Chico Borja played for the Cosmos’ outdoor and indoor teams.

By Michael Lewis

FrontRowSoccer.com Editor

On Jan. 28, it was to our great sadness that FrontRowSoccer.com had to report that Chico Borja had passed away.

He was a popular player during a 12-year playing career that included stops with several outdoor and indoor teams.

Except for Soccer America, Wichita, Kansas radio and television stations and newspapers, the Las Vegas Review-Journal and this website, you wouldn’t have known that Borja had died.

What of the New York/New Jersey area newspapers?

Nada, nothing, zilch.

In print or on-line.

Pretty piss poor if you ask me.

And no excuse.

Listen, I know that space is at a premium at newspapers these days. So, having a sizable obituary could have been difficult. But not even a mention? I did a search of newspapers in New York and New Jersey and could not find a paragraph about Borja.

Not even a paragraph!

Do newspapers not have veteran writers and editors?

Do they not have someone who understands soccer history?

A quick history lesson about Chicago Borja:

He was a Division III player who not only made the Cosmos but became a regular player on the squad. He played with the team for three seasons, helping the Cosmos win the 1982 North American Soccer League championship. He recorded 17 goals and 23 assists in 66 matches. He also played a season with Team America, an experimental team that was essentially the U.S. men’s national team playing as a club side before tackling indoor soccer with the Wichita Wings, Las Vegas Americans and Los Angeles Lazers.

And oh yes, he made 11 appearances with the USMNT team, scoring three times, having also participated in the 1984 Olympics for the USA.

If that didn’t warrant some sort of mention in the newspapers proper or online, then I don’t know what is.

No excuse, none whatsoever.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.