Player Interviews

The winner of this past week's player interview poll was the Wizards' right back, Lance Watson. Out at practice yesterday, Thad from The Back Post and I were able to speak with Watson for a few minutes. Watson talks about being in the starting lineup now and his contribution to the team. He talks about winning the ball back after he loses it, relating it to his former play as a midfielder. He talks about the game up in Toronto and then gives an interesting comparison between the fans in Seattle and the fans in Toronto. Watson says the Seattle fans are more constant noise behind their team, while Toronto is more of a European feel with chants and songs. He continues by talking about the current 10 day break the team is on and how it affects the team. We also were able to get a few thoughts of his on the upcoming game with DC.

Thad and I were also able to get an interview with this week's runner up, injured striker, Adam Cristman. Cristman talks about his current progress coming back from his injury and whether he's on schedule, ahead, or behind. He compares his recovery to that of Chance Myers, who had the same surgery earlier in the offseason. Cristman gave his impressions of the team, the organization, and the city since he's been here, including his opinion on some of the BBQ he's had so far. I asked him about keeping in touch with his old teammates in New England, he mentions his friendship with Brad Knighton, who has been in goal for New England as of late. He also talks about the tackle on Stever Ralston and the retaliation by Khano Smith a few weeks later in New England.

In the second part of the interview, Cristman talked about his hobbies, including his musical talent and his interest in hunting, as well as joking around.

Onalfo Fined

For those that visit the news section of the KC Wizards website, you'll notice under the disciplinary section that Wizards coach Curt Onalfo was fined $500 by the league. The fine stems from comments Onalfo made to the referee after the game against Toronto FC. Obviously whatever was said wasn't too bad, as there hasn't been much news made about the fine.

Former Wizards Update (UPDATED)

Here's another update on former Wizards, this one will get an update later as the San Jose-New York Open Cup Qualifier is about to start, and Ivan Trujillo's club, Deportes Quindío is currently playing.

MLS
Nick Garcia - San Jose Earthquakes - Started and played 90 minutes picking up a yellow card in San Jose's 2-0 loss to Seattle. Did not play in San Jose's 2-1 loss to New York in their Open Cup Qualifier.
Taylor Graham - Seattle Sounders FC - Did not dress for Seattle's 2-0 win over San Jose. Started and played 90 minutes in Seattle's 4-1 win over Salt Lake in their Open Cup Qualifying match.
Will Hesmer - Columbus Crew - Missed Columbus' 2-2 draw with Chicago due to injury.
Chris Klein - LA Galaxy - Started and played 89 minutes in LA's 1-1 draw with Colorado.
Yura Movsisyan - Real Salt Lake - Started and played 72 minutes, scoring 1 goal and getting a yellow card in RSL's 6-0 win over New England. Came on in the 57th minute of Salt Lake's 4-1 loss to Seattle in their Open Cup Qualifier.
Brandon Prideaux - Chicago Fire - Dressed but did not play in the Fire's 2-2 draw with Columbus.
Carey Talley - Chivas USA - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 2-0 win over FC Dallas.
Shavar Thomas - Chivas USA - Started and played 90 in Chivas' 2-0 win over FC Dallas.
Dave van den Bergh - FC Dallas - Started and played 90 minutes in Dallas' 2-0 loss to Chivas.
Sasha Victorine - Chivas USA - Missed Chivas' 2-0 win over Dallas due to injury.
Tyson Wahl - Seattle Sounders FC - On the bench but did not play in Seattle's 2-0 win over San Jose. Started and played 90 minutes in Seattle's 4-1 win over Salt Lake in their Open Cup Qualifier.

USL
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Came off the bench and played 27 minutes in Charleston's 1-1 draw with Minnesota on Friday.
Vicente Arze - Vancouver - Came off the bench and played 26 minutes in Vancouver's 1-0 win over Portland.
Ryan Caugherty - Austin - Started and played 89 minutes in Austin's 3-0 win over Cleveland.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Did not dress for either of Minnesota's games against Charleston or Carolina.
AJ Godbolt - Austin - Started and played 90 minutes in Austin's 3-0 win over Cleveland.
Andrew Gregor - Rochester - Came off the bench and played 12 minutes in Rochester's win over Puerto Rico. Started and played 60 minutes recording an assist in Rochester's 2-1 win over Miami.
Pat Healey - Baltimore (USL2) - Started and played 90 minutes in CPB's 2-0 win over Bermuda.
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Started and played 90 minutes in Carolina's 1-0 win over Minnesota.
Ryan McMahen - Austin - Started and played 72 minutes in Austin's 3-0 win over Cleveland.
Ryan Pore - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 1-0 loss to Vancouver.
Yomby William - Richmond (USL2) - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 1-0 win over Pittsburgh.
John Wilson - Charleston - Started and played 90 minutes in the Battery's 1-1 draw with Minnesota.

International
Eloy Colombano - Club Atlético Atlanta - Argentina - Atlanta drew 1-1 with Almirante Brown.
Eddie Johnson - Cardiff City - England - Came off the bench and played 14 minutes in Cardiff's 3-0 loss to Ipswich Town.
Carlos Marinelli - Millonarios - Colombia - Marinelli was released from his contract with Millonarios.
Ryan Raybould - Gefle IF FF - Sweden - Did not dress in Gefle's 0-0 draw with GAIS. Dressed but did not play in Gefle's 3-1 Svenska Cupen win over Qviding FIF. Did not dress today in Gefle's 0-0 draw with Malmö FF.
Scott Sealy - Maccabi Tel Aviv - Israel - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Tel Aviv's 1-1 draw with Hapoel Tel Aviv
Khari Stephenson - Aalesunds FK - Norway - Came off the bench and played 20 minutes in Aalesunds 1-0 win over Fredrikstad.
Antti Sumiala - FC PoPa - Did not play in PoPa's 4-0 win over JIPPO to open their season.
Matt Taylor - TUS Koblenz - Germany - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Koblenz's 2-0 loss to Alemania Aachen.
Ivan Trujillo - Deportes Quindío - Colombia - On the bench but did not play in Quindío's 4-1 win over Independiente Medellín. Did not play in Quindío's 2-0 loss to Deportivo Pereira.

Reserves Win

The Swope Park Rangers took care of business today against Missouri State, winning 3-0 over the Missouri Valley team. The Rangers started the game off fast taking the game to the Bears and winning an early corner. Herculez Gomez took the corner which when over the crowd in the middle of the box, bounced once and was met by the head of Abe Thompson who buried his header into the net to give the Rangers the early lead.

After the goal, the Rangers continued to dominate the run of play, but could not get another goal. Missouri State had some moves forward but didn't create any really dangerous chances for Boris Pardo in the Rangers net until late in the half. Late in the half, the Bears finally started to come alive move, and got a corner. The Bears took the corner short, but was broken up by Kevin Souter, who found Thompson on the left hand side. Thompson picked out Jonathan Leathers further up the field. Leathers had time to turn and play a great long ball over the top to Gomez, who was streaking down the wing. Gomez, collected, and played the ball back to an on rushing Graham Zusi, whose shot hit the post. The rebound, though, fell to Thompson, who cooly put the ball away to give the reserves a 2-0 half time lead.

The second half was more of the same, with Missouri State getting a few chances, more in the first half, but still unable to find the net. Meanwhile, the Rangers continued to push and if not for bad luck and the goalkeeper, would have added to their lead. Zusi himself had 2-3 chances to make it 3-0 for the Rangers. They finally got their 3rd late as Kurt Morsink received the ball, dribbled in and beat 2 defenders before cutting back and letting loose a nice shot that sailed into the far post upper 90 giving KC the 3rd goal. Overall it was a much better performance than what I've seen from the team's first two reserve games this year.

Here's the lineup the Rangers used.

Pardo
Leathers - Josh White - McKenzie - Marquess
Morsink
Gomez - Zusi - Souter
Kraus - Thompson

Michael Harrington for Gomez at half time. Austin Williams for Kraus in the second half.

Pizarro Gone

While out at practice today for the reserve game against Missouri State, I found out that midfielder and former open tryout participant, Nelson Pizarro is no longer with the team. Whether that means he was released outright, or is just taking a break from the team, I do not know and at this time don't have more information. Pizarro made 3 appearances with the first team in league play last season, totally 40 minutes. He also appeared in the US Open Cup match last year against Seattle as well.

