By Mark Pukalo
I came down the elevator from somewhere in the Chicago clouds on June 17, 1994 and met the door man at the ground floor with shock washed across his face.
"OJ. He's in a bronco. With a gun to his head!" he said.
Huh?
It was a total surprise to me. I was so focused on my job covering the opener of the 1994 World Cup soccer tournament at Soldier Field between Germany and Bolivia that I had not heard about the madness on the left coast the previous few days.
I was heading across the street to Kitty O'Shea's for some food, beer, a little Irish music (the Unicorn Song was heard) and to watch the Knicks-Rockets in the NBA finals. Unfortunately, every television in the wonderful bar had the bronco chase.
It was crazy.
The FIFA Men's World Cup returns to the United States next year (unless they move it) for the first time since and I probably won't be able to attend any games. I still have so many great memories from 31 years ago. Someone asked me recently what was the best experience in my career and it's easy. The summer of 1994.
I had covered the U.S. national team for quite a while since they qualified for the 1990 World Cup in Italy. My first story was on Paul Caligiuri, whose long-range shot beat Trinidad & Tobago to get the Americans back in the tournament after a long absence. I interviewed him one day after the team trained at a small field in Wallingford.
One of my favorite stories was when I called John Harkes (left) at his home in England when he was playing for Sheffield Wednesday between 1990-93.
"The Daily Telegraph said of Harkes: "The last American to hear such roars of approval - from one side of Wembley Stadium at least - was Bruce Springsteen."
One of my best friend's sisters Pam Calhoun Sievers lives in the Chicago suburbs and close to where Germany was training before the Cup opener. I proposed that I fly in a few days earlier, go to the Germans camp to do a story, and my editors approved. I believe the first night I was there I watched the Rangers win the Stanley Cup.
The Germans' camp was amazing. They trained on a beautiful high school field and held a press conference afterward. In pure German form, everything was set up impeccably. I got what I needed and headed to Chicago.
The press room at Soldier Field was huge and when I received my seat I realized I would be out in the sun. It was brutally hot and I sat way down near the center line for the pregame festivities. Oprah apparently fell through the stage after introducing Diana Ross. Bill and Hillary were there.
The game was fine. Jurgen Klinsmann (above), who lived in California and would later coach the US National team, scored the only goal in a 1-0 German win. I might have sat in the press room for the second half because it felt like 100 degrees outside. Then, I found out about OJ.
I stayed up way too late and got very little sleep before heading to the airport for m early flight to Detroit to cover the first USA game at Pontiac Stadium. The flight was overbooked and I had fear for a while that I would be bumped.
Swiss fans were ringing cowbells on the flight. I was told that there would be shuttle rides to the stadium at the airport in Detroit. But I had to fight to get into a car for the half hour ride to the Silverdome.
I walked to the entrance at Pontiac and the guy at the door said something like, "Do you really want to go in there?" You did and you didn't. It felt like a sauna inside and I made it to my seat with very few minutes to spare before the kickoff.
It was an amazing game. I had a perfect view of Eric Wynalda's brilliant free kick that found the net as the Americans worked out a 1-1 tie. Somehow, my pass for the media area (the infamous Mixed Zone) was not in my packet (well, it was, but I could not find it at first). I was lucky to see some people I knew from US Soccer and I joined the scrum around Tony Meola and Wynalda, among others.
What a day. I went to the work room at the media hotel and watched Ireland beat Italy.1-0 on Ray Houghton's beautiful shot from way outside the penalty area.
I believe I covered 11 games in the tournament, staying in Foxborough or Giants Stadium for the final nine. I don't remember something from all of them, but a few stand out.
The first game I made in Foxborough at the old stadium was Greece versus Argentina. Diego Maradona was likely playing in his last World Cup at 33 and scored a magical goal in a 4-0 triumph for the Argentines. He only played one more game before failing a drug test and getting banned for the rest of the tournament. I was there for his last goal in a World Cup.
The only other memorable first-round game was in East Rutherford, N.J. and it wasn't because of the play on the field. The crowd was like none I have ever seen. It was a 0-0 tie, but the fans of Norway and primarily Ireland sang the whole game. I've sat in many arenas or stadiums with stirring atmospheres. This one was the best.
