My L.A. Skyhawks summer

By 1976, I was deeply invested in association football.

I had a subscription to Soccer America magazine, owned Zander Hollander’s annual Complete Handbook of Soccer paperback, and spent a good deal of time kicking a ball around in my backyard.

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Instead of a goal, I tried to shoot between the clothesline poles situated near the back of the fence.

It was a good confidence booster because while a soccer goal is 24-feet wide, the polls were roughly 36-feet apart.

As long as I sent the ball forward, it was hard to miss.

But the ball itself was one of those rubber “official size and weight” deals, and sported an American Soccer League logo. I have no memory of where I bought it – or why a store in Alabama even carried an ASL-branded ball – but it put the minor league on my radar and made me curious about the circuit.

This version of the ASL (the second) had been around since 1933, and even though it had a long history, it never managed to reach what you’d call “First Division” status. By the 1970s, it had been completely eclipsed by the North American Soccer League, which was still somewhat shiny and newish and stocked with big names.

But in 1976, the ASL pulled off a coup when it signed Hermann Trophy winner Steve Ralbovsky out of Brown University.

The 23-year-old Ralbovsky – who immigrated to the United States from Yugoslavia in 1970 – had been drafted by both the NASL’s Los Angeles Aztecs and the ASL’s L.A. Skyhawks, a first-year expansion team.

Going with the Aztecs seemed like a safe bet; Elton John had recently purchased a stake in the club to give it a huge publicity boost, and they were on the verge of signing George Best, considered one of the sport’s greatest players. Ralbovsky wasn’t completely sold, though.

“I think both leagues are of the same caliber,” he told United Press International. “The only difference is who gives me a better contract. It is in the hands of my attorney.”

Ralbovsky and Aztecs managing general partner John Chaffetz apparently didn’t hit it off. Chaffetz said he thought Ralbovsky would be a good addition to the club, but didn’t want to get into a “bidding war.” The ex-Brown Bear hinted that Chaffetz was too “matter-of-fact” in negotiations.

So, while Best reported to the NASL club on February 20, 1976, Ralbovsky – a midfielder/defender – cast his lot with the ASL that same day.

The Skyhawks offered him a heftier compensation package, and that sealed the deal.

“I believe that Steve, signing with our organization, has received the largest bonus ever paid a collegiate soccer player,” Skyhawks managing partner Jack Young said in a UPI story. “He not only is a tremendous soccer player, but a fine gentleman and will be a credit to our organization on and off the field.”

Ralbovsky, who speaks six languages, was an honor student at Brown and expected to be the face of the franchise. L.A. played at 10,000-seat Birmingham High School Stadium in the San Fernando Valley, which was arguably the top facility in the league.

For whatever reason, this storyline fascinated me. I was an NASL fan first – and supported the New York Cosmos – but I always liked underdog stories, and the ASL was most certainly that.

And hey … since I already owned an ASL ball, I felt it was my duty to show some love to the organization. Therefore, I decided the Skyhawks would be my ASL team and Ralbovsky my favorite player in the senior league.

Even before his rookie season began, he was already getting high marks from Skyhawks manager Ron Newman.

“This team has the potential to be my best team ever,” Newman told the News-Pilot newspaper for an April 15, 1976, story. “I’ve never recruited better players from Europe and we think we have the best college player in history on our side. You know, we might not only have the best team in our league, but the best team in the United States.”

Newman had spent the seven previous seasons with the NASL Dallas Tornado, and guided the team to a championship in 1971.

With former Scottish star Jimmy Rolland, Ron Yeats of Liverpool, a bevy of British transfers and another rookie hotshot, Brooks Cryder of Philadelphia Textile, on the roster, the gaffer’s optimism was well-founded.

Thanks to Soccer America, I was able to follow the team throughout its 1976 campaign – at least in print.

They finished the regular season with an ASL-best 13-6-2 record, scoring 41 goals while allowing just 15.

L.A. beat the Tacoma Tides, 2-1, in the semifinals of the ASL playoffs and defeated the New York Apollo, 2-1, in the championship match.

Ralbovsky made 22 appearances that year, scoring two goals and playing outstanding defense. His performance was good enough to earn co-Rookie of the Year honors in the ASL, and make me glad I hitched my fanwagon to him and the Skyhawks.

I wish I could tell you I remained a huge fan of both the player and team for years to come, but I didn’t.

Ralbovsky jumped to the NASL Chicago Sting in 1977, and since I was all about Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, Georgio Chinaglia, Shep Messing and the Cosmos, he kinda got lost in the shuffle.

And L.A.’s ASL entry folded after the 1979 season; by then I had completely lost interest in the league.

Still, for one season it was fun to channel my inner-Ralbovsky and kick that rubber ASL ball around in the yard.

