Month: October 2022

The ABA in Birmingham

With apologies to the NBA – which I dearly love – the American Basketball Association is my all-time favorite roundball league.

High-flying, high-scoring athletes bouncing red, white and blue balls and then pulling up from 25-feet for a 3-pointer … it was fantastic.

Scott Adamson writes stuff. Follow him on Twitter @adamsonsl

And like many professional sports leagues that have come and gone, it had a brief flirtation with Birmingham.

The first tease came in January, 1972, when it was announced that the Kentucky Colonels and Pittsburgh Condors would play a regular season game at Birmingham’s Municipal Auditorium that March.

Dennis Lathem, a Birmingham native and group services manager for the ABA’s Dallas Chaparrals, said the game could serve as a “barometer” for the city’s chance at getting a franchise either through expansion or relocation.

“The ABA is expanding,” Lathem told the Birmingham Post-Herald. “But also, there is the possibility that some franchises will be moved in the near future. What it will take to get a team in here is first, the money. When I say money, I mean about a couple of million dollars from the owners of the franchise. A team that Is already playing in a city could be brought here for between one-and-a-half to two million.

“That’s not too much.”

He said there was a possibility the Chaparrals could play multiple games in Birmingham in the 1972-73 season.

“We play 40 games on the road and another 42 at home, so if we play a game or two in Birmingham, we’ll get a guarantee of the gate or other arrangements.”

If any team decided to pull up stakes, the Condors figured to be the first in line. Founded as the Pittsburgh Pipers in 1967 (and winning the inaugural ABA championship), the franchise moved to Minneapolis the next season (playing as the Minnesota Pipers), back to Pittsburgh in 1969, and rebranded as the Pittsburgh Condors by 1970.

Despite its out of the gate success fans lost interest as the franchise quickly floundered, and leading up to its game in Birmingham team officials were actively shopping it. It had already been reported that New Haven, Albuquerque and Tucson were on the Condors’ short list.

“I think I can safely say we will not be in Pittsburgh next year,” team public relations director Fred Cranwell told the Post-Herald for a March 14, 1972, story. “I can’t say where we will go because we don’t know. We will go where we are wanted.

“I can’t say we will offer Birmingham our club, but I can’t rule Birmingham out, either. But Birmingham is certainly one of the towns we’re considering.”

Was it really, though?

A crowd of 3,000 showed up at the 4,100-seat Birmingham venue on March 24 and saw the Colonels demolish the Condors, 134-107. Artis Gilmore – who prepped at Dothan High School and was on his way to an MVP year in the ABA – was the biggest draw of the night. He scored a team-high 27 points despite playing less than three full quarters. Teammate Dan Issel added 21.

Pittsburgh’s Dave Lattin led all scorers with 29 points, meaning Magic City roundball fans got to see three future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees put on a show.

But fans would not be cheering for the Birmingham Condors in 1973, regardless of how well this regular game had been received.

The following morning the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published a story stating that the Condors’ game against the Virginia Squires on March 26 would be the last in Pittsburgh and the team was likely headed to the Texas.

There was no mention of Birmingham at all.

Of course, it didn’t matter.

When the ABA held its summer meetings in June, both the Condors and The Floridians (based in Miami) were dissolved.

Only two of its original teams (Indiana and Kentucky) survived relocation, dissolution and/or name changes during the organization’s existence.

Ultimately, the ABA was outspent and outmaneuvered by the senior circuit, agreeing to a limited merger in 1976. The Indiana Pacers, New York Nets, Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs (originally the Chaparrals) were absorbed by the NBA.

As for Birmingham, big-time basketball returned earlier this month when the New Orleans Pelicans – parent club of the NBA G League Birmingham Squadron – played the Atlanta Hawks at Legacy Arena. There were 15,486 tickets sold and most of them were used as fans showed up in big numbers to watch the teams warm up for the 2022-23 campaign.

There’s no talk of getting an expansion team – that ship has likely sailed. But 50 years after the ABA made eyes at the Ham, we showed we can still be a pretty fun date.

Special thanks to good friend Joe DeLeonard for calling my attention to this bit of Birmingham basketball history.

Remembering Pop Bowl I

Today’s game between the New York Jets and Green Bay Packers isn’t the marquee matchup of Week 6; that honor goes to either Dallas at Philadelphia or Buffalo at Kansas City.

For me, though, it’s a pretty big deal.

Scott Adamson writes stuff. Follow him on Twitter @adamsonsl

As a Jets fan, the opportunity to pull off a road upset and improve to 4-2 is quite appealing, although if I told you I was confident about such a result, I’d be lying.

More important than my rooting interest, though, is that the contest will be the 14th Pop Bowl.

What’s the Pop Bowl?

I’m glad (I’m pretending) you asked.

My dad was a Packers fan, explaining to me they became his favorite NFL team when Don Hutson signed in 1935. Hutson had played college ball at Alabama, and Pop enjoyed following the pro exploits of guys who had ties to the state. By the time Bart Starr – another former Crimson Tide player and future NFL legend – was drafted in 1956, he was fully committed to the team no matter where it got its players.

