The Dallas Sidekicks kickoff the 2002-03 Major Indoor Soccer League season against the Philadelphia Kixx. This is the Sidekicks first game in the new league following the merger of the World Indoor Soccer League and MISL. The season starts with a "Battle of the Champions" as the 2001 WISL champion Dallas Sidekicks face the 2002 MISL champion Philadelphia Kixx. This is the first meeting for these teams.

The Sidekicks will unveil the 2001 WISL championship banner in a pre-game ceremony. This is the Sidekicks fourth banner joining those from 1987, original MISL; 1993, Continental Indoor Soccer League; and 1998, WISL.

NEXT GAME: Saturday, October 5, 2002 at 7:05pm (9:05pm CT) at the San Diego Sockers, at the San Diego Sports Arena. This will be first time the Sidekicks and the Sockers face each other since the WISL Championship Series in December, 2001.

RADIO: All Sidekicks games are on Fox Sports 1190 AM. They are also available on the internet at www.foxsports1190.com. All broadcasts begin five minutes prior to listed kickoff and will last three hours. Pete Stein calls the action and John Clemens hosts the halftime and post-game shows. There are three games that will be tape delayed on Fox Sports 1190 AM: September 28 (game starts at 7 p.m. and comes on 1190AM at 11 p.m.), November 6 (game starts at 10:45 a.m. and comes on 1190 AM at 6 p.m.), and December 31 (game starts at 1 p.m. and comes on 1190 AM at 6 p.m.).

PLAYER/HEAD COACH TATU: Tatu begins his 18th season as a player for the Dallas Sidekicks, his fifth as head coach. Tatu has led the Sidekicks to the World Indoor Soccer League finals all four years as head coach, winning the 1998 and 2001 Championships. In 1998, Tatu replaced Gordon Jago, who retired, as head coach. He has a 54-26 (.675) regular season record, and 7-3 (.700) postseason record. Tatu's .675 winning percentage is the best in indoor soccer history for anyone with more than 50 games as a head coach. PLAYER: Tatu is in his 21st season in indoor soccer, his 18th with the Sidekicks. Tatu enters the season near the top of the career list in several categories. He is ninth with 600 games played, second for goals with 837 (Hector Marinaro - 1187), second in assists with 699 (Zoran Karic - 821), third in points with 1536 (Marinaro - 1855, Karic - 1573), third in game-winning goals with 75 (Marinaro - 97, Steve Zungul - 77), and first with 109 power play goals. He has been part of all four Sidekicks'

SERIES HISTORY: This is the first time these franchises have met. They will play five times this season. Philadelphia does not return to Reunion Arena until February 28, 2003. That will be the Sidekicks 31st game.

2002-03 Meetings
Saturday 9-28-2002 at Dallas 7:05 p.m. CT
Saturday 10-19-2002 at Philadelphia 6:05 p.m. CT
Saturday 1-4-2003 at Philadelphia 6:05 p.m. CT
Saturday 2-8-2003 at Philadelphia 6:05 p.m. CT
Friday 2-28-2003 at Dallas 7:05 p.m. CT

SEASON OPENER HISTORY: The Sidekicks are 11-6 in season openers, including a 7-2 record when the season opener is a home game. The Sidekicks are 3-0 in overtime and 1-0 in triple overtime.

Season Date Opponent Result SK-opp Attendance GK of Record
1984-85 11-2 vs. Las Vegas Americans L 3-7 5,034 Jan Van Beveren
1985-86 10-25 vs. Los Angeles Lazers W 7-5 6,299 Krys Sobieski
1986-87 11-13 vs. Chicago Sting W 6-3 9,822 Krys Sobieski
1987-88 11-4 at Tacoma Stars W 4-3 13,452 Joe Papaleo
1988-89 11-4 at Tacoma Stars W (3ot) 6-5 12,218 Joe Papaleo
1989-90 10-28 vs. San Diego Sockers (1) W 9-3 10,782 Krys Sobieski
1990-91 10-19 at Tacoma Stars L 2-3 8,566 Krys Sobieski
1991-92 10-19 at Baltimore Blast (1) W 7-3 11,154 Joe Papaleo
1993 6-19 vs. San Diego Sockers (1) L 5-6 6,472 Joe Papaleo
1994 6-11 vs. San Diego Sockers (1) W 6-3 10,183 Joe Papaleo
1995 6-24 at Monterrey La Raza L 10-11 3,500 Hank Henry
1996 6-14 at Anaheim Splash W 14-9 6,525 Shawn Ray
1997 6-14 vs. Houston Hotshots W (ot) 8-7 13,032 Antonio Cortes
1998 8-8 at Sacramento Knights L 1-8 4,627 Shawn Ray
1999 7-24 vs. Houston Hotshots W 10-9 11,412 Shawn Ray
2000 8-6 at Monterrey La Raza L 6-10 3,312 Sagu
2001 8-19 @ vs. San Diego Sockers (2) W (ot) 6-5 17,710 Sagu

