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| | Hoophall History Page - The First League |
 | | For a chief executive, the members chose Maurice Podoloff, the colorful 5'2" president of the A.H.L. The new league had the advantage of playing in large arenas in large cities, but its players were generally inferior to those in the National Basketball League, the established league operating chiefly in smaller cities in the Midwest. |
 | | Charter members of the new league were Boston, Toronto, Providence, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, and St. Louis; all the franchise owners knew each other through the Arena Managers Association of America and through their teams in the National and American Hockey Leagues. |
 | | Republication or redistribution of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. |
| www.hoophall.com /history/first_league.htm (2300 words) |
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