Return of the Cosmos?

Sunday's New York Times Magazine has the story of Paul Kelmsley, a Briton who seeks to bring back the New York Cosmos by winning the 20th MLS franchise, supposedly earmarked for the New York Metropolitan area. Kelmsley recently bought the rights to the Cosmos name and now has a staff of 16. For those who weren't born back in the md-70s, the Cosmos were the glamour team of the old North American Soccer League for a few years, playing before huge, often capacity, crowds at the Meadowlands. Reading the article brought back some memories for me of when I covered the team for the Trenton Times in 1977. It was a heady time for a young sportswriter who loved soccer and who was in law school at the time. The locker room after each game was a celebrity hangout - I turned the corner one day and bumped into Mick Jagger, who is not much bigger than I am (about 5'-5"). And of course there was Pele, the world's most famous player, along with Franz Beckenbauer and Giorgio Chinaglia. Pele was quite the gentleman - despite the press of media after each game he patiently and politely answered every question in excellent English. Perhaps my favorite Cosmo, however, was Bob Smith, from Steinert (which also gave us Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito), whom I had gotten to know when he played for the Philadelphia Atoms. Smith was an attacking fullback with good speed and tenacious defensive ability. Over his career he earned 18 caps for the United States and was inducted into the Soccer Hall of Fame. But when I knew him he was a gangly kid from Trenton who made good with the Atoms then went on to live the dream of every youth soccer player when he stepped onto the field with Pele. Whether or not Kelmsley will succeed in resurrecting the Cosmos remains to be seen. The price is said to be about $100 million. But with Pele still acting as a spokesman for the organization, I wouldn't rule out anything. Who knows, maybe this time next year Mick will be back to sing Start Me Up at the home opener.