San Diego Sockers (1): folded after 1996 CISL season
San Diego Sockers (2): added as expansion team in the WISL for the 2001 season Baltimore Blast (1): different franchise from the current Baltimore Blast - folded after the 1991-92 MISL season @ Played at American Airlines Center - inaugural sports event in the AAC

HOME OPENER HISTORY: The Sidekicks are 12-5 in home openers. Dallas has won five straight home openers entering the 2002-03 season. The current streak is the longest in team history. The Sidekicks have opened the season at home nine times going 7-2 in those games. The Sidekicks have drawn 175,299 fans in 17 home openers for an average of 10,312 and 12,242 since the 1996 opener. The Sidekicks drew a club record 17,710 to the 2001 opener, which was the inaugural sports event at the American Airlines Center. The Sidekicks pulled off a dramatic 6-5 overtime victory after trailing by two goals with less than one minute to play in regulation.

Season Date Opponent Result SK-opp Attendance GK of Record
1984-85 11-2 vs. Las Vegas Americans L 3-7 5,034 Jan Van Beveren
1985-86 10-25 vs. Los Angeles Lazers W 7-5 6,299 Krys Sobieski
1986-87 11-13 vs. Chicago Sting W 6-3 9,822 Krys Sobieski
1987-88 11-7 vs. Chicago Sting W 5-2 16,115 Krys Sobieski
1988-89 11-6 vs. Baltimore Blast (1) L 3-6 15,077 Krys Sobieski
1989-90 10-28 vs. San Diego Sockers (1) W 9-3 10,782 Krys Sobieski
1990-91 10-20 vs. San Diego Sockers (1) W 7-6 8,437 Joe Papaleo
1991-92 11-1 vs. St. Louis Storm W 8-3 5,166 Joe Papaleo
1993 6-19 vs. San Diego Sockers (1) L 5-6 6,472 Joe Papaleo
1994 6-11 vs. San Diego Sockers (1) W 6-3 10,183 Joe Papaleo
1995 6-25 vs. Monterrey La Raza L 4-5 9,526 Hank Henry
1996 6-15 vs. Sacramento Knights L 4-5 12,818 Kevin Smith
1997 6-14 vs. Houston Hotshots W (ot) 8-7 13,032 Antonio Cortes
1998 8-15 vs. Sacramento Knights W 10-2 10,621 Shawn Ray
1999 7-24 vs. Houston Hotshots W 10-9 11,412 Shawn Ray
2000 8-12 vs. Sacramento Knights W 5-3 7,859 Sagu
2001 8-19 @ vs. San Diego Sockers (2) W (ot) 6-5 17,710 Sagu

San Diego Sockers (1): folded after 1996 CISL season
San Diego Sockers (2): added as expansion team in the WISL for the 2001 season Baltimore Blast (1): different franchise from the current Baltimore Blast - folded after the 1991-92 MISL season @ Played at American Airlines Center - inaugural sports event in the AAC

THIS DATE IN SIDEKICKS HISTORY - SEPTEMBER 28: The Sidekicks are 1-1 on September 28. This is the first home game for the Sidekicks on this date.

