In 1973, the ABA's San Diego Conquistadors signed Wilt Chamberlain as a player-coach. The Lakers sued, and a judge ruled he could coach but not play. So a 31,000-point scorer spent the whole season on the bench - and the Q's went 37-47.

The NBA's back tonight. Fifty years ago, the Virginia Squires missed the cut. They'd had Julius Erving and George Gervin - and sold both for cash to stay alive. Dr. J went to the Nets, Gervin to the Spurs. They folded weeks before the merger; the Nets and Spurs made it in.

Every October, minor league hockey teams pull out one-night Halloween sweaters, wear them once, and auction them off. Ours lasts longer: a skeleton printed edge to edge, built like a real game jersey. Rink, bar, beer league - easiest costume of the year.

Charlie Finley bought the California Golden Seals in 1970 and gave them white skates, green-and-gold team luggage, and names on the backs of their jerseys - an idea the rest of the NHL eventually copied. The Seals moved to Cleveland in 1976 and were gone by 1978.

In 1984, a rookie named Jim Kelly ran the run-and-shoot for the USFL's Houston Gamblers and threw for 5,219 yards and 44 touchdowns - more yards than Dan Marino's record-setting NFL season that same year. Two years later he was a Buffalo Bill, on his way to the Hall of Fame.

From 2008 to 2011, Casper, Wyoming had a minor league team named for Casper the Friendly Ghost: the Casper Ghosts. Four seasons in the Pioneer League, then they packed up for Colorado. Easiest Halloween costume in baseball.

Fifty years ago, the ABA merged into the NBA - but only four teams made it. The Spirits of St. Louis' owners folded for a cut of those teams' TV money, forever. By the time the NBA bought them out in 2014, it had paid them about $800 million. Best deal in sports history?

This week in 1972, the WHA played its first game - Alberta beat Ottawa 7-4. In seven seasons it lured Bobby Hull with a $1 million signing bonus, brought Gordie Howe back to play with his sons, and gave a 17-year-old Wayne Gretzky his first pro contract. Then it was gone.

The White Sox left South Side Park for Comiskey in 1910. The next year, Rube Foster's Chicago American Giants moved in - and turned the old Sox ballpark into a Negro Leagues powerhouse, winning back-to-back Negro World Series in 1926 and 1927. Same South Side, different dynasty.

On Halloween 1997, the Columbus Chill teased a big name change - then skated out as the Columbus Mad Cows in black-and-white Holstein sweaters. One night only, never worn again. The ultimate group costume is back for Halloween.

Milwaukee's only World Series title belongs to a team that isn't even there anymore: the 1957 Braves, with Hank Aaron and Lew Burdette's three wins over the Yankees. The Braves left for Atlanta after 1965. The Brewers are still chasing No. 1.

In 1933, the Cleveland Bulldogs played night games in all-black uniforms with glowing skeletons painted on the front. They lasted one season. The skeletons are back in our limited-edition Halloween collection - finally, a costume you can wear to the game.

The Redblacks' 0-15 start just broke a CFL record held by the 1994 Shreveport Pirates. The twist: the Pirates were born when Ottawa's owners tried to move the Rough Riders to the U.S. - the CFL said no and split the franchise in two instead. Ottawa can't shake it.

On Oct. 10, 1920, Cleveland's Bill Wambsganss caught a liner, stepped on second, and tagged the runner from first - still the only unassisted triple play in World Series history. Same game: the first WS grand slam and the first homer by a pitcher. Wildest World Series game ever?

Before they were the Jets, they were the New York Titans - an AFL charter team playing at the Polo Grounds from 1960-62. Attendance collapsed, owner Harry Wismer went broke, and new owners renamed the team in 1963.

The Cleveland Rams won the 1945 NFL Championship 15-14 over Washington in -8F, the coldest title game ever played. Weeks later, owner Dan Reeves moved the newly-crowned champs to Los Angeles - Cleveland never got its parade.

The Chicago Cardinals trace back to 1898 as the Morgan Athletic Club, making them the oldest continuously run pro football franchise in America. They joined the NFL as a charter member in 1920 - still playing today as the Arizona Cardinals.

On Oct. 3, 1920, the Dayton Triangles beat the Columbus Panhandles 14-0 in the first-ever game played by the new American Professional Football Association - the league that became the NFL.