Defunct & Relocated Teams

#26
#26
mad4vols said:
I would have thought the Thrashers would have been successful in Atlanta. Look how well they support soccer now. You think another NHL team gives it a go there?
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The popularity of Atlanta United actually kind of surprises me. Atlanta isn't a great sports town. They've done themselves a huge favor by being successful right out of the gate - they were competitive and made the playoffs in their first year then won the whole thing in their second year. The Thrashers made the playoffs once in their history and got swept in the one series they did make...they never won a single playoff game.
 
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#27
#27
05_never_again said:
The popularity of Atlanta United actually kind of surprises me. Atlanta isn't a great sports town. They've done themselves a huge favor by being successful right out of the gate - they were competitive and made the playoffs in their first year then won the whole thing in their second year. The Thrashers made the playoffs once in their history and got swept in the one series they did make...they never won a single playoff game.
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Thrashers sound like they were the Detroit Lions of the NHL.
 
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#29
#29
mad4vols said:
Thrashers sound like they were the Detroit Lions of the NHL.
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That's a pretty good comparison. The Thrashers almost always had a flashy, frontline offensive player who was well-known around the league (Kovalchuk, Slava Kozlov, Marian Hossa, etc.) but never enough depth guys/role players. Seemed like they never played good defense or had good goaltending either.

The Lions over the years have had some great individual players (Barry Sanders, Calvin Johnson, Stafford, etc.) but are never a great team either.
 
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#30
#30
The Nashville Kats of the Arena Football League.....twice.

The original 1997-2001 version, which was the better of the 2. Andy Kelly was the QB and the team made the Arena Bowl back to back in 2000 and 2001. They then moved to Atlanta because the team couldn't agree to a deal with the Nashville Predators for Bridgestone Arena (then Gaylord Entertainment Center).

Then the 2005-2007 version, owned by Bud Adams and Tim McGraw. This version kinda sucked. They weren't that good and they changed their uniforms so that they basically looked very similar to the Titans. In fact their home look is what the Titans pretty much switched to around 2008:

Kats
40438-3973586Fr.jpg


Titans
Titans-8.jpg
 
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#31
#31
VolsSportsFan said:
The Nashville Kats of the Arena Football League.....twice.

The original 1997-2001 version, which was the better of the 2. Andy Kelly was the QB and the team made the Arena Bowl back to back in 2000 and 2001. They then moved to Atlanta because the team couldn't agree to a deal with the Nashville Predators for Bridgestone Arena (then Gaylord Entertainment Center).

Then the 2005-2007 version, owned by Bud Adams and Tim McGraw. This version kinda sucked. They weren't that good and they changed their uniforms so that they basically looked very similar to the Titans. In fact their home look is what the Titans pretty much switched to around 2008:

Kats
40438-3973586Fr.jpg


Titans
Titans-8.jpg
Click to expand...
So bizarre about the similarities of the uniforms.
 
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#33
#33
mad4vols said:
So bizarre about the similarities of the uniforms.
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Yeah. I mean it made sense because Adams owned both and he pretty much wanted the Kats to be the "mini-Titans". I'm not even sure he wanted to keep the Kats name, he only did so because it had name recognition value. Probably wanted them to be the Nashville Apollos or something else Greek mythology related.
 
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#35
#35
mad4vols said:
Thrashers sound like they were the Detroit Lions of the NHL.
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The Thrashers got caught up with the Hawks in a completely dysfunctional ownership group. Within a year or two, partners were suing each other over the Joe Johnson trade and free agent moves ground to a halt.

Atlanta Spirit just wanted to get their hands on Philips Arena and the Thrashers were basically forced on them as part of the deal. They immediately had the team up for sale.
 
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#36
#36
VolsSportsFan said:
The Nashville Kats of the Arena Football League.....twice.

The original 1997-2001 version, which was the better of the 2. Andy Kelly was the QB and the team made the Arena Bowl back to back in 2000 and 2001. They then moved to Atlanta because the team couldn't agree to a deal with the Nashville Predators for Bridgestone Arena (then Gaylord Entertainment Center).

Then the 2005-2007 version, owned by Bud Adams and Tim McGraw. This version kinda sucked. They weren't that good and they changed their uniforms so that they basically looked very similar to the Titans. In fact their home look is what the Titans pretty much switched to around 2008:

Kats
40438-3973586Fr.jpg


Titans
Titans-8.jpg
Click to expand...
AFL football was so fun to watch live. It was backyard football with pads. Plus you could get right on the sideline board and talk trash to the players and they'd hear you.
 
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#40
#40
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#41
#41
ArdentVol said:
This may be one of the many reasons for my current state of mind. I'm a wanna be resident of St. Louis and see that the city is No.2 on the list (9 lost teams to New York's 12). I even followed Tormohlen and the Hawks on KMOX when I lived in Knoxville as kid and was starting to enjoy the Battlehawks.
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The support for the Battlehawks showed what a great sports town St. Louis is. Stan Kroenke screwed the city when he moved the Rams.
 
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#42
#42
mad4vols said:
Anyone supported or had an interest in a defunct or relocated professional sports team or league?
If a team moved, do you still cheer for them, root against them or just don’t care?
Interesting memorabilia & logos of former teams?
Share your stories.
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This a cool thread. I was actually thinking about how people would react to losing the team they Loved. I'd be as good as dead without the Vols
 
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#44
#44
mad4vols said:
Anyone supported or had an interest in a defunct or relocated professional sports team or league?
If a team moved, do you still cheer for them, root against them or just don’t care?
Interesting memorabilia & logos of former teams?
Share your stories.
Click to expand...
My first professional football game I ever saw was a Memphis Southmen game. We had season tickets. I was 4 and 5 years old then and cried when they stopped playing. Then we had season ticket for the Showboats in the USFL. I was 13-15 years old and was devastated when they folded. Great memories of those two teams and leagues. One piece of memorabilia that I really want is a Memphis Southen game used helmet.:(
 
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#45
#45
Here's another defunct team that was a favorite of mine. The USFL's New Jersey Generals who existed between 1983-1985 and had Herschel Walker,Bobby Scott,Brian Sipe and Doug Flutie playing for them.


5669.gif
 
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#47
#47
peaygolf said:
My first professional football game I ever saw was a Memphis Southmen game. We had season tickets. I was 4 and 5 years old then and cried when they stopped playing. Then we had season ticket for the Showboats in the USFL. I was 13-15 years old and was devastated when they folded. Great memories of those two teams and leagues. One piece of memorabilia that I really want is a Memphis Southen game used helmet.:(
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There is no crying in football.
 
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#48
#48
Here's another former hockey team that was a favorite of mine the Macon Whoopie that played in the Central Hockey League from 1996-2001.

OIPKK0PKTP9.jpg
 
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