The Baltimore Stallions played two seasons in the CFL starting in 1994. The most successful of the league’s American teams, they went to the Grey Cup following both seasons, winning in 1995. The team experienced grief off the field from the NFL, first with a lawsuit over using the name Colts, then by the relocation of the Cleveland Browns.
The Boston Breakers were one of twelve original franchises in the springtime United States Football League (1983-1985). Expectations were low for Head Coach Dick Coury’s club, which failed to sign virtually all of its draft picks and fielded a team of low budget, no-name NFL training camp cuts, Canadian Football League castoffs and prison parolees. To nearly everyone’s surprise, the Breakers finished 11- 7 and narrowly missed the final playoff spot. Coury was named the USFL’s Coach of the Year.
The Baltimore Elite Giants got their start in Nashville, before moving to Columbus, Ohio for one year, then to Washington, D.C. They moved down the road in Baltimore in 1938 and played there until 1950, before spending their final season back in Tennessee.
The original Winnipeg Jets were charter members of the WHA in 1972. They moved to the NHL in 1979, along with three other WHA squads. In 1995, they were sold and moved to Phoenix for the 1996-97 hockey season. The name was revived when the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Manitoba in 2011 and assumed the Jets name but not their history.
The Atlantic City Surf were one of the six original franchises in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. The Atlantic League was (and remains) the most ambitious league to arise out of the independent baseball boom of the 1990’s. The Surf played at the Sandcastle, a 5,900-seat ballpark built on the grounds of Atlantic City’s municipal airport, Bader Field. The stadium was built with $11.5 million in Casino Reinvestment Development Authority funds and $3 million in taxpayer bonds.
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
The now-defunct Pittsburgh Power were the second attempt to establish an Arena Football League franchise in the Steel City. The Power followed in the footsteps of the Pittsburgh Gladiators (1987-1990). Both teams lasted for four seasons before departing the scene. The Power debuted in 2011 and played at the recently opened CONSOL Energy Center. After a promising first season, the Power’s fortunes plunged following a nasty league-wide labor dispute at the start of the 2012 season. Power owner Matt Shaner generated national headlines and criticism when he fired the entire Power roster during a meal at Olive Garden on the eve of the team’s 2012 season opener and replaced the players with scabs.
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 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.
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.
