Sockers Hope to Ring In 7th Title Tonight

Perhaps by force of habit, Brian Quinn walked to the back of the empty locker room and sat on his chair.

Quinn has been part of four Socker championships, the makings of which he has discussed repeatedly while sitting in this very spot.

Monday, after receiving a massage in the training room, he was talking again.

With five points in the past two games, Quinn, the team captain, is a victory away from his fifth title. The six-time champion Sockers lead the Baltimore Blast, 3-1, in the best-of-seven Major Indoor Soccer League championship series. Game 5 is tonight at 7:35 in the San Diego Sports Arena. If necessary, Game 6 would be played in Baltimore Thursday.

It is easy to tell Quinn’s enthusiasm for the sport hasn’t been lost in the Sockers’ success. When he speaks of his career, you don’t detect a hint of ho-hum.

The game has always fascinated him. As a kid in Ireland, he once scored nine goals in a week and was then forced to sit on the bench the following week for using language a wee bit too colorful for an 11-year-old. Known for his aggressiveness, Quinn has been a sort of ringmaster of this team that, with its variety of personalities and temperaments, often has been a circus. He loves it.

“There’s nothing else I’m probably ever going to do in my life that’s going to be as much fun as this,” he says. “I’m a sports-oriented person.”

And the fans continually remind him there is a certain importance to this profession. He will speak of the Sockers’ arrival at the airport after being eliminated from the ‘86-87 championship series. Fans were waiting, crying.

“Literally in tears,” Quinn says.

Then there are the friends at home who told Quinn they had to turn the television off when Game 2 in Baltimore went into overtime. Watching made them too nervous.

“Sometimes you don’t realize how fanatical those fans are,” he says. “The people of San Diego have really adopted us.”

Certainly support at home for the Sockers in this series far exceeds what the Blast received in Baltimore, where barely 6,000 spectators showed up for each of the two games. More than 11,000 attended each game in San Diego.

As the enthusiasm builds in San Diego, life at home for the Quinn family has adapted to Brian’s soccer schedule. Brian’s wife, Sharon, knows how important championships are to her husband.

“My wife puts everything on hold,” Quinn said. “The kids haven’t gotten any attention the last three weeks.’

Quinn has four children. One day, each child will receive one of his championship rings.

To Quinn, the rings indicate more than just championships. They reflect the way the championships have been won.

The Sockers have had their share of individual stars, the Veees, Segotas and Zunguls. But this team seems to have a knack for pulling together, ignoring its differences and blending nicely when the playoffs arrive.

“It’s nice to have that close-knittedness,” Quinn said. “There are a lot of good individual players that don’t have MISL rings. We have our rings to look back on.”

Looking ahead, the Sockers are in position to secure this series in San Diego, saving themselves the trouble of another trip to Baltimore. Momentum, as well as history, favors them. The Sockers are 8-0 against Baltimore in home playoff games.

After losing its top defender, Bruce Savage, to an ankle sprain, the Blast has been noticeably less effective defensively.

Missed opportunities, coupled with the acrobatic efforts of goalie Scott Manning, helped keep the Sockers from running away with Sunday’s game, which they won, 4-3.

Socker Coach Ron Newman remains cautious, though he admits he likes what he has seen so far.

“We’ve still got to play a complete game (tonight),” he said. “I think what happened (Sunday) was good. We proved that we can come back.”

The Sockers can almost taste it.

“We’re so close,” midfielder Branko Segota said. “The only thing that would be nice is to play in front of a sellout crowd.”