Pocketball Team Histories w/ Logos

[jmoe12]

That trolls logo is epic

[JMurr]

Toronto Terriers

An expansion franchise to begin play in 1936 was awarded to the prime minister of Canada William Lyon Mackenzie King. He established the team in his country’s largest city Toronto and nicknamed them the Terriers in reference to his love for the Irish Terrier dog bread. The team made their home in Toronto’s famed Maple Leaf Gardens. King owned the team until the day he died on July 22, 1950. Following his death the Terriers were taken over by the owner of the NHL’s Maple Leafs and operator of the Maple Leaf Gardens. That man’s name was Conn Smythe. Immediately upon taking over the team Smythe added detail to the logo and made changes to the teams colors.

Toronto Terriers (1936-1949)

In 1962 Smythe sold the team to a group led by his son Stafford Smythe. Under the new arrangement the younger Smythe would be the majority and controlling owner with 40% stake, while he was joined by minority partners John Bassett and Harold Ballard each of whom owned 30%. Shortly after taking control of both the Terriers and Maple Leafs Stafford Smythe and Harold Ballard came under investigation for tax evasion and misappropriation of funds. Ballard went to trial first and was convicted but on October 13, 1971 Stafford Smythe died from bleeding ulcers perhaps brought on by the stress of his pending trial. Smythe’s shares were sold to Harold Ballard even though he had by now been sentenced to prison. This made Ballard the majority owner of the Terriers with 70% but for the first two years of his stint as such, while he was incarcerated, control of the team was left to John Bassett.

Toronto Terriers (1950-Present)

Upon Ballard’s death on April 11, 1990 the executor of his will, Steve Starvo, purchased not only Ballard’s shares of the team but also Bassett’s; thus making him the sole owner of the Terriers. In 1999 Starvo would sale Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and Larry Tanenbaum is hired as the team president. The following season the team would move into the newly built Air Canada Centre.

The most recent new development for the Terriers was that Tim Lieweke was hired as the team president beginning with the 2014 season.

[JMurr]

Philadelphia Quakers

For the 1937 season Connie Mack was awarded an expansion franchise. He established his team in The Palestra in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and called them the Philadelphia Quakers. Shortly thereafter Peter A. Tyrrell, who was the court appointed receiver for the Philadelphia Arena, purchased the Quakers and moved them into that area to aid in its recovery.

Philadelphia Quakers (1937-1953)

In 1954 Tyrrell created a new logo for the team.

Philadelphia Quakers (1954-Present)

The Quakers served their purpose to Tyrrell and helped him to turn around the Philadelphia Arena but by 1966 he was ready to sale the club. Coincidentally a young sports investor was gobbling up sports franchises in Philadelphia at the time; his name was Jerry Wolman. Wolman was already in the planning phases for constructing a new arena in South Philadelphia but before the project could move along his finances would crumble around him. By 1968 he was forced to sale the team to Ed Snider who was able to move the team into that new arena The Spectrum.

That arena would be the long term home of the Quakers and beginning in 1994 it would go through several name changes; starting with CoreStates Spectrum. Before the arena would get a third name however they moved into a brand new nearby arena in 1997. That arena was called the CoreStates Center but it too would go through several name changes beginning with First Union Center in 1999. Then in 2003 it became the Wachovia Center. Finally in 2011 the arena became Wells Fargo Center.

[Tyrano123]

Loving the old Philly logo. Sort of reminds me of the Phillies which is a no brainer. You're doing a great job!!! Keep this up, it's very interesting.

[JMurr]

New Jersey Atlantics

In 1938 one of the most influential people in Atlantic City, New Jersey was awarded an expansion franchise. That man was Enoch L. Johnson and he move the team that he called the New Jersey Atlantics into Boardwalk Hall. The league would shortly come to reget granting Johnson a club as in 1939 he was indited on tax evasion charges. Johnson refussed to surrender the team as he faced the charges but following his conviction in 1941 the league was finally able to force him to sale the team. The new owner was another Atlantic City politician named Frank S. Farley.

