La Crosse Bobcats

The La Crosse Bobcats were a Continental Basketball Association (CBA) basketball team located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, from 1996 to the league's bankruptcy in February 2001.^[1] The Bobcats were the second CBA team located in La Crosse; previously, the La Crosse Catbirds played from 1985 to 1994. The team hosted its matches at the La Crosse Center.

Don Zierden served as the Bobcats head coach during their inaugural 1996–97 season.^[2] The team held their first open tryouts at Viterbo College from October 25 to October 27, 1996.^[3]

In 1997, the Bobcats marketing campaign featured commercials depicting La Crosse players hawking sub-par team endorsed products in a home shopping parody. The team's tagline for the commercials was, "Lousy endorsements. Great basketball". No actual La Crosse players were in the commercials since they were filmed during the off-season, so actors were used.^[4]

During the 1999 CBA draft, the Bobcats selected former Wisconsin Badgers forward Sam Okey in the eighth round. Okey declined a contract from La Crosse, opting to play in a Turkish professional league. In September 2000, the Bobcats announced that Okey had signed a contract for the upcoming season. Okey first received basketball notoriety in Wisconsin while attending a Cassville prep school. He was a McDonald's High School All-American in 1995.^[5]

In 2006, the City of La Crosse dedicated a time capsule which included objects from the city's 150-year history. Buried under a marble slab, the capsule is set to be opened for the city's bicentennial celebration in 2056. A Bobcats pin-back button and program from their inaugural season were included in the capsule.^[6]