It’s a piece of memorabilia I wish I still had – as well as all the youthful enthusiasm that came with it.

The Guilt-Free Association

Dr. Miller Braxton made sure the information on the monitor was correct, glanced at the documents on the screen briefly, and offered up a forced smile to the man sitting across from him.

“These all appear to be in order,” he said, turning the computer around. “Once you sign the contract there, you’ll officially be a patient and client of the Guilt-Free Association.”

Scott Adamson writes stuff. Follow him on Threads @sladamson1960 and Adamsonmedia on Facebook.

Phillip Meadows cheerfully scrawled his name across the bottom of the screen, initialing the last two of several pages and shifting the monitor back so it was facing Braxton.

“So,” Meadows said, “Tell me again how this works and how soon we can make it happen? Time is  money, and I don’t have time to waste.”

The Guilt-Free Association was the latest in the “Mind Over Matters” movement that gained popularity in the latter part of the 22nd century. Just as plastic surgery had been a staple for those who wanted to make themselves more beautiful, brain surgery no longer had such ominous implications. There were procedures that could make you happy, optimistic – even fearless.

But one of the newer operations was the boldest – and most controversial – yet; it could remove all guilt and prevent the mind from allowing any culpability for future transgressions.

Meadows had spent three decades as a cyber trader, and couldn’t think of a customer he hadn’t cheated … probably because there wasn’t one. True, he was able to help people make money in the information technology stock game, but never as much as they could have. The illegal program he devised to make transactions allowed him to shave off a little more for himself – to go along with an already exorbitant fee.

His dishonesty had made him wealthy, and continued dishonesty would make him even wealthier. The longer he perpetuated his scams, though, the more guilty he felt.

And guilt was something he simply didn’t want to deal with.

“The surgery itself is extremely safe and, really, quite simple,” Braxton explained. “I could throw a lot of technical jargon at you – it’s all listed in the fine print of the contract – but it comes down to extracting the feelings of guilt from your prefrontal cortex and installing a block, which is a device about 10 times smaller than the head of pin. The guilt we remove is placed in a small containment vessel and then we transfer it into the brain of one of our service animals, usually a dog. Dogs don’t feel guilt – at least not the way humans do – but our studies show that it can alter their behavior in other ways and could open up a whole new avenue of mental makeovers in the future. The larger point is, your guilt lives outside your mind. The surgery takes less than 10 minutes, we keep you sedated for two hours afterward to observe your brain activity, and then you’ll wake up in one of our recovery rooms with no guilty feelings whatsoever. Once you’re aware of your surroundings, you’ll simply press the buzzer by your bed and we’ll answer any additional questions you might have.”

Meadows took a deep breath.

“And you absolutely guarantee no matter what I do going forward – no matter how bad – I won’t feel guilty?” he asked.

“Guaranteed 100 percent,” Braxton said. “Now of course, you’re still subject to the laws of the Pan-America Corporate Government, and the contract you signed absolves us of any liability for a criminal act you might commit. That said, whatever you do will not result in any feeling of guilt or remorse. And, let me remind you, the procedure is irreversible. It’s hard to imagine why anyone would want to reverse it, but it’s important you know that before we continue.”

“Understood,” Meadows said. “Now, let’s do this thing. I’ve got a virtual call with a client in Amsterdam in four hours, and that could be one of my biggest scores of the year.”

Braxton led the patient into a pale blue-colored operating arena that featured a surgeon and an assistant, both adorned in red scrubs. Meadows stripped down to his shorts, and was then asked to lie flat on his back on a cushioned table.

“Have any of you guys had this surgery?” Meadows wondered.

Braxton shook his head from side to side.

“No,” he said. “Our staff is comprised entirely of sociopaths, so there would be no need. With the volume of surgeries we perform, its best to have a staff that is all business all the time. Now, close your eyes and we’re going to give you an injection that will put you under. Once you awake, it’ll be as though no time has elapsed at all. Good luck, Mr. Meadows … I’m confident this will be routine for us and life-changing for you.”

Meadows awoke with a start and saw a large dog crouched in the corner, barking. As he arose, the dog inched closer to his bed and started to growl.

Meadows quickly located the button Braxton had told him about and pressed it.

“Hey!’ he shouted. “This is Phillip Meadows in the recovery room … I guess it’s the recovery room. There’s a dog in here for some reason and he doesn’t seem happy. At all. What the hell?”

“Mr. Meadows, this is Dr. Braxton,” said the voice coming through the intercom. “The surgery was a success and we’ll be releasing you within the hour. In a few moments a technician will come in and give you instructions on the care and feeding of your service animal.”

A service animal was not part of the agreement, at least not as far as Meadows knew.