New Jersey Atlantics (1938-1995)

Farley would hold onto the team until his death on September 24, 1977. John Hay Whitney would purchase the team. He likewise would hold the team until his death on February 8, 1982. His wife Betsey Cushing Roosevelt Whitney would inherit the team. In 1985 she would sale the team to Donald Trump who was at the time trying to build his own sports empire, having also aquired the USFL New Jersey Generals. In the late ‘80s Trump was facing some finacial issues that involved a lawsuit from Merv Griffin. Trump was by now coviting the New York pocketball franchise and he sall an opportunity from the lawsuit. As part of the settlement Trump handed the Atlantics over to Griffin.

In 1996 the team got its first new logo.

New Jersey Atlantics (1996-2007)

In 2001 Jeffrey Vanderbeek owner of the NHL New Jersey Devils purchased the Atlantics. In 2008 Vanderbeek moved the team out of Atlantic City and into the newly built Prudential Center in Newark. Such a drastic change was also a great opportunity to redo the logo in a retro fashion that reflected the original look of the team.

New Jersey Atlantics (2008-Present)

[JMurr]

Next five

1. Ft. Worth Longhorns / Texas Bones

2. Hollywood Stars

3. Minnesota Greyhounds / Chicago Greyhounds

4. St. Louis Clydes

5. San Francisco Bulls / Bayside Bulls

[JMurr]

Loving the old Philly logo. Sort of reminds me of the Phillies which is a no brainer. You're doing a great job!!! Keep this up, it's very interesting.

thank you

[JMurr]

after those five the next five will be

6. New York Towers / Hershey Towers / Cincinnati Crowns / Dallas Giants / Shreveport Yellow Jackets / Kansas City Wanderers / Texas Wanderers / Viajeros de Mexico / St. George Reds / Toronto Towers

7. Atlanta Varsity / Tucanes de Yucatan / Atlanta Varsity

8. Albuquerque Roadrunners / Arizona Roadrunners / Bandidos de Chihuahua

9. Portland Roses

10. Dakota Pilots / Long Island Pilots / Long Island Scouts / New York Pumas

[jmoe12]

Terriers logo is my new favorite, Great work again. Excited for the Greyhounds!

[PSUcelticsWON95]

Loving this. I think the Atlantics logo is pry my favorite. And WOW the Towers have a LONG history! Keep up the good work!

[JMurr]

Ft. Worth Longhorns / Texas Bones

Founded in 1940 the Ft. Worth Longhorns were the creation of Amon G. Carter, a proud citizen of Ft. Worth. Carter loved his city and he was aware that it lived in the shadow of Dallas. Carter however would do anything to upstage his larger and more prominent neighboring city. So when he acquired an expansion team for the area of course he would make sure it played in Ft. Worth and carried a name that reflected that fact. Ft. Worth’s economy had long been built upon the cattle industry and the longhorn bull was a symbol of it. The teams home area was the Will Rogers Memorial Center.

Ft. Worth Longhorns (1940-1982)

On June 23, 1955 Carter passed away and left the team to the care of his daughter Ruth Carter Stevenson. She would long own the team but in 1983 she felt that operation of the team had become too competitive for her to financially keep up so she was forced to sale the team. The best offer came from businessman Don Carter. Stevenson knew that he inteneded to move the team to Dallas, which her father would be pained to know, so she made Carter commit to one stippulation of sale; so long as he owned the team it could not use the name Dallas it must either be called by the locations of Texas or Ft. Worth.

Carter did indeed move the team once he took them over; moving them into Reunion Arena in Dallas. He would however honor the commit he had made and the new name of the team would become the Texas Bones. Carter would hold onto the team until 2001 when he would sale the team along with the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks to Mark Cuban. The next season the team would move into the newly built American Airlines Center.

Texas Bones (1983-Present)

In 2014 Cuban would seek to purchase the Pittsburgh Challengers, his hometown team. In order to do this he was forced to sale the team which he did to Nolan Ryan.

[JMurr]

Hollywood Stars

Legendary boxer and Hollywood darling Jack Dempsey was awarded an expansion franchise for the 1941 season. He moved the team into the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, California but he named his team the Hollywood Stars in reference to the city’s most desirous occupation. In 1951 the team would move across town into a location more fitting of the Hollywood moniker. That arena was the Pan Pacific Auditorium. The team would move again in 1972 due to the pending closer of the Pan Pacific Auditorium. Their new home would be the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

Hollywood Stars (1941-1984)

In 1979 Dempsey would finally sale the team to California politician John V. Tunney. Tunney had little interest in running the team he only purchased the team to keep them in California, their had been some talk that someone might purchase the team and move them out of state. In 1981 Tunney found a new owner for the team that had every intention of leaving her mark by making the team a serious contender; that person was Georgia Frontiere, owner of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams.

