Earthquakes history -- NASL style!, Part 2

IIija Mitic was as good as anyone, regardless of league or era, on direct free kicks that were within distance around the goal. He delivered a deadly free kick. Plus, as a goal scorer, in his prime, he was the best in the old NASL. Most likely don't realize it, but Mitic did something "somewhat" similar to the Landon Donovan fiasco when Donovan went to LA. In IIiya's case, he "retired" from pro soccer while playing for the Dallas Tornado (I believe after the '74 season). All the time he played in Dallas, he was living in the Bay Area. A few months after his "retirement", he signed with the Earthquakes. Let's be clear, he was not the first to do something like that, but he was likely the first relatively high profile player to do it in the NASL. It was speculated that the "retirement" had always been a ruse in order to extract himself from his contractual obligations to Dallas (they even retired his jersey). The story I heard (and I emphasize "heard", because I am NOT stating all of this as a provable fact) was that when the franchise was awarded to his friend Milan Mandaric, Mitic wanted to play in the Bay Area again (he had been on the roster of the Oakland Clippers a few years earlier). All I actually recall myself is that the Merky News printed something about Dallas complaining to the league about what happened...to no avail of course. Regardless, for the three or four seasons he played for the Quakes, he was a valuable asset, arguably until the very last one when he was released.

 

I thought he retired in the middle of the 1978 season after scoring his 101st NASL goal. He said he scored his 100th milestone goal and the Quakes had a horrid season so he decided to give it up.

 

Mitic, by the end, was as close to a designated hitter as you could find on any team. Lethal on any ball played close to him in the attacking third, but exhibited zero interest in defense. Nevertheless, he was a tremendous Quake. One game in 76, where we beat Dallas 4-0, Mitic was fouled just outside the box. We had season tickets in the bleachers set up right behind the north goal. Before he was off the ground, he caught Paul Child's eye, gave a barely perceptible nod, and floated a perfect ball between the Dallas back line and their goalkeeper, Ken Cooper. Child lunged and got to the ball just before Cooper and flicked it over his shoulder for one of the prettiest goals in one of the most satisfying wins in the early years.

 

My recollection is that he was waived not long after Terry Fisher was hired as head coach, which was in 1978. It was immediately after a game in which Mitic was shown the red card for kicking the ball at the referee, in response to a non-call after IIija thought he was fouled (he was a player who got hacked quite a lot). That incident seemed to be the tipping point for Fisher, who was of the opinion that Mitic had become a detriment to the team (in addition to his temper, he was not producing much on the pitch that season either). Gabbo had been fired as head coach just before.

 

You may be right but that wasn't what was how it was portrayed in the Merky at the time. I believe either from Dan Hruby or Fred Guzman. I forget who....

I'm surprised though that Milan Mandaric didn't pick him up with the Stompers who were just down the road. They had already signed the old Quakes like Archie Roboostoff, Mark Liveric , Johnny Moore and John Rowlands. It may not have looke dgood. I'm also thinking the Quakes paid Mitic the remainder of his contract.

 

NASL Fans: Krazy George, Tampa Bay Rowdies

 

I don't think I will ever forgive Trevor Francis and Detroit Express for scoring 5 goals and beating the Quakes 10-0 but he was a great player nonetheless....

 

In 1979, I traveled with the Quakes for a couple of east coast road trips, as well as some away games on the west coast. The radio broadcast duties were handled by Hal Ramey back then, first on KCBS (for one season), then on KXRX. I sometimes sat with him on the plane. I remember him telling me that when the Quakes were being really thrashed on those away games ('79 is the second worst season IMO, after 2018), he knew that the radio audience had dwindled to virtually zero by the end of the game. I listened to the complete broadcast of that 10-0 humiliation in Detroit. I knew which one was their hotel on that trip (I had considered going with them), so I called and left a message for Hal after the game assuring him that there was at least "one" in his radio audience all the way to the end.

As a side story, Hal was the only person in the radio crew for away games in those days. He didn't even have a producer (or technician) with him. The way it worked was that in the press box, he secured a phone line back to the station which he used to connect to his portable console (about the size of a carry on suitcase...he always did carry that device in the cabin when flying). Once it was set up, he had to monitor his own broadcast (VU meters, etc.), just like a DJ in a very small radio station. There was one game, I think in Chicago, when the phone lines to the press box were down. There was a pay phone in a location where he could see the game, so he did the entire play by play broadcast using a pay phone...just talking through the normal hand held phone receiver. On the plane and in the hotel prior to games, he had to memorize players and jersey numbers for the opposition, as he had no help with the broadcast (on a TV broadcast, the announcers don't always know the complete roster of a club by their numbers). They have people who tell them as they do the broadcasts, through their headphones....at least that how it works for network people. I have no idea if there is a crew helping the current Quakes announcers. People often think that the play by play is an easy job....I had to do it while taking a radio broadcasting class once....just speaking into a recorder. It was hard as h*ll.

 

Giants baseball broadcaster called Quakes games a few years earlier and later did NASL national broadcasts for TVS. He stated one time he was in Toronto and had to call a Quakes game but the electrical system was down so he had to phone it in.

The Detroit Express came back to San Jose exactly a week after that 10-0 win and beat the Earthquakes 4-3. The Quakes showed better and woke up but I think Trevor still scored a goal or two in that game. He was an incredible player.

 

I leaned on Facebook that sadly, an original member of the 1974 San Jose Earthquakes, Archie Roboostoff lost a two year battle with cancer and passed away peacefully today with his family by his side. Archie first played with the Quakes in 1974 won an indoor championship then played for the San Diego Jaws, Portland Timbers and later the Oakland Stompers. He was the first true American forward any of us young and new soccer fans ever knew and many of us emulated him for hours in our backyards breaking our mom's potted plants and ruining our father's freshly green cut lawns. He was a great player and a hero to us all. May he Rest In Peace! Go Quakes!

 

Really sorry that Archie is no longer with us. He was one of the colorful guys on that first year team (he was colorful later too, but to the new fans in San Jose, he was really a crowd favorite in '74). Some of his popularity undoubtedly was a result of Bob Ray's pronunciation of his last name..Archie RRRrrroboostoff (I have no idea if that is how one would spell Bob's version). In the early 80s, after he had retired, I had a Mazda pickup and I needed some sort of "dealer only" work done on it, so I took it to Oak Tree Mazda on Stevens Creek Blvd. Archie was the service manager.

 

Outstanding.

 

I ran into Dave Obenour at the Crew game last weekend. He was saying how sad it was to lose Archie and what a great guy he was.

 

Its sad that I post the passing of Former NASL Quakes GM, John Carbray. He was a great GM for the San Jose Earthquakes and the few times I met him , I thought he was very intelligent!

May he Rest in Peace!

From his son Dave....