Spotlight

St. Louis Steamers MISL

St. Louis Steamers (1979-1988)

The original St. Louis Steamers of the Major Indoor Soccer League were one of the most popular indoor soccer teams of all time. In the early 1980’s, the Steamers drew massive crowds to the St. Louis Arena, attracted by the team’s home grown American talent and exciting game production. At their peak during the 1981-82 season, the Steamers averaged 17,107 fans per game – the highest average in the sport’s history. By comparison, the National Hockey League’s St. Louis Blues drew 14,433 fans per night in the same building that winter. Declining on-field performance and a pair sales of the team to progressively weaker owners led to the Steamers’ sad decline in the latter half of the decade and eventual closure in 1988.

Read More »
1965 Boston Steamrollers Program

Boston Steamrollers

The Boston Steamrollers were a minor league football team that played for one season in Everett, Massachusetts, a small city on the northern border of Boston, during the autumn of 1965. The ‘Rollers had a strong season on the field (8-5) but moved at the end of the season to become the Lowell Giants in 1966.

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

Birmingham Bulls WHA

Birmingham Bulls (1976-1981)

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…

Read More »

baseball History

Houston Colt 45s Program

Houston Colt .45s (1962-1964)

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.

Read More »

Soccer Indoor and outdoor

Penn FC United Soccer League 2018

Penn FC

United Soccer League (2018) Born: November 15, 2017 – Re-branded from Harrisburg CIty Islanders Ceased Operations (professional club): Late 2018 First Match: March 24, 2018 (L 1-0 @ Charleston Battery) Last Match: October 13, 2018 (T 0-0 vs. Toronto FC II) USL Championships: None FNB Field Opened: 1987 Team Colors: Blue,

Read More »

Arena Football

2001 Richmond Speed Media Guide from Arena Football 2

Richmond Speed

The Richmond Speed were an indoor football team that competed in Arena Football 2, a developmental league for small-to-mid sized cities, from 2000 to 2003. The Speed were one of the league’s top teams in AF2’s early years, appearing in the Arena Cup title game in 2001.

Read More »
1970-71 Sporting News American Basketball Association Guide

American Basketball Association (1967-1976)

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.

Read More »
1994 Sacramento Gold Miners media guide from the Canadian Football League

Sacramento Gold Miners

The Sacramento Gold Miners were the first U.S.-based franchise admitted into the Canadian Football League during the CFL’s short-lived American expansion adventure from 1993 to 1995. The Gold Miners weren’t a brand new operation though. Owner Fred Anderson’s team previously played in the NFL-sponsored World League of American Football (WLAF) as the Sacramento Surge in 1991 and 1992. After NFL owners pulled the plug on the WLAF in September 1992, Anderson applied for entry to the CFL. The team retained its color scheme, Head Coach Kay Stephenson and a number of players from the WLAF era, but changed its name upon joining the CFL.

Read More »
Chicago Sting NASL jersey

Jersey of the Week

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.

Read More »