Gary Broadways: They have a pretty clever approach to getting free agents!  Play football during the season, have a nice paying job in the off-season.  Imagine trying to pull that now-a-days with NFL free agents, haha! 

Grand Rapids De Villes: This is definitely going to be an interesting team to watch.  I like the owner (who's got a nice backstory, by the way) basically pushing his company out on the team's identity, reminds me a bit of the early day Packers, who were briefly going by the name Acme Packers.  There's some interesting history in those Packers, including what's believed to be the start of the famous Packers/Bears rivalry!  Loving the green and cream color scheme on Grand Rapids!

Oakwood Park Rollers
 
History: Oakwood Park is an amusement park known as “Kalamazoo’s Coney Island.” It was established in 1907, and includes a dance hall, a nickelodeon theatre, and the feature attraction – a figure 8 roller coaster. In 1911, a stadium was built in the northwest corner of the park, and they began hosting baseball and football games. To draw more attendance, the park launched their own team in 1913, which quickly grew into one of the best in the state.
 
Leadership: Oakwood Park is owned by the Mittenthal family, which has various ventures in entertainment, dancing schools, and as fruit growers. Five of the brothers are involved in the park, though Herman is the one who gives the team the most attention. QB Angus Godbey is the coach.
 
Key Players: Dizzy Block, a speedy wingback from Virginia Tech is the star – a natural entertainer, he’s a good fit for the team. Bill Harwell, a second year tackle from Minnesota has also shown a great deal of promise.
 
Outlook: The team looks good, but not great. Winning a title isn’t unthinkable, but it’s not likely. Still, they should win quite a few games this year.
 
Nickname: They Rollers name is in honor of the park’s roller coaster. They’re the only team in the league that uses their sponsor’s name instead of the city’s name.
 
Uniform: A red, white, and blue rugby sweater.

Last edited by Veras (5/20/2020 8:44 pm)

Wait a minute, the children's network Nickelodeon wasn't even invented til 1979. Is this secretly the future? Btw, great looks

I probably put more time researching this team than any other ever. Oakwood Park was a real place. Herman Mittenthal was a real person who actually did everything that I described in the post (well, mostly - they only built a baseball park, not a football stadium; and as far as I can tell they were no longer associated with the park by 1919). I've spent a few hours reading up on the family, and have found census, birth, and death records for various members. I found an ad for Herman's brother Harry's dancing school in a University of Michigan newspaper from 1920, as well as IMDB listings for some of the films that they made between 1913 and 1917. I've even found census and death records for the park's roller coaster operate, George Lawrence, who moved to Kalamazoo to work at the park in 1917, and apparently lived in a house that was inside the roller coaster for several years.

Oakwood Park Rollers: I never knew about where the name nickelodeon came from!  That's funny!  While I'll be happy when this team redesigns their jersey (all those stripes are a little blinding to me, lol!) it's definitely era appropriate and the Rollers certainly have one of the best back stories we've seen yet!   They'll be a team to watch for sure!