Imagine soccer played inside a pinball machine.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s indoor soccer.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a pro league kicking around now, but it\u2019s second-rate. There\u2019s not much of a market for the indoor game. There are too many superior outdoor options \u2014 like Major League Soccer and the United Soccer Leagues \u2014 for both players and spectators.<\/p>\n
But between 1984 and 1996, there was no big-time outdoor soccer in the U.S.<\/p>\n
The North American Soccer League folded in \u201884. It was once home to Pele and the hyper-glitzy New York Cosmos, but its death rattle wasn\u2019t pretty. MLS launched in \u201896.<\/p>\n
It was a brief gap, but the Major Indoor Soccer League filled it from 1978-92.<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh\u2019s team was the Spirit, which played seven seasons at the Civic Arena from 1978-86. Sexy enough to use Rod Stewart\u2019s song \u201cHot Legs\u201d as a marketing campaign.<\/p>\n
Spirit alumni will be present and honored at the Riverhounds\u2019 USL game at F.N.B. Stadium on Saturday night. Kickoff vs. Hartford Athletic is at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
Indoor soccer seemed very American at the time.<\/p>\n
Six players per side on a hockey rink.<\/p>\n
Nets sunk into the boards.<\/p>\n
Plenty of bells, whistles and ricochets.<\/p>\n
More goals.<\/p>\n
Good talent. Lots of international players pursued careers in the MISL, some venturing to America (and indoors) while in their prime.<\/p>\n
Like six-time MISL MVP Steve Zungul from Yugoslavia and Stan Terlecki, the Spirit\u2019s Polish import (one of many on the Spirit). Terlecki shared MVP with Zungul in 1981-82.<\/p>\n
Zungul played for New York, Golden Bay, San Diego and Tacoma. He was the most dominant athlete ever in any team sport. Better than Michael Jordan in basketball. If you saw him, you know.<\/p>\n
Zungul scored 828 goals in 532 indoor games. (I think. Indoor soccer\u2019s surviving stats are very inexact.)<\/p>\n
Zungul won the league seven times in 12 seasons. The championship followed Zungul around like a puppy.<\/p>\n
The Spirit never won a championship, or even got to an MISL final. But that wasn\u2019t Terlecki\u2019s fault.<\/p>\n
Or maybe it was. He was eccentric to the point of neurotic. Not always the best teammate.<\/p>\n
But Terlecki was great. He had 74 goals in 43 games in his co-MVP season. It\u2019s like his legs were spring-loaded. Perhaps even \u201chot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Terlecki died in 2017. He was legitimately one of Pittsburgh\u2019s greatest athletes ever.<\/p>\n
The Spirit had loads of good players.<\/p>\n
Mt. Lebanon\u2019s John O\u2019Hara gave the team a home-grown connection.<\/p>\n
Standouts like Paul Child and Dave MacKenzie settled in Pittsburgh permanently when their careers ended.<\/p>\n
But the game was the star.<\/p>\n
Indoor soccer was unique, different, needed.<\/p>\n
Until MISL\u2019s coaches coached the offensive spontaneity out of it, dumbing it down with defense. As coaches are wont to do.<\/p>\n
I loved indoor soccer.<\/p>\n
So did Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
The Spirit averaged 6,351 fans in their seven seasons at the Civic Arena. Not bad for an invented sport.<\/p>\n
In 1983-84, the Spirit posted their best record, 32-16, and averaged 8,278 spectators per game. The Penguins averaged just 6,839 that season. Indoor soccer outdrew hockey. Both teams were owned by Youngstown businessman Edward J. DeBartolo.<\/p>\n
The Penguins drafted Mario Lemieux in 1984.<\/p>\n
The Spirit folded by 1986.<\/p>\n
Not a coincidence.<\/p>\n
But indoor soccer had a good run in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
The current top indoor league, the Major Arena Soccer League, has nine teams, some carrying the names of ex-MISL teams: Baltimore Blast, Kansas City Comets, San Diego Sockers, Tacoma Stars.<\/p>\n
But the talent isn\u2019t there.<\/p>\n
They don\u2019t use the boards properly.<\/p>\n
They play outdoor soccer. Just indoors.<\/p>\n
They don\u2019t re-invent the game.<\/p>\n
The MISL did. <\/p>\n
The Spirit did.<\/p>\n
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