Follow Up on Chhetri and Rebranding

The past two days I've made some posts on the situation involving Sunil Chhetri and the Indian national team and Robb Heineman talking about potentially rebranding the team. Wanted to give a follow up to those posts tonight.

First on Chhetri. The article from the Telegraph that I based my article on talked about Chhetri not being incredibly happy in KC and really wanting to join the Indian team in Portugal for their Asian Cup preparations. The day after that article was posted, Gooch over at the Star got some more accurate information both from the Wizards and from Chhetri's agent (through the Wizards). Chhetri instead of being unhappy, is 'happy and settled' in KC. And while parts of the story about the Indian national team wanting Chhetri to join the camp in Portugal, the Wizards are willing to work with the national team and it's still possible that Chhetri will join the team. Chhetri's agent, Yogesh Joshee even questions where the reports out of India got their information. Kudos to Gooch and the Star for following up on the reports out of India and setting the news straight.

The other bit of news involing the Wizards is the potential rebranding of the Wizards when they open the new stadium. Thank to Jake Gutierrez, the segment from Between the Lines, featuring Heineman is now available for you to listen to on Sports Radio 810's website. First I'll focus on his talk about rebranding the team. Heineman said that the team is looking at next year as a "second chance to make a first impression" and part of that could see the Wizards rebrand. Heineman did say that the team will not be rebranding with a corporate name like Sprints, Garmins, etc. The team wants to work to show that they can be a regional brand and are looking into how they can relaunch in a way that can have regional appeal.

Heineman did confirm that the team will keep Kansas City in the name, ending some speculation that the team would go with just Kansas in the name due to the stadium being on the Kansas side of the state line. The potential name change didn't appear to sit too well with Kevin Kietzman, who thought the team should stick with the Wizards name, for many of the same reasons I did, specifically the titles the team has already won. And with the win over Manchester United, the name is out there even more. Not just that, but in the informal poll on the Star's website, keeping the Wizards name is currently running away with the poll.

Speaking of United, that was what much of the talk was about in the interview. The most interesting part of that in my opinion is that for the game, MUTV sold 18,000 more PPV subscriptions for the KC-United game than for the United-Philly game earlier in their trip. Much of that is owed to the news that Chhetri would be playing in the game. Both OnGoal and Hunt Sport's Group made decent money off the game this past Sunday.

The other big topic of discussion was the Wizards stadium out at the Legends. First, Heineman said that they hope to have the naming rights for the stadium set in the next 30 days or so. A good move for the team to get the naming rights signed on and to bring in that extra money that it will provide. The stadium is still planning to be opened in June of 2011, and Heineman said that after opening the New Arrowhead, OnGoal is currently working on the event that will open the Wizards new stadium. They are right now working on an event that will be a soccer event, but not a Wizards game. OnGoal and the Wizards are working to bring in the US national team to be the first event in the new stadium. This would be a huge first event for the stadium with the Gold Cup next year, Kansas City could get a full A side for the game as next year's Gold Cup is the qualifier for the 2013 Confederations Cup. All in all, a good interview from Heineman with some interesting news passed on.

Former Wizards Update

Another week of former Wizards updates, along with some other information. More leagues are starting up as Bolivia and Colombia are going again. Others are coming to an end as the PDL season is almost over. One other bit of news is that former Wizards player, Khari Stephenson could be on his way back to MLS as he's on trial with San Jose. Here's the rest of your former Wizards update.

MLS
Preston Burpo - New England - Out with injury
Adam Cristman - DC United - Did not have a league game this week.
Nick Garcia - Toronto - Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 1-1 draw with FC Dallas. Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 1-0 win over CD Motagua in the CONCACAF Champion's League.
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake - Did not dress in RSL's 1-1 draw with Chivas.
Taylor Graham - Seattle - Did not dress in Seattle's 2-1 win over Colorado. Started and played 90 minutes in Seattle's 1-0 win over Isidro Metepan in the CONCACAF Champion's League
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Started and played 90 minutes in Dallas' 1-1 draw with Toronto.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes, recording the shutout in Columbus' 3-0 win over Houston.
Chris Klein - LA - Did not dress in LA's 2-2 draw with San Jose. Did not dress in LA's 4-1 loss to Puerto Rico in the CONCACAF Champion's League.
Claudio Lopez - Colorado - Came off the bench and played 25 minutes in Colorado's 2-1 loss to Seattle.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Real Salt Lake - Dressed but did not play in RSL's 1-1 draw with Chivas.
Kurt Morsink - DC United - Did not have a league game this week.
Scott Sealy - San Jose - Came off the bench and played 23 minutes in San Jose's 2-2 draw with LA.
Carey Talley - DC United - Did not have a league game this week.
Tyson Wahl - Seattle - Dressed but did not play in Seattle's 2-1 win over Colorado. Dressed but did not play in Seattle's 1-0 win over Isidro Metapan in the CONCACAF Champion's League.
Alex Zotinca - Chivas USA - Did not dress in Chivas' 1-1 draw with RSL.

