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 Federal Prospects Hockey League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
November 4, 2013 - Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL)


BASEBALL

Eastern League: The Akron Aeros of the Double-A Eastern League have been renamed the Akron RubberDucks as a tribute to the city's tire industry. The team first took the Akron Aeros name in 1997 as a reference to Ohio's history of aerospace research when the Canton-Akron Indians moved to its current downtown stadium called Canal Park. At that time, the team was originally going to be called the Akron Blast, but fans did not approve and it was changed to the Aeros. A rename-the-team contest was held in 2011, but fans voted to keep the Aeros name instead of other choices like Tire Jacks, Vulcans, Gum Dippers and Rubber Ducks. New ownership took over in 2012 and re-branding was undertaken with Rubber Ducks, Tire Jacks, Vulcans and Canal Rats as the nickname options.

American Association: With some of the independent AA teams announcing 2014 schedules, it looks like the 12-team league will be aligned into three four-team divisions. Last season, the 13-team league was aligned into a four-team North, a four-team South and a five-team Central. With the departure of the El Paso Diablos team that played in the South Division, the Wichita Wingnuts will move from the Central to the South to even out the divisions. The North Division has the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, St. Paul Saints, Sioux Falls Canaries and Winnipeg Goldeyes; the Central Division has the Gary SouthShore RailCats, Kansas City T-Bones, Lincoln Saltdogs and Sioux City Explorers; and the South Division has the Amarillo Sox, Grand Prairie AirHogs, Laredo Lemurs and Wichita Wingnuts. The league is again expected to play an interlocking schedule with teams from the independent Can-Am League.

Florida State League: The Tampa Yankees of the high Class-A FSL are exploring a move to a new stadium being considered for construction in Ocala (FL), about 90 miles north of Tampa. Officials in the area still have to work out a stadium financing plan, but it could be ready for the 2016 season if there are no delays. A similar move to Ocala was discussed by the Yankees back in 2004 and there was an attempt in 2010 and 2011 to move the team to a proposed new ballpark to be built in the Orlando area (Orange County) for the 2013 season.

Appalachian League: The advanced-rookie Appalachian League has released its 2014 season schedule with the Bristol (VA) Pirates replacing the Bristol White Sox, which served as the affiliate of the Chicago White Sox from 1995 to 2013 and became an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates last month.

Pecos League: The head of the eight-team independent Pecos League, which has teams in Texas, New Mexico and Colorado, wants to put two expansion teams in Arizona, possibly in time for the 2014 season. A team called the Bisbee (AZ) Blue has been added to the 2014 team list and the league is looking at Safford (AZ) for a possible team called the Safford Cottonmouths.

Prospect League: The Slippery Rock (PA) Sliders of the summer-collegiate Prospect League are relocating to Springfield (OH) where the team will be called the Champion City Kings in the 2014 season.

BASKETBALL

Eastern Basketball Alliance: The EBA's proposed 2014 Southern Division with teams based in the Atlanta area will include teams called the Atlanta Clowns, Blue Spiders, South Side Lakers, Memphis Chiefs and Atlanta Eagles. The league currently lists the Northern Division teams as the Bad News Ballers (Newport News, VA), Harrisburg Horizon, New York Primetime, New York Wizards, Washington (DC) Madness and Westchester (NY) Dutchmen.

National Basketball League of Canada: The NBL-Canada has started its 2013-14 season with nine teams. Of the eight teams from last season, the Montreal Jazz did not return, but the league added two new teams called the Brampton A's and Ottawa SkyHawks. Last season's team called the Summerside Storm remained on Prince Edward Island, but relocated to become the Charlottetown Storm, while the Oshawa Power relocated to become the Mississauga Power.

American Basketball Association: The ABA announced that the Sacramento Heatwave has moved to Madera (CA), about 150 miles south of Sacramento and 25 miles north of Fresno. The team will be renamed the California Heatwave.

Central Basketball League: The owner of two Orlando-based teams called the Orlando Heroes and South Florida Spartans has confirmed the teams will be part of the CBL for its 2014 season. A team called the Gulf Coast Gladiators (Largo, FL), which originally announced as the Southwest Florida Spartans and under the same ownership of the two new Orlando teams, has disappeared from the CBL team list. Last season's Peoria-based River City Panthers team is no longer on the CBL team list.

