Spotlight

1975 Chicago Winds Media Guide from the World Football League

Chicago Winds

The World Football League’s second attempt to establish a franchise in the Second City was dead in the water after Joe Namath rejected the Chicago Winds’ contract offer and the league failed to secure a television contract. The Winds, in fact, would stage just one home game at Soldier Field in August 1975 before closing up shop.

Read More »

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.

Read More »

Retro Hockey

San Francisco Seals program 1965

San Francisco Seals (1961-1967)

Hockey’s San Francisco Seals were a popular entry in the minor Western Hockey League (WHL) in the 1960s. The team won two championships before being “promoted” to the NHL in 1966 for the 1967-68 season.

Read More »

baseball History

1983 Omaha Royals baseball program from the American Association

Omaha Royals / Omaha Golden Spikes

Omaha, Nebraska has hosted the top farm club of the Kansas City Royals since the Major League club’s inception in 1969. Initially known as the Omaha Royals, the Class AAA club won four league championships of the American Association, including back-to-back titles in their first two seasons in 1969 and 1970. The Royals survived the closure of the American Association, joining the Pacific Coast League in 1998. From 1999 until 2001, the team was briefly known as the “Golden Spikes” before returning to the Royals nickname. In 2011, the club re-branded as the Omaha Storm Chasers while simultaneously moving into the new $36M Werner Park.

Read More »

Soccer Indoor and outdoor

Pro Soccer

Houston Pro Soccer…Then & Now

Houston Pro Soccer Yesterday The Houston Chronicle published photos of the nearly complete $95 million BBVA Compass Stadium in downtown Houston.  BBVA opens on May 12th when its primary tenant, the Houston Dynamo, plays D.C. United in a Major League Soccer match.  BBVA is simply the latest in a string of increasingly

Read More »

Arena Football

Charlotte Rage Arena Football League

Charlotte Rage

This early Arena Football franchise played five seasons in North Carolina, splitting dates between the massive, NBA-scale Charlotte Coliseum and the smaller Independence Arena. 41-year old former NFL All-Pro lineman Joe DeLamielleure played for the Rage in 1992. He is the only Pro Football Hall of Famer other than Kurt Warner to play Arena Football.

Read More »
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.

Read More »
Shreveport Pirates Canadian Football League

Shreveport Pirates

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.

Read More »