Atlantic League: Realignment and other changes

(We interrupt from high school girls basketball coverage to bring you the following announcement:)

The Atlantic League announced Thursday that it has realigned its two divisions for the 2008 season, a change brought on by the addition of the expansion Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. In another change, the divisions, previously known by North and South, have been renamed the Freedom and Liberty divisions.
The new make-up:

Liberty:
Southern Maryland Blue Crabs
Bridgeport Bluefish
Long Island Ducks
Camden Riversharks

Freedom:
Lancaster Barnstormers
York Revolution
Somerset Patriots
Newark Bears

Here are the quotes from the press release:


“I am excited as we move into our second decade that we are able to keep our traditional rivalries intact in this new divisional setup,” AL founder & CEO Frank Boulton said. “It is with the addition of SouthernMaryland and in the best interest of the league to create these two new divisions and move away from our North/South setup.”

“The key is keeping the rivalries intact,” AL Executive Director Joe Klein said. “And we have done that.”

Here are my thoughts on what it all means:

1) Forget about a rematch of the 2007 Atlantic League Championship Series. Newark and Somerset are in the same division now.

2) I like that the league is concerned about keeping its few rivalries in tact. Somerset-Newark isn't much of a rivalry but it once was. Long Island-Bridgeport and York-Lancaster actually do have rather intense rivalries, if you believe that.

3) I like that the league made a concerted effort to break up the four teams owned by the Opening Day Partners group. There was a lot of fear -- led by Patriots manager Sparky Lyle -- that those four teams (Southern Maryland, York, Lancaster and Camden) would end up in the same division and then work together loading up certain rosters while depleting others to finagle playoff spots. The best way to put an end to controversy is to head it off at the start, and the league seems to have done that here.

4) Mike Ashmore of www.atlanticleaguebaseball.com says that the league's setup (140 game-season where each team plays the other seven 20 times regardless of division) renders even having divisions pointless, especially if the divisions are no longer based on geography.
I understand the point, but respectfully disagree. I like divisions because I think they promote rivalries and I also think that, for example, being six games out of first place in a four-team division is an easier deficit to overcome than being six games out of first place in an eight-team league-wide field. A balanced schedule is one thing, but at the end of each half, you are still chasing only the teams in your division and that makes those games matter more than intra-divisional games.

5) Freedom and Liberty are not very good names for divisions. When did the AL become the symbol of athletic patriotism? As if having a team named the "Patriots" was not enough.
North and South, A and B, Boulton and Klein, Apples and Oranges, Balls and Bats, etc. would all been more suitable names. I understand they wanted neutrality in the names, but this is silly.