Continental Basketball Association (1984-1987)
Tombstone
Born: May 21, 1984 – The Ohio Mixers relocate to Cincinnati
Ceased Operations: 1987
Moved: June 1988 (Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets)
First Game: December 2, 1984 (L 123-120 @ Detroit Spirits)
Last Game: April 7, 1987 (L 107-101 @ Rockford Lightning)
CBA Championships: None
Arenas
1984-1987: Cincinnati Gardens (10,950)11986-87 Continental Basketball Association Official Guide & Register
Opened: 1949
Demolished: 2018
1986-1987: Schmidt Fieldhouse
Marketing
Team Colors:
Ownership
Owners:
- 1984-1986: Jerry Robinson
- 1986-1987: Jerry Gordon
FWIL FAVORITE
Cincinnati Slammers CBA
Logo T-Shirt
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This is just one of their awesome line of shirts honoring the Queen City’s sporting past, from Crosley Field and Cincinnati Gardens tees to defunct team shirts for the Mohawks, Stingers, Comets, Swords, Kids, Rockers, and many more!
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Background
During the early-to-mid 1980’s, the Continental Basketball Association made several efforts to grab a foothold in “Major League” cities. The CBA, at the time, was akin to triple-A baseball and had a formal partnership with the National Basketball Association. At the end of the 1985-86 season, 22 out of 23 NBA teams had a CBA veteran on their roster and 16% of all NBA players had spent time in the CBA41986-87 Continental Basketball Association Official Guide & Register.
As the CBA’s stature (and expansion fees) rose, perhaps it only made sense that a league that still played in high school gymnasiums in places like Oshkosh, Wisconsin and Lancaster, Pennsylvania began to put teams into large arenas in Detroit, Louisville, Toronto and Cincinnati.
The CBA did establish passionate followings in cities like Albany, New York and La Crosse, Wisconsin during the 1980’s. But the league’s grim experience in Cincinnati was typical of the box office busts that resulted from each one of its major market adventures.
The Slammers franchise traced its origins to an old school CBA franchise, the Ohio Mixers, formed in 1982. The Mixers were a classic mom & pop operation. The team played a high school gym in Lima, Ohio (pop. 40,000) and were named after the original owner’s asphalt paving business. Humble as that sounds, the Mixers’ CBA schedule saw the club trek all across America from Florida to New Mexico to Wyoming.
On The Floor
Cincinnati endured a rough introduction to CBA basketball. The team finished the 1984-85 season with the worst record (17-31) in the 14-team league. Former Xavier star Victor Fleming appeared in 48 games and led the Slammers in scoring (20.7 ppg). Crowds were sparse at Cincinnati Gardens.
1985-86 saw a remarkable turnaround on the court. Former Detroit Pistons head coach Herb Brown signed on in October 1985 and undertook a complete overhaul of the roster. The Slammers got out to an 11-1 start, bolstered by the addition of another former Xavier standout, 6′ 8″ Jeff Jenkins. After falling off their hot opening pace, the mid-season acquisition of six-year NBA veteran Butch Carter ignited the Slammers through the home stretch of the regular season. The Slammers won the regular season going away with a 33-15 record, 2nd best in the CBA.
The Slammers won two playoff rounds in 1986, sweeping the Kansas City Sizzlers and edging out the Evansville Thunder in the quarterfinals. Their run ended in the semis with a six-game series loss to the La Crosse Catbirds. But off the court, the situation was dire. Seven of the Slammers’ eight playoff home dates drew fewer than 1,000 fans to Cincinnati Gardens. The team announced a humiliating announced crowd of 196 fans for the opening game of quarter-final series against Evansville51986-87 Continental Basketball Association Official Guide & Register.
Demise
After the 1985-86 season, the Slammers days appeared numbered in the Queen City. Cincinnati Gardens owner Jerry Robinson put the club up for sale. Improbably, he found a buyer willing to keep the team in town in the person of sporting goods retailer Jerry Gordon.
Gordon gave the Slammers a new look, replacing the team’s blue & silver duds with garish magenta and orange. But otherwise the team’s fortunes were unchanged. The team had another winning season under Herb Brown and made a second straight playoff run to the semi-finals, losing this time to the Rockford Lightning.
Crowds remained dreadful and the Slammers ceased operations in the spring of 1987.
“The Continental Basketball Association is not going to go in cities with other big league franchises*,” league Commissioner Carl Scheer declared in the wake of the Slammers demise.6Ford, Bill. “Slams bid city sayonara.” The Cincinnati Enquirer. April 9, 1987
The franchise was allowed to remain dormant for the next year. Finally, in June 1988 investors in Iowa bought the franchise rights and move the team to Cedar Rapids for the 1988-89 CBA season.
*The CBA would forget this lesson and add teams in Chicago, Pittsburgh or San Diego in the 1990’s that lasted two seasons, one season, and 21 games respectively.
Trivia
The Slammers moved one home playoff game in 1986 and all of their playoff dates in 1987 to Xavier University’s Schmidt Fieldhouse because of schedule conflicts at Cincinnati Gardens.
Cincinnati Slammers Shop
STADIUM STORE
Cincinnati Gardens Logo T-Shirt
The Cincinnati Gardens opened in 1949 and was the home arena for multiple hockey, soccer, basketball, football and roller derby teams. The Gardens was also a top venue for wrestling, boxing, monster truck jams, motorcycle racing, and concerts. The Gardens were demolished in March 2018
This tee is also available as a women’s scoop neck from our partners at Old School Shirts!
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One Response
I enjoyed watching these guys play at the Gardens. I was 18-19 and my grandfather and I would go and root for these guys. Big MOOSE Campbell, Fleming and the other guys.
The team was IMHO a victim of a horrible if not non-existent marketing plan. I remember one game they did have the SD Chicken come and the place was (if memory is right) at least half full.