John Treloar served as the Rockers head coach during the 1994–95 season. Former Chicago Bulls player Dave Corzine was hired as the head coach for the 1995–96 season.
The team was relocated to Chicago from Wichita Falls, Texas where the team was playing as the "Texans" from 1988 to 1994. After a financially tumultuous season in 1995–96 the team relocated to La Crosse, Wisconsin and renamed the "Bobcats."
Regular season home games were played at the UIC Pavilion on the campus of the University of Illinois Chicago.[5] Scott May was hired as the arena musician for the Rockers, supplying the team with accompanying music during games. He used a 1970s Travis Beanguitar for the music and sound effects.
The Rockers marketing campaign was not aimed at trying to draw interest away from the Chicago Bulls, the city's successful National Basketball Association franchise. Instead marketing director Kevin Cook wanted the team to be seen as an economic alternative to the Bulls. Tickets to see the Rockers started at $4 and topped out at $25 whereas the NBA franchise charged as low as $15 a ticket to as much as $325.[5]
Open try-outs were held by the Rockers from October 15 to October 16, 1994 at Angel Guardian Gymnasium in Chicago. A pre-registration fee of $100 was necessary to participate or participants could pay $150 for on-site registration fee.[8]
The first regular season game was played against the Omaha Racers in Omaha, Nebraska on November 18, 1994 in front of 4,097 spectators at Ak-Sar-Ben. The Rockers were behind 61–52 after three quarters, but rallied in the fourth to win the game 122–107.[9]Rodney Blake of the Rockers led all scorers with 29 points followed by teammate Stephen Bardo who had 28 points.[10]
On November 26, 1994 the Rockers held their home opener at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago against the Pittsburgh Piranhas. A free throw shooting contest between Mr. T and Hulk Hogan was held at halftime with the latter winning 8–7. Attendance was 5,260 to see Chicago put Pittsburgh away, 93–90.[11]
During March 1995 the Rockers ownership offered between $300,000 to $400,000 to former Chicago Bulls guard John Paxson to come out of retirement and play in the CBA for Chicago.[16] They also purchased the rights to negotiate with Michael Jordan if he ever wanted to join the CBA.[17]
The Rockers made the 1995 CBA playoffs with a 28–28 record. During the first round, Chicago defeated the Quad City Thunder in a five-game series.[18] Chicago faced the Pittsburgh Piranhas in the American Conference Finals. Pittsburgh swept Chicago three games to zero in a best-of five series.[19]
1995–96: Final season and re-location
It was announced that the Chicago Rockers would host free agent try-outs for the upcoming 1995–96 season. The event was hosted at Solheim Center on the campus of the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.[20]
Dave Corzine was hired as head coach in August 1995.[21] John Paxson was a candidate for the head coach job, but took an assistant coach position with the Chicago Bulls instead.[22] Mitch Rosen was retained at the general manager position, but at some point in the season was replaced by Bruce Buzil.[23] The team's vice president was Robert McAuliff.[24]
The first game of the season was played on November 17, 1995 against the San Diego Wildcards at the San Diego Sports Arena.[26] The Wildcards were victorious, 108–106. It was the San Diego franchises' first game and first win.[27]
On February 9, 1996 the Chicago Rockers were evicted from their home arena, the UIC Pavilion, after the arena's management canceled the lease due to backed rent. According to pavilion management, the Rockers executives were $10,000 behind in their rent and were required to pay in advance for future games. A press release from the Rockers accused the UIC Pavilion of canceling the lease in retaliation for previously announcing they were looking for a new venue.[28] The issue was resolved when the Rockers paid $108,000 in backed rent to the operators of the UIC Pavilion. They also came to an agreement to play in the venue through the rest of the season.[29]
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on January 25, 1996 that the Rockers were second-to-last in the CBA in attendance with an average of 2,052 spectators per game.[30] Ownership for the Chicago franchise indicated they were looking to move the team to La Crosse, Wisconsin. Rockers owner Chris Devine and general manager Bruce Buzil visited La Crosse in February 1996 to meet with business leaders to see if there would be interest in sponsorship.[23]Gary, Indiana and Rapid City, South Dakota were also named as possible destinations.
In an attempt to keep the franchise in Illinois, team executive also reached out to city officials in Hoffman Estates, Palatine, Rolling Meadows, and Schaumburg.[31] The team's vice president announced plans for a 15-acre entertainment complex which would include a theater, hotel rooms, restaurants and a 7,000 seat stadium. Plans for the stadium included an inflatable roof. The estimated cost of the complex would be one million to two million dollars.[24] Village President Rita L. Mullins of Palatine was quoted in the Daily Herald saying, "I'm very excited about the prospect of becoming the home of a sports team like that".[32]
On March 12, 1996 the Chicago Rockers announced they were moving to La Crosse, Wisconsin after the 1995–96 season. The team reached an agreement to play at the La Crosse Center, paying one year's rent in advance.[33] They would later become known as the La Crosse Bobcats.
The Chicago Rockers did not make the CBA playoffs in 1996 and finished the season with a 26–30 record.[34]
The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) was a men's professional basketball minor league in the United States from 1946 to 2009.
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References
↑ "Basketball". Austin American-Statesman. Austin, Texas. June 15, 1994. p.C6.
↑ Alesia, Mark (February 9, 1996). "Rolling Meadows possible site for Rockers". Daily Herald. Arlington Heights, Illinois. p.4.
↑ Del Re, Sandra; Alesia, Mark (February 10, 1996). "Palatine officials bubbling over with enthusiasm for stadium plan". Daily Herald. Arlington Heights, Illinois. p.1.
↑ "It becomes officials". La Crosse Tribune. La Crosse, Wisconsin. March 12, 1996.
1 2 "Rockers Lose Series Opener". Chicago Sun-Times. April 14, 1995. p.98.
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