Spotlight

Cleveland Buckeyes (1942-1950)

Baltimore Elite Giants (1938-1951)

The Baltimore Elite Giants arrived in Maryland’s largest city in 1938, after stints in Washington, D.C., Columbus, OH, and Nashville, TN, where they were established in 1920.

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1984 Michigan Panthers media guide from the United States Football League

Michigan Panthers

The Michigan Panthers were the original champions of the spring season United States Football League during the league’s 1983 debut season. The team launched the pro careers of future NFL stars Bobby Hebert (quarterback) and Anthony Carter (wide receiver), who sparked the Panthers to the USFL title as rookies. The Panthers played in the longest game in a professional football history, a 93-minute triple overtime playoff loss to Steve Young and the Los Angeles Express in June 1984. This also proved to the Panthers final game. The USFL’s planned move to a fall season in 1986 caused the Detroit-based Panthers to merge with the Oakland Invaders ahead of the USFL’s 1985 season in order to avoid going head-to-head with the NFL’s Detroit Lions in 1986.

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Honoring the Negro Leagues

Seattle Steelheads barnstorming poster

Seattle Steelheads

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.

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Retro Hockey

baseball History

1959 Portland Beavers Baseball Program from the Pacific Coast League

Portland Beavers (1906-1972)

Today we look at the original Portland Beavers baseball team of 1906-1972, the first and most enduring of three clubs to play under the Bevos name in the storied Pacific Coast League. When the team finally moved away to Spokane, Washington in early 1973, Portland became the last of the original six PCL cities of 1903 to lose its minor league baseball franchise. The second version of the Beavers would return to Portland’s Civic Stadium in 1978.

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Soccer Indoor and outdoor

1978 Super Soccer League Franchise Prospectus & Operations Manual

1978 Super Soccer League

SUPER SOCCER LEAGUE Announced: January 5, 1978 Vanished: Summer 1978 Founders: Dennis Murphy, Jerry Saperstein, Richard Ragone, Norm Sutherland, Fredric Wise & Dr. Elliott Gorin   Background Periodically, some persuasive entrepreneur claims to have developed the sport of the future.  And from the 1960’s to the 1990’s that man was

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Arena Football

2003 Columbus Wardogs Pocket Schedule

Columbus Wardogs

Arena Football 2 (2001-2004) Born: 2000 – AF2 expansion franchise Ceased Operations: October 2004 Moved: Summer 2005 (Mississippi Headhunters) First Game: April 7, 2001 (L 43-20 vs. Baton Rouge Blaze) Last Game: July 31, 2004 (L 65-62 vs. Memphis Xplorers) Arena Cup Championships: None Columbus Civic Center (7,600) Opened: 1996 Team Colors: Red, Navy

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Los Angeles Stars American Basketball Association

Los Angeles Stars (1968-1970)

The Los Angeles Stars basketball team was a short-lived effort by the American Basketball Association to plant its flag in L.A. during the early years of its rivalry with the National Basketball Association.  The Stars labored in the shadows of the NBA’s Lakers and never established a substantial following. Coached by Hall-of-Famer (and future Lakers coach) Bill Sharman, the Stars did enjoy a thrilling Cinderella playoff run at the end of their second and final season in L.A.

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Owner Fred Anderson and Head Coach Pepper Rodgers on the cover of the 1995 Memphis Mad Dogs Media Guide

Memphis Mad Dogs

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.

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