Weekly Sports League and Franchise Update

by Dan Krieger
June 16, 2008 - Golden Baseball League (GBL)


BASEBALL

Golden Baseball League: The GBL will most likely lose its Reno Silver Sox team next season when the Tucson Sidewinders of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League move to Reno (NV). The city of Tucson is open to an independent team moving to town and the former owner of the Sidewinders is reportedly talking with both the GBL and the American Association about a possible franchise for 2009. The team could be called the Tucson Toros. As previously announced, the GBL's Yuma Scorpions recently played some games in El Centro (CA) as the El Centro Imperials.

Northern League: The Northern League is trying to move back into the Minneapolis-St. Paul area by building a proposed new ballpark in the southern suburb of Burnsville (MN) for a team that could be called the Metro Millers. The area's Northern League team, the St. Paul Saints, left for the American Association in 2005. The team could start play in 2009, but the ballpark would most likely not be ready until 2010.

Carolina League: The Winston-Salem Warthogs of the High Class-A Carolina League are moving to a new ballpark next season and the team will change its nickname to coincide with the move. The team has been called the Warthogs since the 1995 season and is currently an affiliate of the Chicago White Sox.

BASKETBALL

American Basketball Association: The current ABA list of 2008-09 teams has 39 franchises listed. No longer included are previous teams or cities like Hammond (IN), Henderson (NV) All Starz, Marion (IN), Mississippi Miracles and Pacific Rim Rockers. The league's new Modesto team will be called the Modesto Sabers. The ABA recently announced a second Detroit-based franchise for the upcoming 2008-09 season. A new team called the Detroit Zafir was announced last month. The North Las Vegas Aces team has apparently changed its name to the Las Vegas Lights.

National Basketball Association Development League: The NBA D-League announced its NBA affiliations for its 16 teams that will be participating in the 2008-09 season: Albuquerque Thunderbirds (Dallas, Miami), Anaheim Arsenal (Los Angeles Clippers, Atlanta), Austin Toros (San Antonio), Bakersfield Jam (Golden State, Orlando), Colorado 14ers (Denver, New Jersey), Dakota Wizards (Memphis, Washington), Erie BayHawks (Philadelphia, Cleveland), Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Detroit, Indiana), Idaho Stampede (Portland, Toronto), Iowa Energy (Chicago, Phoenix), Los Angeles D-Fenders (Los Angeles Lakers), Reno (Sacramento, New York), Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Houston, New Orleans), Sioux Falls Skyforce (Charlotte, Minnesota), Tulsa 66ers (Milwaukee, Seattle), Utah Flash (Boston, Utah). This is the first season in which the NBA D-League teams have no more than two NBA affiliates per team.

The owner of the Halifax Rainmen team, formerly of the American Basketball Association, is still working with the NBA D-League to meet its franchise requirements and hopes to join the league next season.

Liga de Baloncesto del Sureste: The Peppers de Progreso team in Mexico's Southeast Basketball League has left the league just prior to the start of the playoffs due to a dispute over officiating in a couple of its games at the end of the regular season.

FOOTBALL

Premier Indoor Football League: The operators of the Premier Basketball League plan to use its business model to establish the PIFL, which will have 10 to 14 teams in its first season.

Continental Indoor Football League: After completing its 2008 regular season, the Rochester (NY) Raiders have left the CIFL for the American Indoor Football Association. The team apparently was not paid a security deposit when the Flint Phantoms failed to show for the season finale in Rochester. The Raiders plan to play a game next week against the Erie River Rats of the AIFA. The CIFL just completed its third season and was known as the Great Lakes Indoor Football League in 2006. The league is comprised of six-man teams, while the AIFA uses seven-man teams.

American Indoor Football Association: The AIFA will add the Rochester Raiders and a team from Harrisburg (PA) next season. The league also hopes to add some other markets to its West division and the former Lakeland (FL) market could rejoin next season. The AIFA's Lakeland Thunderbolts franchise sat dormant in the 2008 due to internal issues. The Thunderbolts had joined the AIFA in 2007 after playing the 2005 and 2006 season in the National Indoor Football League.

The Indoor Football Association: After pushing back its start to June 2008, the TIFA has not started its inaugural season as planned. The league had several proposed teams that never materialized and was down to only four teams-Indiana (PA) Wolverines, Indiana Nightmare (Elkhart), Indianapolis Venom, and Lynwood (IL) Knights-that hoped to play this season.

