Category: History and More

Since I’m a “man of a certain age,” I find myself cheering for athletes who continue to excel beyond their perceived expiration dates.

As a New York Jets fan I’m morally obligated to despise the New England Patriots, but I can’t help but admire 43 year-old Tom Brady.

Japanese soccer player Kazuyoshi Miura is 52, Atlanta Hawks guard Vince Carter is 43, Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara is 42 … professional sports is considered a younger person’s game but occasionally experience – and skill – eclipse trips around the sun.

Perhaps the sport that does the best job of keeping older guys in the game is golf. The Champions Tour has helped some 50-plus players make more money than they ever did on the PGA Tour.

But my favorite over-the-hill competition was the Senior Professional Baseball Association, which unfortunately had an extremely short shelf life.

Formed on May 31, 1989, it was designed to give big name stars age 35 and over a chance to keep on shining.

“This will be competitive baseball with a touch of entertainment,” SPBA founder Jim Morley told the Gannett News Service during the league’s introductory news conference.

Teams would be placed at existing spring training sites in Florida, with plans to expand to Arizona and California in the future.

The Northern Division featured the Bradenton Explorers, Orlando Juice, St. Petersburg Pelicans and Winter Haven Super Sox while the Gold Coast Suns, Fort Myers Sun Sox, St. Lucie Legends and West Palm Beach Tropics comprised the Southern Division.

The season started on Nov. 1 and consisted of 72 games with tickets running in the $5 range.

“(Fans) are going to pay $5 to see some of their idols play,” All-Star third baseman Graig Nettles said.

And there were idols aplenty, from players such as Fergie Jenkins, Rollie Fingers and Dave Kingman to managers Earl Weaver and Dick Williams. Curt Flood served as commissioner.

Considering modest fan support was all that was needed to stay afloat, the SPBA seemed like something that could become an offseason baseball staple.

“The people in Florida have a dollar to spend, and they don’t want to see Goofy all the time,” Pitcher Bill “Spaceman” Lee told Gannett.

I was excited about it but – since I didn’t live in Florida – never made it to a game and couldn’t watch it because the league’s modest TV contract didn’t extend much beyond SPBA cities.

Still, I looked forward to any highlights that occasionally popped up on ESPN and combed the newspapers for box scores every day.

For fans in the stands, however, the novelty quickly wore off.

While attendance was solid in the very early stages, it plummeted as the season wore on. By the time the Pelicans defeated the Tropics 12-4 in the one-off championship game, the SPBA was already on shaky ground.

All things considered the quality was decent – day-to-day players like Ron Washington and Mickey Rivers had a few innings left in them, and Milt Wilcox, Joaquin Andujar and Pete Falcone showed they could still throw strikes even if their heat wasn’t quite as hot.

Yet Florida-based baseball fans obviously preferred spring training ball to what they seniors were giving them.

When the SPBA regrouped for year two, only four of its original franchises remained and the league lineup fell from eight to six teams.

The circuit did, in fact, add franchises in Arizona (Phoenix) and California (San Bernardino), but after just a couple of months of play the wheels fell off.

Ownership and investor disagreements within with the Fort Myers team in December, 1990, forced the cancellation of that club’s remaining games, and the five other teams then voted to cancel the rest of season.

“Most of the time in this situation the reason is financial,” Morley told the Associated Press. “This isn’t financial. Fort Myers is far and away the wealthiest franchise. They have an internal partnership problem.”

The last day of the SPBA was officially December 26. Morley vowed that a new an improved version of the league would return in 1991, but it never happened.

Big league senior baseball was dead.

The window for a league like this was a small one, and I’m guessing it’s closed forever. With colleges starting in February and the World Series cutting into November, baseball is already practically a year-round sport anyway. I can’t imagine a real appetite for senior pro baseball.

If one ever pops up again, though, it’ll have my support.

As the late, great Satchel Paige is credited with saying, “Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it don’t matter.”

