Tag: One-Year Wonders

Head coach Vaughn Hebron on the cover of a 2001 Trenton Lightning program from the Indoor Professional Football League

Trenton Lightning

February 25, 2023

The Trenton Lightning were an indoor football team that managed to play just six games during April and May of 2001. The team, coached by former Denver Broncos running back Vaughn Hebron, lost all six of its contests before financial scandals caused the team to disband. Later investigations revealed that Lightning founder Philip Subhan, an American Express Financial Advisor, funded the team with money embezzled from his clients. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2004.

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2000 Portland Prowlers Program from the Indoor Professional Football League

Portland Prowlers

February 23, 2023

The Portland Prowlers were an indoor football team that competed for one season in the Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) during the summer of 2000. The Prowlers came into the Rose City on the heels of the departing Portland Forest Dragons of the Arena Football League, a higher-profile and bigger budget franchise that left town for Oklahoma City following the 1999 season. While the Forest Dragons played at the city’s sparkling new 18,000-seat Rose Garden arena, the Prowlers set up shop at Portland’s “old” NBA arena, Memorial Coliseum.

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2000 Pittsburgh CrosseFire pocket schedule from the National Lacrosse League

Pittsburgh CrosseFire

January 20, 2023

The Pittsburgh CrosseFire were a One-Year Wonder box lacrosse entry that played in the National Lacrosse League during the 2000 season. Despite a talented roster featuring superstar twins Gary Gait and Paul Gait, the team under-performed and missed the playoffs with a 6-6 record. The team was sold to new owners and moved to Washington, D.C. ahead of the 2001 season. This marked the second time that the league departed the Steel City, following the earlier departure of the Pittsburgh Bulls (1990-1993) after four seasons. The former CrosseFire franchise still exists today in the National Lacrosse League and is now known as the Colorado Mammoth.

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1995-96 Lakeland Prowlers Yearbook from the Southern Hockey League

Lakeland Prowlers

December 29, 2022

The Lakeland Prowlers were a low-level minor league professional hockey team that competed for one season in the Southern Hockey League during the winter of 1995-96. The team had an excellent debut season on the ice, finishing with the best regular season record in the SHL before suffering an upset loss in the first round of the playoffs. But the Prowlers would go out of business along with the SHL itself during the summer of 1996.

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Columbus All-Americans Logo from the American Professional Slo-Pitch League

Columbus All-Americans

September 4, 2022

The Columbus All-Americans were one of 12 original men’s softball franchises in the American Professional Slo-Pitch League during the summer of 1977. Overshadowed by the return of Triple-A minor league baseball to Columbus that summer, the All-Americans struggled to a 16-40 last place finish and quietly evaporated following the 1977 season.

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