The Dayton Triangles were founding members of the American Professional Football Association (APFA) in 1920. In 1922, the APFA became known as the National Football League (NFL). In 1929 the team was sold and moved to Brooklyn where they became the Dodgers. For ten seasons, though, they represented Dayton in the NFL.
Professional Football League of America (1967) Continental Football League (1968-1969) Alabama Hawks Born: 1967 Folded: Postseason 1969 First Game: Last Game: PFLA Championships: CoFL Championships: None Milton Frank Stadium Team Colors: Owner: Background The Alabama Hawks were a minor league football team that played in the Continental Football League. The cool minor league
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 Cincinnati Stingers hockey team began life in the upstart World Hockey Association in the winter of 1975-76. Owners Bill DeWitt Jr. and Brian Heekin originally sought to land an NHL expansion club for the Queen City, failed, and then accepted the first expansion franchise awarded by the fledgling WHA as a fallback option in May 1973.
The story of the Seattle Pilots is one of the most fascinating in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB). It began years before the team’s 1969 debut, and is tale filled with hope, excitement, money (and lack thereof), franchise relocations, and political influence.
This doomed 2nd division men’s club was part of the disastrous Lehigh Valley Multi-Purpose Stadium project, intended to bring minor league baseball and pro soccer to the Easton/Allentown region of Pennsylvania during the late 1990’s. The Steam would be the region’s first outdoor pro soccer team since the Pennsylvania Stoners, who played out of Allentown and Bethlehem, folded in 1984. When the stadium project failed to come to fruition, the Steam embarked on a single, futile season in the USL A-League during the summer of 1999, cobbling together a schedule of “home” matches in various sites around Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The Steam officially disbanded in December 1999.
This long-gone Arena Football League entry was notable mainly for its celebrity ownership and and its naming rights agreement with a briefly popular beer of the late 1990’s, Miller Brewing Company’s Red Dog lager. Former NFL 1st round draft pick Tommy Maddox started at quarterback for the Red Dogs during their final season in 2000. Maddox would later return to the NFL for five more seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers (2001-2005) and earned that league’s Comeback Player-of-the-Year Award in 2002 along with a Super Bowl championship ring.
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 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.
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.
