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Logo of the Houston Texans football team, but not the current NFL franchise. These Texans played almost a single season in the old World Football League, in 1974. “Almost” because after going 3-7-1 in their first 11 games of existence in ’74, they were relocated to Shreveport, Louisiana to finish the season. The Texans raided the NFL for a couple of veterans, QB Craig Morton and DT John Matuszak, who was involved in a strange incident. In a game against the New York Stars, he recorded a sack, then was removed from the game because his old NFL team, the Houston Oilers, obtained a restraining order barring him from playing in the WFL.

Logo of a minor league baseball team that for one season was the royalty of the sport , the Queens Kings. They played one season, in 2000, as a member of the short-season Class A New York-Penn League, and were affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays. The team relocated from St. Catharines, Ontario for the 2000 season, but after only one year were sold and moved to Brooklyn, where they became the Cyclones and began an affiliation with the New York Mets. A couple of Kings’ alumni are former AL All Star Alex Rios and Arizona closer Brandon Lyon.

This is the brand new logo of the newest member of the National Hockey League, the “new” Winnipeg Jets. The “old”  Jets were one of the WHA teams that were absorbed into the NHL, but the city lost that franchise when it moved to Phoenix in 1996. This incarnation of the Jets came to be when the Atlanta Thrashers franchise was sold and moved to the western Canadian city. Oddly, until the league realigns at some point, the Jets will play in the Eastern Conference’s Southeast Division. The new logo pays homage to the Canadian Forces Air Command 17 Wing, which is based in Winnipeg.

Logo of the San Francisco Demons, a football team from the short-lived “XFL”, a springtime league started by wrestling promoter Vince McMahon in 2001. The club was originally known as the San Jose Demons but wound up playing in Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco. The team had the smallest stadium in the league, yet had the best attendance numbers in the league, which was pretty much a dismal failure.

Logo of the original Harlem Globetrotters, a team of basketball showmen who have barnstormed across the country entertaining fans since 1926. They were created by promoter Abe Saperstein and their act consisted of tremendous basketball skills combined with comedy. On any given night, they usually face the Washington Generals, a team of patsies who play along with all the humorous Trotter tricks. The club is legendary, and even defeated the NBA champion Minneapolis Lakers two years in a row in exhibition matches in the late 1940s. They are accompanied on most nights in arenas they play in by their official theme song, Sweet Georgia Brown, and some of their most recognizable players include Meadowlark Lemon, Goose Tatum, Curly Neal, Marques Haynes and the team’s first female player – Lynette Woodard. Their roster over the years has also included NBA greats Wilt Chamberlain and Connie Hawkins and two baseball Hall of Famers – Bob Gibson and Ferguson Jenkins.

Logo of a minor league baseball team that plays in the AA Texas League, the San Antonio Missions. They are affiliated with the San Diego Padres, and have been in existence since 1988. The city has actually had a AA team since 1888, and there have been a number of versions that used the “Missions” nickname. In those earlier incarnations, they were affiliated with the Baltimore Orioles, and their roster included Brooks Robinson, and also with the Chicago Cubs, with Billy Williams and Ron Santo playing for them. The current franchise won Texas League titles in 2002 and 2003 while affiliated with the Seattle Mariners.

Logo of a National Hockey League team that, as of the start of the 2011/12 season will cease to exist – the Atlanta Thrashers. The Thrashers entered the NHL as an expansion team in 1999 as the city’s second attempt to sell the sport in the Georgia city. Atlanta had previously lost the Flames to Calgary, Alberta, and the Thrashers will now be relocated to Winnipeg and become the second incarnation of the Jets. Some notable players in the franchise history include Kelly Buchberger, Ilya Kovalchuk, Dany Heatley, Marian Hossa, Marc Savard and Kari Lehtonen.

An “alternate” logo of the old Houston Oilers football team, used in 1964 and ’65, when the team was a charter member of the American Football League. The team, after winning the first 2 AFL titles, was in a downward spiral during these 2 seasons, finishing 4-10 both years under coaches Sammy Baugh, the legendary QB, and Hugh Taylor. The team had some of the more memorable  players in its’ history on the roster, including George Blanda, Sid Blanks, Charley Tolar, W.K. Hicks and split end Charley Hennigan, who had a then-record setting 101 catch season in ’64.

Logo of an old National Basketball Association team, the Cincinnati Royals. This logo was used from 1957, when the team relocated from Rochester, NY, until 1971, when the team was moved to Kansas City and became the Kings. The team was competitive in its’ years in Cincinnati but never won any titles. Some of the most legendary players in NBA history played for them, including Oscar Robertson, Maurice Stokes, Jack Twyman, Wayne Embry, Jerry Lucas and Sihugo Green. Boston Celtic legend Bob Cousy coached the team in the late ’60s, but the franchise declined after trading Lucas and Robertson and eventually moved to Kansas City. The franchise currently exists as the Sacramento Kings, after moving there from Missouri in 1985, but may be in danger of relocation again.

Logo of baseball’s Detroit Tigers used in 1927 and 1928. This is a pretty sad looking tiger that appears to have a severe overbite. The two seasons in which this logo was used were very different in that in 1927, despite finishing fourth in the American League, the team had an 82-71 record. They won only 68 games in ’28 and wound up sixth in the eight team AL. Maybe that’s why the logo tiger looks so sad. Two Hall of Famers played for Detroit in this era – Charlie Gehringer and Heinie Manush, while another, Ty Cobb, retired prior to the ’27 season. That would be another reason for the tiger to be sad.