As a kid I was drawn to the high-octane, draw up plays in the dirt offenses showcased in the American Football League, quickly glomming on to the New York Jets and anointing guys like Joe Namath, Emerson Boozer, Matt Snell and Don Maynard as my gridiron heroes.

Pop enjoyed the AFL, too – and was happy when the Jets were successful because it made me happy. But with the two leagues separate until the 1970 merger (and they weren’t on each other’s schedule in 1971 or 1972), there was no chance the teams would meet short of a title game.

But finally – on September 17, 1973 – Pop and I had the chance to battle each other for braggin’ rights when the Green and Gold and Green and White faced off.

It was the season opener, with the Pack coming off an NFC Central title and the Jets finishing 7-7 (and having the misfortune of sharing the AFC East with the perfect Miami Dolphins).

I was convinced Namath and company would have a bounceback year in ‘73, while Pop was happy to see former Alabama signal caller Scott Hunter (who Namath helped recruit) behind center for Green Bay.

“If Hunter hadn’t gotten hurt in college (a separated shoulder his senior season) he’d be one of the all-time great passers,” Pop would often tell me.

This was a Monday Night Football presentation, and that made things even better. MNF was still in its relative infancy and seemed especially important to me due to the presence of Frank Gifford, Don Meredith and Howard Cosell in the booth.

“This is like the Super Bowl,” I said.

“If the Jets win,” Pop said, “we’ll call it the Scooter Bowl.”

(“Scooter,” if you’re wondering, was one of my nicknames as a youth).

“And if the Packers win,” I said, “we’ll call it the Pop Bowl.”

We spent the whole game giving each other a hard time (in a good-natured fashion) and he had a whole lot more reason to cheer than I did. I don’t remember a lot of the details, but the Packers won, 23-7, at Milwaukee County Stadium.

Chester Marcol kicked three field goals for Green Bay, Hunter threw a touchdown pass, and Namath was picked off once and the Jets had three turnovers in all.

Thus, “Pop Bowl I” went to, well, Pop.

With the infrequency of their meetings (and the fact that neither team was a natural choice in the Birmingham TV market) this never became an annual event. They didn’t meet for a second time until 1979, and squared off only seven times over the next 15 seasons.

Still, I’d always remind Pop of their upcoming games, and we’d discuss them while sharing the Monday newspaper when I lived at home or over the phone when I had moved away and was working for a newspaper.

Even when the Jets won (and they hold an 8-5 series lead) I’d still call it the “Pop Bowl” because that’s just how I like to think of it.

The last time he had a chance to “trash talk” me came on November 13, 1994, when the Packers managed a 17-10 victory at Lambeau Field. He razzed me as best he could – he loved saying things like, “I’d hate to lose a game to a team whose quarterback is named Boomer (Esiason)” – but his voice was weak and for the first time I could ever recall, he seemed feeble.

Three weeks later he was diagnosed with cancer, and on December 25, 1994, he died.

We watched a lot of football together over the years – college and pro – and even when the teams we rooted for lost, it still made for special memories because we always had fun together.

But Pop Bowl I? That was extra special.

And since they were his favorite team, I won’t be too sad if the Packers come away with the victory this afternoon.

I’ll just be sad I can’t give Pop a hug when it’s over.  

The WFL’s path to Memphis

The Memphis Southmen were arguably the most notable team in the brief history of the World Football League. They shocked the sports world by luring Larry Csonka, Paul Warfield and Jim Kiick away from the NFL champion Miami Dolphins, counted Elvis Presley as one of their biggest fans, and even met payroll – a rarity in the WFL.

What’s interesting, though, is the Southmen (also known as the Grizzlies) were actually the second WFL franchise awarded to the land of the Delta Blues. And Memphis city officials initially wanted no part of this new league at all.

Scott Adamson writes stuff. Follow him on Twitter @adamsonsl

Gary Davidson formed the WFL in late 1973, touting a league that would be international in scope. But as the fledgling circuit moved closer to a July, 1974, launch date, it became apparent that its flagship clubs would be in North American cities.

San Francisco sports promotor Steve Arnold, who was involved with other Davidson ventures such as the American Basketball Association, World Hockey Association and World Team Tennis, owned the Memphis entry. He was officially granted the franchise on January 15, 1974, and said his first order of business was to get local people involved.

A local person not involved, however, was Memphis mayor Wyeth Chandler.

“Nobody from that league (the WFL) has contacted me,” Chandler told the Associated Press. “My aim is to get us into the NFL. At the present time, I think Memphis will only support big league sports and that means the National Football League.”

The NFL Expansion Committee was slated to meet just days after Davidson gave Arnold rights to the team, and Memphis, Phoenix, Seattle, Portland, Tampa and Honolulu were considered leading candidates to land one of two new NFL teams expected to begin play in 1976.

The president of Mid-South Sports Inc., Mike Lynn (who went on to become an executive and minority owner of the Minnesota Vikings and president of the World League of American Football) certainly didn’t want the sport’s biggest league to have a reason not to come there.

“The community would boycott any move at this time to bring in a World Football League franchise,” Lynn told AP. “It would be an economic disaster unlike any that has ever been seen in the history of professional sports.”