In 1985 Frontiere gave the team a new look for the first time in its long history. In 1995 the daughter of Jerry Buss, Jeanie Buss, the owner of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers was looking to establish herself as a sports team executive so her father helped her purchase the Stars from Frontiere. By 1998 however Jeanie had decided that focusing her attentions on a team in this league was not the direction she wanted to continue for her life so she sold off most of her stake in the team. The new majorit owner, with 70% was Philip Anschutz. Buss held onto 20% of the team and they were joined by city council man Joel Wachs who purchased 10%.

Hollywood Stars (1985-Present)

In 2000, like so many other LA teams, the Stars moved into the newly built Staples Center. In 2007 Joel Wachs would sale half of his ownership to each of his partners.

[JMurr]

Minnesota Greyhounds / Chicago Greyhounds

In 1943 the founder of Greyhound Lines, Inc. became the found of the Minnesota Greyhounds as well. That man Eric Wickman established his team at the Minneapolis Auditorium and named them after his business. The team originally featured Red and Yellow as their colors but this would be changed in 1952 when they got a new logo and adopted colors that better reflected his famous buses. Only a couple years later on February 5, 1954 Wickman died and left no heir to his team. Consequently the league assumed control of the team for the 1955 season. Unable to find a new owner that year the league moved the team to Chicago for the 1956 season believing they were more likely to find a new owner with the team located in the larger city. They moved into the Chicago Coliseum. Chicago had gone from having two teams in 1944 to no teams by 1947. Now nine years later the league was putting a team back in what was at the time America’s second largest city. The move also came with an adapted logo.

Minnesota Greyhounds (1943-1951)

Minnesota Greyhounds (1952-1955)

Chicago Greyhounds (1956-1986)

The leagues strategy worked and in 1957 the team was purchased by Philip K. Wrigley. In 1960 the team moved into Chicago Stadium on Madison Avenue. In April of 1977 Philip K. Wrigley died and this time the Greyhounds were left to an heir. His son William Wrigley III was given the team.

In 1987 another color change would come to the team when their blue would be swapped for a shade of green. This was done along with a new logo.

Chicago Greyhounds (1987-Present)

By 1994 the owners of the NBA’s Chicago Bulls and the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks wanted a new arena. The “Madhouse on Madison” needed to be upgraded in their opinion. As a step towards making this happen those two men, Bill Wirtz and Jerry Reinsdorf, joined together to purchase the Greyhounds. They would split ownership 50/50 but Writz would control opporation of the team. By the 1995 season the new “Madhouse”, officially named the United Center, was completed and the Greyhounds moved in.

Wirtz controlled the team until the day he died on September 26, 2007. Following his passing Reinsdorf assumed full ownership and controll of the Greyhounds.

[kevsim1]

Love the Hounds. The histories are all great as well!

[JMurr]

Terriers logo is my new favorite, Great work again. Excited for the Greyhounds!

hope you approve of the Greyhounds

[JMurr]

St. Louis Clydes

St. Louis had been home of the fifth franchise in the league but between 1930 and 1946 the city had no team. That changed in ’46 when Gussie Busch moved a team into St. Louis Arena. It was he who had introduced the use of Clydesdale horses into the advertising of Budweiser; he also chose these animals to represent his team. The name was shortened to Clydes however because Busch felt it rolled off the tounge better.

St. Louis Clydes (1946-1965)

In 1966 he made the first adjustment to the teams logo. Another would come in 1972, the first to actually feature the likness of a Clydesdale horse.

In 1977 Purina purchased the St. Louis Arena and painted the roof of the area in a checkered pattern; the name was officially changed to the Checkerdome while it existed in this way.

St. Louis Clydes (1966-1971)

St. Louis Clydes (1972-1977)

In 1978 the team received a new logo. By 1984 the ear of the checker roof was over and the arena revereted back to the name St. Louis Arena.

Gussie Busch died on September 29, 1989 and the team was taken over by his son August Busch III.

