Sunday Randomness - Pacific's 1987 Major Indoor Soccer League Cards

 

No one I know will ever accuse me of being a fan of the sport of soccer.  I'd rather sit at the ballpark on a sunny day watching a pitching duel.  My kids played the sport when they were younger and as a youngster who didn't know better, I even managed to play a year at the local park.  In my defense, I was swept up in soccer mania when the Kicks came to town as part of the old NASL league (I'm talking about the old North American Soccer League that folded back in 1984). 

The Kicks folded after the 1981 season.  Coincidently, their last loss came at the hands of the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers.  Those Strikers must have been really impressed with Minnesota because they left Florida after the 1983 season, and moved to Minnesota where they played in the old Metrodome.

As a high school kid, I bought a partial season ticket package with a buddy of mine.  I'm not sure any high school kid could afford a partial season ticket to anything nowadays. Despite not really being a fan of soccer, there we were, sitting in the front row behind the net. 

A year later, the NASL folded and the Strikers joined the Major Indoor Soccer League.  If anyone remembers the MISL, it was an incredibly fast paced game which took place in multi-purpose basketball or hockey stadiums.  In the old Met Center, they simply covered the ice with a blanket of indoor turf.  If you look closely at one of my favorite player's card here, you can see the turf bunched up along the boards.

Just like at hockey games, it could be a bit chilly in there, but that didn't matter to us.  Unlike outdoor soccer, this was incredibly fun to watch.  Imagine a soccer game played in half the size but with basically no out of bounds!  It was like watching a live foosball game and we had front row seats.

As luck would have it, our outdoor seats transferred nicely to indoor seats located right next to the soccer goal.  So every near shot that would ricochet off the boards or plexiglass sounded like you were sitting next to a cannon.  I would imagine the goalies either had nerves of steel or were complete idiots for attempting to make any save.  

Above, I found a card of Alan Mayer wearing a helmet.  He may have been the smartest of them all, but I don't remember any goalie wearing a helmet when I attended the games.  Tino Lettieri was a fan favorite who always kept a fuzzy parrot for good luck near his goal.  His card is also a bit odd in that all of the Striker's cards have a red outline, and for some reason his is green.  

Back in the final season at the Metrodome, during a timeout Tino walked back to a set of stairs to sit. My buddy walked over to ask for an autograph but Tino said he couldn't sign during the game.  Once the game ended, Tino came running back, took off his goalie gloves and threw them at us.  I caught one and another fan got the other.  One of these years I need to add a Tino autograph to my collection.  

I really like the design of these cards. Pacific kept it simple and classic, a nice action photo, team logo and player name/position.  I'm assuming only going by one name is a European thing.

I don't remember seeing soccer cards before 1987, but I do remember this guy.  Since our seats were front row next to the goal, during warmups in one of the 1986 championship games (it was a 7 game series but I don't remember which games I attended) this guy sat in front of us to take a break.  The hockey boards and plexiglass separated us, but we let him have it.  Which may have been a mistake, because I know I left that game disappointed. The San Diego club dominated indoor soccer back then.

Here's a look at the card back.  Full career MISL stats, a nice little bio and a quirky logo in the lower righthand corner.  It's interesting that it gives you the player's citizenship and you'll note the orange soccer ball which was a MISL thing.  

When I saw a box come up for auction, I was all in.  It was fun opening these packs and I was able to put together nearly three complete sets.  The set is only 110 cards (with no checklist).  I kept one for myself and gave one to a friend who is a huge soccer fan and had also attended some of the same games I did (though we didn't know each other at the time).  I might not be the biggest fan of soccer, but the indoor game certainly was entertaining.  Though these cards can be had for dirt cheap, they really take me back, which makes this set priceless to me.