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John Bassett (USFL)
John F. Bassett (February 5, 1939 – May 15, 1986) was a Canadian tennis player, businessman, and film producer. Athletic career Bassett won the Canadian Open Junior Doubles Championship in 1955 when he was 15 years old. He reached the second round of the 1959 U.S. National Championships in singles, appearing only in the main draw of the tournament. Bassett never played a Davis Cup match for Canada, though he was on the team in 1959. He was also a member of Canada's 1959 Pan American Games tennis team. He played tennis, squash, football, and hockey at the University of Western Ontario. Bassett was also a successful squash player; he reached the semi-finals of the 1969 Canadian Open and was champion of Ontario from 1965 to 1967. Business career In 1960, Bassett initially worked as a reporter for ''The Victoria Times.'' He later worked for the family-owned ''Toronto Telegram'' until it folded in 1971. Bassett also worked as a motion picture producer, serving as a president of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Canada, it is Canada's most populous province, with 38.3 percent of the country's population, and is the second-largest province by total area (after Quebec). Ontario is Canada's fourth-largest jurisdiction in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are included. It is home to the nation's capital city, Ottawa, and the nation's most populous city, Toronto, which is Ontario's provincial capital. Ontario is bordered by the province of Manitoba to the west, Hudson Bay and James Bay to the north, and Quebec to the east and northeast, and to the south by the U.S. states of (from west to east) Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Almost all of Ontario's border with the United States f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birmingham Bulls (WHA)
The Birmingham Bulls were a professional ice hockey team based in Birmingham, Alabama. They played in the World Hockey Association from 1976 to 1979 and the Central Professional Hockey League, Central Hockey League from 1979 to 1981. The Bulls played their home games at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center. Prior to being in Birmingham, the team was known as the Ottawa Nationals and the Toronto Toros. The Birmingham Bulls' name has been used for other hockey teams such as the Birmingham Bulls (ECHL), Birmingham Bulls of the East Coast Hockey League and the Birmingham Bulls (SPHL), Birmingham Bulls of the Southern Professional Hockey League. History The Toros had been modestly successful on the ice since moving to Toronto before the start of the 1973–74 season and had drawn fairly well by WHA standards. However, onerous lease terms at Maple Leaf Gardens led owner John Bassett to move to Birmingham. After the move to Birmingham, general manager, Gilles Leger coached the t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Football League
The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be played in the autumn/winter, directly competing against the long-established National Football League (NFL). However, the USFL ceased operations before that season was scheduled to begin. The ideas behind the USFL were conceived in 1965 by New Orleans businessman David Dixon, who saw a market for a professional football league that would play in the summer, when the National Football League and college football were in their off-season. Dixon had been a key player in the construction of the Louisiana Superdome and the expansion of the NFL into New Orleans in 1967. He developed "The Dixon Plan"—a blueprint for the USFL based upon securing NFL-caliber stadiums in top TV markets, securing a national TV broadcast contract, and controllin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Warfield
Paul Dryden Warfield (born November 28, 1942) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) from 1964 to 1977 for the Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins, except for a year in the World Football League (WFL) with the Memphis Southmen. He was known for his speed, fluid moves, grace, and jumping ability. A consistent big-play threat throughout his career, his 20.1 average yards per reception is the highest in NFL history among players with at least 300 receptions. As a star Halfback (American football), halfback in college for the Ohio State Buckeyes football team, Warfield was twice named to the All-Big Ten Conference team. He was drafted in the first round of the 1964 NFL Draft by the Browns and converted into a wide receiver. After three Pro Bowl appearances with the Browns, he was traded to the Dolphins, with whom he made another five Pro Bowl appearances. He then spent one season in the WFL w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Kiick
James Forrest Kiick (; August 9, 1946 – June 20, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a running back. He played for the Miami Dolphins in the American Football League (AFL) from 1968 to 1969 and in the National Football League (NFL) from 1970 through 1977, except for 1975 when he played in the World Football League. He was a member of the undefeated 1972 team, and was an integral part of the ball-control running game which characterized the Dolphins under head coach Don Shula in the early 1970s. Kiick played in three Super Bowls and is the Dolphins' fourth all-time leading rusher. He and fullback Larry Csonka, known as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," in 1973 co-wrote a book, ''Always on the Run''. They shocked the sports world in 1974 when they signed with the newly-formed World Football League. Early life Born and raised in Lincoln Park, New Jersey, Kiick played football, baseball, and basketball at Boonton High School. He made the All ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larry Csonka
