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Logo of an old National Basketball Association franchise, the Rochester Royals, who played in the league from 1945 until 1957, when they were relocated to Cincinnati. In the team’s early pre-NBA years, Otto Graham played for them, before moving on to his true calling as an NFL quarterback. Some of the notable players from the Rochester years, besides Graham, include Red Holzman, Maurice Stokes, Jack Twyman, Alex Hannum, Al Cervi and Chuck Connors, who went on to television fame as “The Rifleman”. The Royals won the NBA championship in 1951, the only title in franchise history for the team that still exists today, as the Sacramento Kings.

Logo of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team used between 1954 and 1960, and revived on the uniform sleeves of the team today.  They were officially the “Redlegs” in that era, and in ’54, Nino Escalera became the first black player to play for the franchise. Other notable players during this era, which was mostly a losing period for the team, include Ted Kluszewski, Joe Nuxhall, Jim Maloney, Vada Pinson, Gus Bell, Billy Martin and Frank Robinson. Despite being a losing club, the team was headed for better days. They made it to the World Series in 1961, and in 1960 signed 2 future players to amateur contracts who would have a great impact on the franchise – Pete Rose and Tony Perez.

Logo of the World Hockey Association Cleveland Crusaders, who played in the league from 1972 until 1976. The team’s most notable player was goaltender Gerry Cheevers, signed away from the NHL’s Boston Bruins. Their fate was sealed when the NHL California Golden Seals relocated to Cleveland and became the Barons. Unable to compete with the NHL, the franchise moved to Minneapolis and became the Minnesota Fighting Saints. The Crusaders’ top scorer in their four year history was Gary Jarrett, and another of their memorable players was Paul Shmyr, who had an appropriate last name considering that he racked up 538 penalty minutes in the team’s four years.

In the World Football League’s inaugural season in 1974, the league decided to go international and put a franchise in Canada – the Toronto Northmen, whose logo is on the left. However, Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau ruled that no American-based football team would be allowed to play in Canada in competition with the Canadian Football League under the country’s Canadian Football Act. So, after being legislated out of existence in Canada, the franchise moved to Memphis and became the Southmen, and adopted the logo on the right. Fans never warmed to the team’s nickname, and they were usually referred to as the “Grizzlies”. The team was owned by Canadian businessman John Bassett, and he made a huge splash by signing away 3 stars from the NFL’s top team at that time, the Miami Dolphins. Those players were receiver Paul Warfield and backs Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick, with the moves pretty much gutting Miami’s offense. The team had a 7-4 record with the 3 new stars in 1975 but the league folded before the season ended.  The team was pretty successful on the field in the league’s short existence with a 24-7 won-lost record, and among their home crowds was one famous fan – Elvis Presley, who was widely known to be a huge  football fan.

Logo of  basketball’s New York Knickerbockers, used by the NBA franchise from their inaugural season in the Basketball Association of America (predecessor of the NBA) in 1946 until 1963. the Knicks, along with the Boston Celtics, are the only 2 original NBA teams still located in their original city. During the years this logo was used, the Knicks made the NBA finals three straight years (1951-1953) and were the first team to sign an African American player, Nathaniel “Sweetwater” Clifton, in 1950, although Clifton wasn’t actually the first to play in an NBA game – that honor went to Earl Lloyd of the old Washington Capitols. The Knicks of this era were involved in one of the NBA’s most historic games – in 1962, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points against them in a game played in Hershey, Pa.

Here is another logo of a team from the old World Football League, the Birmingham Americans. They were the league’s most successful franchise, winning all 13 of their home games in the league’s two year existence, and winning the 1974 “World Bowl”, the WFL’s championship game. It turned out to be the only title game for the league, as it folded before the ’75 season was completed. The Americans drew well at the box office, but ran into money troubles by signing NFL players to “future” contracts that included huge bonuses. Some of the players paid bonuses who, of course, never played for the team were Ken Stabler, Jethro Pugh, Rayfield Wright, Ron Jessie and L.C. Greenwood. After the team’s World Bowl victory, Jefferson County Deputy Sheriffs came into the locker room and seized the players’ uniforms and equipment due to the massive debts owed by the team’s ownership.

One of the most iconic logos in all of sports, the logo of the National Hockey League’s Montreal Canadiens. The franchise is one of the NHL’s “original six” teams, but is the only team that actually pre-dates the founding of the NHL. They are one of the oldest professional sports franchises in North America, and also one of the winningest, having captured 24 championships in their long and storied history. “Les Habitants” have had a lot of legendary players over the years, including Maurice “The Rocket” Richard, Jean Beliveau, Toe Blake, Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion, Jacques Plante, Guy Lafleur, Ken Dryden, Larry Robinson and Patrick Roy. There is a misconception about the “C” and “H” on the team’s logo. Most people think the “H” is for “Habitants” in tribute to Canada’s bilingual culture in the province of Quebec, but the “H” actually stands for “Hockey”, and the “C” for “Canadien”, as the team’s official name is “le Club de Hockey Canadien”.

Logo of the Southern California Sun, a franchise in the short-lived World Football League in the 1970s. They were coached by former L.A. Ram legend Tom Fears and had winning records in their 2 years of existence in 1974 and ’75. They played their home games at Anaheim Stadium, and produced some quality quarterbacks in their short existence. In ’74 their signal caller was league Co-MVP  Tony Adams, then in ’75 they signed former Raider Daryle Lamonica, the “Mad Bomber”, and former USC Trojan Pat Haden, who is currently the athletic director at the school.

This is the logo of basketball’s Milwaukee Bucks, used by the NBA franchise from their inaugural season in 1968 until 1992. The Bucks, like every typical expansion team, struggled in that first season but then won a coin flip with fellow expansion team Phoenix to get the first draft choice. That choice turned out to be a lanky rookie center from UCLA named Lew Alcindor, who amazingly not only improved the team’s fortunes but helped them win the NBA title in their third season, the fastest any expansion team in any major sport ever took to win their league’s title.  That team was coached by Larry Costello and also included Oscar Robertson, Jon McGlocklin and Bob Dandridge. Alcindor, of course, eventually changed his name to Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Logo of the National Lacrosse League’s Buffalo Bandits, a very successful indoor lacrosse franchise that was born in 1992 as an entry into the Major Indoor Lacrosse League (MILL). The Bandits, hugely popular at the box office, won the MILL championship in each of their first 2 seasons in the league and 3 titles in their first 5 years. The team has been in the league championship game 4 other times also, winning another title in 2008. Key players over the years for the Bandits are Darris Kilgour, John Tavares (uncle of NHL New York Islanders star of the same name) and Mark Steenhuis.