I can say with absolute certainty that at no time during my teens, twenties, thirties or forties did I ever say, “I’m excited about the start of a new American rugby season.”

Allow me to make up for lost time.

This weekend Major League Rugby begins its third campaign, and I’m genuinely looking forward to it.

It has grown from seven to 12 clubs in just three years, given a showcase to American players while bringing in some international stars, and looks like it might have the makings of a stable league.

I was curious about it in 2018 and got hooked last season. New MLR commissioner George Killebrew knows the key to long-lasting success is making sure American sports fans like me know it’s out there.

“I’m very excited for the opportunity to serve as the commissioner for Major League Rugby,” Killebrew said in an MLR news release. “I plan to build upon the groundwork that the MLR has laid in its first two seasons and use the third season to cement the league in the professional sports market. I will be working towards building ticket sales and sponsorships revenues and developing the very best media platform possible as we continue to help grow rugby participation across North America.”

MLR features 11 United States-based teams and one Canadian entry.

The Eastern Conference is made up of the New England (Weymouth, Massachusetts) Free Jacks,  NOLA (New Orleans) Gold, Old Glory DC, Rugby United New York,  Rugby ATL (Atlanta) and the Toronto Arrows.

Comprising the Western Conference are the Austin Gilgronis, Colorado (Glendale) Raptors, Houston SaberCats, San Diego Legion, two-time MLR champion Seattle Seawolves and Utah (Herriman) Warriors.

Each club plays 16 matches followed by the playoffs.

Atlanta, D.C. and New England are the new additions for 2020, and further (though careful) expansion is eyed in coming seasons. For now, the league’s focus is succeeding where it’s at and establishing itself as a viable circuit.

“For those of you new to the (Utah Warriors) and Major League Rugby, this concept isn’t going anywhere – it’s here to stay,” Kimball Kjar, CEO of the Utah team, said during his club’s recent media day event. “This is one of the fastest-growing leagues in the United States because people love the sport in America, they just don’t know it yet.”

I was among those flying blind when I first caught a match on CBS Sports Network a couple of years ago. I knew enough about it to loosely follow what was going on, and I was familiar with the reputations of the All Blacks (New Zealand), Springboks (South Africa) and Wallabies (Australia).

But the more I watched the more interested I became, so I checked out a couple of library books on rugby rules and strategy, and even watched some YouTube videos explaining game play.

United States Rugby is the national governing body for the sport in America, and features more than 120,000 members. There are quality club and college teams all across the country, and many players plucked from those ranks are now on MLR rosters.

But it never hurts to bring in big names from abroad, especially when you’re trying to put your league on the map. (Each team is allowed up to 10 internationals per roster).

Yes, imports like Tendai Mtawarira (Old Glory DC), Ben Foden (Rugby United New York) and Ma’a Nonu (San Diego Legion) are in their mid-30s, and you can make a strong case that they see MLR as a “retirement league.”

That doesn’t mean they’re washed up. Mtawarira, in fact, was a major reason South Africa won the World Cup last year and is a huge get heading into 2020.

“(Signing Mtawarira) is an incredibly strong message that the MLR competition is now a league that top players are starting to take seriously,” U.S. National Rugby Team coach Gary Gold said. “To have a player of Tendai’s ability, and in his current form, as we saw in the recent RWC final, is a testament to the work that has been put in over recent years to form a sustainable competitive competition in the USA that can attract players of the quality of Tendai.”

Part of the fun for me, though, is getting to know players I never knew before and watching as they (hopefully) turn this league into something special.

The season begins today with Colorado versus Houston at noon and Old Glory DC facing NOLA at 4 p.m.

On Sunday Rugby ATL hosts Utah at 3 p.m.; New York meets New England in Las Vegas at 4 p.m.; Seattle travels to San Diego for a 5 p.m. match; and Toronto takes a road trip to Austin for an 8 p.m. contest.

I’m glad I jumped on the MLR bandwagon.

And I’m excited about the start of a new American rugby season.

