European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 18, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday March 18,1990 the stars and stripes a a Page 25commentarypuffing the sock into . Soccer by Rob Staggenborg staff writer soccer was the reason i became a up came across this horrific realization on a sweltering August afternoon in St. Louis. I was decked out in my knee High Adidas soccer socks my mud encrusted Gerd Muller cleats drag eed heavily behind me As i stumbled up the Hill. The Hill was this almost mythical Mountain that peered Over St. Louis Forest Park. Our Mission was to negotiate that Hill 10, 20 times by doing wind sprints up up up. Down Down Down. Aah. The Downs became music to my throbbing quadriceps _ All in the name of soccer. To others gathered there the Hill was a religious ritual not to be taken lightly. I took it lightly. Less than an hour later my vocation was revealed in a less than satisfying manner. Coach Mueller a fir plug Type read the names. Slowly. Hesitantly. No emotion. No a a in a sorry no holds barred. No mercy. My name Wasny to on the list. I was Cut. In the eyes of a 15-year-old olympic hopeful i was damned to the fiery pits of soccer oblivion. My dream of being in with the a soccer crowd had been dashed leaving me standing Shell shocked at the Crest of the Hill. Damn that Hill. High school was Tough enough. Being Cut from the a a by team was laughable. To make matters worse coach Mueller was the religion teacher. Religion teachers Are soft spoken types that Pray All the time. They done to bark a you gotta run to make my team Staggenborg a Mueller did. With sighs of Relief the chosen 22 pranced away from the pack Mueller Barking a practice. Tomorrow. Three thirty. Be there. We re going to run.�?�. I wanted to slide tackle him. I . It was too hot. My quads pumped with pain. The walk Back to the car was like the walk toward the electric chair. A cd idea make it a i was queried. I did no to answer. No i did no to make it. So i did what every vengeful american kid would do i wrote for the school paper lampooning the coaches every move. Mueller hated me for that. Paybacks my Friend Are painful. My love affair with soccer actually blossomed from the ordeal. It was a lot easier to scream a you gotta run a from the stands As the b team was being subjected to a 9-0 thrashing than to hear it from the Field. Years later the americans would be making their first appearance in a world cup in 40 years. Volumes have been written on Why the sport will never catch on in the United states. Columnists arc lampooning the sport every Dayi i like soccer. It just did no to like me. No grudges Here. To enjoy the game is to understand the game. Most americans done to understand the game. The principle is easy enough kick a 32-panel Ball into your opponents goal As Many times As you can. Defend your own goal from your opponents offensive. Here a the catch no hands. There a More to it than that. That a Why the rest of the world loves the game. We re trying to catch up. Soccer has taken the form of a Pagan god across the world. The argentines brazilians a a italians germans russians French Spanish and even the bloody brits worship the sport. The German Bunde Sliga is a Given topic of discussion in any Gasthaus. A Beckenbauer. Nicht so gut a my German landlord grumbles after Reading the Bild daily. He was referring to the German coach Franz Beckenbauer who As a player led Germany to the 1974 world cup title and later starred on the new York Cosmos team that started the . Soccer revolution in the late �?T70s. Life in Germany stops when the Bunde Sliga is on to. German children Are signing pro contracts at 16. At 16,1 was drawing mustaches on George Washington in history class putting John Lennon style shades on Shakespeare and thinking of ways to make coach Mueller a life miserable during that 214 season. Pro contracts the Point is that europeans live for the sport. The . Soccer federation gets an automatic spot in the Public relations Hall of Fame if it can sell the sport beyond regional areas. St. Louis a once known As the Amateur soccer capital of the . A is being replaced by los Angeles Miami new Jersey Northern Virginia Indiana and Illinois for that Moniker. The nation is getting there. In different areas of the country we be been there. Soccer was King at my Alma mater a state championships National rankings the works. Football. Well it was ludicrous to be Blunt. Why should America support