According to a very small blurb in today's Mercury News, former NASL Quakes defender Miro Pavlovic, who played in San Jose (part of the vaunted "NO GOAL PATROL") during the 1976 and 1977 seasons, passed away Sunday at his home in Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro. He was 61* years old, and apparently died in his sleep. 1976: 24 gp, 4 a (4 pts); playoffs -- 2 gp, 0 pts 1977: 26 gp, 1 g (2 pts); playoffs -- 1 gp, 0 pts Notes: 1. Today's Mercury article claims Pavlovic was 60, but his listed birthdate in Colin Jose's NASL: A Complete Record of the North American Soccer League is October 15, 1942, which would make him 61 when he died. 2. Mr. Jose's book also includes a player from the 1980 Quakes named "Miro Pavlovic," a defender with a listed birthdate of 8/8/50. I don't remember this one, but I didn't live around here then. Is this the same guy, with an error on the birthdate, or a different guy who had the same name? (This "Miro Pavlovic" had 4 g and 4 a in 19 games played in '80.)
      Here is a link to the small blurb in the Mercury News:       "Sasaki leaves Mariners" (scroll down to the heading Miscellany)       GO EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Different guy, different name, probably the correct birthdate--yet another error in Mr. Jose's book. According to the '81 media guide, the player in 1980 is Jud Pavlovic, a forward (Miro was a sweeper). The NASL website at http://home.att.net/~nasl/nasl.htm also has it wrong. Thanks for all you did, Miroslav.
At the very least, an honorable mention selection for the EQs' all-time team. With John Rowlands winning everything in the air and Miro cleaning up whatever was left, the Quakes were solid in the back for the time the No Goal Patrol was around. What I remember most about Miro was the Hamstring that always wrapped in ace bandages and the comb-over that always seemed to be in his eyes. And the grimaces were priceless. Thanks for a few good years Miro.