Ask the investors in the WFL, USFL, AAF, AFL, XFL, UFL, WUSA, PCPFL, ABL, WHA, IHL, CISL, MISL, ASL, WLAF, NLL, MLL, WPSL and the dearly departed CBA: How are you going to succeed when you can’t even remember the names of the leagues?
Good luck naming the teams that played in those pro sports leagues – or what the initials stand for.
OK, starting a new business is never easy, especially in the world of prospering as the owner of a professional sports franchise.
Let’s take a trip down Amnesia Lane to Northern California’s Professional Sports Hall of Has-Beens. My team of researchers spent weeks looking through sports graveyards to complete the following list for your review. Who is going to be the next Bay Area team or league to join this list?
Defunct minor league baseball teams from Northern California that were once part of the Pacific Coast League include the San Francisco Seals, Oakland Oaks, San Francisco Mission Reds, Sacramento Solons and San Jose Missions. The Oakland Larks, a member of the West Coast Negro Baseball League, is also no more.
Football teams from the region no longer in operation include the San Francisco Clippers (Pacific Coast Professional Football League), Oakland Invaders (United States Football League), San Francisco Demons (XFL), San Jose Sabercats (Arena Football League) and Sacramento Surge (World League of American Football), along with the
San Francisco Tsunami and Oakland Banshees of the Women’s Football League.
Basketball teams that went bye-bye include the Oakland Oaks (American Basketball League), San Francisco Saints (ABL-Women), San Jose Lasers (ABL-Women), San Francisco Pioneers (Women’s Professional Basketball League), Sacramento Monarchs (WNBA), San Francisco Pilots (ABA), San Francisco Rumble (ABA) and San Jose Jammers (Continental Basketball Association).
In hockey, the California Golden Seals (NHL), San Francisco Bulls (East Coast Hockey League), San Francisco Shamrocks (Pacific Coast Hockey League) and San Jose Spiders (International Hockey League) are no more.
Fifteen soccer teams are also gone, along with two lacrosse teams, two softball teams, a pair of volleyball teams, three tennis teams, two roller hockey teams, a rugby team and a cricket team.
There’s a possibility that a few new teams are on the way to the Bay, possibly as part of the WNBA, National Women’s Soccer League and United Soccer League.
Andy Dolich operates Dolich & Associates, a sports consultancy, in Los Altos. A local resident, he has more than 30 years of experience as an executive for professional baseball, basketball, football, hockey and soccer teams.
