The Thrashers were Atlanta’s second foray into the National Hockey League and were established 17 years after the city’s former NHL team, the Flames, had departed for Calgary. The Thrashers spent 12 seasons in Georgia before moving to Canada, just as their predecessors did.
The San Antonio Wings were a new franchise in the second and final season of the World Football League (WFL) in 1975. The WFL was an attempt to directly challenge the supremacy of the National Football League, as the American Football League had done successfully a decade earlier. The Wings only managed to play 13 games before the entire league went belly up in October of 1975. This Jekyll-and-Hyde squad was unbeatable at home at Alamo Stadium (7-0) but hapless everywhere else, dropping all six of their road games.
The Seattle Steelheads were members of the West Coast Negro Baseball Association (WCNBA) in that circuit’s only season, 1946. The team was actually the Harlem Globetrotters baseball club and returned to barnstorming when the WCNBA ceased operations.
The Cincinnati Stingers hockey team began life in the upstart World Hockey Association in the winter of 1975-76. Owners Bill DeWitt Jr. and Brian Heekin originally sought to land an NHL expansion club for the Queen City, failed, and then accepted the first expansion franchise awarded by the fledgling WHA as a fallback option in May 1973.
Fun fact: despite its misleading name, this five-season entry in the Class AA Texas League during the mid-1970’s was not really a farm club of the Milwaukee Brewers. OK, so that’s not quite 100% true. San Antonio was a Milwaukee farm team for one season during the summer of 1972. To commemorate the new Player Development Contract with Milwaukee, San Antonio dropped its long-time local nickname – the ‘Missions’ – to become the Brewers that year. But Milwaukee pulled out after just one season and the team’s local owners didn’t bother to update the name … for the next four years!
United Soccer League (2018) Born: November 15, 2017 – Re-branded from Harrisburg CIty Islanders Ceased Operations (professional club): Late 2018 First Match: March 24, 2018 (L 1-0 @ Charleston Battery) Last Match: October 13, 2018 (T 0-0 vs. Toronto FC II) USL Championships: None FNB Field Opened: 1987 Team Colors: Blue,
Arena Football League (1991-2016) Born: February 7, 1991 – Arena Football League expansion franchise Folded: October 12, 2016 First Game: June 1, 1991 (W 51-38 vs. Tampa Bay Storm) Last Game: August 6, 2016 (L 69-68 vs. Jacksonville Sharks) Arena Bowl Champions: 1998 & 2000 1991-2010: Orlando Arena (16,613) 2011-2013: Amway Center 2014:
The American Basketball Association (ABA) was formed in 1967 as a competitor to the established National Basketball Association (NBA). It started with 11 teams, and within a few years was angling for a merger with the older league. In 1976, the NBA took in four ABA teams, while three other surviving teams disbanded.
Yes, strange as it sounds, but the small, poverty-stricken city of Shreveport, Louisiana once had its very own Canadian Football League franchise: the Shreveport Pirates. The Pirates’ shambolic leadership made a series of head-scratching personnel moves, including the signings of troubled over-the-hill NFL stars Dexter Manley and Mark Duper, and fired the team’s first head coach before taking a regular season snap. Meanwhile the team staggered to a two-year record of 8-28 in the CFL before going out of business at the end of the 1995 season.
Fun While it Lasted presents the Jersey of the Week, brought to you by Royal Retros. Each week, we feature a historic uniform. Click to learn more about the team that wore this classic gear.
