This Trip Is Not Fun for Sockers : But San Diego Isn’t Caught Flat in Victory Over Los Angeles, 8-4
A funny thing happened to the Sockers on their way to the Forum Sunday.
On a day filled with anticipation of a rowdy, hard-hitting game, there was a lot more intrigue before the game.
The crowd of 5,511 came to the Forum Sunday wondering how the Sockers and Lazers would react to Lazer Coach Peter Wall’s threat that this would be a “blood bath.”
Those were Wall’s words after San Diego Coach Ron Newman called a timeout with three seconds remaining in the Sockers’ 7-4 win over the Lazers Feb. 11 in San Diego.
Wall thought Newman was rubbing salt in an open wound. The Lazers publicized this game as: “The War to Settle The Score.” One of the signs at Sunday’s game said: “Would You Trust Ron Newman With Your Daughter?”
Actually, San Diego’s 8-4 victory Sunday was more of an peace pact. There were no incidents in a cleanly played game and not much suspense after the Sockers scored four goals in the second quarter to take a 5-2 halftime lead.
Jean Willrich, Fernando Clavijo and newly acquired midfielder Tim Bartro scored two goals apiece and Brian Quinn and Branko Segota added one each for San Diego. Segota also had three assists. Poli Garcia scored three goals and Batata added one for the Lazers.
“San Diego played great,” Wall said. “They came to settle a score and I think they did. They looked strong, powerful and sharp.”
Considering what the Sockers went through before Sunday’s game, their performance is that much more impressive.
The Sockers learned what barnstorming is all about when their rented Mexicoach bus had a flat tire as it approached Long Beach on the San Diego Freeway.
It happened at about 11:30 a.m. The Sockers’ match against the Lazers was scheduled for 1 p.m. and their driver was not about to change the tire. Neither was Newman or any of the players who had opted to take the bus.
“Well lads,” Newman told his players. “Just be glad we weren’t flying today.”
While Socker trainer Ted Wallace started taping George Katakalidis and Ade Coker on the stationary bus, a highway patrol car happened to pass by.
Alternative plans of transportation were being discussed when defender Clavijo whizzed by in his red Porsche. He saw his teammates--who were preparing to put out their thumbs--and doubled back to pick up Kevin Crow and Jacques Ladouceur.
Moments later, forward Branko Segota cruised by in his BMW, doubled back and picked up five more stranded Sockers.
Then came the most improbable event of the entire scenario.
A van filled with Socker fans on their way to the game spotted their heroes, stopped and actually unloaded. Five people came off the bus, boarded the van and the driver took off for the Forum.
Those fans took a cab to the Forum. Talk about being devoted. Newman and a group of players also got a cab.
By taking the cheaper Mexicoach bus, the Sockers did not exactly end up saving money. A source in the organization estimated that the team saved $45 by taking the Mexicoach bus.
“We would have been better off walking,” said midfielder Jean Willrich. “What is Mexicoach? We should be treated first class. We should have limousines.”
Two members of the Socker organization did travel in style Sunday. When the bus broke down, director of operations Jeffrey Woodcock and director of marketing Randy Bernstein were driven to the Forum by the Highway Patrol.
“He sure made good time,” Woodcock said. “He was probably going 80 or 90.”
Even before the bus got a flat tire, the Sockers had an adventure at the Immigration and Naturalizations Services checkpoint near San Onofre.
“When we got to that checkpoint, they stopped the bus and a lady told us to get out our passports and immigration papers,” Katakalidis said. “She was speaking Spanish. We told her we were from San Diego. Then she heard Ron’s (Newman) English accent and let us go. What a joke.”
When most of the San Diego players finally arrived at the Forum at about 12:15, which was 2 hours and 45 minutes after they left the San Diego Sports Arena, they were immediately saddled with another inconvenience.
The visiting soccer locker room at the Forum, which is small to begin with, had been flooded the night before. The water had been cleared, but the room reeked of sewage.
Meanwhile, the Lazers were kicked out of their regular locker room because the Kings were playing Sunday night. The Lazers share their locker room with the visiting hockey teams. The Calgary Flames had it Sunday.
The Lazers were in the Laker locker room, where they are now 0-2.
The game went smoothly, but then came the question of how would the Sockers get back to San Diego.
Once the players finished showering and dressing, they headed out to look for the bus. What bus?
Finally, almost an hour after the game ended, the Mexicoach showed up with a fixed tire.
Anyone care to take bets on what time the Sockers got home?