March/April Player of the Month

With the Wizards not having a game this weekend, they are done with play for the first full month of the season. That means that it's time to decide who was this month's Down the Byline Player of the Month. For me, the award this month came down to 3 players, and their play over the course of the entire month. Those 3 are Davy Arnaud, Kevin Hartman, and Claudio Lopez.

Arnaud played in 6 of the team's 7 games over the first month and a half of the season, scoring 3 goals and an assist. He continues to be one of the hardest working players in the league.

Hartman recorded 3 shut outs in the months of March and April over San Jose, Seattle, and New York. In the second game of the season, Hartman set the MLS saves record, passing Tony Meola.

Lopez leads the team in assists through the first month and a half of the season, with 3. He's also chipped in 2 goals.

So with that I set about deciding who was the player of the month. As I looked over each of the games in my head again, I started to lean away from Lopez and more towards either Hartman or Arnaud. Both of them had been very important to the team in the first month of the season whether it be keeping the team in games in front of goal, or being the guy that teams have to worry about dropping a 25 yard bomb on them. In the end though, I decided to go with Kevin Hartman.Photo courtesy of Thad Bell

Hartman not only had his 3 shutouts, but he also kept KC in games, particularly the Chicago game, where even though he gave up 2 goals, he stood on his head in the second half keeping the Wizards in the game for them to make their come back and get the draw.

Player Interview Poll

Who should be interviewed this week? Remember to vote both here and at The Back Post and to leave your questions in the comments section.

Lance Watson - Seems to have locked down the right back spot.
Roger Espinoza - Honduran international got his first start of the season.
Jack Jewsbury - Suffered a concussion in Thursday's game and missed Sunday.
Adam Cristman - Offseason trade acquisition, is still recovering from offseason surgery.

Sunday After Stats (Monday Edition)

Yesterday was Jimmy Conrad's 184th appearance in all competitions, breaking tie with Matt McKeon for 6th place on the all time list.

Josh Wolff made his 100th start in all competitions for the Wizards. He's the 18th Wizard to hit this mark for the team.

Wolff's appearance was his 97 in league play for the Wizards, moving him into sole possession of 19th place on that list, passing Bo Oshoniyi.

Yesterday was Wolff's 110th appearance in all competitions for the Wizards, tying him with Bo Oshoniyi for 19th on the all time list.

Toronto Takes Season Series

Toronto FC won the season series with Kansas City yesterday, winning 1-0 at BMO Field to go with their 3-2 win in KC on the opening day of the season. KC played one of their better games of the season, holding possession and controlling the game, but could not get anything going in the offensive third of the field. After an early flurry by TFC, KC started to control the game and pick up corner after corner in the first half. Unfortunately for KC, Claudio Lopez's corners continue to lack as almost every single one went right into the first defender. The same happened on his free kicks as well, as he'd get by the wall, but the first defender after that would have the easy job of clearing the ball.

Wizards goalkeeper, Kevin Hartman came up with a huge save in the 34th minute, as Danny Dichio chested down a cross into the path of Amado Guevara who let loose a blast from outside the box that Hartman did well to punch clear. KC continued to pressure, but could not get any great chances. Their best chance came late in the half when Lopez played a ball over the top to Davy Arnaud who raced onto the ball. Arnaud's shot was saved by Stefan Frei, but the rebound went right into the middle of the box. Unfortunately no Wizards players had been following the play and the rebound was cleared.

TFC came out in the second half and started to control the game more, creating a few chances, as Hartman made a save on Chad Barrett and TFC had a goal called back as Pablo Vitti was called offside. In the 54th minute, TFC played a cross into the box that went over everyone to the back side. Marvell Wynne collected and played to Sam Cronin, who slotted to Dichio, who had come out of the goal after his first run. Dichio unmarked about 8 yards from goal slotted the ball to the far post past Hartman and gave TFC the lead.

KC started to push again after the goal, but really weren't able to create many good chances on goal. Finally the Wizards got a good look on goal in the 87th minute, as substitute, Herculez Gomez received the ball and dribbled past his defender in on goal, but Gomez's shot was right at Frei who did well to close down the angle. The chance seemed to give KC a push and they were able to look more dangerous late. The Wizards final good chance fell to Lopez, who hit a hard strike from the left side, unfortunately for KC, Frei got a finger tip to it and tipped the ball over the bar preserving the points for TFC.

Wizards Man of the Match - Michael Harrington - A hard pick this week as no one really stood out as having a really good game yesterday, but Harrington was dangerous coming down the right wing.

Player Ratings - Hartman 5, Watson 5, Conrad 5, Hohlbein 5, Besler 4, Harrington 6, Hirsig 5, Espinoza 5, Arnaud 4, Wolff 4, Lopez 4 Subs Gomez 5, Kraus 4, Thompson NR

It's Called Football Show

So as I mentioned earlier, I was a phone in guest on the Toronto based It's Called Football Show today on thatchannel.com. Well one of the hosts, Duane Rollins has the podcast of the episode up on his blog, The 24th Minute. Go ahead and take a listen to the show.

And if you don't want to go to the link, you can watch the show below.

Click To Play

To the Great White North

The Wizards continue a busy week tomorrow in Toronto when they take on TFC at BMO Field. Toronto picked up their first win since their opening day win over Kansas City on Wednesday with a 1-0 win over Chivas USA. While John Carver was technically still in charge of the team, he didn't pick the lineup which was more of a 4-3-3, with a triangle midfield. They will be without Dwayne DeRosario, who has a hamstring injury.

Kansas City will likely be forced to make changes to their lineup that had started the last 4 games, as it appears unlikely that Jack Jewsbury will be able to go after his concussion against New York on Thursday. KC will need to step up their game as a whole tomorrow after a lackluster effort in the win over New York. I'd expect our lineup tomorrow to look similar to the lineup that we saw at the end of the first half against New York

Hartman
Watson - Conrad - Hohlbein - Besler
Hirsig
Harrington - Arnaud - Gomez
Wolff - Lopez

Key Match up - New thing I'm doing to try to do each game is focus on a key match up. This week, it's Santiago Hirsig vs Amado Guevara. Hirsig dropped into the holding midfield role after Jewsbury went off last week. If he's there again this week, that means he'll likely be matched up mainly with Guevara, who has torn been a major torn in the Wizards side for years now. How Hirsig is able to contain Guevara will go a long way to helping KC.

PREDICTION - As mentioned earlier, KC is going to have to improve their play if they are going to take points from this game. They can't expect teams to get a red card every game, or think the game is only 75 minutes long, or a penalty kick every week. The Wizards have to come out and actually play to be able to get anything from this game. The midfield and forwards are going to have to capitalize on their chances on goal. The scoring chances from the run of play have been lacking recently, so taking their chances in the run of play better will do a lot. If KC plays better, they can get out of Toronto on a 5 game unbeaten streak with a draw or a win. If they play like they did for most of the game against New York, I can't see them getting out of Canada with a point or 3.

KC 1 - (Lopez)
TFC 1 - (Guevara)

Down the Byline is a TV Star on "It's Called Football"

I'm obviously joking about the TV Star part, but today I was on the phone with Ben Rycroft and Duane Rollins from the Toronto television show, It's Call Football to discuss the game between the Wizards and Toronto FC tomorrow in Toronto. Obviously now the game is no longer the big news in Toronto with the resignation of John Carver today, but I thought that the interview went well talking about the team and the game coming up. The show is on right now on ThatChannel.com and will eventually be available by podcast or on the page for the show on That Channel's site.

Demolition Photos

Made it out to Bannister Mall today to get some photos of the continued process of tearing down the mall. The crew is moving fairly quickly, as they have gotten a lot of Dillard's down now, and seem to have a lot more of the mall gutted. The progress is amazing to go through from my first set of photos of the demolition to now. Here is this week's gallery.

Sunday After Stats, Friday Edition

Kevin Hartman and Jimmy Conrad are the only 2 Wizards' players to play every minute this season.

This was Conrad's 183rd appearance in all competitions for the Wizards, tying him with Matt McKeon for 6th on the Wizards' all time list.

Last night was Davy Arnaud's 150th start in MLS play.

It was also Josh Wolff's 200th appearance in MLS play.