“Look, I just wanted to have my guilt removed. I didn’t sign up for a dog.”

The door to the room opened and Braxton and a Guilt-Free Association staffer – holding a leash – walked in.

“You should’ve read the fine print, Mr. Meadows,” Braxton said. “The dog is your responsibility since it now carries your guilt. You won’t feel it anymore, but you still have to live with it.”

When I caught Neptunes fever

You know, if I had only been able to stay in Norfolk, Virginia, just a few days longer, the Atlantic Coast Football League – and the Norfolk Neptunes – could’ve been my introduction to alternative pro football.

Yep … the team that began life as the Springfield (Massachusetts) Acorns in 1963 in the original Atlantic Coast Football League, moved to Norfolk when the franchise joined the Continental Football League in 1966, and played its final two seasons in the new ACFL, was my first offbrand crush.

Scott Adamson writes stuff. Follow him on Threads @sladamson1960 and Adamsonmedia on Facebook.

In the summer of 1971, my parents took me to Virginia to visit my brother, who was serving at Naval Station Norfolk. It was the first time I’d ever traveled through the sky, which was cool except for the fact that I suffered from airplane ear.

And, it was my first time to snarfle dry roasted peanuts, which I’d never had before until the flight attendant passed some out as a snack. I gave them rave reviews, so much so that when we landed at Norfolk International Airport, she gifted me with a whole bag of them.

I like to think she was charmed by my black horn-rimmed glasses and Lucky Tiger hair tonic.

Except for spending a few days with my brother and sister-in-law, those would’ve likely been the two main highlights of the trip.

However, we arrived on a Saturday night and on Sunday morning, I found myself thumbing through the Virginian-Pilot newspaper. I was already a sports nut at age 10, and loved poring over those industrial-sized Sunday sports sections.

Two things jumped out at me as I perused the paper. One, Joe Namath suffered torn ligaments in his left knee during an exhibition game against the Detroit Lions the night before, which broke my heart. I was a huge New York Jets fan, and had some major hero worship when it came to Joe Willie.

And two – and this is where I finally circle back to the plot of this story – I learned the Neptunes defeated the Augusta Eagles, 89-0, at Foreman Field the night before.

They led 28-0 at the end of the first quarter, 42-0 at halftime, and 63-0 at the end of three. The winners never punted and rolled up 554 yards of total offense, with 395 coming on the ground.

Nine players scored touchdowns, with Ron Holliday, Herb Nauss and Bob Fultz tallying two TDs apiece.

Now, until I read that article, I had no clue that there was a professional football team in Norfolk, or that there was a league called the ACFL. (I certainly knew nothing of the Eagles, who were members of the Dixie Football League).

But 89-0 … that blew my mind.

So, I started asking Don, my brother, about the team, and he told me they had been around for quite a few years. In 1971 they had a new coach named Ron Waller, and played in the best American gridiron league outside the NFL.

Another factoid that stayed with me is that their roster featured a defensive player named Otis Sistrunk, a former Marine who never played college football.
I was fascinated, and Don ran out of answers before I ran out of questions. While I literally did not know the club existed the day before, they were now my third favorite pro football team behind the Jets and Los Angeles Rams.

The Neptunes played another exhibition the following week against the Columbia All-Stars (winning 61-0), but that contest was on a Sunday and we had headed back home to Birmingham the Friday before.

However, Don told me, maybe if I came back in 1972, he’d take me to Foreman Field to see a game.

When we returned home, I maintained Neptune Fever even after the NFL and college season shifted into high gear. Every time I talked to Don on the phone, the first thing I asked was how the team was doing.

Turns out, they did quite well; the Neptunes finished with a 10-3 record and defeated the Hartford Knights, 24-13, to win the ACFL championship.

A guy named Jim “King” Corcoran – who joined the team after being cut by the Philadelphia Eagles – led the way, throwing two touchdown passes to Holliday to help Norfolk lay claim to minor league football’s top prize.

I couldn’t wait to return to the Commonwealth the next summer and watch them from the bleachers.

Sadly, I’d never get the chance; the team and league folded at the end of the 1971 season.

Thanks to the World Football League in 1974, though, I finally got my chance to witness alt-football live and in person. And both Waller and Corcoran were a part of the WFL as head coach and QB, respectively, of the Philadelphia Bell. In fact, 12 former Norfolk players found roster spots on the WFL’s Philadelphia entry.

Sistrunk went on to have a solid career with the Oakland Raiders, and several other guys off the 1971 squad spent some time in the NFL.

More than a half century later – whenever I go down a sports research rabbit hole and come across the Norfolk Neptunes – I always smile.

Maybe I never saw them play, but I still consider myself one of their biggest fans.