Break out the red, white and blue basketballs, dust off the Converse high-tops and let your hair down – or blow it out big and round.

It’s the 53^rd anniversary of the American Basketball Association’s birth, and today I pay tribute to the greatest roundball circuit ever created.

Announced on February 1, 1967, the ABA was officially unveiled during a news conference in New York on February 2. Plans called for the circuit to be divided into an Eastern Division featuring franchises in Indianapolis, Minneapolis, New York, New Orleans and Pittsburgh and a Western Division of Anaheim, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City and Oakland.

Former National Basketball Association great George Mikan was named commissioner, and he made it clear the newbies were going to challenge the NBA for talent.

“I have not read the present NBA contract, (but) we would be stupid not to ask players if they are not tied down,” Mikan told the Associated Press. “You have to respect contractual obligations, but if there is a player without a contract, we invite him to contact us.”

As for a bidding war, Mikan fully expected it.

“When two people compete, you show me a way it won’t spiral cost,” he said. “I’d like to be a 25-year-old kid now. The NBA isn’t happy with our move. They try to give the impression there’s no room for somebody else, but they’re expanding.”

Philadelphia 76ers standout Wilt Chamberlain was the first target of the ABA, and the 7-1 center didn’t deny his interest – or the interest of other NBA stars.

“I have been approached,” Chamberlain told the Newspaper Enterprise Association syndicate. “I do listen to all financial offers – that’s all I can tell you. I know some of the other names, but I can’t reveal them.”

As a kid I wasn’t concerned with the business aspect of the ABA, but they had me at the red, white and blue basketball.

“It’s a patriotic ball,” Mikan told the Associated Press when he unveiled the multi-colored orb on August 19, 1967. “Everyone will stand when this one goes up.”

It was the 3-point shot (from 25-feet and beyond), however, that kept me.

It was actually a rule “borrowed” from the defunct American Basketball League, which lasted only one full season in the early 1960s.

“It gives the smaller players who usually perform at guard more of an opportunity to star in the ABA,” Mikan told United Press International. “It’ll open up the defense and make the game more enjoyable for the fans.”

Other rules that differed from the NBA included a 30-second shot clock and 12-foot lane.

But you have to have athletes to succeed, and the upstarts got them. In fact, 36 players selected by the NBA in the 1967 draft chose the ABA instead.

The league started in October, 1967, and actually had 11 teams – the Anaheim Amigos, Dallas Chaparrals, Denver Rockets, Houston Mavericks, Indiana Pacers, Kentucky Colonels, Minnesota Muskies, New Jersey Americans, New Orleans Buccaneers, Oakland Oaks and Pittsburgh Pipers.

Chamberlain decided to stay in the NBA but the ABA had guys like Connie Hawkins and Doug Moe, and quality basketball was delivered right out of the gate.

Over nine seasons the ABA produced superstars such as Julius Erving, Moses Malone and Artis Gilmore, and it was easy to love the high-scoring, free-spirited nature of the league. The players performed with such joy and abandon that it made every game fun to watch.

Like most leagues that challenge the establishment, however, the ABA struggled. Only two of its original teams (Indiana and Kentucky) survived relocation, dissolution and/or name changes during the organization’s existence.

And with most of its teams losing money (and losing bidding wars to the NBA) the ABA had no choice but to agree to a limited merger in 1976.

The Pacers, New York Nets (originally the Americans), Denver Nuggets (originally Rockets) and San Antonio Spurs (originally the Chaparrals) were absorbed by the NBA, and the American Basketball Association was no more.

I hated to see it go, but glad at least a few pieces of it lived on.

To this day the Nets remain my favorite pro team, and I always find myself rooting for the ABA survivors against the rest of the NBA.

The best part, though, is that the ABA’s stars and rules influenced the NBA to such a degree that it elevated the sport. Look at it that way, and it’s like the American Basketball Association never even left.

Still, I miss that red, white and blue basketball …