Christmas is full of Mannheim Steamroller, and this is good. Not only do electric violins improve the season, but the very name “Mannheim Steamroller” brings steamrollers back into the consciousness, which is good, because steamrollers are very cool. (Side note, before we move on from Mannheim Steamroller: It is not named after the street in Chicago. It actually originated in Omaha. Per Wikipedia, the name is referencing “Mannheim roller,” a German musical technique from the 1700s. The more you know.)
So on that topic, check out the Providence Steamrollers’ logo:
Who are these guys? Well, the correct question is who were these guys, and the answer is that though they had a predecessor—another team named the Providence Steamrollers—who played in the NFL in the 1920s, these particular Providence Steamrollers were an NBA team in the 40s. Played from 1946 to 1949. Importantly, they played in the first ever NBA game held on Christmas Day, losing to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden by a score of 89-75. (The Steamrollers did a lot of losing. They went 6-42 in the 1947-48 season. This might be part of why they’re defunct.)
I have nothing more to say about the Providence Steamrollers. But I did think it would be fun, on a weekend when we think back to days gone by, to check on the other teams in the 1947-48 NBA.
That year, the NBA was still known as the BAA, and it had eight teams. In a sign of things to come, seven of the eight made the playoffs, rendering the regular season meaningless, except that it gave us the infamous 6-42 Providence Steamrollers, the only team in the association that year to not play playoff basketball. How was this decided? I do not know. Learning the BAA’s playoff procedures is a task for another time.
On the personnel side, you could say the 1947-48 BAA season was highlighted by the selection of Clifton McNeely as the first pick in the first ever BAA Draft, or by Wataru Misaka breaking the association’s color barrier. You could say a lot of things, really—Joe Lapchick took over as the head coach of the Knicks—but those are the two I’d say, after ten minutes spent skimming the Wikipedia article interrupted by frequent distractions like checking the score of the Independence Bowl.
The teams, though? They were good ones.
In the East…
- Philadelphia Warriors
- New York Knicks
- Boston Celtics
- Providence Steamrollers
In the West…
- St. Louis Bombers
- Baltimore Bullets
- Chicago Stags
- Washington Capitols
Oddly enough, the two weirdest of these team names are the two that have persisted. Steamrollers? Not a weird name. That name makes a ton of sense. Bombers and bullets? Maybe uncouth today, but in 1947, those technologies had just stopped Hitler. Stags, of course, always play. But a pair of pants? A generic description of Scots-Irish(-and-other) people? Weird nicknames. We can assume from all of this that the Seattle Kraken will be the last NHL team from today’s league standing.
The next year, the BAA expanded west, moving famous western cities Baltimore and Washington into the Eastern Division and adding franchises in Rochester, Minneapolis, Fort Wayne, and Indianapolis. Names? The Royals, the Lakers (hey!), the Pistons (hey!), and the Jets (not around today). For anyone wondering, no, it was not the Rochester in Minnesota. Especially back then, the Rochester in New York was a whole lot bigger than its Midwestern counterpart. Big enough to have a BAA team.
After 1948-49, the BAA disappeared, merging with the NBL to form the NBA. As you might expect, the NBL had some wild names too, but we don’t have time to get into those right now. Instead, we’ll leave you with this: The Providence Steamrollers the football team used to play in a 10,000-seat bicycle-racing stadium named the Cycledrome. History changes fast. Merry Christmas.
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Viewing schedule for the weekend, with no college basketball of much note (second screen rotation in italics):
Bowl Games
- Friday, 3:00 PM EST: Independence Bowl – Louisiana vs. Houston (ESPN)
- Friday, 6:30 PM EST: Gasparilla Bowl – Wake Forest vs. Missouri (ESPN)
- Saturday, 8:00 PM EST: Hawai’i Bowl – Middle Tennessee State vs. San Diego State (ESPN)
NFL (with playoff implications)
- Saturday, 1:00 PM EST: Buffalo @ Chicago (CBS)
- Saturday, 1:00 PM EST: Houston @ Tennessee (CBS)
- Saturday, 1:00 PM EST: Seattle @ Kansas City (FOX)
- Saturday, 1:00 PM EST: NY Giants @ Minnesota (FOX)
- Saturday, 1:00 PM EST: Cincinnati @ New England (CBS)
- Saturday, 1:00 PM EST: Detroit @ Carolina (FOX)
- Saturday, 1:00 PM EST: Atlanta @ Baltimore (FOX)
- Saturday, 4:05 PM EST: Washington @ San Francisco (CBS)
- Sunday, 1:00 PM EST: Packers @ Miami (FOX)
- Sunday, 8:20 PM EST: Tampa Bay @ Arizona (NBC)
NBA (best game each day, plus the Bulls)
- Friday, 7:00 PM EST: LA Clippers @ Philadelphia (League Pass)
- Friday, 7:30 PM EST: Bulls @ New York (League Pass)
- Sunday, 5:00 PM EST: Milwaukee @ Boston (ABC)
NHL (best game each day)
- Friday, 7:00 PM EST: Boston @ New Jersey (ESPN+)