Larry Richard Csonka (; born December 25, 1946) is a former professional American football fullback who played for the Miami Dolphins for the majority of his career, along with the New York Giants for three years, and a short stint with the Memphis Southmen in the WFL. Csonka is mostly remembered for his success during his tenure with the Dolphins, which included being a member of their 17–0 perfect season in 1972, and winning Super Bowl championships in 1972 and 1973, the latter of which he was named Super Bowl MVP when he ran for a then-record 145 yards. A five-time Pro Bowler, and three-time first-team All-Pro, Csonka remains to this day as the Miami Dolphins franchise's all-time leading rusher with 6,737 yards and 53 touchdowns. In his last year with the Dolphins in 1979, Csonka also won the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award. Csonka was inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987. Csonka is also currently o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team plays its home games at Hard Rock Stadium, located in the northern suburb of Miami Gardens, Florida. The team is currently owned by Stephen M. Ross. The Dolphins are the oldest professional sports team in Florida. Of the four AFC East teams, the Dolphins are the only team in the division that was not a charter member of the American Football League (AFL). The Dolphins were also one of the first professional football teams in the southeast, along with the Atlanta Falcons. The Dolphins were founded by attorney-politician Joe Robbie and actor-comedian Danny Thomas. They began play in the AFL in 1966. The region had not had a professional football team since the days of the Miami Seahawks, who played in the All-America Football Conference in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Memphis Southmen
The Memphis Southmen, also known as the Memphis Grizzlies, were an American football team based in Memphis, Tennessee. They played in the World Football League (WFL), which operated in 1974 and 1975. They played their home games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. From North to South The team was originally slated to be based in Toronto, Canada, with the nickname of the Northmen. However, when Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announced that no U.S.-based professional football league would be allowed in Canada in competition with the Canadian Football League under the Canadian Football Act, a change in venue and nickname was announced. From the beginning, Memphians disliked "Southmen" and the team was informally known as the Memphis Grizzlies. The name appeared to come from the logo, a representation of a bear backed by the sun. The "Grizzlies" were owned by John F. Bassett. A multi-millionaire, Bassett gave the league instant credibility by signing three stars from the Nat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Football League
The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest the WFL reached was placing a team – the Hawaiians – in Honolulu, Hawaii. The league folded midway through its second season, in 1975. A new minor football league began play as the World Football League in 2008 after acquiring the rights to its trademarks and intellectual property; it folded in 2011. History Gary Davidson, a California lawyer and businessman, was the driving force behind the World Football League. He had helped start the moderately successful American Basketball Association and World Hockey Association, some of whose teams survived long enough to enter the more established National Basketball Association and National Hockey League, respectively. Unlike his two previous efforts, the World Football League did not brin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cincinnati Stingers
The Cincinnati Stingers were an ice hockey team based in Cincinnati that played in the World Hockey Association from 1975 to 1979 and in the Central Hockey League during the 1979–80 season. Their home arena was Riverfront Coliseum. They are the only major league hockey team to have played in Cincinnati. History The Stingers franchise was awarded in 1974 as part of the WHA's ill-conceived attempt at expansion. They entered the league for the 1975–76 WHA season along with the Denver Spurs. Most of the league's existing teams were not financially stable, and franchise relocations were commonplace. The Stingers achieved enough stability that they were the only one of the WHA's five expansion teams that lasted through to the end of the league, but they were left out of the NHL–WHA merger in the summer of 1979. The WHA insisted on including all three of its surviving Canadian teams, though below-average attendance made it unlikely that the Stingers would have made the cut. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NHL-WHA Merger
The 1979 NHL expansion was the culmination of several years of negotiations between the National Hockey League (NHL) and the World Hockey Association (WHA) that resulted in the WHA and its six surviving franchises folding in return for the owners of four of those teams (the Edmonton Oilers, New England Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets) being granted expansion franchises that commenced play in the NHL for the 1979–80 season. The agreement officially took effect on June 22, 1979. The agreement ended the seven-year existence of the WHA and re-established the NHL as the lone major league in North American professional ice hockey. The two leagues had discussed the possibility of some sort of amalgamation for numerous years, despite the acrimonious relationship between the two after the WHA aggressively recruited NHL players upon the former's founding in 1971. The two sides came close to an agreement in 1977, but the proposed merger was defeated by a group of hard-line NHL ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Winnipeg Jets (1972-1996)
The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, playing its home games at Canada Life Centre. The Jets were established as the Atlanta Thrashers on June 25, 1997, and began play in the 1999–2000 NHL season. True North Sports & Entertainment then bought the team in May 2011, and relocated the franchise to Winnipeg prior to the 2011–12 season, making them the first NHL franchise to relocate since the Hartford Whalers became the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997. The team was renamed the Jets after Winnipeg's original WHA/NHL team, which relocated after the 1995–96 season due to financial issues to become the Phoenix (later Arizona) Coyotes. History Original Winnipeg Jets (1972–1996) On December 27, 1971, Winnipeg was granted one of the founding franchises in the World Hocke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
