Steamers 'planely' Unlucky at Travel
By Dave Lange St. Louis Globe-Democrat
Movie fans excited about the release of "Airplane II," the sequel to the zany flick spoofing
air travel, would have loved the Steamers' epic round-trip excursion to Cleveland Thursday
and Friday.
The episode was worthy of "Airplane III."
The Steamers were the luckless butts of numerous airline mishaps normally good for a lot
of laughs were it not for two sobering facts: The club has stumbled to its worst start since
1979, and after suffering an 8-5 loss in Cleveland Thursday night, they had to put the
pieces back together in time for Friday's match with Baltimore at the Checkerdome.
Baltimore cruised into St. Louis with the Major Indoor Soccer League's best record, 7-1.
The comedic chain of events began Wednesday when the Steamers got wind of a possible
strike by Trans World Airlines, their carrier to and from Cleveland. So the club switched
to another airline, Ozark.
Smart move, right?
The strike never materialized. So Thursday morning, the Steamers rebooked with TWA to
take advantage of an earlier flight back to St. Louis Friday morning, which would give the
players extra time to rest for the Baltimore match.
Another smart move, right?
But Friday, the TWA plane never left the Cleveland airport because of mechanical
problems. The team and part-owner Jack Garagnani and his wife (referee Joe Machnik,
who was to work the Baltimore match, also was on the flight) sat on the airliner for 2 1/2
hours while mechanics conducted unsuccessful repairs.
By that time, the Ozark flight booked and later unbooked by the Steamers was due to
leave.
So the Steamers trod wearily to the Ozark departure gate - on the other side of the terminal,
naturally.
And guess what? No plane.
By the time the jet landed, loaded and left for St. Louis, it was 1:12 p.m. St. Louis time.
The flight was 42 minutes behind schedule.
The Steamers finally arrived home at 2:30 p.m., just five hours before kickoff against the
Baltimore Blast. Garagnani lodged any Steamers who so desired at the Airport Hilton Inn,
owned by Garagnani and Stan Musial, for a few hours' rest.
Baltimore, which had not played since a 6-3 conquest of St. Louis Saturday, had reached
St. Louis Thursday night.
The visitors had more time to relax than their hosts.
For the Steamers, coming home was no blast.
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