Tag: Pechanga Arena

San Diego Mariners World Hockey Association

San Diego Mariners

July 18, 2015

The Mariners were the first and only Major pro hockey team to play in the city of San Diego. The team was part of the World Hockey Association, the colorful 1970’s rival to the National Hockey League, from 1974 through 1977. The team’s arrival in 1974 displaced the popular San Diego Gulls minor league team from the Sports Arena. The Mariners made the WHA’s AVCO Cup playoff in all three of their seasons. But constant ownership turmoil proved to be the club’s undoing and the Mariners folded in the spring of 1977.

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Bill Walton on the cover of the 1979-80 San Diego Clippers Media Guide from the National Basketball Association

San Diego Clippers

May 25, 2015

National Basketball Association (1978-1984) Born: July 7, 1978 – The Buffalo Braves relocate to San Diego Moved: May 1984 (Los Angeles Clippers) First Game: October

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San Diego Hawks Hockey

San Diego Hawks

March 18, 2014

The San Diego Hawks were a minor league ice hockey team that lasted just one winter in the Pacific Hockey League in 1978-79. The Hawks were notable for featuring hockey pioneer Willie O’Ree, the first black player to skate in the NHL twenty years earlier in 1958. The 42-year old scored 21 goals for the Hawks in his final professional season.

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San Diego Buds

July 30, 2013

The San Diego Buds were a co-ed pro tennis team that existed for two seasons in World Team Tennis in the summers of 1984 and 1985.  The 1984 “season”, in fact, was just a single weekend tournament held at The Forum in Los Angeles. The league devised the format to squeeze a reminder of its existence into the narrow spaces around Wimbledon, the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, and the U.S. Open. The San Diego Buds won the tournament and were named the 1984 champions of TeamTennis without ever appearing in San Diego itself. In 1985, the Buds played their first and only matches in San Diego at the Sports Arena, repeated as league champions, and then disbanded.

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San Diego Wildcards Continental Basketball Association

San Diego Wildcards

July 4, 2013

The San Diego Wildcards were an ill-conceived Continental Basketball Association franchise that set up shop at the Sports Arena in the fall of 1995. The CBA was the official developmental league of the NBA at the time. The Wildcards lasted just 21 games before folding in midseason.

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