Continental Basketball Association (1987-1989)
Tombstone
Born: 1987 – The Wisconsin Flyers relocate to Rochester, MN
Moved: 1989 (Omaha Racers)
First Game:
Last Game:
CBA Championships: None
Arena
Mayo Civic Center (5,200)
Opened: 1938
Marketing
Team Colors: Royal Blue, Columbia Blue & Gold
Dance Team: The Flight Crew
Ownership
Owner: Norm Gillette, Jr.
OUR FAVORITE STUFF
Continental Basketball Association
Logo T-Shirt
This Old School Shirts release is strictly for the hardcore hoop heads.
Before the NBA had the G-League, it had the CBA with teams stretched from Puerto Rico to Honolulu. During the CBA’s 1980’s and 90’s heyday, the league provided a launching pad for future NBA All-Stars such as John Starks and Michael Adams as well as coaching legends Phil Jackson and George Karl.
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Background
Short-lived minor league basketball franchise that made its home in Rochester, Minnesota, not New York. The Rochester Flyers posted losing seasons in both years of operation, including a last place 16-38 record in the Continental Basketball Association season during the 1988-89 season.
Flyers owner Norm Gillette Jr.’s father owned the rival La Crosse Catbirds CBA franchise in Wisconsin during the same era. The Gillette family operated an Upper Midwest Pepsi bottling franchise with plants in La Crosse, Rochester, Mankato, Minnesota and Decorah, Iowa. In the spring of 1989 the younger Gillette cut his basketball losses in Rochester (estimated at $350,000 over two years) and sold the team to Omaha, Nebraska interests.
Rochester Flyers Shop
Life on the Rim: A Year in the Continental Basketball Association
by David Levine
In Memoriam
Former Flyers owner Norm Gillette, Jr. died of pancreatic cancer in May 2003 at the age of 61. La Crosse Tribune obituary.
Links
Continental Basketball Association Media Guides
Continental Basketball Association Programs
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One Response
The “original” owner of the Flyers (Killian Spanbauer) went west with the team when it moved from Oshkosh to Rochester. Tragically, he died during the first season in Rochester:
The end of the story: When the team’s original owner, Killian Spanbauer of Oshkosh, Wis., died unexpectedly during the first season, it left the ownership group’s lack of CBA experience exposed. Spanbauer’s expertise in the CBA was something they couldn’t replace. “All of our CBA contacts went away,” said one Flyer insider. “We didn’t have the experience or contacts in the league that Killian had.”
In 1989, owner Norm Gillette told the Post-Bulletin he had lost $350,000 in his two years in Rochester. After the 1988-89 season, the Flyers were sold and moved to Omaha to become the Racers, which disbanded after the 1997-98 season.
http://www.rochestermagazine.com/rochesters/revolving/turnstile/story-105.html