Strike May Make Win by Sockers Their Last

At 9:01 (PST) Wednesday night, Socker defender George Katakalidis struck a bouncer from right wing.

The only reason that’s noteworthy is because 12:01 (EST) Thursday morning was when the Major Indoor Soccer League players were going to go out on strike.

Or was it 12:01 (EST) Friday? “There was some confusion about the date,” said Peter McGee, MISL Players Assn. assistant director of operations.

Now, the envelope please.

“The strike was scheduled for early Friday morning,” said MISL Players Assn. director of operations John Kerr, “but a number of teams wanted to accelerate it by one day.”

Kerr was talking by phone from Washington D.C. while the Sockers were defeating the Stars 7-3 in front of 9,581 fans at the Sports Arena.

According to Kerr, the team player representatives will have a conference call this morning to decide whether to strike.

“There is a good possibility of a strike,” Kerr said.

“Sometimes there are more important things than actually playing the game,” said Socker player representative Kevin Crow.

Said Socker managing general partner Bob Bell: “As of 6 tonight (Wednesday), the only difference is that we are at $1.25 million for the salary cap and the players are at $1.3. Everything else is agreed upon.”

If a strike is called this morning, three games will be canceled tonight: Cleveland at Baltimore, Dallas at Chicago and St. Louis at Los Angeles. San Diego hosts St. Louis Saturday night in its next game.

The MISL players have been working under an extension of a contract which expired after the 1983-84 season. Key issues are a salary cap and new foreign player limitations.

The owners want a salary cap of $1.25 million per team, which would probably force four or five teams to cut their payrolls by $400,000 to $500,000. The average MISL salary is approximately $50,000.

“If we sign anything with a salary cap,” said Crow, “it will destroy the players. Basically, it would finish free agency.”

Crow and members of the Sockers, Chicago Sting and Minnesota Strikers are not eligible to vote on MISL union matters.

Those North American Soccer League teams joined the MISL in 1984 and are still governed by the NASL’s collective-bargaining agreement.

“That makes us really mad because we have to pay union dues ($700 a year),” Crow said, “but do not get to vote. That’s very anti-American, and we’re considering not paying our union dues.” Crow added: “The NASL still technically has an office with a secretary and a phone just so they can bind us to that agreement. Knowing this league, the phones would both be in the same office.”

According to Kerr, the issue of how many foreign players will be allowed into the league is still unsettled.

“The owners made a proposal saying an unlimited number of foreigners should be allowed into the league,” Kerr said. “And they wanted to include Canadians as Americans. We feel there are plenty of Americans who can play.”

Enough about a possible strike.

Steve Zungul was back in town Wednesday night and the Sockers showed him that they can still play pretty well without him.

The Sockers have the best record in the league at 33-11 and are 13-4 since Zungul was sold to Tacoma Feb. 4.

In a matchup between two clubs who might meet in the first round of the playoffs, the Sockers and Tacoma were tied at 2-2 at halftime.

The Stars clinched a playoff spot on Tuesdayand are a half-game behind St. Louis for third place in the Western Division. San Diego will play the fourth-place team in the playoffs.

In the first half, Keith Furphy and Bob Lenarduzzi scored for Tacoma, with Zungul assisting on both goals. Jean Willrich and Branko Segota scored for San Diego.

After Stars’ goalkeeper Peter Mowlik tackled Ade Coker in the goalmouth, Segota blasted a penalty kick to tie the game at 2-2 with 18 seconds to play in the half.

The third quarter belonged to the Sockers. Fernando Clavijo, Ade Coker, Segota (shorthanded) and Juli Veee scored unanswered goals to make it 6-2. A penalty kick by Zungul made it 6-3 entering the final quarter.

Clavijo scored in the final quarter to make it 7-3.

That could be, if there’s a strike, the final goal for the Sockers this season.