It was also Wolff's 96th appearance for KC in MLS play, tying him with Bo Oshoniyi for 19th on that list.

Jack Jewsbury's 144th MLS appearance for the Wizards, tying McKeon for 8th on that list.

In the 15th minute, Jewsbury passed Uche Okafor to move into 11th place on the MLS minutes played list for the Wizards, Jack finished the game with 9631 minutes.

Winning Ugly is Still a Win

Kansas City made an early PK stand up as they defeated the New York Red Bulls last night at Community America Ballpark 1-0. The action started early, when in only the 2nd minute Herculez Gomez received a ball into the box that Carlos Johnson of New York had trouble trying to intercept. As the ball made it to Gomez, he cut inside to shoot but was taken down from behind by Johnson. Referee Michael Kennedy made no hesitation pointing to the spot and giving Johnson the fastest red card in MLS history, Johnson's second in as many games. Claudio Lopez stepped up and converted the PK to give KC the early lead.

After the penalty, KC controlled the game, but couldn't produce many good chances. In the 19th minute though, Jack Jewsbury suffered a concussion on a collison with Carlos Mendes. Jewsbury tried to clear the cobwebs after the collison, but was finally subbed out in the 32nd minute. The pressure continued for most of the rest of the first half, with New York having some flurries forward, but even being a man up KC didn't create any real quality chances, and the shots they did create were right at goalkeeper Jon Conway.

In the second half, New York started to bring the game to KC more as KC seemed to be sitting back a little more than they should have. Kevin Hartman came up with a big save from Juan Pablo Angel to keep the lead. Down at the other end, Lance Watson was doing great work getting down the right side along with Josh Wolff. They played in a couple good balls, but nobody had made a far post run and the crosses went to nothing. Davy Arnaud tried to duplicate his goals from earlier this year, but his efforts both went over the goal. The Wizards best chances in the second half came when Aaron Hohlbein headed a Lopez cross right on goal, but also right at Conway, who paried the shot away. Later in the game, a cross from the right found Roger Espinoza. He collected the ball, cut back on a defender and tried to put his shot inside Conway's near post, but Espinoza pulled his shot just wide of the near post. Hartman had one last big play to make as he dove at the feet of Angel to deflect a shot after a flick on header from Matthew Mbuta Overall, not a great performance for the national television audience last night, as the Wizards again seemed to be outplayed by a team playing with 10 men. While the team is now unbeaten in 4 games, they haven't played extremely well, except for 15 minutes in Chicago in the last 3 of those games. They'll need to pick up the level of play for Sunday when the team travels to Toronto.

Wizards Man of the Match - Lance Watson - I've been a critic of Watson's for a while, I honestly didn't expect him to be on the roster this year, but given the chance at right back he has done a decent job there. He's not an all star right back, but he's filled in nicely, and last night he was a nice bright spot, getting forward when he could and creating some potential chances with some crosses.

Honorable Mention - Aaron Hohlbein, Jimmy Conrad

Player Ratings - Hartman 6, Watson 6, Conrad 6, Hohlbein 6, Besler 5, Gomez 4, Jewsbury 4, Arnaud 5, Hirsig 5, Wolff 5, Lopez 5, Subs Harrington 5, Espinoza 5, Kraus 5.

Local Stadiums Express Interest in Hosting World Cup

Earlier this month I posted about how Arrowhead Stadium and other regional stadiums were on the original 70 stadium list for the US' World Cup bid in 2018 and 2022. All 3 stadiums that were on the list from the state of Missouri have expressed an interest in hosting the World Cup. Arrowhead, Faurot Field and the Edward Jones Dome all expressed interest in hosting games. Only 12 stadiums took their name off the list. One, Memorial Stadium in Lincoln was the only regional stadium not to express interest. Most of these stadiums don't meet FIFA minimum requirements, but it's good to at least see the interest in hosting the World Cup.

Player Interviews

The winner of this week's player interview poll was MLS player of the week, Josh Wolff. Thad was able to get a nice log interview with Wolff yesterday after practice that he actually had to divide into 2 parts for posting. Here's part 1 and part 2. Wolff talks about the second half against Chicago and what changed from the first half. He then talks about getting 4 points against the top team in each of the conferences at the time on the road and how it's a bit of a double edged sword as they didn't play great in either game. He continues by talking about what needs to be done from the start to avoid a slow, flat start against New York tonight. Thad then asks him about how Wolff and Claudio Lopez play a similar style game and how that works on the field for both of them, whether it's a help or a hindrance at times. Wolff also talks about playing up top with a more target type striker that Abe Thompson and Adam Cristman bring to the table. He talks about the presence that those type of players bring on the field. He talks bout his best partner ever giving a shout to Davy Arnaud for that spot as well as mentioning Ante Razov.

The second part of the interview is much more fun with some jokes being thrown at Arnaud and Jack Jewsbury, their friendship and whether they're as close as they're made out to be by people. How they're the story of the team, and everyone else on the team is Davy and Jack fans, to which Kurt Morsink who was in the area agreed with. Giving them a new nickname, Ace and Gary. If you only listen to one part, listen to part 2, as it's definitely good for a laugh.

Thad also got an interview with this week's runner up, Michael Harrington. Harrington talks about coming back from his injury and working his way back into the lineup again afterwards. He talks about playing on both the right and the left side of the field as well. He talks about the cross that led to the game tying goal against Chicago as well as the adjustments that the team made during the game.

CAB's National TV Debut

Tomorrow night CAB makes it's national television debut as the Wizards take on the New York Red Bulls on ESPN2. New York comes into the game having finally picked up a win this season, defeating Real Salt Lake 2-0 in New York. They also finally scored a goal on their own (their first goal of the season was an own goal). The Red Bulls will be missing Jeremy Hall due to a red card suspension as well as Albert Celades, who will be missing due to a hamstring strain. They will have Carlos Johnson returning from his red card suspension though.

Kansas City suffered through a very bad first half but managed to come back and get a draw in Chicago last week. Kansas City is now unbeaten in 3 games, including getting 4 points on the road in Seattle and Chicago, both places that people would say are hard places to play. Haven't been out to practice a few times this week I don't expect many changes if any to the lineup. Here's what I think we could see.

Hartman
Watson - Conrad - Hohlbein - Besler
Jewsbury
Hirsig - Arnaud - Gomez
Wolff - Lopez

PREDICTION - Kansas City is on a nice little roll here and New York isn't that strong on the road, Red Bull coach Juan Carlos Osorio tends to play more defensive lineups on the road than when they are at home. Still with Juan Pablo Angel in the lineup you can never count New York out, especially when Angel always seems to find a way to score against KC. Still I think KC can pull off the win tomorrow.

KC - 2 (Gomez, Wolff)
NY - 1 (Angel)

Early Former Wizards Update (UPDATE)

Got this week's former Wizards update out early today, but I'll be updating it tonight, as there is one MLS game (Toronto-Chivas USA) and one US Open Cup game (DC-Dallas). So there will be an update tonight to the players listed.

MLS
Nick Garcia - San Jose Earthquakes - Started and played 90 minutes picking up a yellow card in San Jose's 1-1 draw with LA.
Taylor Graham - Seattle Sounders FC - Did not appear for Seattle due to injury.
Will Hesmer - Columbus Crew - Hesmer and the Crew were off this past week.
Chris Klein - LA Galaxy - Came off the bench and played 25 minutes in LA's 1-1 draw with San Jose.
Yura Movsisyan - Real Salt Lake - Started and played 90 minutes in Salt Lake's 2-0 loss to New York.
Brandon Prideaux - Chicago Fire - On the bench but did not play in Chicago's 2-2 draw with KC.
Carey Talley - Chivas USA - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 2-0 win over Seattle. Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas 1-0 loss to TFC tonight.
Shavar Thomas - Chivas USA - Started and played 90 in Chivas' 2-0 win over Seattle. Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas 1-0 loss to TFC tonight.
Dave van den Bergh - FC Dallas - Started and played 90 minutes in Dallas' 3-2 win over Toronto. Started and played 73 minutes in FC Dallas' 2-0 loss in their Open Cup Qualifier game against DC tonight.
Sasha Victorine - Chivas USA - Missed Chivas' 2-0 win over Seattle due to injury.
Tyson Wahl - Seattle Sounders FC - On the bench but did not play in Seattle's 2-0 loss to Chivas.

