Welcome back, Cosmos

If I told you I’m as excited about watching the Cosmos soccer team on March 14, 2026, as I was when I saw them on TV on June 15, 1975, I’d be fibbing.

For one thing, I was 14 years old in the summer of ’75, so I was pretty easily excited. Things like seeing Angie Dickinson take down the bad guys while wearing a halter top in Policewoman or listening to Physical Graffiti on my headphones got my motor running back then.

And when I witnessed Pelé ascend the steps of Downing Stadium to make his debut as a member of New York’s North American Soccer League club, it was magical. Finally, the international sport I loved was getting the ultimate publicity blitz in the country where I lived.

More than half a century later – having been there, done that and gotten the Medicare card – it takes quite a lot to push my exhilaration button.

But …

I’ve been looking forward to this day ever since the Cosmos rose from the association football grave. And when they line up against Portland Hearts of Pine this afternoon in Paterson, New Jersey, in a USL League One contest at Hinchliffe Stadium, I’ll have a feeling of both nostalgia and comfort.

Nostalgia because the Cosmos were the first soccer club I ever cheered for, and comfort because soccer has long been figurative comfort food for me.

With everything awful and the world on fire, 22 people fighting over a round ball gives me 90 minutes of peace. And though there’s a lot of distance and difference between the original Cosmos and the ones competing today (an Edson Arantes do Nascimento equivalent ain’t gonna be on the pitch), the name and the badge still resonate with me.

Back in the glory days, I sought out every bit of information I could find on the Cosmos. Living in Birmingham, Alabama, that meant just an occasional blurb in the back of the local sport pages. But soon I discovered the Soccer America and World Soccer publications, which kept me as in the loop as a Southern kid could hope to be when it came to association football.

I faithfully supported the original Cosmos, celebrating their NASL crowns like they had won them just for me. And even after “O Rei” retired, fans abandoned the league and the NASL ultimately imploded, whenever a side bearing their name resurfaced – be it in the second North American Soccer League or National Independent Soccer Association – I claimed them as “mine.”

And so, it begins anew in a low-key way.

Personally, I like the fact that they’re starting out at the Division III level. If the USL ultimately implements promotion/relegation as it plans to do, the Cosmos can earn their way to the top tier through sporting merit. That’s as it should be.

Plus, I’m over billionaires and their toys, so Paterson native Baye Adofo-Wilson’s majority ownership of the club – and focus on grassroots efforts and community engagement – is refreshing.

And as a guy who loves historic stadiums and reveres the Negro Leagues, the fact that the Cosmos play at hallowed grounds once roamed by the New York Black Yankees, New York Cubans and Newark Eagles makes me smile.

Will I ever get up to Hinchliffe to see them play in in person?

Probably not.

Then again, I was never in the stands at the Meadowlands to see the OG Cosmos play, but that didn’t make me any less of a supporter.

That being the case, today I’m rocking my well-worn white Cosmos T-shirt and bright green Cosmos dad cap (from the NASL 2 era). Instead of hero-worshipping guys like Pelé, Giorgio Chinaglia and Franz Beckenbauer, I’ll be cheering on the likes of Sebastián Guenzatti, Tristan Stephani and Christian Koffi.

It might not generate Angie Dickinson-level excitement, but it’s still a pretty big deal for this Boomer in Bama.

So, welcome back, Cosmos … I hope you decide to stick around this time.