for the 2013 season. The RiverHawks started play for the 2002 season when the Springfield (IL) Capitals moved to Rockford. The team left to play in the defunct Northern League for the 2010 season, but returned to the Frontier League in 2011 when different ownership moved the league's dormant Chillicothe Paints franchise to Rockford.

Pecos League: The independent Pecos League has confirmed the Las Cruces (NM) Vaqueros team will not return for the 2013 season. The league shut down the team because it did not get the support it expected during its two seasons (2011-12) in the league and that a Triple-A Pacific Coast League will be moving to nearby El Paso in the future. The Vaqueros started play in 2010 as part of the final season of the defunct Continental Baseball League before moving to the Pecos League. The league plans to add a partial travel team called the Carlsbad (NM) Bats as a replacement for the Vaqueros.

Pecos Spring League: The Houston-based developmental Pecos Spring League now lists four teams called the Houston Apollos, Mesa Arizona Garden of Gears, Galveston Sea Lions and Coastal Kingfish that will be part of its second season, which will run through the month of March 2013. The league played a similar season in 2012.

Northwoods League: The summer-collegiate Northwoods League has made a bid to place a team in Kalamazoo (MI) that could start play in the 2014 season.

New England Collegiate Baseball League: The summer-collegiate NECBL will add three 2013 expansion teams called the Plymouth (MA) Pilgrims, Saratoga (NY) Brigade and the Ocean State Waves based in South Kingstown (RI).

Midwest Collegiate League: The summer-collegiate MCL has announced a team called the Lexington (IL) Snipes will be part of the league in 2013. Lexington is in the Bloomington-Normal area.

BASKETBALL

American Basketball Association: The ABA announced the Maryland-based Tri-City Suns team, which was part of the league's 2009-10 season, will return for the 2013-14 season as part of the Northeast Division. The Tri-City Suns also played some games as part of the Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League when the Washington (DC) GreenHawks dropped from the league during the second half of the 2010-11 season. The ABA also announced a new team called the Texarkana (AR) Bulldogs will be added to the Southwest Division for the 2013-14 season.

Universal Basketball League: The UBL has a posting for tryouts and lists 14 teams that will be part of the 2013 season. The South teams include the Austin Rhythms, Denton Destroyers, Houston Spirit, Southwest Texas Mustangs, Mississippi Tornadoes and Metroplex Lightning, while the North has the Arkansas Warriors, Arkansas Bobcats, Oklahoma On Point Hoops, Springfield Thrills, St. Louis Scorpion, Tulsa Tornadoes and Southeast Missouri Terror.

Central Basketball League: The proposed Midwest-based CBL now lists its Cincinnati team as the Cincinnati Crusaders. The league plans to start in 2013 and currently has three other teams-Las Estrellas de Chicago (Chicago Stars), Middle Tennessee Storm and a yet-to-be-named St. Louis team.

FOOTBALL

Western Indoor Football Association: The WIFA, which played its inaugural season in 2011 with four teams and sat out the 2012 season, plans to return for a 2013 season in March with four to six teams based on the West Coast of the United States. A team called the Sacramento Spartans has announced it will be part of the WIFA and the league lists at least one other team called the Woodland Wild Cats.

National Football League: No NFL teams have bid to move to Los Angeles where construction on a proposed new downtown stadium will not start until a team is secured. The group trying to build the stadium is currently up for sale and could delay interest from potential relocation candidates. Los Angeles has been without an NFL team since the Raiders returned to Oakland and the Rams moved to St. Louis for the 1995 season.

Lingerie Football League: The women's LFL plans to make a major announcement next week that could include a total re-branding of the league with a possible name change.

Midwest Indoor Football League: The MIFL is a proposed semi-pro league that plans to start play in 2014. Possible teams include the Miami Valley Thunder (Dayton, OH), Fort Wayne Blaze, Columbus (OH) Hammers, Johnstown (PA) Outlaws and the Zanesville (OH) Blue Devils, which apparently will move to Morgantown (WV). The Miami Valley team plans to play some exhibition games in 2013.

HOCKEY

Major League Roller Hockey: The MLRH 2012-13 pro season is underway, but it looks like the Midwest Division and the East Division have been dropped for this season. Teams in the Pacific Division and the new Florida-based Sunshine Division have each held a couple of weekend events, but a proposed new Texas-based Lonestar Division has yet to play any games.

SOCCER

North American Soccer League: The proposed new Division-II NASL franchise based in Loudoun County (Ashburn, VA) that will join the league in 2014 has announced the three finalists from the name-the-team contest. Possible team names will be the Cavalry, Dominion and Stallions.

Liga MX: Mexico's top professional league known as Liga MX, along with its promotion/relegation league known as Ascenso MX, have started the second part (Clausura) of their 2012-13 seasons with the same teams as the first part (Apertura). The Liga MX has 18 teams aligned in one table, while the Ascenso MX has 15 teams aligned in one table. The Liga MX Clausura season runs from early January to early May and the Ascenso MX Clausura season runs from early January to mid-April. After the Apertura/Clausura season, at least one team is usually promoted from the Ascenso MX and one team is relegated from the Liga MX.

OTHER

National Lacrosse League: The indoor NLL has started its 2013 season with the same nine teams as last season. The Eastern Division features the Buffalo Bandits, Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Knighthawks and Toronto Rock. The Western Division includes the Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Edmonton Rush, Minnesota Swarm and Washington Stealth (Everett). The league commissioner wants to expand into other major Canadian cities, especially those cities currently hosting Canadian Football League teams. Prior to the 2013 season, the NLL held pre-season exhibition games in Montreal and the Vancouver area, two markets that were previously home to NLL franchises.

North American Lacrosse League: The indoor NALL started its second season this weekend with four teams that include the returning Boston Rockhoppers and Louisville-based Kentucky Stickhorses, along with the new Baltimore Bombers and Providence-based Rhode Island Kingfish. The league played a short six-game season in 2012 with the Stickhorses hosting all games after several teams left the NALL just before the season to form the Professional Lacrosse League, which operated a late-summer/early fall season in 2012.

NexGen League: The proposed new ultimate disc league known as the NexGen League has extended its deadline for club-type teams to commit to the new league. The league originally announced an 18-team alignment, but only about 9 of those clubs have committed to the inaugural 2013 season.

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.

Northwoods League Stories from January 7, 2013

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• 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.