USL
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Came off the bench and played 16 minutes in Charleston's 0-0 draw with Montreal.
Vicente Arze - Vancouver - Started and played 63 minutes in the Whitecaps 2-1 loss to Puerto Rico over the weekend. Came off the bench on Tuesday and played 15 minutes in the Whitecaps 1-1 draw with Austin.
Ryan Caugherty - Austin - Started and played 90 minutes in Austin's 1-1 draw with Minnesota on the weekend. Started and played 90 minutes on Tuesday in the Aztex's 1-1 draw with Vancouver.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Came off the bench and played 1 minute in Minnesota's 1-1 draw with Austin.
AJ Godbolt - Austin - Started and played 64 minutes in Austin's 1-1 draw with Minnesota. Started and played 90 minutes on Tuesday in Austin's 1-1 draw with Vancouver.
Andrew Gregor - Rochester - Started and played 62 minutes for Rochester in their 1-0 loss to Carolina.
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Started and played 90 minutes in Carolina's 1-0 win over Rochester.
Ryan McMahen - Austin - Started and played 64 minutes in Austin's 1-1 draw with Minnesota over the weekend. Started and played 90 minutes on Tuesday in Austin's 1-1 draw with Vancouver.
Yomby William - Richmond (USL2) - Came off the bench and played 5 minutes in Richmond's 2-2 draw with Harrisburg.
John Wilson - Charleston - Started and played 90 minutes in the Battery's 0-0 draw with Montreal.

International
Eloy Colombano - Club Atlético Atlanta - Argentina - Atlanta defeated Defensores de Belgrano 2-1 over the weekend.
Eddie Johnson - Cardiff City - England - Came off the bench and played 14 minutes in Cardiff's 6-0 loss to Preston North End over the weekend. Also came off the bench and played 7 minutes in Cardiff's 2-2 draw with Charlton Athletic.
Carlos Marinelli - Millonarios - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Millonarios' 1-0 loss to Boyacá Chicó FC.
Ryan Raybould - Gefle IF FF - Sweden - Did not dress in Gefle's 2-1 loss to IF Elfsborg over the weekend.
Scott Sealy - Maccabi Tel Aviv - Israel - Was suspended for Tel Aviv's 1-1 draw with Maccabi Haifa.
Khari Stephenson - Aalesunds FK - Norway - Did not play in Aalesunds' 1-1 draw with IK Start.
Matt Taylor - TUS Koblenz - Germany - Did not dress for Koblenz in their 3-2 win over MSV Duisburg.
Ivan Trujillo - Deportes Quindío - Colombia - Did not play in Quindío's 1-0 loss to Envigado.

Wolff Named Player of the Week

To add to the fact that Wizards forward Josh Wolff is up for Goal of the Week this week, today Wolff was also named MLS Player of the Week for his 2 goal performance against Chicago this past weekend. Wolff's 2 goals in the last 12 minutes were enough to salvage a point for the Wizards in Chicago.

While the performance is good, I didn't even think Wolff was the man of the match. I thought Kevin Hartman's play, specifically in the second half to keep KC in the game was hugely important to the Wizards getting out of Chicago with a draw, but congrats to Josh for being named player of the week this week.

Goal of the Week

Josh Wolff's one time effort that made the game 1-2 Saturday night is up for Goal of the Week this week. Check the goal out again, good work by Claudio Lopez to get open and a great cross to Wolff. Vote here.

Weekly Player Interview Poll

KC pulled off the come back and ended up with a 2- 2 draw in Chicago yesterday, now it's time for you to vote for who you'd like to see interviewed this week from the game. This week you have 3 choices.

Kevin Hartman - Kept KC in the game with saves and secured the point with his late save on Rolfe.
Josh Wolff - Scored both of KC's goals.
Michael Harrington - Came on at half time and helped make the difference getting an assist on the game tying goal.

Remember to vote both here and at The Back Post and to put your questions for players into the comments section.

Sunday After Stats

Here are a few of the more noteworthy stats from yesterday's game against the Fire.

Josh Wolff's second goal was his 5th against Chicago in league play and in all competitions, tying him with Scott Sealy for the most goals against Chicago by a Wizards' player in both categories.

Wolff's first goal of the night was his 31st for the Wizards, moving him into a tie with Mo Johnston for 4th on the all time list. His second goal was his 32nd for the Wizards, moving him past Johnston into sole possession of 4th place.

Stealing a Point

It wasn't really deserved, but the Wizards stole a point in Chicago last night, coming from 2 goals down to salvage a 2-2 tie. Chicago started out completely dictating the tempo of the game and were rewarded in the 13th minute thanks to some miscommunication between Kevin Hartman and Jimmy Conrad. Hartman came a long way to claim a lofted ball into the box. At the same time, Conrad went up to head the ball away. The two collided and the ball fell to Wilman Conde who squared to Brian McBride who slotted the ball to the far post for the lead.

Chicago continued to control the tempo of the game, getting into KC's defensive third of the field and getting a few more shots, while KC struggled to just get out of their half of the field. Wizards' rookie, Matt Besler seemed to be the main target for Chicago as they continually attacked down KC's left side. In the 20th minute Chicago doubled their lead thanks to a free kick. Blanco played a long ball into the box where it was met by McBride, who unmarked put his header into the far post to make it 2-0 Fire. While Chicago didn't have many chances through the rest of the half, they continued to control the game, it took until the 42nd minute and a blast from well out by Jack Jewsbury went well over the bar for the Wizards to record their first shot of the game.

In the second half KC started playing a bit better, but it was Chicago that was the one that continued to pressure. Blanco put one over the bar early in the second half, and Hartman came up with huge saves on John Thorrington, Blanco, and Patrick Nyarko to keep the game tied at 2-2. Finally in the 75th minute KC started to pick up their play and were actually able to get some good possession into Chicago's defensive third. A turnover in the Fire's end of the field in the 78th minute fell to Claudio Lopez, who moved further wide left and played a cross into the box, where Josh Wolff connected first time putting the ball past Jon Busch and giving KC a lifeline. After that KC continued to control the game, a short corner by Lopez to Michael Harrington led to a shot by Harrington that looked to strike the arm of a Chicago defender, but referee, Hilario Grajeda, did not make the call. Herculez Gomez took a long shot that Busch paried into the path of Michael Kraus, but a recovering defender knocked the ball away before Kraus could get a shot off.

KC continued to push and in the 89th minute the ball came wide to Harrington who played a ball deep into the box where Wolff met it with his head, it deflected off a Fire defender and into the net giving KC a shocking second goal. The Wizards and Hartman had one more steal to make though. Deep in second half stoppage time, a ball on the left was played into Chris Rolfe who headed the ball on goal and it looked destined for the net, but Hartman got up very well and got a finger tip to the ball knocking it wide and preserving the point for KC.

Wizards Man of the Match - Kevin Hartman - The miscue with Conrad aside, Hartman played well, especially in the second half making some huge saves to keep KC in the game. He stood on his head in the second half, giving KC the chance for the tie.

Honorable Mention - Josh Wolff

Player Ratings - Hartman 6, Watson 4, Conrad 4, Hohlbein 4, Besler 3, Gomez 4, Jewsbury 5, Hirsig 3, Wolff 6, Arnaud 5, Lopez 5. Subs Harrington 6, Kraus 5, Espinoza NR

Another Game on the Road

After the 1-0 win over Seattle last week, KC continue on the road taking on the Chicago Fire. Chicago is coming off of a 3-3 tie in San Jose, where they came back 3 times from a goal down to earn the draw. Chicago has a conundrum in their midfield/forward positions, as they have 7 players that could play in a total of 5 spots, meaning that two players will likely be sitting to start the game. Chicago will likely be sitting two of these players, John Thorrington, Logan Pause, Justin Mapp, Patrick Nyarko, Chris Rolfe, Marco Pappa, and Blanco to fill their midfield and pair with Brian McBride up top. That's good news for KC as that's a strong midfield and having to sit two of those players will certianly be a good thing. The other good news is that Wilman Conde is questionable for this game, he leaves a hole in the Chicago defense if he doesn't start. Even with all this, it's still going to be hard for KC, as Chicago is a good team.

