151: “God Save the (Wichita) Wings” – With Adam Knapp & Mike Romalis
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English - February 17, 2020 09:00 - 1 hour - 97.2 MB - ★★★★★ - 98 ratingsSports History hockey soccer sports volleyball baseball basketball defunct football nostalgia Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
We gear up for this week’s world premiere of God Save the Wings – the long-awaited documentary about one of the original Major Indoor Soccer League’s most improbable success stories – with co-producers Adam Knapp (Out Here in Kansas) and Mike Romalis (Make This Town Big: The Story of Roy Turner and the Wichita Wings).
The Wichita Wings were the smallest-market franchise of not only the fledgling MISL, but also of any major US pro sports circuit when they joined the league in its second season (1979-80) – becoming the first-ever major league professional sports team in Kansas history, and, ultimately, the MISL’s most durable.
The Wings defied conventional logic, as world-class soccer players from places like England, Denmark, Argentina, and Ecuador treated sold-out Kansas Coliseum crowds with spirited play that made them a perennial playoff contender and one of the league’s most successful franchises.
Although they never captured a championship in their 13 MISL seasons (nor during nine subsequent seasons in the successor NPSL), the Wings were still the perennial darlings of their “Orange Army” of rabid fans – much to the chagrin (and envy) of their big-city rivals.
Thank you VisitArizona.com for sponsoring this week’s episode!