Season Opponent Result SK-opp Attendance SK Record GK of Record
1997 at Houston Hotshots W 3-1 9,477 13-15 Antonio Cortes
2001 at Sacramento Knights L 5-7 3,217 4-2 Sagu

LAST GAME - SIDEKICKS CLAIM FOURTH TITLE 12-22-2001: Armando Valdivia scored the WISL Championship Series shorthanded 2:11 into overtime and 27 seconds into the San Diego power play. Valdivia set up the play by stealing the ball from San Diego forward Carlos Farias and racing up the sideline. Farias chased Valdivia and was called for tripping as the players got tangled. On the restart, Valdivia fed the ball back to goalkeeper Sagu. Sagu sent a long pass to Brad Flanagan near the San Diego box, which forced the Sockers keeper to play the ball. Flanagan headed the ball to a racing Valdivia, and he headed the ball into the goal for the win and the 2001 WISL title. "I got there and just said to myself 'keep it down,'" said Valdivia. "I didn't know where to go after the goal was scored. This was the greatest goal of my career." The Sidekicks forced overtime of game three after Tatu scored a brilliant goal to tie the game at one. Tatu stole the ball from Gaston Pernia just in front of the San Diego box and scored

700 CLUB: Tatu needs one assist to become the second player in indoor soccer history with 700 assists.

All-time assist leaders
1. 821 Karic, Zoran
2. 699 Tatu
3. 698 Margetic, Pato
4. 668 Marinaro, Hector
5. 622 McIntosh, Franklin

SIX PACK: When Tatu enters the game against Philadelphia, it will be his first in the new MISL. He becomes the only player to play in all six modern top-tier professional indoor soccer leagues: Continental indoor Soccer League (CISL), original MISL, new MISL, North American Soccer League (NASL), National Professional Soccer League (NPSL), and the World Indoor Soccer League (WISL).

GOALKEEPER OF THE YEARS: Sagu won the 2000 and 2001 WISL Goalkeeper of the Year awards. Those are the only two full seasons he has played since joining the Sidekicks in the middle of the 1999 campaign.

TRANSACTIONS:
September 9: Sidekicks trade rights of midfielder Marco Coria, goalkeeper Raul Salas, and defender Genoni Martinez to Harrisburg for the rights to forward Justin Labrum, midfielder Danny Barber, and financial considerations. September 23: sign Patrick Shamu, Brad Flanagan, and Danny Barber to active roster.

APPROACHING 2.5 MILLION: The Sidekicks have attracted 2,464,098 fans at home through 17 regular seasons.

Season Home Road Combined
1984-85 119,245 24 4,969 184,417 24 7,684 303,662 48 6,326
1985-86 154,965 24 6,457 219,102 24 9,129 374,067 48 7,793
1986-87 224,573 26 8,637 225,503 26 8,673 450,076 52 8,655
1987-88 276,586 28 9,878 241,062 28 8,609 517,648 56 9,244
1988-89 205,607 24 8,567 190,062 24 7,919 395,669 48 8,243
1989-90 234,075 26 9,003 183,537 26 7,059 417,612 52 8,031
1990-91 178,267 26 6,856 175,946 26 6,767 354,213 52 6,812
1991-92 140,053 20 7,003 158,977 20 7,949 299,030 40 7,476
1993 84,164 14 6,012 65,961 14 4,712 150,125 28 5,362
1994 102,341 14 7,310 76,596 14 5,471 178,937 28 6,391
1995 129,351 14 9,239 87,623 14 6,259 216,974 28 7,749
1996 128,223 14 9,159 76,755 14 5,483 204,978 28 7,321
1997 128,938 14 9,210 73,037 14 5,217 201,975 28 7,213
1998 56,749 6 9,458 17,126 4 4,282 73,875 10 7,388
1999 107,492 12 8,958 40,845 10 4,085 148,337 22 6,743
2000 89,785 12 7,482 51,552 12 4,296 141,337 24 5,889
2001 103,684 12 8,640 59,891 12 4,991 163,575 24 6,816
Total 2,464,098 310 7,949 2,127,992 306 6,954 4,592,090 616 7,455

MILLION FAN MARCH: The Sidekicks have drawn 930,727 home fans to regular season games since Jim Tolbert took over the sales department prior to the 1993 season. _____________________________________
SIDEKICKS TEAM UP WITH KIDD KRADDICK'S KIDD'S KIDDS

The Dallas Sidekicks are proud to partner with 106.1 Kiss FM for Kidd's Kids Night October 12 when the Sidekicks host the Harrisburg Heat at Reunion Arena at 7:05 p.m. The Sidekicks are donating $10 of every ticket priced $11 or higher that is ordered throigh the Sidekicks office at 214-653-0208. Please call and leave a message with the seating area and the number of tickets you are looking for and the Sidekicks will get back to you as soon as possible.