San Diego Barracudas

Roller Hockey International (1993-1996)

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San Diego Barracudas
Roller Hockey Logo T-Shirt

Tank tops. Where do you stand? Our friends at Cincinnati’s Old School Shirts offer hundreds of their awesome retro designs in this divisive pit-bearing format. Sometimes it just seems wrong. But not in the case of Roller Hockey International’s San Diego Barracudas. This ultra-90’s aqua & teal logo was made for Beach Day.

While no image seems to be available, this Barracudas design can be ordered as a Women’s Tank Top or Women’s V-neck, in addition to the Unisex Tee design shown here.

 

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Background

Rare program (above) from one of the final home games for the San Diego Barracudas (1993-1996) of Roller Hockey International (RHI).  The owners of the San Diego Gulls of the International Hockey League were the initial backers of the Barracudas.

Later on the ‘Cudas came to be owned by RHI founder Dennis Murphy. Murphy was a sports entrepreneur by trade who helped to create the American Basketball Association (1967-1976), the World Hockey Association (1972-1979) and World Team Tennis (1974-1978) among various other leagues. Roller Hockey International named its championship trophy, the Murphy Cup, in his honor.

At its peak in 1995, RHI had 19 franchises across North America. But by 1996 the league was sputtering and Murphy’s Barracudas club was one of the trouble spots. Murphy acknowledged to The Associated Press that his club lost $700,000 over the 1995 and 1996 seasons.  The end of the 1996 season took on a distinct This Is Spinal Tap flavor as the team’s finances fell apart.

Demise

In August 1996 Murphy pulled the Barracudas out of San Diego. He claimed that the Sports Arena’s management damaged the team’s roll-on playing surface with grease and skid marks while loading-in for a rock concert and a circus. Two home dates remained on the Barracudas regular-season schedule. The first scheduled match was against the Los Angeles Blades. Murphy booked the contest into the Blades’ home, the Great Western Forum. To save money, the game started at 12 PM on a Monday afternoon and was promoted only to Barracudas season ticket holders in the mood for a long-ass road trip.  75 people showed up.  The Barracudas’ final home game against the Sacramento River Rats took place at a youth inline skating rink called Stuart’s Roller World in Orange, California on August 15, 1996.

The Barracudas disbanded after the 1996 season.

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Wheelers, Dealers, Pucks & Bucks

A Rocking History of Roller Hockey International

By Richard Neil Graham

 

Who won the first professional sports championship for the city of Anaheim? Which Roller Hockey International team owner posed for Playboy? Which RHI team’s logo did Sports Illustrated describe as looking like “a malevolent vacuum-cleaner attachment?” Which coach won two championships for two different teams in RHI’s first two seasons? Why were fans nearly ejected from the Oakland Skates’ arena for celebrating a hat trick?

Author Richard Graham takes you behind the scenes to show how Dennis Murphy created Roller Hockey International, and why Murphy might be the most unlikely, least known and most influential visionary in North American professional sports history.

 

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In Memoriam

General Manager John Murphy (Barracudas ’95) died of cancer on March 22, 1996 at age 60. Murphy was the brother of team owner Dennis Murphy.

Links

Roller Hockey International Media Guides

Roller Hockey International Programs

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