Geography of Shreveport - Sports

Sports

Shreveport and Bossier City shared an Arena Football League team named the Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings and a Central Hockey League team, the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, during the late 1990s and the 2000s. However, both teams shut down operations in 2010 and 2011.

Shreveport and Bossier City now share an all women's flat track roller derby team named the Twin City Knockers. The team is the newest competing sport in the area being founded in January 2010.

Baseball in Shreveport has an extensive past. The current team is a Minor League Baseball team known as the Shreveport-Bossier Captains. Baseball teams in Shreveport have gone through eight different name changes and seven different leagues all since 1895.

Shreveport's rugby team, the Shreveport Rugby Football Club, was founded in 1977, making it the oldest continuously competing sport team in Shreveport. It is a member of USA Rugby and participates in the Texas Rugby Football Union.

Shreveport is the home of the Shreveport Aftershock of the Independent Women's Football League. The Aftershock play in the Midsouth Division of the Eastern Conference of the IWFL. The home field for the Aftershock is Independence Stadium.

Shreveport had an expansion team of the defunct World Football League known as the Shreveport Steamer in 1974. They played at State Fair Stadium (now known as Independence Stadium) from September 1974 through October 1975. The Steamer were originally the Houston Texans before moving to Shreveport in September of 1974. In their inaugural season they had a record of 7‑12‑1. They went 5‑7 in their final season in 1975. Shreveport also hosted a Canadian Football League football team in the mid-1990s known as the Shreveport Pirates. Bernard Glieberman, a Detroit real estate developer, was owner of the Ottawa Rough Riders of the CFL. In 1994, he sold the team and purchased the expansion franchise that ultimately wound up in Shreveport. He was allowed to take a handful of Ottawa players with him, including quarterback Terrence Jones. However, the Pirates became yet another unsuccessful American CFL team. Their first victory did not come until the 15th week of their initial season, and in 1995, all their victories came against Canadian teams. By 1996 the team had folded.

Shreveport is the birthplace, home, or former home of several American football stars and other noteworthy sports figures, among them:

  • Ken Anderson - (1975–2009), NFL player for Chicago Bears
  • Evelyn Ashford - (born 1957), winner of sprint gold medals at the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Olympics.
  • Scott Baker - (born 1981), starting pitcher for the Chicago Cubs
  • Miller Barber - (born 1931), pro golfer. 3‑time winner of the United States Senior Open
  • Arnaz Battle - (born 1980), NFL player for Pittsburgh Steelers
  • Alana Beard - (2004–present) WNBA player for the Washington Mystics in Washington, D.C. Duke University Alum
  • Albert Belle - (born 1966), LSU Baseball player and former MLB Baseball player
  • Josh Booty - (born 1975), former NFL quarterback and MLB third baseman
  • Terry Bradshaw - (born 1948), NFL star, former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, and actor
  • James Britt - (born 1960), NFL player for Atlanta Falcons
  • Art Carmody - (born 1984), NCAA football all-time leading scorer for a placekicker with 433 points
  • Steve Cox - (born 1958), NFL player for Cleveland Browns and Washington Redskins
  • Joe Delaney - (1958–1983), NFL player for Kansas City Chiefs
  • Kendrick Farris - (Born 1986), United States Olympian in Weightlifting (2008). Placed Eighth.
  • Joe Ferguson - (born 1950), NFL player for Buffalo Bills
  • Ryan Harrison (tennis) - (born 1992), professional tennis player
  • Charlie Hennigan - (born 1935), NFL player for Houston Oilers
  • Jacob Hester - (born 1985), NFL player for San Diego Chargers
  • Stan Humphries - (born 1965), former quarterback for the San Diego Chargers
  • Antawn Jamison - (born 1976), American basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers
  • David Allen Lee - (born 1943), NFL player for the Baltimore Colts
  • Tommy Maddox - (born 1971), NFL player for Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers
  • Bob Oliver - (born 1943), former Major League Baseball player
  • Robert Parish - (born 1953), Basketball Hall of Fame, NBA, Centenary College
  • Barbara Payne - (born 1932), only Louisiana native to play in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in its twelve years history
  • B. J. Ryan - (born 1975), Major League baseball player
  • Patrick Scott - (born 1964), NFL player for Green Bay Packers
  • Freddie Spencer - (born 1961), Grand Prix motorcycle champion, including winning both the 250cc and 500cc in the same year, 1985
  • Scotty Robertson - (1930–2011), basketball coach at Byrd High, School, Louisiana Tech University, and four NBA teams
  • Tommy Spinks - (1948–2007), NFL player for Minnesota Vikings
  • Hal Sutton - (born 1958), professional golfer
  • Stromile Swift - (born 1979), NBA player
  • Pat Tilley - (born 1953), NFL player for St. Louis Cardinals
  • David Toms - (born 1967), professional golfer
  • Randy Walker - (born 1951), NFL player for the Green Bay Packers
  • Todd Walker - (born 1973), Major League baseball player
  • Vernon Wells - (born 1978), Major League baseball player with the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Angels
  • David Woodley - (born 1958), NFL Quarterback for Miami Dolphins During his career he was the youngest quarterback to start Super Bowl

Shreveport was mentioned as a potential city to house the NFL's New Orleans Saints in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. It was passed over in favor of the much larger San Antonio and Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, though the Saints ended up remaining in New Orleans. The Saints did play a game in Shreveport against the Dallas Cowboys during the 2006 NFL preseason.

Shreveport's Independence Stadium has served as host of the Independence Bowl since 1976. The stadium is also the home of the Port City Classic which started in 2010 when Louisiana Tech University defeated Grambling. Also Independence Stadium is the 3rd largest stadium in Louisiana with a seating capacity of 61,000 people only behind the Mercedes-Benz Superdome of 72,000 and Tiger Stadium of 96,000 in Baton Rouge.

Read more about this topic:  Geography Of Shreveport

Famous quotes containing the word sports:

    “Short of a wholesale reform of college athletics—a complete breakdown of the whole system that is now focused on money and power—the women’s programs are just as doomed as the men’s are to move further and further away from the academic mission of their colleges.... We have to decide if that’s the kind of success for women’s sports that we want.”
    —Christine H. B. Grant, U.S. university athletic director. As quoted in the Chronicle of Higher Education, p. A42 (May 12, 1993)

    “...I didn’t come to this with any particular cachet. I was just a person who grew up in the United States. And when I looked around at the people who were sportscasters, I thought they were just people who grew up in the United States, too. So I thought, Why can’t a woman do it? I just assumed everyone else would think it was a swell idea.”
    —Gayle Gardner, U.S. sports reporter. As quoted in Sports Illustrated, p. 85 (June 17, 1991)

    “There be some sports are painful, and their labor
    Delight in them sets off. Some kinds of baseness
    Are nobly undergone, and most poor matters
    Point to rich ends.”
    —William Shakespeare (1564–1616)