I'm having trouble sleeping tonight, so naturally I decided to go back online and check out the latest news from the NLL. I guess I won't be needing any coffee tomorrow morning; the jolt I got from this news item may end up keeping me awake the rest of the night:

QUOTE

NLL Insider has learned from several sources that the current Chicago Shamrox's ownership group, headed by Kevin Loughery Jr., is currently in the midst of trying to sell the franchise with an apparent deadline of Wednesday, Dec. 10.

It appears that if a deal cannot be reached with a new ownership group by their mid-week deadline, the team will simply fold, leaving the NLL with twelve teams heading into the 2009 season.

Stay tuned. If the Shamrox do indeed go under, the leaguewide fallout from roster changes (Anthony Cosmo to Boston in the dispersal draft, anyone?) and scheduling (for starters, two Swarm games, including March 28 at Xcel, would disappear or have to be rescheduled) alone will be enough to turn the whole season on its ear.

Added: Aside from the Swarm, the following other teams would need replacement home dates if the Shamrox fold: Knighthawks, Blazers, Titans, Wings, Rock, Riggers and Bandits. The Swarm already have away games scheduled at all those teams except Boston and New York, so if the Feb. 12 game at Chicago goes away the replacement opponent is most likely to be either the Blazers or Titans.

Meanwhile the Knighthawks, Stealth, Wings, Mammoth, Titans, Blazers and LumberJax are scheduled for games in Chicago. The Swarm already have home dates lined up against all those teams except the K-hawks and Jax. Since the Jax are a division rival and the Swarm currently have only six games vs. Western opponents, most likely the boys in plaid will end up making it seven. Unfortunately all of the listed teams also have games scheduled for Mar. 28 (the night the Shamrox were supposed to come to Xcel), so that game will probably have to be moved to another date.

This news broke out the other day. It definitely complicates the schedule not to mention the road trips other people have already made plans for.

Of course things could be worse. What would really leave the NLL in a lurch is if the 'Rox were to start the '09 season and then fold, before the season was even over. The ECHL is having to deal with this scenario right now with the midseason fold of the Augusta Lynx. (Not to be confused with the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA, another league that finds itself on some pretty thin ice these days.)

If it's gonna happen, better that it happen now than a month or two from now.

Take this with a grain of salt for now, but someone on the NLL Insider forums is claiming to have inside info that the Shamrox have indeed folded. (There is no official word on this posted anywhere else yet... not even on the team's Wikipedia page.)

Aargh... this means all those Swarm schedules I sent out with Christmas cards are probably no good anymore.

What are you going to do with your wallpaper schedule, X-Lax? That was the bomb.

Almost equally frustrating is that the team schedules were done so well. These were the best pocket schedules the team has produced in their five years. Hopefully, it means the team will print new ones.

Yes, it sure looks like the Shamrox are out of business. I did talk to someone today who would probably know and they couldn't say either yes or no but reading between the lines, the impression I got is that the Shamrox are no more.

Probably make a new one (maybe even w/ different pictures) once the updated schedule is out. I'm also going to have to take the Shamrox frame out of my rotating sig. A pity... I was rather proud of that one.

Anyway, just think of the headlines we could be seeing about the team's demise in the next couple of days:

"So Much For The Luck O' The Irish"
"Chicago Team Declared NLL And Void"
"NLL Gets Its 'Rox Off"
"It's a Trave-Shamrox-ery!"

It's definitely over. More credible sources on the league message board confirm it including the head scout for the Shamrox. Expect the Shamrox and the league to make official announcement today.

Look for a dispersal draft possibly today. Not sure when a new schedule comes out, probably Monday at the latest. Things will be moving pretty quickly with the season that was supposed to start in fifteen days in Chicago.

Roster deadlines for teams probably push back to next week with any NLL TV or internet deal announcement pushed back until the schedule is rescheduled.

Here are the Dispersal Draft picks so far.

1. Boston -Cosmo
2. Edmonton -Self
3. Toronto -McGlone

Looks like we got Kevin Fines and Drew Candy.

Fines is a transition player maybe similar to Sharp, just not as big. That is my guess. Also can take face offs if I remember right.

Candy is an enforcer. Fought Kyle Ross last year in a game.

26. Rochester - Brock Boyle. We can still dislike the team but how do you cheer on Brock without cheering for the team to win.

It's ok to still like Brock.

It's sad that Brock now has to wear teal. What did he ever do to deserve that?

At least they toned down the teal. There's not as much there as in past seasons.