Sidekicks Never Say Die - MISL 1987 - Part 2/9

After a near-death experience, Jan Rogers pulls the Dallas Sidekicks off the precipice.

Click here for Part 1

The sticking point was getting a group committed to funding the operating expenses, in the form of a letter of credit. But they couldn’t quite get there with the investors on hand. But Jan Rogers had an idea. While heading to the airport to take her son to a high school soccer tournament, she decided to reach out to her old friend, petroleum executive Jim Graham.

"I called him from the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, [said] Rogers. If Jim hadn't been home, I don't know what would've happened. Jim said, 'Jan, we've been friends for a long time. I'll do it for you.' I told him, 'Just pretend that you're interested, and I'll tell you all about it when I get back,'" Sports Illustrated reported.

The investment group was back in business. Rogers and Graham were willing to purchase the team; however, they still hadn’t secured enough money to fund the letter of credit. In the meantime, the team was in limbo. Carter had stopped paying the bills and the office staff were working without pay. Carter had agreed to not fold the team while the search for dollars and a deal continued. Jago was confident something could be worked out soon.

“I have a wonderful feeling that it will all come together tomorrow [June 3],” Jago told the Star-Telegram.

He must have forgotten to knock on wood. The Star-Telegram’s Jimmy Burch reported the bad news on June 10:

“Owner Donald Carter, facing $5 million in losses from the club’s first two seasons, decided Monday to fold the franchise rather than sell to an investment group headed by oilman Jim Graham. Sources from both sides said negotiations broke down Monday morning, just hours before a scheduled press conference to announce the team’s sale.”

Thus, the saga of the Dallas Sidekicks came to a permanent end. Gordon Jago announced he would retire from coaching and open an armadillo farm in Brazil with Tatu as his chief wrangler.

THE END

Sorry, this was STILL not the end. Despite the tough talk and gamesmanship between the two sides, negotiations continued.

It turned out that one of the stumbling blocks was Carter’s provision that Adkins and Jago receive part-ownership in the team.

“Graham said if his group were to put up 100 percent of the capital, he would expect 100 percent ownership,” the Star-Telegram reported on June 10.

Another stumbling block was something more fundamental: money.

“But I do remember flying down and spending a day or two with them. I recall the hangup as a seller wanting more than the buyers were wanting to give: it was a straight-up negotiation,” MISL commissioner Bill Kentling said.

The very next day, June 11, Jim Graham agreed to a new deal with Carter. His group would have exactly one month to figure out if they could pull together the necessary funds. July 11 would be the new deadline.

“We are buying a 30-day option to acquire the club. During that 30 days, we are going to see if all that support can be transcribed into ticket sales, advertising sales and the like. We want to see if this venture is worth it,” Graham told Gunstanson.

The Star-Telegram reported that if Graham and Rogers were able to acquire the necessary funds, they would purchase the Sidekicks for $560,000, with no money down. Essentially, Carter would offer them a loan. For two years the investor group would pay only the interest, $56,000, and if at the end of the time they decided not to purchase the team, ownership would revert back to Don Carter.

By June 13, another piece of the puzzle fell into place. The investor group had expressed a desire to not retain general manager Ron Adkins. This almost sunk the entire deal. But Adkins agreed to resign, breaking the logjam. Gordon Jago would take his place as interim GM. The deal was formalized on July 17, when the MISL’s Board of Directors approved the sale of the Sidekicks to Jim Graham, Stan Finney, Jan Rogers and a group of several dozen businessmen.

“I was tearfully taking down all the box scores on my wall one day and then gleefully putting them back up the next day,” said Alan Balthrop.

Throughout these dramatic months, the Sidekicks players maintained their faith in the organization’s future.

“Everybody got together to give the team half their salary just to keep the franchise alive. That moment, everyone got really close and was going in one direction. Every game we played, we played like a family,” Tatu said.

Gordon Jago understood that the new ownership only had the finances for a one-year deal. None of the player contracts had been extended beyond that. He was thankful they were still alive, but the hard work of keeping the team alive had just begun.

“They saw the potential and fell in love with the city of Dallas. They knew that something special could happen if this team survived, so they didn’t want it to go backwards. They wanted to stay here and continue building,” Balthrop said.

The fact that the first game of the new season, on November 13, 1986, actually took place, was a relief for everyone.

“That first game was a dream come true. We weren’t ready to pack it in. We had done a tremendous job and wanted to continue to work here,” said Doc Lawson, the Sidekicks’ star defender.

The team’s new president, Stan Finney, moved the focus from saving the club to improving the wins-losses column and increasing attendance. The 9,800 fans on opening day made a good start. As for the wins, that would be up to the players. Their captain, Victor Moreland, would take up much of that responsibility.

Moreland wasn’t just a MISL All-Star with a fabulous mane. He had a championship ring from his NASL Soccer Bowl win with the Tulsa Roughnecks and earned eight caps with the Northern Ireland national team. Moreland knew how to lead a team to victory, whether as a 6^th attacker or scoring goals from the defender position; something he did better than anyone on the Sidekicks.

“He was our captain. He was our leader, the man that glued everything together. His leadership kept the players united and moving forward,” Balthrop said.

With one of the league’s young stars in Tatu and talented Polish goalkeeper Krys Sobieski, many fans, including Balthrop, thought the young franchise could take one more baby step forward in the 1986-87 season. Boy did they.

But it took a minute.

Next week: Part 3 of “Sidekicks Never Say Die”