Fowler Sets Deadline for Socker Investors : Newman Not Giving Up On Team

SAN DIEGO â€”  The pitchman is going to rattle his trophies, tweak the mayor and strike at the pride of a city that appears now to be giving up on professional soccer.

Ron Newman, the ambassador of winning soccer for more than a troubled decade in San Diego, refuses to go quietly into unemployment. Striking a combative poise that has made him both friend and enemy to his employers and players, Newman said he will carry the struggle to the knowing fans.

“In the next couple of days I’m going to hold my own press conference,� Newman said. “I think the city of San Diego does want the Sockers. I’m convinced of that. We’ll put up a helluva fight this month to see if that’s what San Diego wants. We’re all getting paid until the end of the month, so we can either go out and play golf or work to save the franchise.

“I’ve talked to the players and I think we all want to prove that there’s a passion for us here. We could have some sort of rally . . . If there’s any potential ownership out there that would need to see what interest there is, we can prove it to them.�

The Sockers, however, failed to draw a sellout for their title-deciding game against Cleveland last week, and the naysayers were not surprised. Attendance has fallen with each passing year. What if the Sockers throw a rally and no one comes?

“If there isn’t interest, then I want to know that, too, because then I’ll go someplace else,� Newman said. “Maybe we are spinning our wheels. But I want to see if the city government doesn’t care. I didn’t get a call from the queen this year, but I thought I might get a call from the mayor. But not even a ‘well done.’

“If we’re not wanted, then maybe it’s time to go. But I don’t believe that’s the way it is with the people. Some people can afford only one season ticket, and if we can get them to send in their money, we can get it back to them if this doesn’t work out. But it’s worth trying.�

Newman, who has been the lone constant in the Sockers’ unrivaled success story, sat silently taking notes Monday as Ron Fowler, the team’s managing general partner, put a June 30th pull-the-plug deadline on the franchise.

Newman was the last one to leave the press conference at day’s end, telling reporter after reporter that it just can’t end this way.

“I just cannot see the city of San Diego letting go this phenomenon they’ve got in their hands, especially with the World Cup only three years away,� he said. “I don’t think the mayor should let it happen. I don’t think the major corporations should let it happen.

“I think we should be bought by either the Padres or the Chargers . . . They got loads of money; just cut one player and that will take care of us.�

Newman, who is as quick with the quip as the strategy to undo all pretenders for the Sockers’ crown, wrote a letter to former Padre owner Joan Kroc last weekend soliciting her help in saving the franchise.

“She’s a big hitter; why not?� he said. “Listen, I think the Sockers will survive. But I think it will be a slap in the face to San Diego if the whole damn shebang is taken someplace else.

“That is going to be worse than the league folding. If the league folds, well, maybe San Diego won’t care. If the team folds, it will be hurt with the league still in existence. But the worst scenario is the team, coaches and players and everything being taken into another city and called the so-and-so Sockers. I don’t think San Diego could let that happen.�

Newman said he’s prepared to work the phones or go door to door to sell season tickets if it will convince an investor to keep the Sockers in San Diego. If he had the money, he said, he would buy the club.

“They’re wanting $40 to $50 million for a hockey franchise these days,� he said, “and this clown in San Antonio (Red McCombs) talked about his (NBA) franchise being worth $150 million, but he might accept just over $100 million. If so, then this is the biggest bargain in the world.

“I don’t mix with the affluent people in this city, so I don’t know where they’re at. Maybe they are all out with Dennis (Conner) on the yachts. But I got to believe somebody is out there who understands and wants to help.�

After winning a fourth consecutive championship last week, Newman looked forward to fielding financial offers for his services from the Sockers and other interested clubs. Now he may be out of work come June 30th along with the rest of the Sockers.

“It’s so easy to turn your back and go back to England,� he said. “How many times could I have gone back to England where the game gets all the respect it deserves? It’s easy there, but that means I’ve lost the battle here. I don’t like that.�

At Monday’s wake for the Sockers, Newman was still selling soccer. He was talking about how popular the indoor game has become in Mexico, and how much impact the World Cup will have on the popularity of the game in this country.

Between pep talks, however, an optimistic Newman was asked to rely on his expertise and realistically predict what will happen to the Sockers?

“I think the team will be taken away and moved to another city,� he said. “That will be an awful disgrace to the city of San Diego. And I’ll be disappointed because it means I wasted 10 years. I wasted 10 years of getting this community something of which it could be proud of.