FOOTBALL

Arena Football League: With the loss of the Chicago Rush and Utah Blaze and the addition of the new Los Angeles KISS and a yet-to-be-named Portland (OR) team, the 14-team AFL announced its 2014 alignment. The American Conference will have eight teams split into four-team South and East divisions, while the National Conference will have six teams split into three-team Pacific and West divisions.

American Indoor Football: The AIF announced new teams called the Cleveland Patriots and the Chicago Assassins will be part of the 2014 season.

X-League Indoor Football: The Birmingham-based Alabama Outlawz team announced last month it has joined the new X-League, although there has been no official announcement from the league.

HOCKEY

Federal Hockey League: The minor professional FHL has started its 2013-14 season with four teams called the Danbury (CT) Whalers, Danville (IL) Dashers, Dayton Demonz and Watertown (NY) Privateers. The Privateers were called the Thousand Islands Privateers the past three seasons, but switched to the Watertown name for the 2013-14 season. The team spent its first two seasons (2010-12) based in Alexandria Bay (NY), about 30 miles north of Watertown, but kept the Thousand Islands name for its first season in Watertown last year. Two teams called the Cape Cod/New York Bluefins and the Williamsport/Pennsylvania Outlaws ended up being run by the league during the second half of the 2012-13 season and did not return for the 2013-14 season.

SOCCER

United Soccer Leagues - PRO: The USL PRO league stated that the ownership rights of the Phoenix FC Wolves were terminated due to a failure to meet its franchise obligations. The league also stated the Phoenix FC Wolves will be still be part of the 2014 season under new ownership.

United Soccer Leagues - Premier Development League: The San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer (MLS) have created an Under-23 team that will compete in the 2014 season of the PDL. The USL reported that the Chicago Fire, Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Portland Timbers of the MLS field their own teams in the PDL. The Seattle Sounders FC, New England Revolution and Philadelphia Union of the MLS also hold affiliations with the PDL's Seattle Sounders FC U-23, Real Boston Rams and Reading United AC, respectively.

Professional Arena Soccer League: The PASL started its 2013-14 season this week with 20 teams. Of the 19 teams from last season, 7 teams did not return, but the league added 8 new teams. The non-returning teams were the Anaheim Bolts, Arizona Storm (Prescott), Cincinnati Kings, Ohio Vortex, Real Phoenix, Rockford Rampage and Tacoma Stars. The eight new teams are the Bay Area Rosal, Cincinnati Saints, Cleveland Freeze, Monterrey (Mexico) Flash, Ontario (CA) Fury, Saltillo (Mexico) Rancho Seco, Tulsa Revolution and Wichita B-52s. Last season's Rio Grande Valley Flash, based in Hidalgo (TX), was sold and renamed the Hidalgo La Fiera FC for the 2013-14 season. The PASL alignment includes a six-team Eastern Division, a seven-team Central Division and a seven-team Pacific Division.

Major League Soccer: Former MLS player David Beckham has apparently decided on Miami as the location of where he would like to place an MLS expansion team. He was given a discount price on the cost of an expansion team as part of his original playing contract with the league. The MLS would still have to give its approval and funds would need to be raised for a new soccer-specific stadium.

North American Soccer League: The NASL will again have a split season in 2014 with teams playing a ten-game spring season, then taking a one-month break for the World Cup, and continuing with a 20-game summer/fall season. The new Ottawa Fury FC expansion team will start play in 2014, but will play the five-game home portion of its spring season at Carleton University until the new Lansdowne Park stadium is ready in July. The stadium will also be home to the Ottawa RedBlacks expansion team in the Canadian Football League. Both the Fury and RedBlacks are under the same ownership. Another 2014 NASL expansion team called the Virginia Cavalry is talking with George Mason University about using their facility for home games for at least the first part of its inaugural season, since construction of its new home venue in Loudoun County will not be ready for start of the 2014 season.

Dan Krieger is the creator of the "The Leagueology Almanac 2012-13", 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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