MSL ‘91-’92 PREVIEW : League Points Toward Expansion : Soccer: MSL ponders move into England, Mexico as 14th season begins.
SAN DIEGO — After two years of relative stability, the Major Soccer League lost another franchise during the summer.
That brings the number of failures up to 25.
Seven more teetered on bankruptcy during the off-season but pulled through after numerous deadlines had passed. The league is now poised for its 14th season.
It will be the third time the league has fielded fewer than eight teams.
Any questions?
One at a time . . .
Which team folded?
The Kansas City Comets, considered a cornerstone franchise. The Comets had been a steady member--and a leader in attendance--since 1981.
Is there a chance the MSL will return to Kansas City?
Commissioner Earl Foreman says he already is working with potential owners there, but he might be too late. The developmental National Professional Soccer League has already put a team in Kansas City, though it won’t play in the 15,800-seat Kemper Arena as did the Comets.
Said Foreman, “They’ll be playing in a 9,000-seat auditorium with owners from Rochester. So be it. I’ve made it my policy not to comment on anything they do. But we’ll be back there next year. The Comets’ fan club is still very much alive and we’ll keep our presence in Kansas City. We’ll have an exhibition game there during the season.”
If 25 teams have folded in less than 14 years, hasn’t the league run out of expansion possibilities?
No, in fact it’s trying to broaden its horizons--and travel budgets. The latest areas being considered for MSL homesteading are England and Mexico.
“There are two teams in England with sincere interest, with beautiful new indoor arenas and owners who want to pursue this,” said Baltimore Blast Coach Kenny Cooper, who has been working on expanding the MSL into his native country for 10 years. “It sounds like a pipe dream, but it really isn’t.”
The two cities Cooper is working toward are Sheffield and Birmingham.
Mexico has not been as aggressively pursued, but efforts are under way to solicit interest from potential owners in Mexico City and Monterrey.
Expansion to England?
Listen to Cooper:
“It is no more difficult to fly to England than it is to fly to San Diego or Tacoma.”
The travel secretaries for the Sockers, Tacoma Stars or Dallas Sidekicks might have different ideas.
What will it take for this league to turn the corner and gain stability?
Commissioner Foreman has an answer:
“Expansion, expansion, expansion,” he said.
Another problem the league doesn’t want to face is its diminishing talent pool, which shrinks every time the salary cap is cut. Socker owner Oscar Ancira would like to push the cap back up to $1 million so he can attract some marquee performers.
Some of the league’s weaker franchises, fearful of unwieldy budgets, have fought such efforts and have brought the salary cap down to its current level of $550,000.
Why do the poorer teams wield all the clout in the MSL?
Because if they don’t get their way, they threaten to take their ball and go home. This would leave no league at all. The stronger owners, committed to going forward in hopes of reversing the trend down the road, figure a low-budget league is better than none. At least for now.
Does anyone talk about anything other than expansion in this league?
Well, the players are talking about the new official ball supplied by Brine. They don’t like it because it doesn’t have as much bounce as the old one.
“But that might be better,” Socker Coach Ron Newman. “It’ll keep the ball down. We used a different ball for our exhibitions in Arizona and they were complaining that it was too bouncy. It was like a Ping-Pong ball, ricocheting all over the place.”
Said Ancira, “You know the players, they’re like reporters. They just like to complain.”
Besides, they’re stuck with it. Brine and the MSL have entered into a three-year contract.
Will the Sockers win their 10th indoor championship?
If they do, they’ll have to come on strong in the end. Two days from their season opener Thursday in Dallas, they had yet to finalize their 16-man roster or play any exhibitions.
Newman is already worried about the potential for another slow start like last year’s 1-5 beginning. If that happens, the Sockers will have 12 fewer games than last year in which to rebound. The season has been shortened from 52 to 40 games.
Who is favored to win the championship?
The Cleveland Crunch, which lost to the Sockers in last season’s championship series in six games.
“Cleveland has so many players back from last year, when in so many ways they really were better than (we),” Newman said. “They have a lot of powerful scorers who can explode for a lot of goals at certain times. They absolutely took us apart in some games last year.”
Back for the Crunch are forwards Zoran Karic (73 goals, 48 assists, 121 points last year) and Hector Marinaro (63, 44--107), only the second tandem in league history to score more than 100 points in the same season. Also back is Michael King.
The Crunch also return a strong midfield led by David Hoggan and a stingy defensive corps spearheaded by former Socker George Fernandez (85 blocks) and Greg Willin (71).
Are there any co-favorites?
Yes, the remaining six teams.
“I think everybody will be around .500 this year,” Socker defender David Banks said.
No one is arguing.
Baltimore kept only five players from last year’s squad and added 11 new faces in hopes of reversing last year’s 21-31 record. Key acquisitions include former Socker midfielders Waad Hirmez (43 goals) and Rod Castro (24, 15--39 in spot duty) as well as former Comet defenders Iain Fraser (91 blocks) and Doug Neely (66). The Blast also signed free-agent goalie Cris Vaccaro, who compiled the league’s second-best goals-against average a year ago in Tacoma (4.66).
Dallas might have improved more than any other team by finally surrounding Tatu (78, 66--144), considered the league’s most lethal goal-scorer, with other capable offensive players. Coming to Tatu’s aid from the defunct Comets are Jan Goossens and David Doyle, who scored 12 goals in 15 games before suffering a broken right tibia last year. Doyle scored a hat trick in Saturday’s season opener, a 7-3 victory over Baltimore.
The St. Louis Storm has lost Thompson Usiyan and Dan Donigan, but feel better off with Branko Segota (26, 27--53 in 33 games with the Sockers) and a healthy Claudio DeOliveira (21, 25--46 in 30 games), potentially the next big star in the league. The Storm also has added U.S. national team player Ted Eck and Kevin Hundelt from Kansas City.
The Sockers return the league’s top defense of a year ago in goalie Victor Nogueira (4.37 GAA), and defenders Kevin Crow (named most valuable player after blocking 106 shots), David Banks (who won rookie of the year after blocking 39 shots), Ben Collins and Alex Golovnia. Also returning are Wes Wade and Jacques Ladouceur, the league’s prototypical defensive runners.
Tacoma returns a league-high 13 players from last year, when it finished a disappointing 25-27. Two key acquisitions have been made: Dale Mitchell from Baltimore and Carl Valentine from Kansas City. The Stars will miss Vaccaro in the nets.
The Wichita Wings return 12 players from last year, when they suffered from a rash of injuries and finished 21-31. A core of second-year players could blossom and make the Wings this year’s surprise team: forward Brad Smith and defenders Jimmy McGeough, Danny Pena and Steve Pittman.
