Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos Page #9

I can tell you, when I was there

from 1970 to '81,

Giorgio Chinaglia didn't run anything.

That's why we got rid of him, too.

Maybe he fired me and I didn't even

know it. Wait a minute, maybe...

Does everybody substantiate all

of these nonsensical quotes of his?

He didn't like the Cosmos. I know that

because... it's a very simple reason.

Because Steve loved the Cosmos

and he became involved.

He thought that was distracting Steve

from other major issues of the company.

Now this is going to shock you

and maybe the audience.

I was probably closer to Steve

than maybe even Giorgio.

I'm not sure about Peppe.

Was that his name? Pinton?

But maybe even Peppe Pinton.

Peppe Pinton would become

vice president.

The Cosmos won their fifth

Soccer Bowl in 1982

as the league began to collapse.

Every time you would walk

into the NASL headquarters,

this guy would be there with his head

in his hand and saying,

"Does somebody want to buy Seattle?

Does somebody want to buy LA?"

'The Cosmos were the best

thing that happened to the league.'

But in another sense

they were the worst thing,

because they scared other owners

with soaring costs of operating.

'They just wanted to win things.'

There's nothing wrong with that, but

the aftermath was complete devastation.

Cosmos. Good afternoon.

But the Cosmos bloated budget

was only part of the equation.

'Now it's Pacman's turn

to get eaten up.'

Atari, once the fastest-growing

business in American history,

came crashing down

under Warner Communications,

nearly crippling Ross' empire.

'For investors

in Warner, zonk!

'A one-day paper loss of around $1 bn.'

'Steve Ross had doled out

millions to make his dream team.'

But in the end he was left with a tsunami

of red ink that he couldn't ignore,

'especially when other parts of Warner

were hemorrhaging.'

When hard times hit,

you have to start cutting fat.

Steve Ross would seize one final

unexpected opportunity

to give soccer a permanent foothold

in America.

'The World Cup for 1986

had been awarded to Colombia.'

And in 1982, the word was out

that Colombia was going to withdraw

and that other countries would have

an opportunity to stage it.

Steve Ross, unbelievable...

He was like a kid.

'He was very excited to bring

the World Cup to the United States.'

They made a plan.

He would call on all his soccer

connections to win the bid.

'Steve Ross was working

everywhere on our behalf.

'He was a fanatic.'

And when we actually went over there,

Steve came to make the presentation.

In May 1983,

FIFA, global football's governing body,

awarded the '86 World Cup to Mexico.

Why they give again to Mexico,

not to the United States?

And I say, all the time, FIFA killed

the best market in the world at that time.

And then Steve Ross, I remember it

like today, he said, "Finished."

In 1984, the team was dissolved.

The league disbanded within months.

'It started out as a circus,

became a three-ring circus.'

Became a ten-ring circus,

then the tent collapsed.

'In effect, mainstream

professional soccer here is dead.'

At the end, everybody sort of jumped

overboard for one reason or another.

The league folded.

We sold some players, some retired,

some did not play any more.

'So I was left pretty much

to run the ship all by myself.

'And I went down with the ship.'

Because I went down with the ship,

I'm still there, underwater with the ship.

Really. What ship? Is there a ship now

that's sailing on the Cosmos' name?

- The Cosmos ship? What is that?

- Peppe Pinton was never a big player.

He may have been

a big player in the pizza parlor,

but he was never a big player

with the Cosmos, trust me.

He took the name,

because he worked for the Cosmos.

He worked for Warners which was good.

He deserved it. He wanted it.

God bless him, take it.

Have you seen the Cosmos play lately?

No, neither have I.

So Peppe owns...

What we're saying is, let's be very clear:

Peppe owns the Cosmos.

The Cosmos are nothing today.

So Peppe owns nothing.

'Him, like many others,

thought they were the Cosmos.'

The Cosmos belong to everyone,

the players, the executives,

the managers, you know, the fans.

'That's what made this whole thing

so beautiful.'

'The legacy of the Cosmos

would be that they laid the seeds'

for every player

that plays in this country today.

'There's a wonderful photograph

I came across.'

When Franz arrived at JFK, we called up

a local youth soccer club and said,

"Can get a bunch of kids with a banner

to welcome Franz to New York?"

'Many years later

I looked at the photograph again

'and realized that the kid in the center

looking up at Franz Beckenbauer'

was in fact Mike Windischmann,

who captained the US team

at the '90 World Cup in Italy.

That US team was the first

to qualify for the World Cup finals

since Joe Gaetjens shocked England

and the world in 1950.

'I mean, there was that clear

transference of excitement'

from the Pel time

to the young players that came after.

'You look at global football now,'

and the Cosmos were 20 years

ahead of their time.

A team like the Cosmos today, with their

talent, would be worth a billion dollars.

'Talk about Real Madrid and Man United.

In those days, the Cosmos were it.'

If you continue to talk about that,

maybe I cry here.

Because so beautiful memories

from that time.

The Cosmos team was something

that no one had ever seen before.

People cried when they went through

the turnstile to see the Cosmos.

'And even the American people.'

'If it wasn't for the Cosmos,

if it wasn't for the devotion'

of Steve Ross

and Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun,

I really don't think soccer

would be where it's at today.

The World Cup Finals finally came

to the US in Giants Stadium in 1994.

But Steve Ross didn't live

long enough to see it.

'It was ambitious

to bring in the world's best players

'and to make the game more attractive

and to recognize the game.'

When I came in '77 and you take

your car and drive to the countryside,

'to Long Island or to New Jersey,

no one played the game.'

'Now if you drive there, you see

the goal posts of football fields.'

I think that says a name,

and that's the Cosmos.

This was the cheer they used to make.

Cosmos.

Cosmos.

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