I also covered four incredible 2-1 games in the knockout rounds.
First it was Italy versus Nigeria in Foxborough. Roberto Baggio saved the Italians with a goal in the waning minutes of regulation and forced a penalty before converting the winner in the 110th minute.
Next it was a quarterfinal in Foxborough between the Italians and Spain. My lead in that story read this way.
"Blood dripped Luis Enrique's nose, spreading across his Spanish national team uniform in the final minutes. A look of distress washed across his face.
Enrique's nose was broken by an errant elbow from Italian defender Mauro Tassotti. But the sucker punch the Italians laid on the Spaniards a few minutes earlier was much more painful."
Baggio's 88th minute goal gave Italy the win and sent them to the semifinals in New Jersey.
Another Eastern quarterfinal at Giants Stadium was an upset as Bulgaria sent Germany home earlier than expected. The irrepressible Hristo Stoichkov tied the game with a banger of a free kick and Yordan Lechkov's shiny bald head delivered the winner for Bulgaria, which barely qualified for the tournament. In the something you will rarely see category, the Bulgarian press stood up and cheered the win.
That set up a semifinal with Italy, and Baggio scored twice in the first 25 minutes. Stoichkov cut the lead in half before intermission, but the Bulgarians could never find the equalizer.
It looked like this would be Baggio's World Cup. However, he missed a penalty in the shootout after a 0-0 tie and Brazil took the trophy. I did not attend the final at the Rose Bowl, but wrote a story while watching the game with both Italians and some Brazilians in Hartford.
It was sort of an anti-climactic end to an amazing month. The travel was tough at times, but it was all worth it. It was a different time in America. People enjoyed the diversity. They came together to watch the beautiful game.
We may never get that back
Hail To The 99ers
It was 1991 and the United States women's soccer team had just won the first FIFA World Cup in China.
I have memories of writing something when they got home, centering around Wilton's Kristine Lilly. The 20-year-old was at the University of North Carolina and a key member of the Americans' midfield.
It was the first of many stories I wrote about Lilly, Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers, Julie Foudy and many others. They were amazing group to be around and when Wethersfield's Tony DiCicco took over as coach, the coverage went to a new level.
The World Cup came to the USA in 1999 and the tournament was a springboard for women's sports in the country. Every sport. Fans fell for this group of players, who were so tough, so skillful and so accessible.
I covered the tournament with our incredible soccer historian Jerry Trecker and my friend Lori Riley. Lori was pregnant with her daughter Kate at the time, but she soldiered on through the games we covered in Foxborough and Giants Stadium.
I honestly don't remember many of the games we were at, but the final first-round game under the lights in Foxborough was not forgotten. Shannon McMillian broke a scoreless tie in the 56th minute with a howitzer of a shot and Tisha Venturini added two goals for a 3-0 win over North Korea.
We all had to watch the final against China at the Rose Bowl on television, and what an event. Yes, it was a 0-0 tie, but it is still one of the most intense games in my lifetime.
Lilly saved a shot off the goal line and former UMass star Brianna Scurry made a save in the penalty-kick shootout before Brandi Chastain's left-footed shot heard around the world.
I'm not sure which of the players was my favorite to cover over the years. I know the best anecdote was in a Sports Illustrated article about Mia Hamm. Her mother was a dancer and her dad a fighter pilot. That was Mia - poetry in motion and tough as nails, except when I made her cry with a question once.
It is one of my claims to fame. I made Mia cry after the 1992 NCAA Championship game. I asked her how she felt about this being the last game for her and Lilly to play in Chapel Hill. Oops. Lilly had one more year because she sat one out, even though the media guide said "senior." Despite the mistake, the thought still made Mia cry.
Way to go Mark.
Lilly (left) was shy and hard to reach on the phone, but she was always willing to chat as she got to know me. It took me about a month to get her on the phone in Chapel Hill for a story. It took me quite a while to get her when I was writing a story for the "50 best athletes of the 21st century in Connecticut" series. That might have been one of my best pieces ever as I caught up with many of the boys she played on a team with when she was a little soccer wizard.
Foudy was always good to talk to, Akers classy and Tiffeny Milbrett was an under-rated interview.
There will never be another women's team like them. They were pioneers. I was lucky to spend time covering them.
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