'Hair' cast kicked out of Mexico; Stars lost in darkness, January 9, 1969

The ABA and LA should have been a good fit. The game was wide open, with lots of dunks and three-pointers. The team even had a perfect name for the town--the Stars. Definitely a better match than the previous season when the franchise was called the Anaheim Amigos. But things were not going well at the Sports Arena. According to The Times' John Hall, "The entire scene gave me the feeling I'd just stumbled into the midst of a sinister secret society." Attendance was dismal, with counts under 1,000 in three of the last four home games. The franchise had started cutting back, taking the team off the radio and dropping halftime shows and the team band. Later in January, The Times' Dan Hafner was more optimistic after a season-high crowd came out on a night "when radio stations periodically were telling people to stay home because of adverse weather." The record crowd was all of 4,003. By the 1970-71 season, the Stars had moved on to Salt Lake City. --Keith Thursby