Macon Whoopees (1973-1974)

​The original Macon Whoopees hockey team was a charter member of the Southern Hockey League (SHL) in 1973. On June 6, 1973, a little over a month after the new circuit was formed, Macon was granted a franchise, the last to be awarded for the SHL’s inaugural season. The official announcement came at a press conference two weeks later. The main reason Macon got the last spot, league officials revealed, was to provide a geographic rival to the team in St. Petersburg, FL, some 345 miles to the south.⁴Macon selected for hockey loop, AP via The Rome News-Tribune, Jun. 7, 1973

​The franchise was awarded without an ownership group lined up. Eventually, Gerald Pinkerton, one of the league’s organizers and a native of nearby Atlanta, took control of the club. He wasn’t really interested in owning a sports team, but the other league officials talked him into it. Still unsure, he met with his sportswriter friend Robert Fierro of The New York Times at a bar in Manhattan. Fierro advised Pinkerton to form a local syndicate in Macon to finance the team. He is also the one who apparently came up with the nickname.

​As he told the story a few years later, Pinkerton still resisted the idea of running a hockey franchise in Macon, GA.  Fierro responded, “Why not? You could always call them the ‘Macon Whoopees.’” It turned out that Pinkerton’s favorite song was Gus Kahn’s “Makin’ Whoopee,” as recorded by Doris Day.⁵Southern Hockey Ended Whoopees’ Demise, New York Times News Service via The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Feb. 22, 1976

At a press conference in Macon on June 28, Pinkerton revealed the team’s nickname. “When the name ‘Macon Whoopees’ was first proposed, we thought it was terrific,” he told reporters. “But we wanted to see how the people of Macon would accept it. They obviously have, and now we hope we can give something back to the community.” To that end, he said he intended to send the team’s profits to local charities.⁶Whoopees Make Hockey In Macon, AP via The Waycross Journal-Herald, Jun. 29, 1973

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Pinkerton also announced that the team was interested in Keke Mortson, who at the time was playing for the Houston Aeros of the WHA, for the team’s coaching position. Mortson was later signed and became player/coach of the Whoopees.

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The unusual name gained a lot of attention both in Georgia and across North America. Local radio stations played Day’s version of “Makin’ Whoopee,” T-shirts were made, and folks in Atlanta, then home to the NHL’s Flames, bought tickets to the first few home games. Miss Day was even invited to sing the National Anthem at the team’s home opener but politely declined.

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The people of Macon, though, were not keen after all. The first obstacle was that many home games were scheduled for Wednesday nights or Sunday afternoons, church-going time for most. Only 2,000 folks turned up for the home opener, and the team averaged just 1,100 fans a game after that. Many of those tickets were discounted or part of a special promotion. The investors Pinkerton brought in were soon headed for the lifeboats as the team started missing payroll just a month into the season.

​By New Year’s Eve, the situation was dire. Pinkerton announced that the team was on the verge of folding after SHL officials refused to relinquish his $25,000 franchise fee, so he could pay the team’s bills. In February, he appealed to the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce, but to no avail.⁷May Have to Fold Franchise, AP via The Albany Herald, Jan. 1, 1974 No businesses or individual investors came forward, and Pinkerton was forced to fold the team on February 15, 1974, after 62 games of a 72-game schedule.⁸Macon Franchise Will Disband, AP via The Herald-Journal, Feb. 16, 1974 The team finished its existence with a record of 22-28-2.

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In 1996, the name was revived, without the “S,” by a team in the second iteration of the Central Hockey League. That team played six seasons, its final campaign coming in the ECHL. The following year, the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks moved to Macon and assumed the nickname, but they lasted only one season before folding.