While Arnold faced resistance from the mayor, he did get a slightly warmer reception from the Memphis Park Commission, which operated Memorial Stadium. As the NFL continued to consider its expansion options, the commission in February voted to negotiate with Arnold about use of the stadium on Wednesday and Thursday nights when WFL games would be played.

But the commission decided not to discuss the negotiations again until a March meeting, which was just four months before the new league’s July 10 launch.

Arnold considered that a stalling tactic and believed the commission wanted to wait until the NFL made a firm decision on 1976 expansion before getting in bed with the WFL. So instead of waiting around, he decided to take his franchise to Houston.

With the WFL out of the picture Memphis could put all its energy behind an NFL push, and for a time it appeared to be a smart move. At a February meeting Lamar Hunt, head of the expansion committee, had high praise for the Bluff City and hinted that when the NFL announced an expansion decision in April, pro football fans in Tennessee might just hear some pretty good news.

Instead, only Tampa was named as a future NFL franchise and the second team for 1976 wouldn’t be determined until June. Still, Lynn told the Memphis Commercial Appeal in late April he had heard from “the highest possible source” that Memphis would join the exclusive NFL club on June 4. NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle denied the report, saying “there has been no decision of any kind relative to expansion that was not publicly announced.”

But Memphis’ WFL story was not over.

John Bassett, owner of the WFL Toronto Northmen, had caused a seismic quake in the sport by signing Csonka, Warfield and Kiick for the 1975 season. That deal demonstrated that the new gridiron business was serious about being a major league but pressure from the Canadian government – who wanted to keep the Canadian Football League safe from an American football invasion – prompted Bassett to take his franchise south of the border.

Just as news broke that Memphis was apparently headed to the NFL, Northmen officials began touring Memphis and scouting the city as a possible relocation site.

Had Memphis officials received a public commitment from the NFL, the Toronto club would’ve continued to search for a new home in the United States. But on May 2, 1974, Chandler and members of the Park Commission met with Bassett to discuss a non-exclusive contract for Memorial Stadium, which was home of the annual Liberty Bowl.

Just five days later, the movers and shakers in Memphis had become convinced the NFL was, in fact, not ready to set up shop in Tennessee. Seattle’s construction of a domed stadium and the NFL’s chance to grow the league in the Pacific Northwest had apparently moved that city next in the expansion line.

So, on May 6 the commission voted 3-1 to lease the stadium to the WFL entry, angering NFL proponents who saw the move as a death knell.. In fact, on the same day Bassett held his news conference announcing the Northmen’s southern move, Mid-South Sports filed a class action suit in an effort to void the WFL stadium lease.

Millionaire grain dealer Ned Cook was hoping to be part of an NFL ownership group but said those dreams were shattered by the commission’s vote.

“Well,” he told United Press International, “Memphis just kissed the NFL goodbye.”

Chandler, who was quick to oppose the WFL’s first flirtation with Memphis, told the Commercial Appeal the situation had changed dramatically due to the NFL’s indecisiveness.

“I think I would have to have from Mr. Rozelle a statement to the effect that the NFL will come to Memphis,” he said. “I think we’ve heard this other and we’ve heard it up to our ears prior to this (expansion committee) meeting in New York.

“Everybody said, ‘Chandler, you’re in, just hang in there.’ And then I went to New Orleans and got the word that we weren’t in, we weren’t out – we were in limbo, and that’s even worse.”

Chandler added that Bassett leading the ownership group and changed his opinion of the WFL.

“Steve Arnold came here to sell a franchise,” Chandler said. “He owned the franchise, he lived wherever it was (San Francisco), he had no intention of ever moving to Memphis or anything else. He was coming here merely to try to get a stadium agreement on the front end and then try to sell the franchise to somebody. We didn’t have any idea who it might be or who we were dealing with or anything else. He was a seller.

“Now the guy we dealt with here (Bassett) is a businessman, the son of a very wealthy man and, of course, apparently wealthy in his own right who, together with other identified parties, also well-to-do businessmen in Canada, are now the buyers. They’re not selling anything.”

On June 5 the NFL granted Seattle an expansion franchise, and Chandler told AP that meant allowing the WFL to set up shop was the proper move.

“It would appear we made the right decision,” he said. “We felt that the NFL was keeping us hanging loose while they negotiated with Seattle. The NFL hasn’t contacted me since the WFL moved here. It just shows that there weren’t enough votes to get an NFL franchise then (in April) or now.”

The Southmen had the best regular season record in the WFL’s 1974 season (17-3) and won the Central Division before being upset by the Florida Blazers in the playoffs. They averaged 21,505 fans per game.

The league itself was a financial dumpster fire but was reinvented in 1975, allowing Csonka, Warfield and Kiick to show off their abilities seven times at Memorial Stadium, pulling in 19,695 fans per game. The trio’s star power notwithstanding, with no national TV contract the “new” WFL had no chance at survival.

It folded on October 22, 1975, and Memphis – along with the Birmingham Vulcans – announced they were applying for membership in the NFL.

That’s another column for another time …