Obscure Sports News for 12/3/21


Here news headlines from sports you may have not heard about:

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER'S FINAL FOUR PLAY THIS WEEKEND

In case you missed it, the MLS Cup has been narrowed to the final four teams - Portland Timbers, Real Salt Lake, New York City FC and Philadelphia Union will play their conference finals this weekend.  New York City FC will be at Philadelphia while Portland will host Real Salt Lake.  New York City FC defeated Atlanta and New England in the playoffs, Philadelphia the New York Red Bulls and Nashville to get to the Eastern Conference final.  In the west, Portland beat Minnesota and Colorado while Real Salt Lake - the lowest remaining seed at #7 - won on the road at Seattle and Kansas City.

AUDL EXPANDS TO PORTLAND, DENVER AND SALT LAKE CITY

The American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL) will grow to 25 teams in four divisions in 2022 with the addition of the Colorado Summit (Denver), Salt Lake Shred and Portland to the league.  These three will join the West Division of the AUDL along with Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose and Seattle.

NATIONAL LACROSSE LEAGUE OPENS SEASON

After a rough couple of seasons due to COVID-19, the National Lacrosse League (NLL) will be fully back in action as all 14 teams will play in 2021-2022.  The start of its 35th season also launches a series of exciting developments this year, most notably historic television coverage on ESPN and TSN linear and digital platforms, an expanded playoff format, and the inaugural season of Panther City Lacrosse Club.  The NLL’s 14 teams competing this year are aligned into two Conferences, with the top four teams in the East and top three in the West advancing to the playoffs. The eighth playoff slot will go to the team with the better record between the fifth place East and fourth place West teams, per NLL tiebreaker rules. The first round will be single elimination, while the second round and NLL Championship Finals will each be best-of-three series.

BOSTON TOPS WOMEN'S PRO HOCKEY LEAGUE

The Boston Pride is currently the top team in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) - formerly the National Women's Hockey League - with a record of 4-2-0 with 10 points in the six-team league.  Rebecca Russo (Metropolitan Riveters) leads the league with nine points (4 goals/5 assists)

WNBA EXPANDING TO NASHVILLE?

Local news reports have hinted that Nashville's Bridgestone Area could be the location of a new expansion team in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).  The Metro Sports Authority has been looking into the possibility of a WNBA team moving to Nashville, even before the league announced that it may be looking to expand in the near future.

ARENA LEAGUE TO GROW TO SIX TEAMS IN 2022

The Arena Football Association (AFA) which began in 2021 with five teams has expanded to six teams for the 2022 season with franchises located throughout the state. They include the Amarillo Venom, the West Texas (Odessa) Warbirds, the Texas (Houston) Jets, the Rio Grande Valley Dorados, the Texas (North Richland Hills) Crude and the North Texas (Ft. Worth) Bulls.

NEW HOCKEY LEAGUE TAKES THE ICE IN 2022

3ICE, a new six-team three-on-three pro hockey league, will begin its inaugural season on Sat., June 18, 2022, at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The 52-game season will culminate in a playoffs and championship game in Las Vegas on Aug. 20th.  All six teams will travel to each location and compete in a tournament where each game will consist of two, eight-minute periods using a running clock on a full-sized rink.  Each team has seven players (including one goalie) and competes in a nine-week season that will feature six game each night.  The bracket-style, single-elimination format will include three first round games, two semifinal matchups followed by the title game.  Host cities will include Denver, Grand Rapids, Hershey, Las Vegas, Nashville, Pittsburgh, London (Ontario) and Quebec City. 

INDOOR SOCCER LEAGUE KICKS OFF AFTER CHRISTMAS

The new National Indoor Soccer League (NISL) will debut this month with four men's and women's team in Memphis, Georgia, Columbus (Georgia) and Fayetteville (North Carolina).  Teams will play a 24-game schedule.  Each game will feature men's and women's doubleheader.  

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