Defeats Trouble Collins : Soccer: Midfielder takes some blame for the Sockers, saying the series would be over if he could play healthy.

There are rumblings coming from the Sockers that the MSL championship series with the Dallas Sidekicks might be different if Ben Collins played with his usual abandon.

Maybe the Sockers, who lead the best-of-seven series, 3-2, would have already clinched their 10th title in 11 seasons if Collins’ had lost concern for his post-operative left knee.

At the center of those rumblings is Collins.

“Definitely, the series would already be over,” Collins said. “But I’m not fully healthy and I’m not doing everything I would be if I were. The first game I only played two or three shifts.”

Until Game 5, Collins saw only limited duty, and maybe that was for good reason.

At times, Collins’ slow reactions and even slower decision making has burdened the team.

An example came in the second minute of Game 2, when Dallas forward Tatu dribbled right past Collins.

“I just let Tatu get by me,” Collins said.

Tatu continued into his attacking third before passing off to David Doyle, who scored the first goal of the game. With that spark, Dallas built a quick 3-1 lead before eventually losing, 9-7.

But it is not the loss of defensive skills that most bothers Collins. He insists that as the series has progressed, so too has his knee and now no one’s getting past him.

“In the last game, Ben showed he can handle Tatu and that he can handle Jan Goossens,” Coach Ron Newman said. “He’s good at kicking the ball off their toes.”

Collins had three skirmishes with Tatu in the second half of Game 5 and stripped him of the ball twice.

So angry was Tatu with his inability to control the ball in Collins’ vicinity, at the end of the third quarter he began shoving Collins. Collins started pushing back and eventually both benches emptied.

No further scuffles broke out.

“I guess Tatu figures he can get past me anytime,” Collins said. “All I did was take the ball away from him and he got mad.”

The only thing that still bothers Collins is his lack of offensive production.

He won the championship series’ Most Valuable Player award last year because he was able to move into an offensive posture and score some key goals. He finished the playoffs with seven goals and four assists.

This series he hasn’t even tried to move into the attacking third. And that has allowed Dallas defenders to do their jobs with much more ease.

“They’re double teaming Paul Wright and they’re double-teaming Thompson Usiyan and leaving me alone,” Collins said. “They’re thinking, ‘Oh, what’s he going to do? He’s a cripple.’ If I wasn’t 100%, they wouldn’t be doing that.”

Collins doesn’t think of himself as a cripple. He was quoting Dallas midfielder David Doyle, who late in Game 5, yelled to a teammate to “dribble around that guy--he’s a cripple,” Collins said.

The harsh words, Collins said, were the right prescription for his ailing knee.

“I told Ron Newman (Sunday) that I wish we were playing (Sunday),” Collins said. “I can’t wait to go out there and prove I’m not a cripple.”

He’ll do that, he said, by stepping up on offense.

“I don’t like to talk,” he continued. “I look for my play to say everything. I won’t be saying anything to the ref. I won’t say anything to the other players. I’m just going to go out there and play.

“And I’m going to take the chance (tonight) and go forward. We only have two more games, so if anything happens (to my knee), it’s no big deal. It can heal before next year. But I have to go forward and shoot when I get the chance.

“I’m going to try to score some goals and prove I’m not a cripple.”

Before being shut out in Game 5, Socker midfielder Tim Wittman had at least a goal and at least two points in every game of the championship series. This after being held to a single assist against Baltimore in the semifinals.

With his production on the rebound, Wittman has been getting considerable attention from the media--attention Wittman doesn’t fully comprehend.

“I don’t look at stats or anything--they don’t prove if you play well and they don’t prove if you’re playing bad,” Wittman said. “I just happened to be there at the right time . . . No one should be looking to see if I’ve scored two or three goals. But if I stop two or three goals, that’s what should be looked at.

“But people in this country tend to look at the end result, a goal in soccer, or a home run in baseball. But no one ever looks at what led to that end result. They guy who started it all might have had the most to do with it.

“Now more people are coming to talk to me because I’m scoring goals, but what about the guy who’s doing all the dirty work and winning the ball back for us? In Game 5, I didn’t score, but I was doubling up (on defense), and I did some dirty work and I think I helped out.”

Socker Notes

The Sockers sold more than 2,200 tickets for Game 6 between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday. Customers were standing a quarter of the way around the arena and waited as long as an hour to get their seats. “Oh sure, it was worth it,” said Tim McCardle, who stepped into line 10 minutes before the windows opened and bought his tickets at 10:35. “I really wanted to see the game. I didn’t know what to expect, but I’m in no hurry.” . . . The line was a site not seen by the Sockers for several years. “Oh, was that for us?” asked midfielder Tim Wittman. “Are you sure? I thought it was for football or boxing.” Said Coach Ron Newman, “It’s great to see that again, isn’t it?” The Sockers expect a crowd of 8,000-9,000. . . . The Sockers have lost three consecutive playoff games only once. That came during the 1986 championship series against the Minnesota Strikers. The Sockers dropped Games 2, 3 and 4 before eventually winning the series, 4-3. . . . The Sidekicks have lost 12 consecutive regular-season and playoff games at the Sports Arena. They last won here in Game 3 of the 1990 Western Division finals by taking a 4-1 decision.