With two wins using the same lineup, it's unlikely that Coach Onalfo will be making any changes to the lineup ahead of the game tomorrow, so I expect we'll see the same lineup as we saw against San Jose and Seattle.

Hartman
Watson - Conrad - Hohlbein - Besler
Jewsbury
Gomez - Hirsig - Wolff
Arnaud - Lopez

PREDICTION - Historically KC has not done well in Chicago, last year was only the team's second ever win there. Even with the issues that the Fire have, they're still a strong deep team and will give KC all that they can handle on Saturday. Either way Chicago is the favorite going into this game and KC grabbing a point on the road, especially in Chicago would be a plus. Unfortunately I have trouble seeing KC getting that point in Chicago this weekend.

KC - 0
Chicago - 1 (Rolfe)

Weekly Player Interview

The winner of this week's player interview poll was Herculez Gomez. The interview with him is now up over on The Back Post. Gomez talked about the Seattle game, the play that led to Kasey Keller's red card. He talks about the second half of the Seattle game and the team getting a little complacent. Gomez continues by comparing the Seattle fans to fans in Toronto. Gomez finishes up by giving a bit of a break down of the Chicago game and how his play has improved this season thanks to more time with the team.

Thad was also able to interview this week's runner up, Kevin Hartman. Hartman talks about the Seattle game, competing with Keller as well as the crowd. He also talks about the second half of the game and the way the team seemed to be slow in the second half. Hartman talks about the way the defense has been playing the last two games earning shutouts in each of them. Hartman finishes by talking about the upcoming game against Chicago. Enjoy.

More Demolition

Here's your Friday update on how demolition is going out at the old Bannister Mall site. Demolition continues to move along, with a lot of working happening to the old Dillard's. There's now actually a gap between Dillard's and the mall. Here's the full album.

Former Wizards Update

Another week of updates for former Wizards. This week probably has the most former Wizards playing since I've started keeping track of the former Wizards results with MLS, USL, and most foreign leagues going on.

MLS
Nick Garcia - San Jose Earthquakes - Started and played 90 minutes in San Jose's 3-3 draw with Chicago.
Taylor Graham - Seattle Sounders FC - Did not appear for Seattle due to injury.
Will Hesmer - Columbus Crew - Started and played all 90 minutes in goal for the Crew in their 1-1 draw with Colorado.
Chris Klein - LA Galaxy - Started and played 81 minutes for LA in their 0-0 draw with Chivas USA.
Yura Movsisyan - Real Salt Lake - Started and played 90 minutes in Salt Lake's 2-1 win over DC.
Brandon Prideaux - Chicago Fire - Started and played 45 minutes in Chicago's 3-3 draw with San Jose.
Carey Talley - Chivas USA - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 0-0 draw with the Galaxy.
Shavar Thomas - Chivas USA - Started and played 90 in Chivas' 0-0 draw with LA, drawing a yellow card.
Dave van den Bergh - FC Dallas - Started and played 90 minutes in Dallas' 1-1 draw with Toronto.
Sasha Victorine - Chivas USA - Missed Chivas' 0-0 draw with LA due to injury.
Tyson Wahl - Seattle Sounders FC - Wahl was on the game day roster but did not play in the Sounders game against KC.

USL
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - On the bench but did not play in the Battery's 0-0 draw with Vancouver.
Vicente Arze - Vancouver - Started and played 90 minutes in the Whitecaps 0-0 draw with Charleston.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Started and played 80 minutes in the Thunder's 2-1 loss to Carolina.
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Started and played 90 minutes in the Railhawks 2-1 win over Minnesota.
John Wilson - Charleston - Started and played 90 minutes in the Battery's 0-0 draw with Vancouver.

International
Eloy Colombano - Club Atlético Atlanta - Argentina - Started in Atlanta's 2-1 loss to Flandria on the 11th. On the 14th, Atlanta lost to Tristán Suárez 2-0.
Will John - MŠK Žilina - Slovakia - Still has not appeared for Žilina, looks like he's not actually going to play there. He's also no longer appearring on the roster for his previous club, FK Čukarički Stankom.
Eddie Johnson - Cardiff City - England - Came off the bench and played 13 minutes in Cardiff's 2-0 win over Crystal Palace. Came off the bench on Monday and played 4 minutes in Cardiff's 3-1 win over Burnley.
Carlos Marinelli - Millonarios - Colombia - Started and played 60 minutes in Millonarios, 0-0 draw with Real Cartagena.
Ryan Raybould - Gefle IF FF - Sweden - Did not dress in Gefle's 2-1 win over Hammarby on the 12th. Raybould also did not dress in Gefle's 0-0 draw with Djurgården.
Scott Sealy - Maccabi Tel Aviv - Israel - Started for Maccabi Tel Aviv scoring in the 33rd minute. Sealy was then sent off in the 44th minute of Tel Aviv's 3-0 win over Bnei Sakhnin.
Khari Stephenson - Aalesunds FK - Norway - Did not play in Aalesunds' 4-2 loss to Odd Grenland.
Matt Taylor - TUS Koblenz - Germany - Started and played 71 minutes, scoring 2 goals in TUS Koblenz's 3-2 win over 1860 Munich.
Ivan Trujillo - Deportes Quindío - Colombia - Did not play in Quindío's 3-2 win over Independiente Santa Fe.

Morsink Still in National Team Picture

In the past I've mentioned how Kurt Morsink has been continually rumored to be called up to the Costa Rican national team for some friendly or for a tournament. So far neither has come to pass, but Morsink is still on the national team radar apparently. He's now rumored to be one of the players that could be called up for an upcoming friendly against Venezuela on May 13th. Costa Rica's coach apparently wants to get a look at players who have not yet competed in World Cup Qualifying in this game. We'll see if Morsink can finally break through and get an appearance for Costa Rica, even though he seems to have fallen out of favor a bit for the Wizards.

Weekly Player Interview Poll

Another poll coming your way for who should be interviewed this week following the Wizards 1-0 win in Seattle this past week. This week there are 4 players nominated.

Kevin Hartman - Second straight shutout, strong in goal.
Jack Jewsbury - Solid play in the middle of the field, got the assist on the goal.
Davy Arnaud - Another cracker from long range.
Herculez Gomez - Made the play that led to the man advantage.

Remember to vote both here and at The Back Post and post your questions in the comments section.

No Goal of the Week Nominee

Anyone that was watching the KC game against Seattle this past weekend and saw Davy Arnaud's blast that won the game knew it'd be a challenger for goal of the week this week. Unfortunately due to some issue with the highlights, likely the same issue that affected the Match Center, the goal is not up for goal of the week this week. The highlights, though, are now up on MLSnet and if you want to watch the goal again, you can so here.

Easter Sunday After Stats

Happy Easter everyone, here are you Sunday after stats.

Davy Arnaud's goal was his 44th in all competitions, moving him into sole possession of second place on the all time list, past Chris Klein.

Arnaud's goal was the Wizards first against the Seattle Sounders, and the first the Sounders have allowed in their young history.

Kevin Hartman played in his 307th MLS game, breaking a tie with former teammate, Cobi Jones for third on the all time list.

1-0 to the KC Wiz

I didn't give KC much chance going into last night's game in Seattle against the expansion Sounders, I just thought that Seattle on paper was too good. Seattle was good, but some mistakes by them allowed KC to take advantage and get a 1-0 away win against the previously undefeated and unscored on Sounders. From the start of the game, the Wizards surprisingly had the better of possession and were able to control the tempo of the game. KC didn't really test Kasey Keller that much in net, but they looked threatening. The best early chance fell to Claudio Lopez, who got in behind the Sounders defense but his shot was right at Keller.

The game took a big turn in the 29th minute. Herculez Gomez was sprung behind Seattle's defense. Keller came off his line to challenge Gomez. Keller slide on the turf like you see a keeper slide out in the box to stop a shot. The one problem was that Keller was not in the box. Gomez tried to chip Keller, but Keller blocked the chip with his hands. There little that Abby Okulaja could do about the call, giving Keller a straight red. Into the game came Ben Dragavon, technically the Sounders third string keeper. KC was unable to really truly test the inexperienced Dragavon through the rest of the first half.

