The original Macon Whoopees were charter members of the Southern Hockey League in 1973. The team only lasted one season. In the 1990s, a new team in the Central Hockey League (CHL) revived the name, though they dropped the “S” at the end. That team skated for five seasons, the last as members of the ECHL.
Continental Football League (1968-1969) Born: 1968 – CoFL expansion franchise Folded: July 2, 1970 First Game: August 31, 1968 (L 28-13 vs. Orange County Ramblers) Last Game: November 29, 1969 (L 31-0 vs. Las Vegas Cowboys) Continental Football League Championships: None Hughes Stadium Opened: 1928 Team Colors: Owner: Lee Balderelli
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 Birmingham Bulls of the World Hockey Association were one of the first major pro hockey teams to make their home in the Deep South, sharing that distinction with the slightly older Atlanta Flames of the National Hockey League. The Bulls never posted a winning record and made the playoffs only once in three WHA seasons. But the team did make news for its controversial “Baby Bulls” youth movement that saw the team sign a parade of teenage stars from the junior ranks who would later go on to NHL stardom, including Ken Linseman, Michel Goulet, Rick Vaive, Pat Riggin and others. Read more…
Houston’s dreams of landing a Major League Baseball team go back at least as far as the 1950s. The threat of a third major league, the proposed Continental League, yielded Houston a National League expansion franchise that was known as the Houston Colt .45s for its first three seasons.
Reno 1868 FC was a 2nd Division pro soccer club affiliated on the technical side with the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer and operated on the business side by the front office staff of Minor League Baseball’s Reno Aces of the Pacific Coast League. 1868 played out of Greater Nevada Field, the Aces’ 9,000-seat baseball stadium, from 2017 through 2020.
The San Diego Riptide were a minor league indoor football team that played four seasons in Arena Football 2 (AF2). The Riptide were part of a West Coast expansion of AF2 in the year 2002 that saw franchises added in Bakersfield, Fresno and Hawaii to create a Western Division in the sprawling, 34-team league. The Riptide lasted four seasons at the Sports Arena, never managing to post a winning record.
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.
The Memphis Mad Dogs were a short-lived chapter in the Canadian Football League’s expansion misadventure into the United States between 1993 and 1995. The Mad Dogs arrived at the Liberty Bowl just in time for the final season of the CFL’s three-year American experiment in the fall of 1995. The ‘Dogs featured an outstanding defense and CFL legend Damon Allen at quarterback but never quite put it all together and finished their only season at 9-9. The team did make a star out of unheralded community college wide receiver Joe Horn, who leapt from the Mad Dogs to a 12-year career in the NFL and four Pro Bowl nods. The team folded after 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.
