Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
November 17, 2014 - Canadian American League (Can-Am)
BASEBALL
Frontier League: The city of Parkersburg (WV) is still searching for a suitable site to build a ballpark for a future Frontier League team. The owner of the league's Washington (PA) Wild Things is interested in becoming the owner of a Parkersburg team. The city was home to the Ohio Valley Redcoats in the Frontier League from 1993 through the 1998 season.
Mount Rainier Professional Baseball League: The proposed new six-team MRPBL now lists its Vancouver (WA) Mud Turtles team as the "TBD Mud Turtles" indicating there could be a change in the team's location.
Can-Am League: Some of the independent Can-Am League teams have announced their 2015 schedules that will have the four teams (New Jersey Jackals, Quebec Les Capitales, Rockland Boulders and Trois-Rivieres Aigles) returning from last season, plus three new teams-the Ottawa Champions, a yet-to-be-named team in Sussex (NJ) and a road team that will play a shorter schedule. One report stated the road team would be based out of Maine and called the Can-Am Grays. The Can-Am League will play its fourth consecutive season of an interlocking schedule with teams from the American Association. Can-Am League teams will play a total of 100 inter-league games against the 13-team American Association.
Futures Collegiate Baseball League: The summer-collegiate FCBL will add a team called the Bristol (CT) Blues for the 2015 season.
Kansas State League: The organizer of the proposed new KSL independent professional baseball league has decided to cancel the league's start in 2015 and will try again for 2016.
BASKETBALL
Central Development Basketball League: The CDBL announced a team called the Carolina Crowns, based in Gastonia (NC), will be part of the 2015 spring-summer season. The team originally planned to play in Charlotte. The CDBL started as the Central Basketball League for the 2013 spring-summer season with five Midwest-based teams. Four of the five 2013 teams left to create the new Central Basketball Association for 2014. After various additions and subtractions of proposed teams, the CBL became the CDBL and operated a shortened spring season in 2014 with five Florida-based teams.
National Basketball Association Development League (D-League): The NBA D-League started its 2014-15 season this weekend with 18 teams. The league grew by one team with the addition of the new Westchester (NY) Knicks. The Springfield (MA) Armor relocated to become the Grand Rapids (MI) Drive and the Tulsa 66ers moved to become the Oklahoma City Blue. An Eastern Conference has a four-team Central Division and a five-team Atlantic Division, while the Western Conference has a four-team Southwest Division and a five-team West Division. Seven of the D-League teams are owned and operated by NBA teams while nine D-League teams operate under one-to-one affiliations with NBA teams. Only the league's Fort Wayne Fire Ants team does not have a one-to-one affiliation with an NBA team.
Independent Basketball Association: The CyFair Cobras (Kingwood, TX) and the Lafayette-based Louisiana Soul are no longer part of the IBA's Branding Division of teams. The CyFair Cobras had been announced as a replacement team when the Houston Xperience left the IBA. The Louisiana Soul is now part of the American Basketball Association. The Soul was originally called the Louisiana Legends, but changed its name when joining the IBA because the league had a team called the Schenectady Legends.
FOOTBALL
Legends Football League: The women's indoor LFL cancelled the 2014-15 season of the LFL-Australia about two weeks prior to the start of the season last month. The LFL-Australia lost a national television deal in June 2014 and claimed it did not want to operate without a major broadcast partner in place. The league stated the LFL-Australia will return in 2015. The LFL-Australia operated with four teams called the New South Wales Surge (Sydney), Queensland Brigade (Brisbane), Victoria Maidens (Melbourne) and Western Australia Angels (Perth) for its inaugural 2013-14 season and planned to have five teams this season with the addition of the Adelaide Arsenal. A proposed Australian women's league called the Ladies Gridiron League (LGL), which was announced in 2012 as a proposed minor feeder league to the LFL-Australia, parted ways with the LFL-Australia after a business disagreement in 2013 and planned to start play in April 2015. The LGL has now accepted the LFL-Australia players and staffs for an inaugural season it hopes to start in early 2015. Five of the LGL teams will be in former LFL-Australia locations with names changed to the Adelaide Phoenix, Sydney Surge, Brisbane Brigade, Melbourne Maidens and West Coast Angels. The LFL-USA recently completed its fifth season; LFL-Canada played one season in 2013 and is now dormant; and a proposed LFL-Europa hopes to start play in 2015.