In the second half, Sounders coach Sigi Schmid was able to get his players playing better with a man disadvantage. For long stretches of the second half KC was out played and at times looked like they were the man down instead of Seattle. Seattle pushed and had some good chances, with Matt Besler clearing a goal bound shot away after a crazy sequence. Kevin Hartman also played his part, controlling his box and anything in the air that came near him. As the half wore on, KC started to control the game a bit more and finally truly tested Dragavon. In the 80th minute, though, Dragavon could do little to stop Davy Arnaud's shot. Arnaud from about 28 yards out let fly with another rocket that Dragavon got a hand to, but it bounced into the net giving KC a 1-0 win. After the goal, KC defended well to hold the lead and became the first team to take points off of Seattle.

Wizards Man of the Match - Kevin Hartman - It was a tough choice for me between Hartman and Arnaud, but I'm going with Hartman. He was strong and controlling in his box, claimed or punched every ball he came to get. A strong performance from the KC number 1.

Player Ratings - Hartman 8, Watson 6, Conrad 7, Hohlbein 6, Besler 7, Jewsbury 6, Gomez 6, Hirsig 6, Wolff 4, Lopez 6, Arnaud 8 SUBS: Kraus 5, Harrington 6, Espinoza NR

Weekly Player Interview

Thad over at The Back Post has the interview with this week's poll winner, Aaron Hohlbein. It's a good interview where Hohlbein talks about the goal, the San Jose, the Seattle game, and if there's any pressure from Matt Besler for the starting spot. Speaking of Besler, who finished second in this past week's poll, Thad was also able to get an interview with him this past week. Besler talks about his first start and playing Seattle. Finally, third place finisher this week, Lance Watson was also interviewed by Thad this past week at practice. Watson talks about having played every spot on the field basically as well as the game and atmosphere awaiting the team up in Seattle this past week.

To the Emerald City

Kansas City continues their season this weekend in Seattle, where they take on the surprisingly impressive Seattle Sounders. The expansion side is 3-0 on the young season having scored 7 goals and allowed 0 in those three games. Their offense has looked powerful and their defense has looked surprisingly good in front of Kasey Keller in goal. KC comes into the game 1-2 after getting a 2-0 win at home last Sunday in extreme conditions against San Jose. Seattle meanwhile went on the road for the first time to Toronto to take on TFC and came away 2-0 winners without Fredy Montero in the lineup, as he stayed in Seattle "sick". He should be back in the lineup on Saturday night with the team back in the US.

If Coach Onalfo has shown one thing over his 2 plus years in KC now is that if a lineup wins him a game, chances are he's going to stick with it barring injury. That would be the assumption heading into Seattle this weekend, that we'll see the same starting 11 come out for the game tomorrow as we saw start the game on Sunday against San Jose.

Hartman
Watson - Conrad - Hohlbein - Besler
Jewsbury
Gomez - Hirsig - Wolff
Arnaud - Lopez

PREDICTION - Honestly, I think Seattle is just too good for the Wizards right now. I'm trying to find something positive to shine the light on before this game to try and figure out how KC could get points out of this game, but right now there doesn't look like much. Seattle's offense is much better than San Jose's and will give the back line much more to deal with than what they did last week. Our wing backs will have their hands full with the likes of Le Toux, Zakuani, and Nyassi, while Conrad and Hohlbein will be occupied with Jaqua and Montero. Jewsbury's job will likely be to mark Ljungberg, which will be a handful. The intriguing match up will be Hirsig vs. Alonso. Either way, the Wizards offense, particularly the forwards have lacked in the scoring department this season and will need to come alive to beat Keller.

KC - 0
Seattle - 2 (Montero, Le Toux)

Watch Party this Weekend

I don't normally post about watch parties, but since there's been no official announcement from the team on a location for watch parties this year, and not everyone reads bigsoccer, I wanted to tell you about the watch party this weekend at Coach's at 103rd and Wornall, just off of I-435. Coach's is working with the Hillcrest Syndicate and the American Outlaws KC chapter to give Wizards' fans a place to get together this weekend to watch the game. As for specials, Boulevard Wheat and Pale Ale pints will be $2.75. The game is at 9:30 pm, but feel free to come out early. Down the Byline will be there enjoying the game Saturday night. Look forward to seeing you there.

Demolition Pictures this Week

I know it's early this week with my demolition pictures, but it's with good reason. Thad and I were able to go inside Bannister Mall on Thursday to see the remains of what hasn't been cleared out just yet from the mall. And honestly, there isn't much left. Dillard's has been cleared out and there's now few huge holes in the south wall for the crew to get materials out. Part of the roof is also off of Dillard's. Inside the mall section, just outside Dillard's is where the part of the mall recognizable by people still ends. The area where Santa and the Easter Bunny used to sit, for those old enough to remember that is currently still there. Enjoy some of the pictures from inside the mall as well as outside here.

Juniors Join US Developmental Academy Program

The KC Wizards Juniors and the Houston Dynamo have become the 9th and 10th MLS teams to join the US Developmental Academy Program. The Juniors, Dynamo, and 3 other teams bringing the program up to 79 teams. The 5 programs were chosen from a group of 250 applicants based on their potential to generate future national team players based on their geographic location, history of player production, coaching staff and administrative capabilities. For a young program like the Juniors this is a huge step for them and fantastic news for them as they continue to grow. This will only help the Juniors program grow and hopefully help them to start producing some high quality players that will eventually join the Wizards first team.

Former Wizards Update

Lots of Wizards to keep up to date on now with most of the Scandinavian leagues playing again, along with the rest of Europe and MLS. Next week with USL-1 returning will be even more players.

MLS
Nick Garcia - San Jose Earthquakes - Started and played 90 minutes in San Jose's 2-0 loss to the Earthquakes.
Taylor Graham - Seattle Sounders FC - Did not appear for Seattle due to injury.
Will Hesmer - Columbus Crew - Started and played all 90 minutes in goal for the Crew in both their 4-1 loss to Real Salt Lake and their 2-1 loss to Chivas USA this past week.
Chris Klein - LA Galaxy - Started and played 90 minutes Saturday in the Galaxy's 3-2 loss to Colorado. Came off the bench on Tuesday in the 61st minute in LA's 0-0(2-4) loss to Colorado in their US Open Cup Qualifying match.
Yura Movsisyan - Real Salt Lake - Started and played 90 minutes recording an assist in RSL's 4-1 win over Columbus last Thursday.
Brandon Prideaux - Chicago Fire - Came off the bench at half time in Chicago's 1-0 win over New York.
Carey Talley - Chivas USA - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 2-1 win over Columbus, picking up a yellow card.
Shavar Thomas - Chivas USA - Started and played 90 in Chivas' 2-1 win over Columbus.
Dave van den Bergh - FC Dallas - Started and played 90 minutes getting an assist in Dallas' 2-1 loss to New England.
Sasha Victorine - Chivas USA - Missed Chivas' 2-1 win over Columbus due to injury.
Tyson Wahl - Seattle Sounders FC - Wahl was on the game day roster but did not play in the Sounders game against Toronto.

Indoor
Stephen Armstrong - Chicago Storm - XSL - The Storm finished their season with 2 straight losses 14-12 to Detroit and 20-5 to Milwaukee. Armstrong did have an assist in the game against Detroit.

International
Eloy Colombano - Club Atlético Atlanta - Argentina - Atlanta lost 2-1 to Temperley.
Will John - MŠK Žilina - Slovakia - Did not appear in Žilina's 1-0 win over MFK Ružomberok. Although according to his wikipedia page Žilina did not uphold John's contract and he is now trying to get out of the contract.
Eddie Johnson - Cardiff City - England - Came off the bench and played 1 minute in Cardiff's 2-2 draw with Swansea City. Came on in the 65th minute today in Cardiff's 4-1 win over Derby County, scoring Cardiff's 4th goal of the game. Here's the goal.

Carlos Marinelli - Millonarios - Colombia - Started and played 56 minutes in Millonarios' 1-0 win over Deportivo Cali.
Ryan Raybould - Gefle IF FF - Sweden - Did not dress in Gefle's 1-1 draw with Kalmar FF.
Scott Sealy - Maccabi Tel Aviv - Israel - Came off the bench and played 21 minutes in Tel Aviv's 3-2 win over Ironi Kiryat Shmona.
Khari Stephenson - Aalesunds FK - Norway - Did not play in Aalesunds' 3-1 win over Lillestrøm.
Matt Taylor - TUS Koblenz - Germany - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Koblenz's 2-0 loss to Nurnberg.
Ivan Trujillo - Deportes Quindío - Colombia - Did not play in Quindío's 2-0 win over Boyacá Chicó FC.

