Review: MISL 1980s

By Tim O'Bryhim

The Major Indoor Soccer League and I go way back. 

The Buffalo Stallions of the MISL were formed in 1979. The Buffalo Braves of the NBA had moved to San Diego the previous year, and there was an opening for another sports team to fill some dates in Memorial Auditorium. I had the chance to cover those games right from Day One, and it was a fun five years. I was even involved in the radio broadcasts of the home games for a couple of years. 

Sadly, things fell apart in a relatively short period of time, and the Stallions folded in 1984. It was nice while it lasted. I soon discovered that it's difficult to follow an indoor soccer team when your city doesn't have a franchise, although I kept an eye on the progress of the league as best I could. The MISL hung on in various forms until 1992.

It was with some degree of interest, then, that a suggested book from Amazon.com was something called "MISL 1980s." OK, I was in for that. Now after reading it, I have mixed emotions about it, starting with the idea that it's nice that someone still feels attached enough to the league to self-publish a book about it. 

O'Bryhim had written a book on the Wichita Wings, and also produced a documentary on that team. Having once written a book on the Braves, I know first-hand that such books about defunct teams from decades ago is more of a labor of love than an attempt to earn tons of money. 

Now comes a book from O'bryhim that's a little different than the first one, but there are some similarities. It's a collection of articles about the league in no particular order or format. That's means a particular article is going to be hit or miss in most cases.

For starters, the book is rather Wichita Wings-centric at times. There's not going to be too much drama three. The Wings were remarkably consistent over the years - but they were consistently mediocre. Wichita qualified for the playoffs in 11 of its 13 seasons, and never won a series. (By the way, the Wings moved over to the National Professional Soccer League after the MISL folded ... and went 0 for 8 in the playoffs there.) 

There are articles of various lengths that contain long interviews with players and coaches, and reviews of events in league history. The problem here is that the stories covers a lot of names and games that simply aren't going to be recognized by even casual fans of the league. It's not easy to make games from the 1980s interesting to an audience in the 2020s. I found myself skimming through some of the material. 

My favorite chapter in the book probably was "The Death of the MISL: A Postmortem." Several people, from fans to owners, chip in with thoughts on why the league didn't fully catch on and last longer. It's impressive how many different reasons come up - to playing at the wrong time of the year, to a union that asked for too much, to the rise of outdoor soccer and the growth of the NBA and NHL, to bad ownership, and to the lack of a national television contract. To some degree, all of those points have some truth to them. 

"MISL 1980s" is a book written by and for enthusiasts for indoor soccer, and their analysis sometimes is over the top. A good history of the league still might be fun to write, and it wouldn't have to be 20 volumes as O'Bryhim writes in this book. This isn't it, but it still might strike a chord with the good people of Wichita who are still keeping the faith in the Wings all these years later. 

Three stars

Learn more about this book from Amazon.com.  (As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.) 

Be notified of new posts on this site via X.com @WDX2BB.  

Review: Fight Night 1939

By Joseph Monninger

Count me as among the relatively few around today who not only know something about Tony Galento, but had the chance to meet him. 

"Two-Ton Tony" (more on that in a moment) popped up a sports banquet in Elmira, New York, on a winter night in the late 1960s. As I recall, he told a few stories and signed a few autographs - in other words, a night of relatively easy money. I think I got his autograph that night. Galento came with his calling card - he was one of the few boxers who knocked Joe Louis down during Joe's championship run. Unhappily for Tony, Joe got off the canvas rather quickly and dispatched the challenger in short order.While continued excellence in anything is preferred, a one-time flash of greatness can last a lifetime in the right setting. 

It also can produce a book, which is in turn can be quite entertaining if the subject has a good backstory. "Fight Night 1939" is that book, and author Joseph Monninger has come up with an fun if relatively brief look at Galento and his brief brush with immortality. 

Galento was the son of immigrants and grew up in Orange, New Jersey. He dropped out of school at a young age, and picked up some odd jobs in his teens. The small but wide young man had more than his share of fights and brawls along the way, and he was pretty good at it. Tony also had a variety of jobs at that time, including one as an iceman. One time, after he started boxing, he was a little late for a bout. When asked why, he said he had two more tons of ice to deliver before he could leave. Thus, "Two Ton Tony" was born - although he wasn't exactly slim either. 

Galento wasn't stylish when he was in the ring. In other words, he was no Sugar Ray Robinson. Some of his fights degraded into wrestling matches at best and brawls at worst. But Tony could throw a punch and he could take a punch, and that made him a contender in the heavyweight condition. A 10-match winning streak earned him a shot at Louis, who remains one of the great champions in the sport's history and who was at the peak of his powers in 1939. Galento was a clear underdog, but one rule in boxing is that someone who can hit an opponent hard has a "punchers' chance" of winning against anyone.

Galento surprised everyone by staggering Louis with a punch in the first round, which led to him winning the road on the officials' scoring cards. If the population of Orange was thrilled by that development, it was ecstatic when Galento tagged Louis with a sharp left hook that sent the champ to the floor. There was barely enough time to consider the possibilities before Louis got up. By the fourth round, Galento was out of gas and the fight was stopped in favor of Louis. But the champ knew he had been in a fight, and the challenger had made a name for himself.  

Galento fought a while longer, losing to a couple of contenders, before World War II essentially ended his career. He kept his bar in Orange, did some wrestling and a little movie work (Hollywood always like a tough guy), and certainly told a million people about how he knocked Louis down. Tony died in 1979. 

Most of the book serves as a biography about Galento, which leaves Louis in the rare position (for him) or playing the role of a supporting character. And that's OK; there are other places to go to read about Louis and his impact on America - which was enormous.  

The book has a couple of areas that feel a little bit odd. Monninger didn't have a great deal of available research material, since Galento died in 1979. There are several moments when it felt like the author was expanding his descriptions of scenes in order to fill out the manuscript. At least he's a good enough writer to pull it off reasonably effectively.   

Meanwhile, the book was first published in 2006 under a different title. It's hard to know from a distance prompted the re-release of a book that came out 19 years ago. I missed that one, but at least I'm caught up on the story now.  

There don't seem to be many characters like Galento out there these days, and that's too bad. "Fight Night 1939" fills us in on Two Ton's story, and reading it is a pleasant way to find out about an interesting character from boxing's past.

Four stars

Learn more about this book from Amazon.com. (As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.) 

Be notified of new posts on this site via X.com @WDX2BB.