St. Louis Clydes (1978-Present)

In 1994 Busch aggreed to move the Clydes into a new arena under construction in St. Louis. While they waited for its completion the Clydes temporarily moved into Lindenwood Ice Arena in Wentzville, Missouri. In 1995 they moved into the new arena; the Kiel Center back in St. Louis. In 2001 the arena was renamed Savvis Center. Again it would be renamed in 2007; this time to Scottrade Center.

[JMurr]

San Francisco Bulls / Bayside Bulls

In the late 1940s a developer named Henry Doelger was building his masterpiece Westlake development in a city south of San Francisco called Daly City. Another famed part of Daly City was an arena called the Cow Palace, drawing from its use as an exobition hall for live stock shows. In 1948 Doelger was awarded an expansion franchise and moved them into the Cow Palace. In reference to the arenas name Doelger called his team the San Francisco Bulls.

In 1958 Doelger sold the team to the man who had brought the Giants to San Francisco Horace Stoneham and San Francisco mayor George Christopher. Stoneham with 70% ownership was the majority and controlling owner.

San Francisco Bulls (1948-1981)

In the mid-1970s Stoneham was threating to sale both the Giants and the Bulls to investors who would move the team to Canada. To preserve both teams for the bay area real estate mogul Bob Lurie steped and purchased both teams before the 1976 season.

In 1980, inspired by Retirement Systems of Alabama who owned the Mobile Lions, California’s equivalent organization, CalPERS invested in the league by purchasing the Bulls. Jesse M. Unruh was hired by them to be the team president. A year after doing so they moved the team into the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena in Oakland. The move came with a new logo and a name change to Bayside Bulls.

Bayside Bulls (1981-1993)

Unruh ran the team until his death on August 4, 1987 after which Grey Davis was hired as team president. The Davis era was a drastic change from the Unruh days. Davis decided that CalPERS needed to divest of the team so he sold it in 1991 to a group of silicone valley businessmen and the mayor of San Jose. San Jose mayor Tom McEnery was the leader of the group, purchasing 40%. He was joined by Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, and Larry Ellison each of whom owned 20%.

In 1994 the new owners moved the team into San Jose Arena. This move came with an updated logo again. In 2002 the arena was renamed Compaq Center at San Jose only to change names to HP Pavilion at San Jose a year later.

Bayside Bulls (1994-Present)

In 2006 Tom McEnery sold his share of the team to Larry Ellison making him the majority and controlling owner with 60%. Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs sold their shares to Ellison’s friend Mark Hurd.

In 2014 their arena got a new name again when it became SAP Center at San Jose.

[JMurr]

the next ten to come will be

1. New York Towers / Hershey Towers / Cincinnati Crowns / Dallas Giants / Shreveport Yellow Jackets / Kansas City Wanderers / Texas Wanderers / Viajeros de Mexico / St. George Reds / Toronto Towers

2. Atlanta Varsity / Tucanes de Yucatan / Atlanta Varsity

3. Albuquerque Roadrunners / Arizona Roadrunners / Bandidos de Chihuahua

4. Portland Roses

5. Dakota Pilots / Long Island Pilots / Long Island Scouts / New York Pumas

6. New York Towers

7. Aztecas de Mexico

8. Vancouver Lumberjacks

9. Manitoba Mounties

10. Montgomery Rebels / Seattle Rascals

[PSUcelticsWON95]

Lookin good. I'm sure I'll have to skip school just to read the entire history of the Toronto Towers XD

[JMurr]

New York Towers / Hershey Towers / Cincinnati Crowns / Dallas Giants / Shreveport Yellow Jackets / Kansas City Wanderers / Texas Wanderers / Viajeros de Mexico / St. George Reds / Toronto Towers

The second incarnation of the New York Towers dates from 1949. That year New York City master planer Robert Moses was awarded an expansion franchise. He moved the team into the 69^th Street Armory in Manhattan and named his new team after New York City’s first team. New York would once again lose their Towers when candy tycoon H.B. Reese approached Moses and offered to purchase the team from him. Moses sold and in 1955 Reese moved the team to Hershey Park arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The team was given a new logo and was renamed the Hershey Towers.

