Spotlight

Pottstown Firebirds Atlantic Coast Football League

Pottstown Firebirds

May 17, 2017 5 Comments

Minor league football is – and always has been – so far off the radar in this country that it’s impossible to speak of there being any iconic teams.  The sport offers nothing like the Hershey Bears hockey team or Rochester Red Wings baseball club that have entertained locals for upwards of a century. To the extent that minor and semi-pro football at least has a cult favorite team – the sport’s answer to the Durham Bulls – it may well be Pennsylvania’s short-lived Pottstown Firebirds of the defunct Atlantic Coast Football League.

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historic Football

Paul Warfield on the cover of a 1975 Memphis Southmen program from the World Football League

Memphis Southmen

July 20, 2014 3 Comments

The Memphis Southmen, known colloquially as the “Grizzlies”, were a short-lived member of the World Football League (WFL) that played at the Liberty Bowl for parts of two seasons in 1974 and 1975. In an era when the NFL offered no free agency, the threat of jumping to the WFL offered a brief window of leverage for NFL stars seeking better contracts. The Southmen garnered national headlines (and the cover of Sports Illustrated) when they successfully lured the trio of Larry Csonka, Paul Warfield and Jim Kiick away from the Miami Dolphins for the 1975 season. All three stars suited up for Memphis that fall, but by that time the WFL was already on its last legs. The league disbanded that October without completing its regular season schedule.

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Honoring the Negro Leagues

Seattle Steelheads barnstorming poster

Seattle Steelheads

April 21, 2025 No Comments

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

Birmingham Bulls WHA

Birmingham Bulls (1976-1981)

May 16, 2014 No Comments

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…

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baseball History

Houston Colt 45s Program

Houston Colt .45s (1962-1964)

May 9, 2025 3 Comments

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.

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Soccer Indoor and outdoor

Marinette Pichon on the cover of a 2004 New Jersey Wildcats program from the USL W-League

New Jersey Wildcats

March 21, 2022 No Comments

For a remarkable three-year period between 2004 and 2006 this amateur women’s soccer club that played in a 1,500-seat community college field in the Trenton suburbs managed to sign up a jaw-dropping roster of top players from all over the world. The Wildcats ran roughshod over the USL’s W-League during these years with only one North American women’s club – the Vancouver Whitecaps – able to stay on the field with them.

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Arena Football

2007 Spokane Shock program from Arena Football 2

Spokane Shock

February 4, 2022 No Comments

Arena Football 2 (2006-2009) Arena Football League (2010-2015) Born: August 26, 2005 – AF2 expansion franchise Re-Branded: First Game: March 30, 2006 (W 41-40 vs. Stockton Lightning) Last Game: August 15, 2015 (L 72-41 @ Arizona Rattlers) ArenaCup Champions (Arena Football 2): 2006 & 2009 Arena Bowl Champions (Arena Football

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Pro Basketball

1970-71 Sporting News American Basketball Association Guide

American Basketball Association (1967-1976)

March 25, 2012 1 Comment

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.

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Canadian Football League

Birmingham Barracudas Canadian Football League

Birmingham Barracudas

November 23, 2017 No Comments

The Birmingham Barracudas were the final American expansion team awarded during the Canadian Football League’s failed incursion into the United States during the mid-1990’s.

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HISTORIC UNIFORMS

Southern California Sun magenta jersey

Jersey of the Week

July 16, 2026 No Comments

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.

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