Newman vs. Cooper Old News : MISL finals: Coaches say focus should be on players as series continues with Game 2 tonight.

Ron Newman is tired of it. Kenny Cooper is tired of it.

If this MISL championship series were played without anybody mentioning their names, it would be just fine with them.

People have a tendency of turning every meeting between the Sockers and Baltimore Blast into Newman vs. Cooper.

But Newman vs. Cooper has worn thin.

The story is that Newman, coach of the seven-time champion Sockers, brought Cooper to the United States from England in 1969 to play goalie for his Dallas Tornados. Cooper arrived with $46 in his pocket. He earned $75 per game.

Since becoming coach of the Blast in 1980, Cooper has faced Newman in three championship series and lost each one. It has become popular to dwell on the protege’s continuing struggle to beat his mentor.

Struggle No. 4 began this week. Once again, Cooper has been given a chance to top Newman. The Blast defeated the Sockers, 7-4, in Game 1 Tuesday, and Game 2 is tonight at 4:35 (PDT) in the Baltimore Arena.

As for Newman vs. Cooper?

“I’m sick of hearing about Newman-Cooper,” Cooper says. “All the time you hear Newman-Cooper, Newman-Cooper. It’s like Leonard-Hearns. How many times can you promote Leonard and Hearns?

“Everybody wants to talk about it and it’s not fair to the players. I feel very badly about it. The game belongs to the players. The coach is nothing without the players.”

So Sockers-Blast IV is being billed as having Newman and Cooper in supporting roles. The focus is on the guys running up and down the field and not the two wearing suits and running their mouths on the sidelines.

“I think it’s team vs. team,” Newman says. “It’s certainly not Newman vs. Cooper.”

The MISL has changed a lot since the two coaches first matched wits. In the early days, league officials would reach for anything that might grasp the public’s interest.

“I think the philosophy of the league was to pit the coaches against each other and make them the villains or the heroes,” Cooper says.

Because indoor soccer is a relatively obscure sport, MISL coaches have always done a lot more than coach. This is a sport that needs every ounce of publicity it can get. Coaches need to be salesmen.

On Tuesday, just 4 1/2 hours before his team was to begin the championship series, Cooper met with someone interested in helping sponsor the Blast for next season. Think Pat Riley did that last year before the NBA finals?

This isn’t something Cooper considers a burden. Like Newman, he loves soccer and wants to see it blossom in this country. Newman could see his enthusiasm when Cooper first arrived in 1969.

“He fell in love with America,” Newman said. “He had a great passion for the game and he enjoyed going out and selling it to people.”

Losing to Newman three times hasn’t dampened his spirit, though he admits it has never been easy. Last season, he shed a few tears after the Sockers hung on to win Game 7. And each time he loses, he has to listen to people say: “You’ve never beaten Newman.”

That doesn’t bother him much anymore.

“At one time,” Cooper says, “that was soul-destroying. But I’ve given my best. I’ve done everything I could possibly do.”

What does irritate him is hearing people around the league complain about another Sockers-Blast final. Ho hum, here we go again.

“And my answer to that is the people who complain are the losers,” Cooper says. “We earned the right to be here. Those people who are envious and jealous are all the people who are no longer playing. Dallas had the chance to beat San Diego. Kansas City had a chance to beat us. They didn’t.”

And so once again we have the Sockers vs. the Blast, Newman vs. Cooper, the champions vs. the runners-up. After Tuesday’s comeback victory, the Blast looks fit to win a title. But then again, aren’t they always? If this was all about the team that plays best over the course of a season, the Sockers would never have won last year. So Cooper can only wait and see.

“All great achievements,” he says, “require time.”

Series Notes

The Sockers put themselves in a similar situation last year, losing Game 1 of the championship series after being up 3-1 in the final minutes. Tuesday, the Sockers had leads of 3-0 and 4-3. . . . In their 23 playoff series, the Sockers have never lost the first two games. . . . Forward Paul Wright continues to be impressive in the playoffs. He had seven points in the Dallas series and a playoff single-game career-high three on Tuesday. . . . Zoltan Toth (5-1, 2.52 goals-against average) is scheduled to start in goal tonight for the Sockers.