Local and Regional Sites Contacted by USSF about World Cup bid

Arrowhead Stadium and other stadium sites around the Kansas City region have been named on the short list of 70 sites that were contacted by the US Soccer Federation about the USA's upcoming bids for the 2018 and the 2022 World Cup. Included with Arrowhead was Faurot Field in Columbia, MO, the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, IA, and Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. The letter that each of the sites received outlines the USA's bid along with the criteria for venue selection. Arrowhead was on the short list back in 1994 to try and host some of the games, but that did not happen. Sadly I don't see any of the 5 sites I named above being selected to host a World Cup game should the US get the bid. All the stadiums would need changes made to increase the field size so that a FIFA sized field could fit in the stadium. If I remember correctly, back in 1994, they were going to bring in a platform at Arrowhead that would actually have covered a few rows of seats to make the field wide enough for the World Cup. I don't see them doing that this time. Officials for the cities and venues have until April 17th to respond to the USSF with their interest.

Player of the Week Interview

The Wizards have their first win of the season, and it's time for the first post win interview with a player. Remember that you can vote both here and on The Back Post for who you'd like to see interviewed. Here are your choices:

Aaron Hohlbein - First MLS goal turns out to be the game winner.
Matt Besler - Second appearance, first start in MLS.
Lance Watson - Second start in a row, a solid performance on dealing with Darren Huckerby.

Get your vote in and also remember to post your questions for who you vote for in the comments section.

Reserves Win

The Swope Park Rangers defeated UMKC today out at the Swope Park training complex 2-0 this afternoon. Unlike the Creighton game earlier this season, the reserves dominated play the entire game, giving UMKC very few chances to work with. KC took the lead early in the first half, when Abe Thompson played a great ball through the middle that Michael Kraus ran onto. Kraus sloted the ball low to the far post to give KC the lead. Soon after that KC had the chance to double the lead. Abe Thompson went up to meet a Jonathan Leathers cross, but was fouled in the box. Thompson stepped up for the PK, but did not get enough power behind it, and the keeper made the save. Here's how the team lined up for the first half.

Pardo
Leathers - Josh White - McKenzie - Marquess
Morsink
Pizarro - Souter - Espinoza
Thompson Kraus

In the second half, KC continued to push but didn't get a whole lot of very good chances. Still when they did get them, the UMKC defense and goalkeeper was able to match them. KC made two subs about a quarter of the way through the half, bringing on 2 guest players for White and Souter. After the sub, the Rangers switched to a 3-4-3.

Pardo
Leathers - McKenzie - Marquess
Morsink
Pizarro - Guest player 1 - Espinoza
Guest player 2 - Thompson - Kraus

Finally, Austin Williams subbed in for Thompson in around the 80th minute. KC finally got their second goal on a nice little play. A long ball over the top was played into Kraus. Kraus chested the ball down into the path of Kurt Morsink who collected, took a few touches and slotted the ball past the keeper. Soon after that, the team almost had a third as Kraus had a ball cleared off the line. Nelson Pizarro played the rebound back into the box from the wing. The ball floated into the goal, but Kraus was judged to have fouled the keeper as they both went up for the ball.

The game overall was a little rough, with multiple yellow cards being given out to both teams over the course of the game.

Lopez Up for Goal of the Week

Claudio Lopez's goal from yesterday's 2-0 win over San Jose is up for Goal of the Week this week. The goal itself is nothing too flashy, but is set up by a fantastic cross field ball by Herculez Gomez.

Sunday of Stats

It's still barely Sunday, but here are your stats from today's game.

Claudio Lopez scored the Wizards 50th goal against San Jose in league play.

Today was Jack Jewsbury's 100th MLS start

Davy Arnaud's assist today was his 29th in MLS playing, moving him past Mo Johnston on the all time assists chart for the Wizards.

Kevin Hartman made his 306th MLS appearance, tying him with Cobi Jones for 3rd all time.

Cold, Windy, Wet, and a Win

It was a cold, wet, windy, miserable day out at Community America Ballpark today as the Wizards took on the San Jose Earthquakes. Rain and snow along with 40 mph winds made for a difficult game on the field for both teams as well as in the stands. The Wizards came out the quickest of the two teams and seemed to be the quicker to adjust to the elements as well. KC had the majority of possession to start the game and had a few chances early to take the lead. The best of those chances was when Josh Wolff put a low shot just wide of the net. In the 28th minute, though, Kansas City had their first lead of the season. Claudio Lopez played in a long corner that was controlled by Davy Arnaud. Arnaud controlled the ball and then shot. Joe Cannon made the original save, but was immediately forced to make another save. This time the ball fell to Aaron Hohlbein who had an open net to put the ball into for his first MLS goal.

Kansas City continued to dominate after the goal, but could not find the second goal in the first half. The domination by the Wizards continued in the second half as well, as San Jose was completely shut down in the offensive half of the field. Outside backs Matt Besler and Lance Watson did a good job of shutting down the Earthquakes attacks through Darren Huckerby and Arturo Alvarez. It took until the 78th minute, but Kansas City finally got their deserved second goal through Lopez. Herculez Gomez plalyed a long over the top from the right side of the field to the left, where Lopez ran onto it. Lopez took a few touches and then buried the shot low to Cannon's far post. San Jose put up a little more threat after the second goal, but not enough to really trouble the Wizards.

Wizards Man of the Match - Santiago Hirsig - Nothing really stat wise for Hirsig, but his ability to conrol the midfield played a huge part for Kansas City today. He's a calming influence and is able to put his foot on the ball and pick a player out.

Player Ratings - Hartman 6, Watson 6, Conrad 6, Hohlbein 6, Besler 5, Gomez 6, Jewsbury 5, Hirsig 7, Wolff 5, Lopez 5, Arnaud 6. Subs Kraus NR, Espinoza NR

Back at Home, 0-2

The Wizards are back at home tomorrow for against the San Jose Earthquakes. And with an 0-2 start the Wizards really need to get some kind of result tomorrow, especially with road games against Seattle and Chicago coming up. San Jose is coming in on the backs of a 3-2 win over Houston last week at home. This will be the team's first road test of the season.

The Wizards are still struggling with injuries, and while Davy Arnaud has returned to training, Michael Harrington and Graham Zusi both missed some practices this week due to injuries. The list of players that will be missing this game due to injury could be as many as 5 players that are regularly on the Wizards 18 man game day roster. It's a horribly early season injury crisis for the Wizards. It would appear that both Josh Wolff and Arnaud could be back though. From being out at practice a few days this week, I think the lineup will be looking like this come Sunday.

Hartman
Watson - Conrad - Hohlbein - Besler
Jewsbury
Gomez - Hirsig - Wolff
Arnaud - Lopez

PREDICTION - This game has me worried, with not just the injuries, but with the lineup that we'll be putting out. San Jose's wingers, Darren Huckerby and Arturo Alvarez will be going up against Lance Watson and rookie Matt Besler. It's going to be a major challenge for Watson and Besler to contain them, especially with Jimmy Conrad likely having his hands full with Cam Weaver in the middle of the field. The good news is that it would appear that Santiago Hirsig will get the start, his play the first two games has been one of the bright spots. Hopefully KC can get all 3 points, but the injury issues are a major concern.

KC - 2 (Lopez, Gomez)
SJ - 2 (Huckerby, Weaver)

April Demolition

Demolition continues at the old Bannister Mall site. Not much external progress has been made this week, but you can definitely see the work being done. Another entrance to the mall is gone, as the middle mall entrance on the east side of the mall is now gone. They are also setting up on the south side of Dillard's for the little ceremony tomorrow where people can take picture of the slabs of concrete where their kids had put their hands years ago. The full album for this week is here.

Weekly Press Conference

Today the Wizards held their weekly press conference out at the Swope Park training facility in preparation for Sunday's game against the San Jose Earthquakes. Along with Coach Onalfo this week was Wizards goalkeeper and multiple MLS record holder, Kevin Hartman. Onalfo spent some time talking about the injury issues that the team has been struggling with. The good news, is that Davy Arnaud is back practicing with the team after missing last week. Onalfo said the fact that Arnaud missed last week's game was a surprise to him. Today at practice he was practicing with the first team which is a good sign going into Sunday that Arnaud could be back on the field, as he was sorely missed in Colorado.

