The Dayton Triangles were founding members of the American Professional Football Association (APFA) in 1920. In 1922, the APFA became known as the National Football League (NFL). In 1929 the team was sold and moved to Brooklyn where they became the Dodgers. For ten seasons, though, they represented Dayton in the NFL.
The Tampa Bay Bandits were a popular entry in the United States Football League during the mid-1980’s. During a particularly grim era for the Hugh Culverhouse-owned Buccaneeers of the NFL, the Bandits played an exciting, high scoring brand of football and packed big crowds into Tampa Stadium in the springtime. The team had a high-wattage ownership group that included America’s #1 box office star of the early 80’s, Burt Reynolds. Read more…
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.
The story of the Seattle Pilots is one of the most fascinating in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB). It began years before the team’s 1969 debut, and is tale filled with hope, excitement, money (and lack thereof), franchise relocations, and political influence.
The New Jersey Stallions are a long-time youth club soccer program operating out of Clifton, New Jersey. But during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s the organization also operated men’s – and, briefly, women’s – pro & amateur teams in the United Soccer Leagues. The Stallions debuted in 1996 and the Lady Stallions women’s club joined the USL in 2003. Following the 2004 season, the Stallions shuttered both their men’s and women’s USL adult clubs.
Arena Football League (2002-2008) Born: 2002 – Arena Football League expansion franchise Folded: August 4, 2009 First Game: April 20, 2002 (W 57-44 @ Carolina Cobras) Last Game: June 27, 2008 (L 77-63 vs. New York Dragons) Arena Bowl Championships: None 2002: American Airlines Center (16,971) Opened: 2001 2003: Reunion Arena (16,441)
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 Sacramento Gold Miners were the first U.S.-based franchise admitted into the Canadian Football League during the CFL’s short-lived American expansion adventure from 1993 to 1995. The Gold Miners weren’t a brand new operation though. Owner Fred Anderson’s team previously played in the NFL-sponsored World League of American Football (WLAF) as the Sacramento Surge in 1991 and 1992. After NFL owners pulled the plug on the WLAF in September 1992, Anderson applied for entry to the CFL. The team retained its color scheme, Head Coach Kay Stephenson and a number of players from the WLAF era, but changed its name upon joining the CFL.
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.
