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.