Obscure Sports News

Let's take a look at some things I found this week on some obscure sports leagues:


The Professional Volleyball Federation (PVF) is a newly formed women's professional volleyball league which plans to launch in 2024 with six teams.  Some of the cities have released their team nicknames.  There are some unique - and confusing - names.  The Atlanta franchise was the latest as they announced their name to be the Vibe.  Grand Rapids will be the Rise.  Columbus has chosen the Fury and Omaha will be the Supernovas.  I'm not a fan of the singular nicknames for teams but the PVF are serving them up for their new league.

Region championships are on the line this week in the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL).  The Los Angeles Aviators will take on the Salt Lake Shred in the West final.  The defending champion New York Empire will put their undefeated record on the line against the DC Breeze for the East title.  The Minnesota Wind Chill and Indianapolis Alley Cats will play for the Central crown.  In the South, the Atlanta Hustle will face the Austin Sol.  Winners will advance to the championship weekend in Minnesota.

Just had a story pop up in my Facebook feed that the Winnipeg Sea Bears of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) had a record crowd of 10,580 in their 87-81 loss to the Edmonton Stingers in the Western Conference play-in game.  Winnipeg has been a success in their first season setting seven highest attendance marks.  The previous playoff attendance record was 2,585 fans.


Major League Quadball (MLQ) is wrapping up their regular season play.  Division leaders are:  New York Titans (East), Toronto Raiders (North Division I-90 Conference), Chicago Prowl (North Division I-94 Conference), and Austin Outlaws (South Division).  


The Orange County Stunners defeated the San Diego Wild in the National Volleyball Association (NVA) Cup Finals, as the Stunners won 25-22, 25-19, 25-19.  Corey Chavers, who was named Tournament MVP and man of the match, led the Stunners while Matt Hilling added 10 kills and three service aces. The Wild, competing in their inaugural season in 2023, were led by Brandon Rattray who had 14 kills while Matt Knigge added six winners.  


I just found the American Track League (ATL) which is a league to give track and field athletes a place where they can compete.  The final stop on the tour was an event this weekend in Memphis, Tennessee.  You can check out their website here:  https://www.americantrackleague.com/


The Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) was in Baltimore this weekend as the Archers continued to hold onto their lead in the standings with a narrow 14-13 win over the Atlas.  The Cannons are a game behind them after their 12-8 over the Waterdogs.  The next stop is Denver.


The Music City Grand Prix was held this weekend in downtown Nashville.  Kyle Kirkwood claimed a second IndyCar win of the season in a late five-lap sprint to the flag.  A red flag for a three-car incident in the closing stages negated fuel worries for the field, with championship leader Alex Palou set to make an emergency splash 'n' dash to make it to the flag, before the red was deployed.  On the restart, Andretti's Kirkwood gapped Scott McLaughlin in the Penske #3 machine as Palou held off the attention of Josef Newgarden to extend his points lead heading into the next event on the Indianapolis road course.


The Jacksonville Sharks and Carolina Cobras won their playoff games in the National Arena League (NAL) over the weekend and will now play for the title in Jacksonville.  The Sharks demolished the Orlando Predators 62-18, and the Cobras defeated the San Antonio Gunslingers 52-36.


I keep seeing that a league called the American Women's Football League (AWFL) keeps adding teams to their league.  So far, they have added the Louisiana Bayou Storm Surge, Dallas Prime, and Delaware Diamonds.  They have hinted to an official press release this week.  


The Big3 basketball league made a stop in Charlotte, North Carolina over the weekend.  There is a three-way tie at the top of the standings with the Killer 3's, Triplets and Trilogy at 5-2.  The next stop is this weekend in Detroit.  Michael Beasley of 3's Company is the league's leading scorer with 151 points.  There is a report that the league may be looking for investors to move the league to a city-based league. 



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