The bad news coming out of the press conference today was the fact that Michael Harrington and Graham Zusi did not practice today and it appears likely that neither will be able to play in the game on Sunday. The midfield should survive without Zusi, because along with the returning Arnaud you also have Santiago Hirsig who looks set to get his first start. The defensive slot left by Harrington could be more worrying. It would appear that rookie Matt Besler will also get his first MLS start, filling in for Harrington. It will be interesting to see how the team plays on Sunday as the injuries continue to be an issue.

Injury Issues for KC

It's early in the season, but already Kansas City is suffering through some major injury issues on their team. Before the season even really got started, the Wizards were already missing 3 players that were expected to be on the opening day 18 man roster. Eric Kronberg, Chance Myers, and Adam Cristman all missed the start of the season due to surgery of some kind. Kevin Souter also has had some injury issues as he's missed the Wizards first two games due to a adductor strain. That right there is 8 games missed by players that were expected to battle for playing time and be on the game day roster. Then this past week in Colorado the Wizards were without Josh Wolff due to a hamstring issue for a total of 9 games missed. If you want you could also factor in Davy Arnaud, who while he was on the bench for the game against Colorado it seemed unlikely that he was actually going to play in that game, then the total is up to 10 games missed by players due to injury.

Then you have practice this week. Today out at practice, Michael Harrington was not out practicing with the team, and he apparently left practice early yesterday. Today another player went down it would seem, as Graham Zusi left practice early today. Both of those two have started the Wizards first two games this season. Hopefully both will be able to go this weekend along with Arnaud. Because if not, KC could be in more trouble against San Jose.

Player of the Week Interview

Thad's interview with this week's winner of the player interview poll, Michael Kraus is now up on The Back Post. Kraus talks about the game in Colorado. He'd known that he was going to be going into the game before the game started. Kraus continues by talking about how much it means that his parents travel to every game he dresses, not just first team games, but reserve games as well, as well as his relationship with his family. He explains a bit about how he got to where he is now by working through the reserve league, to getting into the 18 man game day roster, to scoring in an MLS game. As well, he talks about this coming weekend and getting into the 18 again and trying to cause a mistake, or capitalize on one like he did in Colorado. He also gives a shoutout to his girlfriend Molly in the interview.

Overall a good interview, and the goal last week has certainly caused more people to learn about exactly who Michael Kraus is.

Gazing into the Crystal Ball

Entering the second week of the new "Gazing into the Crystal Ball" feature and I'm already on top. Last week I got 3 of the predictions right predicting the draw in the NY-NE and the Chicago-DC game, along with Seattle's win over Salt Lake. Meanwhile Robert Houghton correctly got the Seattle and Chivas win. Both of us missed our pick of the week, me choosing Columbus and Robert choosing KC. This week I'll continue to take on the leadership of the Hillcrest Syndicate as I take on the groups treasurer, Kevin Shook.

No funny picture this week, and there's a reason behind that, which will come later. Anyways, onto the predictions for this week.

Mike's picks
Columbus at Real Salt Lake - Home opener tonight for Salt Lake at home. Columbus has drawn their first two games this season. 1-1
Seattle at Toronto - Both teams are off to hot starts and this will be Seattle's first big test, as Toronto will have their full compliment of internationals for the game. Toronto 2-1
Houston at DC - DC is banged up a bit, but is still at home. 1-1
Dallas at New England - One team that's looked worse than KC has and that's Dallas. New England 2-1. (DTB pick of the week)
Colorado at LA - Colorado will look to continue from their win last week, while LA is coming off their conspiracy creating bye week. 1-0 LA
San Jose at KC - KC is 0-2 and is a real threat to be 0-5 if they don't get a result from this game. 2-2
New York at Chicago - Chicago finally get their home opener, while New York still hasn't looked great this season. Chicago 2-0
Columbus at Chivas - Chivas is surprisingly 2-0 this season, but haven't faced great competition, this will be their first real test. Columbus 3-1

And here are the picks by my opponent this week.
CLB @ RSL - Draw
SEA @ TOR - TOR
HOU @ DC - DC
*DAL @ NE - NE
COL @ LA - LA
SJ @ KC - KC
NY @ CHI - Draw
CLB @ CHV - CHV

No Qualifier for Espinoza

Roger Espinoza was again on the bench for Honduras tonight, as they took on Mexico in their 3rd World Cup Qualifier, and their first at home. Honduras topped the Mexicans 3-1 tonight, but Espinoza did not make it off the bench and into the game for the first time in a World Cup Qualifier. Espinoza will now return to the Wizards and will likely be available as a sub on Sunday against San Jose.

International Week Former Wizards

International week this week, most of the foreign leagues didn't play. MLS did play though so here's an update on former Wizards.

MLS
Nick Garcia - San Jose Earthquakes - Garcia started and played 90 minutes for San Jose in their 3-2 win over Houston
Taylor Graham - Seattle Sounders FC - Did not appear for Seattle due to injury.
Will Hesmer - Columbus Crew - Started and played all 90 minutes in goal for the Crew in their 1-1 draw with Toronto
Chris Klein - LA Galaxy - Klein and the Galaxy were off this week.
Yura Movsisyan - Real Salt Lake - Started and played 90 minutes in RSL's 2-0 loss to Seattle.
Brandon Prideaux - Chicago Fire - On the bench but did not play in Chicago's 1-1 draw with DC.
Carey Talley - Chivas USA - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 2-0 win over Dallas.
Shavar Thomas - Chivas USA - Started and played 90 in Chivas' 2-0 win over Dallas.
Dave van den Bergh - FC Dallas - Started and played 90 minutes in Dallas' 2-0 loss to Chivas USA.
Sasha Victorine - Chivas USA - Missed Chivas' 2-0 win over Dallas due to injury.
Tyson Wahl - Seattle Sounders FC - Wahl was on the game day roster but did not play in the Sounders game against RSL.

Indoor
Stephen Armstrong - Chicago Storm - XSL - The Storm did not play this past week.

International
Eloy Colombano - Club Atlético Atlanta - Argentina - Colombano was on the bench but didn't play in Atlanta's 3-1 win over Social Español.
Will John - MŠK Žilina - Slovakia - On international break.
Eddie Johnson - Cardiff City - England - On international break. Did not dress for the USA's 2-2 draw with El Salvador. Dressed but did not play in the USA's 3-0 win over Trinidad.
Carlos Marinelli - Millonarios - Colombia - On international break.
Scott Sealy - Maccabi Tel Aviv - Israel - On international break.
Khari Stephenson - Aalesunds FK - Norway - On international break.
Matt Taylor - Tus Koblenz - Germany - On international break.
Ivan Trujillo - Deportes Quindío - Colombia - On international break.

Updated Salaries

Back in the middle of March, the MLS players union updated the list of salaries that MLS players receive. Included in the list are all but one Wizards' player, Graham Zusi. Other than him, the entire Wizards roster is listed. There is one change from the last time I posted the salaries, and that is Michael Kraus who is actually a senior development player instead of a senior roster player, meaning his salary is $20,100 instead of $34,000 as it was originally listed. Three players were added to the salary list.

Added to the roster (first number is base, second is guaranteed):
Santiago Hirsig $75,000.00 $ 75,000.00
Rauwshan McKenzie $34,008.00 $34,008.00
Nelson Pizarro $15,300.00 $15,300.00

Getting Hirsig for $75,000 would appear to be a bit of a steal for a player who was regularly in the team for San Lorenzo down in Argentina. A little surprised that McKenzie is getting a senior roster spot this year, but maybe there's a plan for something in the future. Pizarro is the team's lowest paid player, he's also the only regular developmental player.

Swope Park Rangers in Action

The Swope Park Rangers, the Wizards reserves will be in action this coming Monday after the first team's game against San Jose on Sunday. The Rangers will be taking on UMKC, who starts their spring season 2 days earlier against University of Missouri at Rolla and Rockhurst. The game against UMKC will take place at 2:30 on Monday at the training facility.

Speaking of the reserves, another game that was announced a while back, is that the Rangers will take on Missouri State on Wednesday April, 29th.