The San Diego Clippers were born when the Buffalo Braves headed west in the summer of 1978. Almost as soon as they got there, the team was angling to move up the 5 to L.A., which they ultimately did in 1984.
United States Football League (1983-1985) Born: May 11, 1982 – USFL founding franchise Folded: August 1986 First Game: March 7, 1983 (L 9-7 vs. Michigan Panthers) Last Game: July 7, 1985 (L 28-14 vs. Baltimore Stars) USFL Championships: None Legion Field Opened: 1927 Team Colors: Red, White & Gold Cheerleaders:
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 Cleveland Crusaders were one of twelve original franchises in the World Hockey Association in the winter of 1972-73. The franchise originally intended to play in Calgary. But after hitting a dead end in Alberta, the club ended up in Cleveland, where they skated for seven seasons.
The Maine Phillies of the Class AAA International League were the top farm club of the Philadelphia Phillies during the summer of 1988. Previously known as the Maine Guides from 1947 to 1987, the ball club was also a lame duck, stranded in Old Orchard Beach that summer thanks to a ferocious legal dispute over the ownership of the franchise. After the 1988 season, the team executed its long-awaited move to Pennsylvania and became the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Red Barons in 1989.
Soccer League As I draft this column, I’m sitting in the athletic center at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts administering the final exam for my Sports Promotions & Marketing course (SM 203). I taught two sections of the course as a guest instructor this semester and it was a blast.
The Denver Dynamite own a (very) minor place in pro football history as the answer to a trivia question: What city claimed the first championship of Arena Football? The Dynamite won Arena Bowl I on August 1, 1987, concluding a brief 6-game regular season with a 45-16 demolition of the Pittsburgh Gladiators before 13,000 fans at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena.
The Pittsburgh Pipers were charter members of the American Basketball Association (ABA) in 1967 and won the league’s first championship. Then promptly moved to Minnesota, only to move back to Pittsburgh after one season. When that didn’t improve their situation, the team changed its name to the Pittsburgh Condors.
The history of the Ottawa Rough Riders Canadian football team stretches back to 1876 with the formation of an amateur rugby side known as the Ottawa Football Club. The team folded in 1996 after 120 years.
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