From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Houston ThunderBears |
| [[Image:|center|150px|Houston ThunderBears]] |
|
| Year founded |
1996 |
| Year folded |
2001 |
| Prior names |
Texas Terror |
| ArenaBowl championships |
none |
The Houston ThunderBears were a team in the Arena Football League that operated from 1996-2001. The team was based in Houston, Texas. Home games were played at the Compaq Center. The team was known as the Texas Terror their first two years in existence before changing the name to the Thunderbears. Plagued with attendance problems through the majority of their existence, the team folded in 2001.
[edit] History
[edit] Texas Terror (1996-1997)
The Texas Terror was a franchise in the Arena Football League, a league which plays a scaled-down version of American football in venues primarily designed for ice hockey or basketball. The Terror played in the 1996 and 1997 Arena seasons. Their home games were played at the Summit also at that time home to the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association. The Terror's logo appeared to be a stylized representation of Frankenstein's monster holding a football.
The 1996 season was an unmitigated disaster, with the Terror notching only one win, coming against another first-year team, the ill-fated Minnesota Fighting Pike. The 1997 season was considerably better with a record of 6-8, but the attendance was abysmal, especially given the size of the Houston market. After the season, the decision was made to remake the franchise and scrap both the existing logo and team name, and the team was renamed the Houston ThunderBears.
[edit] Houston ThunderBears (1998-2001)
The Houston ThunderBears were a continuation of the Texas Terror franchise (1996–1997) of the Arena Football League under a new name, logo, and color scheme. The team still played its home games at the Compaq Center. 1998, the first year as the ThunderBears, was the high-water mark in team history, in which they recorded their only winning season and sole playoff appearance (a loss to Arizona). The two subsequent seasons saw a decline in both on-field performance and attendance. By the 2001 season, it was apparent that continuing the franchise in the Compaq Center would be pointless. Although still called the Houston ThunderBears, the team actually played none of its games in Houston, instead playing at various neutral sites where the league hoped to stimulate interest. If the goal of this travel was to find the ThunderBears a new home it was a failure as the team folded after the season.
[edit] Season-by-season
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties
| Season |
W |
L |
T |
Finish |
Playoff results |
| Texas Terror |
| 1996 |
1 |
13 |
0 |
4th NC Southern |
-- |
| 1997 |
6 |
8 |
0 |
3rd AC Central |
-- |
| Houston Thunderbears |
| 1998 |
8 |
6 |
0 |
1st AC Central |
Lost Week 1 (Arizona Rattlers) |
| 1999 |
4 |
10 |
0 |
4th AC Central |
-- |
| 2000 |
3 |
11 |
0 |
4th AC Central |
-- |
| 2001 |
3 |
11 |
0 |
4th AC Western |
-- |
| Totals |
25 |
60 |
0 |
(including playoffs) |
[edit] Notable players
- Terrence Melton, Fullback/Linebacker 2000-2001
- Wilky Bazile, Offensive Line/Defensive Line 2001
- Terence Davis, Wide Receiver/Linebacker 1998-2001
- Clint Dolezel, Quarterback 1998-1999
- Robert Hall, Offensive Specialist 1999-2000
- Todd Hammel, Quarterback 2001
- Larry Jones, Defensive Specialist 1999; 2000-2001
- Thomas McGaughey, Wide Receiver/Linebacker 1998
- Sedrick Robinson, Wide Receiver/Linebacker 2001
[edit] External links
