Addition of St. Louis Adds Games to MISL Regular Season, Creates Two Divisions

The official addition of St. Louis to the Major Indoor Soccer League Thursday means the league will increase the number of regular-season games from 48 to 52 and return to a two-division format for the 1989-90 season.

The defending MISL champion Sockers will play in the Western Division along with Tacoma, Dallas and St. Louis, which has not yet selected a nickname. Baltimore, Cleveland, Kansas City and Wichita will make up the Eastern.

The 11-year-old MISL fielded seven teams in one division last season but since has added Cleveland and St. Louis while losing the Los Angeles Lazers.

BOXING

The scheduled fight between San Diego’s James Kinchen and World Boxing Assn. light-heavyweight champion Virgil Hill has been postponed because Hill is being treated for a blood sugar level disorder. The title bout, scheduled for Aug. 6 in Bismarck, N.D., will probably be held sometime this fall, according to promoter Bob Arum.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

For the second consecutive year, there will be no city championship between the three San Diego NCAA Division I schools this season, because U.S. International and the University of San Diego could not reach an agreement in scheduling.

USIU will have a record 17 home games at Golden Hall, including Cal (Dec. 5), the first Pac-10 team to play the Gulls in San Diego, and Loyola Marymount (Jan. 6). The Gulls will also play Oklahoma (Dec. 29) in Norman.

USIU will play San Diego State at the San Diego Sports Arena Feb. 10, and the Aztecs will play USD Dec. 6, also at the Sports Arena. But USIU and USD, which have played for the past four years, will not meet this season. Last year, USD and SDSU did not play.

Gary Zarecky, USIU’s coach, said that he wanted to have a home-and-home series with USD or at least have USD come to Golden Hall once every three years.

“It’s not that we don’t want to play USD,” Zarecky’s said, “but we feel that we’re in a position in our program that we can establish a home-and-home series with these other schools. Fair is fair.

“We’ve approached them and they said ‘no.’ I don’t have any ill feeling or animosity, but I think it’s a fairness situation.”

Said Hank Egan, USD’s coach: “The only conversations I’ve had with Gary Zarecky are after he’s gone to the papers with these things. After I read it in the papers, then I talk with Gary Zarecky.

“Five years ago they weren’t even on our schedule, and they begged us to get on our schedule.”