HOCKEY

National Hockey League: The investor who attempted to purchase the NHL's Nashville Predators and move the team to Ontario (Hamilton or Kitchener-Waterloo) is looking to move a team to Quebec City where he would build a hockey arena and operate the franchise. The Quebec Nordiques left the city for Denver in 1995 and became the Colorado Avalanche.

American Hockey League: The Portland Pirates have become the AHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres. Portland had been the affiliate of the NHL's Anaheim Ducks, who recently moved its affiliate to Des Moines (IA). The Buffalo Sabres were affiliated with the Rochester Americans for the past 29 years and Rochester is expected to become an affiliate of the NHL's Florida Panthers. The NHL's Dallas Stars have broken ground on a new arena in the Austin suburb of Cedar Park that is expected to be ready for the 2009-10 season and become home to its AHL affiliate called the Texas Stars.

Central Hockey League: After previously announcing the suspension of operations for the 2008-09 CHL season, the Corpus Christi Rayz franchise has been sold and will now return for the 2008-09 season.

Mid Atlantic Hockey League: The MAHL has announced the addition of the Detroit Dragons franchise, which will be based in the town of Fraser (MI). The Dragons become the fourth MAHL team for the 2008-09 season that is located in the state of Michigan.

Continental Elite Hockey League: The CEHL is another developmental professional hockey league that plans to start in the 2009-10 season and reportedly has five franchises committed to play.

Professional Development Hockey League: The Wheaton (MD) Warthogs were champions of the league's inaugural 2007-08 season. The PDHL has four teams listed for next season-Annapolis Wort Hogs, Baltimore Clippers, Piney Pirates and Washington Lions.

United States Hockey League: An investment group that owns the rights to a USHL franchise is still working toward construction of a new arena near Wausau (WI) that would become home to an expansion team, possibly for the 2009-10 season.

Major League Roller Hockey: The MLRH is still working toward creation of a full professional league next summer. Two former MLRH team names, the Washington (DC) Power and the Boston Storm, will return to the MLRH this summer as part of the league's Euro Cup competition. Washington and either a Boston or a New York team will also compete in the MLRH Pro Tour, November 2008 through April 2009, and then return for a full league schedule in the summer of 2009. A team called the Washington Power was part of the first years of the MLRH Pro League (1997-98). The Boston Storm, formerly the Virginia Storm, played in the MLRH-AAA (2003-04) and the MLRH Super League (2005-06).

SOCCER

Premier Arena Soccer League: The 2008 indoor season of the men's PASL Premier Division has started and features 11 teams in 2 divisions. The Pacific division has the Chico Bigfoot, Off-the-Wall (Santa Clara), Real California, Sacramento Scorpions, Stockton Pumas, and Turlock Express. The Rocky Mountains division has the Colorado Predators, Fort Collins Diablos, Fort Collins Fury, Northern Colorado Cutthroats and Southern Colorado Stars. The PASL plans to operate a Professional Division starting in October 2008.

Women's Professional Soccer: The WPS has seven locations set for its inaugural season in 2009-Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New Jersey/New York, St. Louis and Washington (DC). A Philadelphia-based team plans to start in 2010 and the league reports that Atlanta, San Francisco-San Jose, San Diego and Cary-Raleigh (NC) are under consideration for teams in the near future.

Superliga: The second year of the Superliga competition between teams of Major League Soccer and Mexico's First Division soccer league will be played in July and August 2008. Group A will feature the D.C. United and Houston Dynamos of the MLS and Atlante Potros and Guadalajara Chivas of the Mexican league. Group B will feature Chivas USA and the New England Revolution of the MLS and Pachuca Tuzos and Santos Laguna Guerreros of the Mexican league.

OTHER

International Fight League: The IFL has cancelled an upcoming show scheduled in August 2008 and is looking to restructure or find a new partner. The IFL has held three of five scheduled events in 2008. Starting in 2008, the IFL switched from its city-based teams to mixed-martial arts "camps", eight of which are currently listed-Team Tomkins (formerly Los Angeles Anacondas), Renzo Gracie Academy (formerly New York Pitbulls), Miletich Fighting Systems (formerly Quad City Silverbacks), Team Quest (formerly Portland Wolfpack), Lions Den (formerly Nevada Lions), Midwest Combat (formerly Chicago Red Bears), American Top Team and World Class Fight Center.

Dan Krieger is the creator of "Leagues, Teams & Nicknames", which tracks the changes in league alignments, franchise movements and team nicknames in today's sports world. The latest version can be found at http://www.lulu.com/content/2533047. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.



Golden Baseball League Stories from June 16, 2008


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