Spotlight

St. Louis Steamers MISL

St. Louis Steamers (1979-1988)

May 7, 2015 2 Comments

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.

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historic Football

Tampa Bay Bandits USFL

Tampa Bay Bandits

November 29, 2015 2 Comments

The Tampa Bay Bandits were a popular entry in the United States Football League during the mid-1980’s. During a particularly grim era for the Hugh Culverhouse-owned Buccaneeers of the NFL, the Bandits played an exciting, high scoring brand of football and packed big crowds into Tampa Stadium in the springtime. The team had a high-wattage ownership group that included America’s #1 box office star of the early 80’s, Burt Reynolds. Read more…

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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

Penn FC United Soccer League 2018

Penn FC

December 7, 2021 No Comments

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,

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Arena Football

Denver Dynamite

Denver Dynamite

December 28, 2014 No Comments

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.

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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

Shreveport Pirates Canadian Football League

Shreveport Pirates

September 27, 2019 4 Comments

Yes, strange as it sounds, but the small, poverty-stricken city of Shreveport, Louisiana once had its very own Canadian Football League franchise: the Shreveport Pirates. The Pirates’ shambolic leadership made a series of head-scratching personnel moves, including the signings of troubled over-the-hill NFL stars Dexter Manley and Mark Duper, and fired the team’s first head coach before taking a regular season snap. Meanwhile the team staggered to a two-year record of 8-28 in the CFL before going out of business at the end of the 1995 season.

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HISTORIC UNIFORMS

Chicago Sting NASL 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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