THE SPORTS MINUTES: A snapshot of The 330's rich sports history from BMX to boxing
Akron Vulcans
The Akron Vulcans extinguished before they even caught a spark. The team with a flaming logo was named after the process of vulcanizing rubber in Akron, but since it started in 1967, more people equated them with Leonard Nimoy’s Vulcan TV character, Spock, on “Star Trek.” The irony soon became apparent as the Vulcans came nowhere near living long or prospering. Before its season with the Continental Football League even started at the Rubber Bowl, its coach and general manager left, igniting rumors that owner Frank Hurn was in financial trouble. Turns out the rumors were true. After a 1-3 record, the debt-ridden team disbanded and officials embarrassingly raided the box office to pay the players and sold equipment to regain money. At least they make the winless Cleveland Browns look good. Maybe?
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Akron Black Stockings
The clock resets at the start of each Akron Black Stockings game. An umpire leaning on a cane and sporting a top hat and a long-tailed three-piece suit declares that it’s the 1860s, “a time period when men were gentlemen, and women were ladies, and a man’s word was his honor.” A part of the Vintage Base Ball Association, the team stepped up to the plate at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens in 1995 to keep the spirit of gentlemanly competition alive. Using 1860s rules and vocab, players in long-sleeved period uniforms hit a small, softer ball with thin bats and catch with no gloves (ouch) as “cranks” (in modern words, fans) cheer them on in hopes of scoring a “tally,” er, run.
Motozilli
A little piece of Hollywood is parked in the new Warren motorcycle museum, Motozilli. The museum shows off this Junior Speedway bike — one of only 10 — that’s a scaled-down replica of the one that Bruce Penhall raced. He was later in the ‘90s film Chips about California Highway Patrol motorcycle officers. The Junior Speedway was one wild ride: There were no brakes. “Give it gas and hold on,” recalls Jim Iacozili, owner of the bike and of Triumph Yamaha of Warren. Motozilli is a joy ride through the Northeast Ohio motorcycle racing scene Iacozili and other speedsters were a part of with prized bikes, trophies, jerseys and more. triumphyamahaofwarren.comAkron BMX Museum
Akron BMX came out on top its first year. After volunteers fought to keep a local BMX track when Stow BMX was demolished to make way for the high school, officials opened Akron BMX near the Derby Downs in 1985. That year, the Akron BMX team competed in the Battle of the Tracks in Marietta and scored a first place overall for Ohio trophy, which is on display in the Akron BMX Museum alongside other accolades and gear. The track is the biggest in Ohio and has been named a Top 10 East USA BMX track. In September, the track plays host to the USA BMX North East Gold Cup Finals. usabmx.com/tracks/1886
Akron Armory
In the ‘50s and ‘60s, this 2,500-seat High Street venue packed in capacity crowds for high-profile wrestlers and boxers like Haystacks Calhoun, Earnie Shavers and Dr. Sam Sheppard (?!). Strangely, Sheppard, the Bay Village doctor famously convicted of killing his wife and later acquitted, tag-teamed with friend George “The Great George” Strickland to wrestle competitors in 1969. The last boxing match took place on April 5, 1980, after a popularity surge in baseball and basketball overtook boxing and brought an end to the historic venue in 1982.
Ascot Park
Akronites were off to the races at Ascot Park in the 1940s. Horse-racing spectators flocked to the uniquely short three-quarter-mile track that allowed them to view horses clearly, even on the backstretch. Local lore preserves the story of Chiffon who won the Gold Cup in 1951 after running the race pregnant and Loyal Son who won the Ascot Gold Cup in 1967 despite entering as the underdog. In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, the park hosted circuses and motorcycle races. Marred by vandalism and deemed a safety hazard, the grandstands were demolished in 1976 in a firefighter-training exercise.
Akron Wingfoots
LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t the only ballers to sport the wingfoot logo on their jerseys. The Akron Wingfoots were formed by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. workers, who donned jerseys with their company logo, in 1918, making it one of the oldest U.S. basketball teams. Before James’ iconic Nike shoes, the Wingfoots promoted early rubber- and canvas-based shoes. In 1937, 10 Midwest manufacturing companies formed the National Basketball League, and the Wingfoots won their first NBL title in 1938, defeating their rival, the Firestone Non-Skids. The Akron Wingfoots remained in ever-changing leagues until the mid-1970s when Goodyear ended team sponsorship. The name is now used for a privately owned National Amateur Athletic Union team.
