Walleyes Will Have to Wait : The Strikers Have Become Best Bait in All of Minnesota
Going to Lake Minnetonka or the Met Center?
Fishing for walleyes or cheering for volleys?
That’s like asking a surfer out West if he is going to pass up 10-foot swells.
No way.
When the fishing reason opens in Minnesota, as it will at 12:01 Saturday morning, the lines will be cast.
“Fishing is really a preoccupation with these people,” said a member of a local television film crew that had come to the Major Indoor Soccer League kickoff luncheon after shooting an assignment at a nearby lake.
However, this season, there is a new bait in town. And it seems to be attracting attention.
They are the Minnesota Strikers.
The Strikers are tied with the Sockers at one game apiece in their best-of-seven MISL championship series.
Game 3 is at 5:30 tonight in the Met Center.
The Strikers only averaged 6,503 fans per game during the regular season and 8,214 per game in the playoffs, but a Met Center record crowd of around 12,000 is expected tonight.
While the series is tied, the Strikers have the home-field advantage. And that is a very big story in the world of indoor soccer.
For the first time in five seasons, the four-time indoor champion Sockers have lost a home playoff game and the home-field advantage.
The Strikers will play three of the remaining five games in the Met Center.
By snapping the Sockers’ home playoff unbeaten streak at 26 Sunday night, the Strikers are the only MISL team to never lose a playoff game at home.
After the Strikers’ 6-1 win Sunday night, Joe Robbie, the owner of the Miami Dolphins and husband of Striker president Elizabeth Robbie, said:
“This is the most fun I’ve ever had in San Diego. And I was here when World War II ended.”
The Strikers are 10-0 in home playoff games. Or are they?
The Sockers left the Met Center field with a 4-3 shootout win in the fourth game of the Western Division final last season.
But while the Sockers were flying home to San Diego thinking they had won the best-of-five series, 3-1, former MISL Commissioner Francis Dale ruled that Socker midfielder Jacques Ladouceur was an ineligible shooter during the shootout.
So Dale reversed the outcome of the game, leaving the series tied at 2-2.
The Sockers went on to crush the Strikers, 7-0, at home in the decisive fifth game, but they still talk about what has become known as “The Dale Decision.”
“It’s the only best-of-five series ever won 4-1,” said Socker Coach Ron Newman.
Said Striker forward Thompson Usiyan: “We still think we’re undefeated at home. And if you talk to Francis Dale, he thinks we’re undefeated.”
Added Striker Coach Alan Merrick: “Record books seldom lie.”
While the Sockers say that Minnesota’s claim requires an asterisk, the Strikers are emphasizing their unbeaten home playoff record to their fans.
That’s understandable.
What is unusual is that the Strikers’ advertising strategy is also centered around a “Beach Party Weekend “ theme.
Contests will be held for the best dressed surfer and the best tan-line. There will be a skateboard show and sand castles.
“We’ll both be ridiculous,” said Newman, when he saw one of the signs. “When we come back to our place, we’ll have a snowball fight.”
The Strikers also are trying to take advantage of Minnesota’s reputation for having unsuccessful sports teams.
The Minneapolis Laker team of 1954, which featured George Mikan, was the last professional club to win a championship in this state.
Since then, walleyes and northern pike have been the most popular sports in town.
Socker Notes Socker midfielder Branko Segota was supposed to be one of four players to accompany Ron Newman to the luncheon in Minneapolis Thursday. Instead, Segota flew to San Jose Wednesday night to watch the Canadian National team defeat the San Jose Earthquakes (of the Western Alliance) in an exhibition match, 1-0. Segota has trained with the Canadian team and is expected to play for them in the World Cup this summer. “I’m angry he wasn’t here,” Newman said. “He has to realize it’s important to promote the game. The boy is never malicious, but I don’t think he realized quite how important this is. The Minnesota people asked for him to be here.”. . . . While Segota flew back to San Diego and trained with the Sockers Thursday morning, Striker goalkeeper Tino Lettieri, who also plays for the Canadian team, shut out the Earthquakes Wednesday night. After the game, Lettieri took the red-eye back to Minnesota in time to practice with his club Thursday morning . . . . The MISL announced that the New York Express will join the league next season and will play their home games in the Nassau Coliseum at Uniondale, Long Island. Former MISL players Shep Messing and Stan Henry, president of Chanry Commincations Ltd., are among the owners of the team.