Stars Football League: The SFL, which has been billed as a professional springtime football league for its past three seasons (2011-13), cancelled its 2014 season and appears to be planning a return in 2015. The league was to have held an annual meeting last month and was targeting markets for a Western Division (Long Beach, Los Angeles, San Diego, Tijuana), a Southwest Division (Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Tulsa and Oklahoma City), a South Division (Clearwater, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Palm Beach), and a North Division (Akron, Canton, Detroit and Grand Rapids). The SFL has been trying to develop a nationwide group of teams, but has played short schedules with only three to four teams mostly based in Florida during its existence.
HOCKEY
Ontario Hockey League: The owner of the Erie (PA) Otters of the major-junior OHL is being sued for $4.5 million as he tries to sell the team. A subsidiary of the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers tried to buy the Erie Otters in 2011with plans to move the team to Hamilton (Ontario). As part of that deal, the Oilers' subsidiary loaned the Otters' owner $4.2 million in advance of a proposed sale, but the sale was never completed and the money was not paid back. The Otters' owner is still trying to sell the team to one of two possible buyers. It is unclear if new ownership will move the team out of Erie.
Canadian International Hockey League: The Ontario-based junior-level CIHL has left the United Hockey Union (UHU), which falls under the Amateur Athletic Union, and will operate as an independent league. The UHU would not allow the CIHL to expand into the United States. Shortly after leaving the UHU, the CIHL announced the addition of the Kalkaska (MI) Rhinos team. The league's four-team South Division stopped playing this week due to financial issues surrounding two of the four teams.
SOCCER
Major League Soccer: The MLS announced it will hold a dispersal draft next week for players from the Los Angeles-based Chivas USA franchise. The league's 20 teams for the 2015 season will participate. A new Los Angeles-based MLS expansion team to replace Chivas USA is expected to start play in the 2017 season.
National Premier Soccer League: The men's NPSL announced the new Italian-influenced FC Tacoma 253 (Federazione Calcio Tacoma) has joined as a 2015 expansion team. The new Tacoma (WA) team will join the league's Northwest Conference, which was added last season and operated with four teams in Washington and Oregon.
Women's Premier Soccer League: The WPSL announced seven new teams that will be joining for the 2015 season. These include Club Tijuana from Baja California (Mexico), Federal City (Washington, DC), Virginia Beach FC, Chesterfield United (Richmond, VA), RVA Fredericksburg (VA), Fresno Freeze and Northwest Florida. The league stated that additional new teams could be added prior to the 2015 season.
Western Indoor Soccer League: The elite amateur-level WISL started its inaugural 2014-15 season this weekend with five teams based in Washington State. Teams include the Arlington Aviators, Bellingham United, Oly Town Artesians (Olympia), Tacoma Stars and Wenatchee Fire. The Olympia team is new, but Arlington, Bellingham (as the WSA Rapids), Tacoma (as the South Sound Shock), and Wenatchee were part of the 2013-14 Premier Arena Soccer League.
OTHER
Professional Bowlers Association League: The PBA League recently held a player draft for its third season that will start in 2015 with eight teams called the GEICO New York City WTT KingPins, Barbasol Motown Muscle, Pittsburgh Jack Rabbits, Silver Lake Atom Splitters, Philadelphia Hitmen, L.A. X, BROOKLYN STyLES and Dallas Strikers.
Dan Krieger is the creator of the Leagues, Teams & Nicknames 2013-14: "The Leagueology Almanac" , 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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Canadian American League Stories from November 17, 2014
- Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report - OSC Original by Dan Krieger
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