For Openers Sockers Take Side Kicking : Soccer: While Tatu was giving the crowd the shirt off his back the Sockers were being undressed in their season opener again.

Every time Tatu gave the fans the shirt off his back Saturday night, it was a reminder to the Sockers that this is a new season and they are no longer champions.

He reminded them five times, throwing his jersey into the stands after each goal he scored. Five goals. Five jerseys.

So it was a typical season opener for the Sockers, who were dismantled by the Dallas Sidekicks, 9-3, in front of 10,782 at Reunion Arena. The Sockers have won just one road opener in their indoor history.

“I think it happens every year in San Diego,” goalie Victor Nogueira said. “It’s natural for you to be cocky after you’ve won the championship.”

Said defender Kevin Crow: “We don’t start off with the right kind of intensity that the other teams do. We ponder (our decisions) for a while, saying ‘Do I want to go there? Do I want to make that run?’ People that think quickly and react quickly are usually going to have a better night.”

That explains it. Maybe the Sockers were still thinking a little bit about how they defeated this team in the playoffs last season and then went on to win their seventh championship. All the while, Tatu, leading scorer in Sidekicks’ history, was thinking how much better he feels this year. His confidence wasn’t all there last season, following a year of rehabilitation on his right knee, which he injured on the first game of the 87-88 season.

“I have my speed back,” said Tatu, whose five goals were a career high. “I’m not a step slow like I was last year. I feel I’m healthy.”

In the early part of the game there was a lot of give and take. Tatu gave Dallas a 1-0 lead midway through the first quarter, drilling a shot under Nogueira’s right hand off an assist from midfielder Mark Karpun.

The Sockers came right back less than three minutes later when Branko Segota was in perfect position to score off a deflection from Sidekick defender Wes McLeod. Rookie Rod Castro put the Sockers ahead, 2-1, with his first Major Indoor Soccer League goal. But not long after his bright smile faded, McLeod scored to tie the score again.

The Sockers hurt themselves with penalties during the remainder of the half. Zoran Karic (charging) and Waad Hirmez (pushing) served two-minutes in the box and the Sidekicks capitalized, forward Steve Kinsey and Tatu each scoring to make it 4-2.

Socker Coach Ron Newman elected to pull Nogueira and put in a sixth attacker at the end of the half. Brian Quinn donned the oversized jersey and did some flashy footwork in front of McLeod before sending a left-footed shot through goalie Krys Sobieski’s legs with 55 seconds remaining in the half. If it was a championship team that disappeared into the locker room for intermission, it was something a good deal less than that that returned in the second half. The offense went flat and the defense just sat.

Sidekick Mike Powers scored with a minute to go in the third quarter. Tatu scored three in a row in the fourth. And defender Troy Snyder wrapped things up with a goal in the final minute.

Of course, the Sockers are so used to starting the season this way that this really can’t be too much of a concern, right coach?

“Yeah, but nine goals?” Newman asked. “If you’re going to get beat, I thought you might get beat by a goal or two if you’re not ready. It looked like we were manhandled by them. Our regulars weren’t ready to mix it.”

Still, for the Sockers there is consolation in history. In nine previous seasons of starting at or below .500 in the first 10 games, they have come back to win five championships. So there weren’t too many long faces Saturday. Players were critical, but also confident that the questions left over from this inauspicious debut can soon be answered.

“It was more or less like a day at the beach,” defender George Fernandez said. “We were pretty flat.”

After a whole summer of thinking about losing to the Sockers in the seventh game of the last season’s semifinals, the Sidekicks were determined to make sure the Sockers left the beach with a nice burn.

“We’ve been waiting for this game all off-season,” Powers said. “It seemed every day during training camp somebody mentioned the opener. I think that made us more aggressive than them.”