Minor League Sports

By Dan Krieger

BASKETBALL

American Basketball Association (San Diego, Orange County): After recently losing the Corning Bulldogs, the ABA announced that another Blue Conference North Division team, the Syracuse Raging Bullz, has suspended operations after only six games. The league later announced that the Syracuse franchise will relocate to Rochester (NY) next season. The Rochester RazorSharks played the past two seasons in the ABA before leaving for the Premier Basketball League. The First State Fusion has put its inaugural season on hold until January. The West Palm Beach Imperials have disappeared from the standings, but are listed as one of the many 2008-09 expansion teams. In the Red Conference, the Southwest Division is now the seven-team West Division with the Los Angeles Push again listed. The Cicero Cometas USA team was now listed again in the Central Division. The team name for the expansion Prescott Valley team is listed as the Rhinos. A team known as the Phoenix Rhinos, later renamed the Arizona Rhinos, was a proposed 2005-06 ABA franchise that eventually left the league.

National Basketball Association Development League (Anaheim, LA): The NBA's D-League plans to eventually become a 30-team league with an NBA affiliate for each of its teams. The 14-team league is reportedly planning another round of expansion that could include some teams in the Northeast. The Cleveland Cavaliers are said to be interested in operating a D-League franchise.

SOCCER

United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League: The Vancouver Whitecaps of the USL First Division announced the formation of a PDL team for the 2008 season. The team will be called the Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency and will be the first professional team in the PDL. The PDL announced some details for its upcoming 2008 season, which will feature 67 teams in 10 divisions aligned into Central, Eastern, Southern and Western conferences. The PDL has added a New England Division to the Eastern Conference and a Midwest Division to the Central Conference. Some of the new teams include the Austin Stampede, Houston Leones, Kalamazoo Outrage, New Jersey Rangers, Panama City Pirates and Vancouver. The New Hampshire Phantoms and Cincinnati Kings have moved down a level to the PDL from the USL Second Division. The Abbotsford (BC) Rangers club has been renamed the Mariners.

United Soccer Leagues W-League (San Diego): The USL women's league plans to have 41 teams playing in 2008. The Atlantic Division will switch from the Central to the Eastern Conference and the Northern Division will switch from the Eastern to the Central Conference. The W-League plans to realign some teams and divisions for the addition of several new clubs like the Carolina RailHawks Women, Connecticut, FC Indiana, Kalamazoo Outrage, Los Angeles, Pali Blues, Tampa, Ventura (CA) and West Virginia. The Carolina Dynamo will also return after sitting out the 2007 season.

LACROSSE

Major Lacrosse League: The San Francisco Dragons of the MLL are moving to Spartan Stadium in San Jose for its 2008 outdoor lacrosse season, but will continue to keep San Francisco in the team name. The Dragons entered the league in 2006 as part of the league's western expansion and played at Kezar Stadium for two seasons.