Word is breaking right now that Ron Newman has passed away. Thanks for all that you gave to the club. My one personal Ron anecdote was when Sporting Park opened I flew in a day or two before the game. I called Sam shortly after landing, as I often do, to see if he was up for lunch. He called me back shortly after to see if I was still near the airport. I was. He needed someone to pick up Ron and his wife who were also coming in to be part of the big day. I have to say that taxiing Ron Newman from MCI to the old SKC offices downtown was full of plenty of good humor and some stories I won't be repeating any time soon. Thanks again Ron. Condolences to Guy and the rest of the Newman clan.
I enjoyed meeting him and having an actual conversation with him when the stadium opened, it was great to sit and talk about the growth of the league with him for even 10 minutes.
Ron, the original SKC legend. I started meeting with him in the months before the Wiz took the field. he very generously granted me a couple weeks of working out with the club for a piece in the Star (Paper Wiz). He was great. My favorite of his tales (and everyone has several so I will be brief) was his story of how he turned Kyle Rote Jr. into a star in the NASL in 1973. No idea if it's true, but never cared. The way he told it, the NASL needed an American star, and Rote looked but couldn't quite play the part (good but not great, and raw). On the other hand, he wasn't sure anyone in the US soccer structure really knew much about the game. So he told the Dallas players that everytime anyone scored, they were all to run to Rote and congratulate him. His hope was that Rote would pile up secondary assists, and if you look at Rote's career stats, 1973 was the best assist year of his career with 10 (plus his 10 goals), and that was enough to get him on the old Superstars show, which he won. Ron insisted that gave soccer enough of a boost in the US to justify the strategy. Ron was a great believer in building the game in the US. He was a kind man, a great story teller and a wonderful manager. He was quick to offer folks a chance to train with the Wiz, and he was serious in those offers. He was a great first manager for us. He will be missed.