On the outfield grass, where the glare of the lights confronted the darkness beyond the leaning fence, out of range of catcalls muffled by the steel and concrete grandstand, 22 faceless figures played out the last act of a melodrama which had long since climaxed and was now crawling along to a predictable finale. This was a North American Soccer League (NASL) professional soccer game between the Boston Minutemen and the Miami Toros, two last-place clubs. Although 200 spectators looked on, the press had shown mercy and stayed away.

The game had featured a raspy recording of the national anthem and a hat trick by Bert Bowery, one of three starting Minutemen players who had weathered the entire season. But neither goals nor patriotism helped Boston, which went on to lose its tenth straight in overtime, after its lead vanished with three minutes remaining.

If this were not enough, a light drizzle turned to a downpour, leaving concentric ripples in pools collecting on the grass and washing away the faded chalk outlines of the soccer field. One sensed that a drama critic would have written "overkill" and "too long."

August 15, 1976: the once healthy franchise of the Boston Minutemen had lapsed into a coma. It was viable in name alone, and only an optimist with a fortune could hope to revive the patient.

But this failure was unexpected.

Three months before, the Minutemen had been predicting a third consecutive NASL Northern Division title, and were laying plans to make Harvard Stadium their new home in anticipation of larger crowds. In 1974, average attendance had reached 10,000 and the following season, 20,000 fans had squeezed and jostled to see Pele and the New York Cosmos play.

Dream Team

Not only did Boston have skilled players, but the roster seemed a dream conceived on Madison Avenue. Boston had as its established star Eusebio, second only to Pele at the peak of his career. There was also Ade Coker, a young, temperamental character with flashy moves, and Shep Messing '72, a top American player who led the NASL in goals-against average last year. Messing also brought the Minutemen his playboy reputation--"the Joe Namath of soccer," they billed him.

But the Harvard stadium deal fell through, leaving owner John C. Sterge to seek refuge in suburban Quincy. Then in mid-June, the same week that baseball's Charlie Finley peddled a couple pounds of flesh for $3.5 million and caused a major uproar, Sterge began his own purge, selling eight starting players in three weeks. It was time to prepare the obituaries.

No More Cheerleaders

Coach Hubert Vogelsinger resigned and the Minutemen began to lose consistently. Attendance dropped to a low of 150, and the team vacated its, "permanent home," which had greeted it with open arms and North Quincy High cheerleaders, to play out the script in that soggy minor league ball park in Pawtucket, R. I.

As the rain and the curtain come down, we are left to ask, "So what?" It's sentimental, but why dig up the Minutemen from obscurity? Because the parallel drawn between John Sterge and Charlie Finaly is not so absurd. The Minutemen demise provides a textbook example of what may be the Appomattox of professional sports.

The fate of the Minutemen cannot be explained away as easily as some owners might wish. It is not just another hard luck expansion team. The Minutemen's problems "were not the city of Boston" nor "the game of soccer," as Vogelsinger said when he resigned. Boston is a top breeding ground for United States soccer, with youth soccer leagues outdrawing little league baseball in many towns.

And the NASL is not the WFL. If Sports Illustrated can be believed, soccer is "on the verge of becoming a major spectator sport." It has even had to contend with the infamous Sports Illustrated cover jinx.

Sterge, like most owners of professional teams, saw the Minutemen as an investment, but he did not possess a mattressfull of green bills. The thought that the Minutemen would one day be profitable, a false hope for most owners, must have lingered in his mind. This attitude is at the root of the mass garage sale and the team's downfall.