something that s so blatantly foreign so blatantly european so blatantly Boring yeah soccer is a mite Boring to watch but it is really a fascinating game. The premise is easy enough but working the Ball deep into enemy lines is half the Battle. The Midfield area is filled with key one on one matchup mind boggling bal handling and serves As the strategic nucleus of the game. Liken the sport to chess where one player makes a move but is countered by the other player. I played Midfield. A Pudgy Short winded Type i did no to fit the role. Other Guys were the Bishops pawns and Rooks. I was the joker. Not enough room on a chessboard for a joker. Soccer is a thinking Many a game. That a Why its having a difficult time gaining acceptance Back Home. We done to think. We let to do that for us. While everyone a jumping on the anti soccer bandwagon Stop and think about the game. Better yet watch a game. The whole 90 minutes. Its not that bad. Its pretty exciting actually. History is in the makings folks. The . Will try for a Miracle on grass in the Shade of the 1980 olympic hockey teams skate for the Gold. The fact that our capitalistic Empire has not appeared in the worlds showcase event in More than 40 years should stir up the old patriotism. Patriotism is All we have now. The europeans Are laughing at us and our attempt to stay on a soccer Field with them. To be Frank about it we wont. Done to expect the Good of us of a to win the whole shebang. We wont. We re not that Good yet. The United states blew All chances of winning the big one on a sweltering August Day in St. Louis when it turned its would be Captain leading scorer and National pinup into a sportswriter. And we can All thank coach Mueller for ins last downhill Are Sweden apr atle skaardal of Otway edged austrian Helmut Hof inner by a tenth of a second saturday to the menus world cup downhill i More than 20 skiers from the lowest Flea group were still waiting around a starting Gate when fog forced the orders to Stop the race. A a the results Are official a said Ottofy of a a St German technical Del the International ski Federn it i he race jury can make special dec Isis is under special circumstance a a has happened a Teal Winner of a downhill at at Ura a Striae. Earlier this season f a in contested in two heats because la Mil Portage flashed Down the a a Apia track m 1 minute 16.08 Sec a Faure a shortened More than kinds to 10 because of Strong cvertirii11015 the course. That Cut vertical drop to 749 meters. Irdetnvlct0ryjn? skaardal from endings m the final downhill Kadar Caulfi Quot shh pan grf at season so Well Tulsi ? in 1 really expect to u went so bad a amp Flehner had already clinched the Austria a Petra Kronberger and Switzerland a Pirmin Zurbriggen show off their world cup Overall awards after saturday s last event. World cup downhill title before the race. Despite a steady drizzle and warm weather the course held up Well and several late starters posted excellent times. . Kitt of Rochester n.y., was one of them. Starting 32nd, Kitt took sixth .56 behind skaardal. Tommy Moe of Palmer Alaska one of americans most promising skiers was 13th for his Best showing of the season. Canadas Felix Belczyk placed third in 1 16.49, the Best performance by a Canadian in a menus downhill this season. Fourth went to Danilo sbardelotto of Italy in 1 16.58, just a Hundredth of a second ahead of Daniel Mahrer of Switzerland. Christian Ghedina of Italy Winner of the first mini downhill thursday barely finished in the Points this time. He was 15th. Pirmin Zurbriggen of Switzerland ended his Brilliant 10-year career with a 10th place in his 74th downhill. The Swiss All Rounder who goes into retirement this week earlier this month clinched his fourth Overall Crown tying italian Gustavo Thonius All time record. Zurbriggen was third behind Hoflen or and skaardal in the final downhill standings. Zurbriggen topped the final Overall standings ahead of Norway sole Kristian Furuseth a Gate racer who does no to compete in the downhill and Gunther Mader of Austria. Earlier saturday the women a final downhill of the season was cancelled because of poor race conditions and scratched from the schedule. It clinched the Overall championship for Petra Kronberger making her the first austrian to win the coveted title since Annemarie Moser Proll in 1979. It also made West Germany a Katrin Gutensohn Knopf who has not competed since the last downhill on feb. 4, the Winner of the season title in that discipline
