Thursday, August 25, 2011

Los Angeles Dons Custon Snapback Cap


The Los Angeles Dons were an American football team in the now defunct All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949 that played in the Los Angeles Coliseum.

For most of their existence, the Dons compiled an average record, and never qualified for the AAFC playoffs. The Dons' high points were their two victories over the Cleveland Browns. (The Browns won all four AAFC titles and amassed a four-year record of 52-4-3 which included a perfect season. Their dominance is generally considered the biggest reason why the AAFC folded.) Unlike the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, and Baltimore Colts, the Dons were not one of the AAFC teams that remained intact when the AAFC merged with the National Football League in 1950: they merged with the crosstown Rams of the older league after the 1949 season.

The leader of the ownership group was Benjamin Lindheimer, a Chicago real estate and race track executive. Other owners included Louis B. Mayer, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Don Ameche.[2]

One Dons player, William Radovich, formerly of the NFL Detroit Lions, filed a lawsuit against the NFL after being blacklisted from playing or working in it afterwards. It led to the Supreme Court ruling that professional football, unlike baseball, was subject to antitrust laws.

The Dons best seasons were from 1946–1948, although they never reached the playoffs. In 1949 the AAFC merged with the NFL, but the Dons were not one of the three teams admitted to the NFL. Those teams were the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, and the Baltimore Colts.


369th Infantry Regiment Custom Snapback


The 369th Infantry Regiment, formerly the 15th New York National Guard Regiment, was an infantry regiment of the United States Army that saw action in World War I and World War II. The 369th Infantry is known for being the first African-American regiment to serve with the American Expeditionary Force during World War I. The regiment was nicknamed the Harlem Hellfighters and the Black Rattlers, in addition to several other nicknames.

Chicago Cougars Custom Snapback Cap


The Chicago Cougars were an original franchise in the World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1975. The Cougars played their home games in the dilapidated International Amphitheatre. During the 1974 Avco Cup Finals against Gordie Howe and the Houston Aeros, the team's two home games were played at the Randhurst Twin Ice Arena in suburban Mount Prospect. This was because a presentation of Peter Pan starring gynmast Cathy Rigby was booked into the Amphitheatre and thus made the arena unavailable for the playoffs (see Peter Pan Incident, below).

Just prior to the their third season, the team was sold to Cougars players Ralph Backstrom, Dave Dryden, and player-coach Pat Stapleton after the original owners, Walter and Jordon Kaiser, were unable to secure funds to build a new arena. The land for the arena, originally named the O'Hare Sports Arena, was sold to the village of Rosemont and became the Rosemont Horizon (now the Allstate Arena). This building is the now the home of the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League.

They were placed in the Western Division for their first season (1972–73) and transferred to the Eastern Division for their final two seasons (1973–74 and 1974–75).



Saturday, August 06, 2011

Montreal Shamrocks Custom Snapback Cap


The Montreal Shamrocks were an amateur, later professional, men's ice hockey club in existence from 1886, merging with the Montreal Crystals club in 1896. They won the Stanley Cup ice hockey championship in 1899 and 1900. The club was a founding member of the National Hockey Association (NHA), the predecessor of today's National Hockey League.

Monday, August 01, 2011

Indianapolis ABCs Custom Fitted Cap


The Indianapolis ABCs were a Negro League baseball team that played both as an independent club and as a charter member of the first Negro National League (NNL). They claimed the western championship of black baseball in 1915 and 1916, and finished second in the 1922 NNL. Among their best players were Hall of Famers Oscar Charleston and Ben Taylor.

Originally organized by the American Brewing Company (thus "A.B.C.s") in the early 1900s, the team was purchased by Thomas Bowser, a white bail bondsman, in 1912. Two years later, C. I. Taylor, formerly of the Birmingham Giants and West Baden Sprudels, purchased a half-interest in the ABCs, and became the team's manager. Taylor stocked the ABCs with his brothers Ben, John, and Jim, all among the best African-American players in baseball. Taylor was a noted judge of young talent; some of the well-known players he brought to the big time included center fielder Charleston, second baseman Bingo DeMoss, third baseman/outfielder Dave Malarcher, outfielder George Shively, and pitchers Dizzy Dismukes, Jim Jeffries, and Dicta Johnson.

The Broadway Blueshirts Pennant Custom Snapback Cap

"Broadway Blueshirts", a common nickname for the New York Rangers.

Logo is hand screened felt to look like it was taken from old pennant

Boston Minutemen Custom Snapback


The Boston Minutemen were a soccer team based out of Boston that played in the NASL. They played from 1974 to 1976. Their home fields included Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, Veterans Memorial Stadium in Quincy and Sargent Field in New Bedford.

Portuguese legend Eusébio played for the Minutemen in 1975 as did famed American player Shep Messing.

The Minutemen started well, winning the Northern Division title in their first season and drawing over 9000 fans a match to Alumni Stadium, good for 5th highest in the league. They lost in the playoffs to eventual league champion Los Angeles Aztecs. When Eusebio came to Boston in 1975 (by which time the team had relocated to Nickerson Field) it seemed as though things would continue to look up. Though the team would win the Northern Division title again for the second time in as many seasons, attendance curiously fell to around 4000 - half of what it had been. In the playoffs the Minutemen lost to Miami in extra time.

For the 1976 season, team owner John Sterge announced the Minutemen would relocate again, this time to Harvard Stadium, but that deal collapsed before the start of the season and the team ended up playing in a hodge-podge of grounds: Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, Veteran's Memorial Stadium in Quincy, and Sargent Field in New Bedford. By this time Sterge was having financial difficulties (which ended in action by the Securities and Exchange Commission) and was compelled to sell off many of his players, including Eusebio, who went to the eventual champions Toronto Metros-Croatia. Attendance plummeted, the Minutemen lost their last 12 matches, and after the season they folded.