WHA unis...wow!

Wow, wow, wow! This is exciting stuff for a uniform fan like me! That WHA uni website is some piece of work!...

And I thought I was bad...the fellow who puts together these sites must really have some time on his hands...

We actually followed the WHA pretty closely in its first year, when the LA Sharks (whose home base was the LA Sports Arena) played a few games in Long Beach and their games were on local radio. I actually listened to many of them that first year. By 1973-74, however, the novelty had worn off, and the Kings, after several years of misery, had turned into a competitive team under the astute tutelage of Bob Pulford, so we could get our quality hockey fix by simply watching the Kings. The Sharks had some pretty sharp-looking uniforms, I thought, kind of in the Chicago Black Hawks color scheme and style. If I recall, there were games where the Sharks wore their red shirts and black pants at home, I don't think it was always the home whites for WHA teams in those days as it was the NHL...

The Sharks left with little fanfare after 1973-74 for Michigan. I probably hadn't thought about the Michigan Stags in almost 30 years, I believe they played in Cobo Hall, the old Piston arena (I'm sure they didn't share the Detroit Olympia with the Red Wings, but I suppose there's a website somewhere out there that will clue me in). I faintly recall their move to Baltimore, then completely lost contact and interest...

Had forgotten that the Philadelphia Blazers moved to Vancouver (didn't the Blazers play in old Convention Hall?), and that several old WHL teams, like the Denver Spurs and Phoenix Roadrunners, morphed into WHA teams for a short time. The Spurs always had very cool uniforms in the WHL days, and they maintained them for their short stint in the WHA. Great story how they became the Ottawa Civics but continued to wear the Denver uniforms, before folding after 7 agmes. Now I recall that CBS televised some WHA games after it lost the NHL contract to NBC in 1972-73, and I can remember a game involving the St. Paul Fighting Saints and the clear plastic dasher boards they had at the St. Paul arena. I believe Derek Sanderson's Blazers made an appearance or two on CBS as well. Forgot completely about subsequent WHA teams such as the San Diego Mariners, Calgary Cowboys, and Toronto Toros, who apparently moved to Birmingham to become the Bulls, but kept their logo from Toronto to save costs, I suppose. I believe Gretzky was originally an Indianpolis Racer, but I'll have to check which team had the young Messier...

Most of the WHA existed in a real fog for me after the Sharks for that first year, much as the second year (or part of a year) for the WFL in 1975 isn't nearly as clear in my memory as that first season. If Gary Davidson is still around, maybe he ought to write a book about all of these sports adventures of his. Then again, maybe he already did, so I'll be on the lookout. If I ever see it or something like it at Borders, I'd probably buy it...