New York Towers (1949-1954)

Hershey Towers (1955-1956)

On May 16, 1956 Reese suffered a heart attack and died. Basketball team owner Lester Harrison, who was at the time in talks of moving his Rochester Royals to Cincinnati, quickly arranged to purchase the Towers from Reese’s estate. Once he owened this team it helped him secure authorization to use Cincinnati Gardens, since he now had two tennets for the arena. So in 1957 he moved the Towers to Ohio and renamed them the Cincinnati Crowns. The name tied together with his Royals basketball team and it also aluded to Cincinnati’s nickname as the queen city. Lester would sale the Royals just after moving to Cincinnati but he would hold onto the Crowns until 1967.

Cincinnati Crowns (1957-1966)

That year Fritz von Erich purchased the Crowns and moved them to the Dallas Sportatorium in Dallas, Texas. Von Erich was a Texas native professional wrestler. He often competed at the Dallas Sportatorium. Considering that it is said every thing is bigger in Texas, von Erich renamed the team the Dallas Giants.

Dallas Giants (1967-1970)

The fact of the matter was that von Erich really was not financially in a way to sustain ownership of a professional sports franchise. Furthermore the Dallas Sportatorium was a rather poor venue. Therefore von Erich would sale the team in 1971 to Dallas oil man Jack Crichton. Interestingly enough though Crichton could see that the Dallas Sportatorium was a poor venue for a professional sports franchise, he also understood that the Ft. Worth Longhorns were the much prefered team in the region. So once again the franchise hit the road, this time moveing to Gold Dome in Shreveport, Louisiana. Shreveport was the city Crichton actually grew up in and he renamed the team after his high school mascot; Shreveport Yellow Jackets.

Shreveport Yellow Jackets (1971-1974)

Truth be told the Gold Dome was not much better a pro sports venue then the Sportatorium and Shreveport struggled to support the franchise. So in 1975 once again the team was sold. Kansas City, Missouri had recently built an arena called Kemper Arena; named for the man who donated the land on which the venue was built. That mans son R. Crosby Kemper, Jr. purchased the Yellow Jackets and moved them into Kemper Arena. Kemper was astutly aware of how his team had wandered about over the years so he rebranded them this time as the Kansas City Wanderers.

Kansas City Wanderers (1975-1981)

In 1982 the team returned to Texas when grocer Charles Butt purchased them and moved them into Bayfront Plaza Auditorium in Corpus Christi, Texas. Butt loved the Wanderes name, considering the teams history, so he kept it calling them the Texas Wanderers. A year later Butt would sale 95% ownership of the team to the burger resturaunt company Whataburger. Butt was hired to be the team president. One year later from this transaction Whataburger had the team logo and colors reworked to reflect their ownership of the team.

Texas Wanderers (1982-1983)

Texas Wanderers (1984-1985)

The team had never been stable so why start now. Whataburger decided to sale 50% of ownership to Raymond Telles a former Mayor of El Paso, Texas in 1986. This made Telles 50% majority and controlling owner, Whataburger 45% owner, and Charles Butt still 5% owner but no longer in charge. Telles moved the team across the state and into El Paso County Coliseium in his home town. The name, Texas Wanderers still worked so he kept it, but he had the logo reworked.

Texas Wanderers (1986-1989)

By 1990 both Telles and Whataburger had lost interest in the team and so once again it was on the market. This time a Mexican corporation, Cemex, purchased all of Telles and Whataburgers shares; this made them 95% owners of the team. Butt held onto his 5% stake. The company’s CEO Lorenzo Zambrano was hired as the team president. The team was moved to Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City. The word Wanderers did not translate directly into spanish so the team was renamed Viajeros de Mexico (Mexico Travellers). The changes came with a reworked logo.

Viajeros de Mexico (1990-1994)

In 1995 Cemex decided to sale the franchise. By now league officials had enough. They were prepared to puchase the franchise back and retract it. They now believed anyone who bought it would take it lightly assuming that when the time came they could simply pass it onto a new owner who would do as he wished with it for five years or so and then pass it on again. Before the league bought the franchise back however they were approached by Utah businessman Jerry Atkin who came to them and suggested that the trouble with the franchise was that since leaving Cincinnati they had never really had a home town that imbraced them. He asked the league to take a risk on him and a small market that he assured them would love the team simply for the fact they had a major sports franchise. He said to them “think Green Bay, Wisconsin”. His sales pitch worked and the league allowed Cemex to sale Atkin their ownership in the team; Butt remained 5% owner.