30 years ago tonight, January 17, 1982: The Kansas City Comets set dubious MISL record with their 14th-straight regular season loss, 8-3 to the Memphis Americans at Mid-South Coliseum. The late Carlos Salguero converted the first successful penalty kick in Comets history in this game. Derek Smethurst scored a hat trick for the Americans that night and the late Stan Stamenkovic of Memphis scored his first goal ever vs. the Comets. Things started improving for K.C. from that point onward...
when did Carlos Salguero die? i remember watching him play for the Toledo Pride of the NPSL (or maybe it was AISA)
Carlos died sadly of cancer December 28, 2006, just two months after former Wing/Comet Barry Wallace.
ah... thanks .... in the old NPSL, he was just head and shoulders above everyone else he was playing against, and still had time to say HI to everyone
30 years ago today, January 22, 1982: The Kansas City Comets finally snapped their MISL-record 14-game losing streak in a 5-2 win over the Phoenix Inferno at Kemper Arena. One young Gino Schiraldi scored his first goal as a Comet, as did Zoran Savic and (future Dr.) Emilio John, who were both playing in their first game as a Comet. It was also Yilmaz Orhan's first game as a Comet, and he assisted on Savic's goal. This was Pat McBride's first win as Comets head coach.
Sorry, here I go again... which was worse? Hartford Hellions moved to Memphis to become the Americans (owned by Athletes in Action) OR Memphis later moved to Las Vegas to become the Las Vegas Americans? After all, Las Vegas IS the epitome of the American Dream...
Coming from the land of Vultures, Shoccers, Sting, Horizons, Power, Storm, Riot, and maybe Kick, I don't think Hellions is so bad. I like the alliteration too.
Tough call... HARTFORD HELLIONS (God showed his wrath when the roof collapsed and they had to play in New Haven and Springfield) or CHICAGO SHOCCERS (seriously, what the h*ll is a Shoccer)?
Could we please table the discussion of lame team names or move it to its own thread? Meanwhile... 30 years ago today, January 29, 1982: The K.C. Comets win their second game in a row (coming off their infamous miserable 14-game losing streak), a 4-2 victory over the Cleveland Force, who paid their first visit to Kemper Arena. It was the Comets' first win vs. an MISL Eastern Division foe. Zoran Savic scored twice and Iubo Petrovic scored his first goal in his first game as a Comet. Cleveland out-shot the Comets 50-35. It was also the first game I saw the Comets win in-person.
Not to upstage the valiant efforts of your Comets... 1/29/82 Memphis Americans at St. Louis Steamers Attendance: 18,086
Now THAT'S worthy of mentioning. This was when the Steamers were routinely outdrawing the Blues at The Arena. Amazing to think that names like Bellinger, Bick and Ilijevski were just as well-known to St. Louis sports fans as Willie McGee, Whitey and The Wizard during that time.
30 years ago today, January 30, 1982: Comets lose a tough one 5-4 in OT vs. the Avalanche at McNichols Arena in Denver. (Future) Dr. Emilio John scored his final MISL career goal and Victor Petroni started his first game in goal as a Comet. The game-winner @ 11:04 of OT was scored by Denver's Duncan MacEwan, his first MISL career goal.
Does anyone recall what became of the Avalanche? I realize they only lasted a couple of seasons in Denver before going into Chapter 11. Did they fold, or were they "purchased" and relocated/renamed? Was anyone at the game on 1/30/82? (I don't mean just the 16 of us who read these boards, I mean ANYONE?) Seriously, does anyone have the attendance figures for the Avalanche games at McNichols (Mike Kelegian obviously didn't)?
Funny you should ask. I'm currently compiling a database on every game in Comets history (hence where I get this stuff from), and the attendance on 1/30/82 at McNichols was a respectable 11,155. Opening night that season in November drew a crowd of 13,399 for the Avalanche against KC, and for the Comets' final vist there in April, 1982, they drew 8,128. The Avalanche franchise went dormant after the '81-'82 season, and eventually morphed into the Tacoma Stars in '83-'84.
In fact, the Comets had a higher average attendance than the Blues three of the first five years they were both in the building: 1981-82 Comets 11,058 - Blues 14,433 1982-83 Comets 14,692 - Blues 12,612 1983-84 Comets 15,786*- Blues 12,987 1984-85 Comets 12,917 - Blues 13,397 1985-86 Comets 12,428 - Blues 12,230 1986-87 Comets 12,447 - Blues 13,240 1987-88 Comets 11,211 - Blues 14,505 1988-89 Comets 9,228* - Blues 15,138 1989-90 Comets 10,475*- Blues 15,813 1990-91 Comets 7,103 - Blues 17,158 *Led MISL Like most things regarding the MISL, you can see when the worm started to turn on the heyday.
I played with Carlos in Kansas City and Buffalo.....great family man and person. Brilliant at going to his right off the dribble and had a very hard and accurate shot. I played with Barry in Tulsa. Another great lad and great pro with an educated left foot coming out of the back. It was a pleasure to have spent time with both doing what they loved.
I need caffeine. 1979-80 Steamers 14,060*- Blues 12,259 1980-81 Steamers 15,219*- Blues 14,603 1981-82 Steamers 17,107*- Blues 14,433 1982-83 Steamers 14,693*- Blues 12,612 1983-84 Steamers 13,992 - Blues 12,987 1984-85 Steamers 12,711 - Blues 13,397 1985-86 Steamers 10,189 - Blues 12,230 1986-87 Steamers 7,038 - Blues 13,240 1987-88 Steamers 6,640 - Blues 14,505 *Led MISL
Kenn: I am concerned about your recent bout of insomnia... other than the STEAMERS and the COMETS, did any other indoor teams outdraw their NHL or NBA in-market competition? Note to all Marylanders: I realize that the Honorable Ed Hale and his Baltimore Blast outdrew the Baltimore Skipjacks. I am not awarding consolation prizes, so let's stay focused on the NHL & NBA... Arrows over Isles/Nets? Not likely (Isles were competitive back then) Spirit over Pens? I can't imagine Paul Child outdrawing Mario Lemieux (or his father) Lazers over Kings/Lakers? ROTFLMAO Force over the Cavs (Barons)?
I'd have to look, but there were a few instances of MISL teams outdrawing (on average) their NBA counterparts. The Comets didn't have much problem outdrawing the Kings, and the Sting did outperform the Bulls pre-Jordan.
The Comets had NO problem outdrawing the Kings. Please allow me to quote my own blog entry: 1981-82: Kings—6,644; Comets—11,508 (2nd-highest in the MISL) 1982-83: Kings—8,076; Comets—14,962 (2nd-highest in the MISL) 1983-84: Kings—9,030; Comets—15,786 (Highest in the MISL) 1984-85: Kings—6,411; Comets—12,917 (2nd-highest in the MISL)