USSF Division 2
Doug DeMartin - Portland - Did not dress in Portland's 2-1 win over Vancouver. Came off the bench and played 8 minutes in Portland's 3-0 loss to St. Louis.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Started and played 90 minutes in Minnesota's 1-1 draw with Vancouver.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Came off the bench and played 23 minutes in Baltimore's 1-0 loss to St. Louis.
Neal Kitson - Rochester - Dressed but did not play in Rochester's 1-0 win over Tampa Bay. Started and played 90 minutes in Rochester's 3-1 loss to Puerto Rico. Started and played 90 minutes, recording the shutout in Rochester's 1-0 win over Carolina.
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Started and played 84 minutes in Carolina's 1-0 loss to Rochester.
Ryan Pore - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Portland's 2-1 win over Vancouver. Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 3-0 loss to St. Louis.
Abe Thompson - Miami - Started and played 78 minutes in Miami's 2-0 loss to Tampa Bay.
Lance Watson - Austin - Did not have a game this week.

USL-2
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Started and played 68 minutes in Charleston's 3-2 win over Harrisburg. Dressed but did not play in Charleston's 0-0 draw with Maryland.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 1-0 win over Pittsburgh.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Started and played 90 minutes in Pittsburgh's 2-1 win over Charlotte. Started and played 45 minutes in Pittsburgh's 1-0 loss to Richmond.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 1-0 win over Pittsburgh.
John Wilson - Charleston - Started and played 90 minutes in Charleston's 3-2 win over Harrisburg. Did not dress in Charleston's 0-0 draw with Maryland.

PDL
Byron Carmichael - Ocean City - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Ocean City's 2-1 loss to West Virginia.
Mauro Fuzetti - Michigan - Came off the bench and played 39 minutes, recording an assist in Michigan's 3-0 win over Indiana.
Sergei Raad - Central Florida - Started and played 70 minutes, scoring a goal in Central Florida's 7-2 loss to Mississippi. Started and played 69 minutes in Central Florida's 1-1 draw with New Orleans.
Michael Todd - Long Island - Did not dress in Long Island's 3-1 win over New Hampshire. Did not dress in Long Island's 5-1 loss to Portland.

International
Vicente Arze - Aurora - Came off the bench and played 20 minutes in Aurora's 4-2 loss to The Strongest.
Herculez Gomez - Pachuca - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 33 minutes in Pachuca's 3-0 win over Club America.
Chris Konopka - Waterford United - Ireland - Dressed but did not play in Waterford's 2-0 win over Longford Town.
Yura Movsisyan - Randers FC - Denmark - Started and played 66 minutes in Randers' 1-1 draw with Gorica in the UEFA Europa League qualifying. Started and played 86 minutes in Randers' 1-1 draw with OB.
Khari Stephenson - Aalesund - Norway - Did not dress in Aalesund's 1-0 win over Vålerenga, Stephenson is on trial with San Jose.
Ivan Trujillo - Deportes Quindío - Colombia - Did not play in Quindio's 2-0 loss to Deportes Tolima. Beat Deportivo Pereira tonight 3-1.

Wizards Looking to Rebrand with New Stadium?

I'd been waiting to write this as I did not hear the information myself and was hoping that Sports Radio 810 would get the segment podcasted for me to listen to, but they have not, so I'm going in a little blind here. So forgive me if I don't get the total context of the quote. Yesterday on Between the Lines, Robb Heineman was interviewed by host Kevin Keitzman about all things Wizards, including the Manchester United game and the team's new stadium. During the course of the discussion, Heineman mentioned that the team was "looking at rebranding".
I think most Wizards fans accepted that there would be at least one change to the team next season, and that would have been a re-done logo. The currently mostly word mark logo has been the team's primary logo since OnGoal's first full season in charge in 2007 and has been on the team's jersey since their new jerseys in 2008. Most people would consider the current logo an upgrade to the previous one that included a portion of a rainbow trailing a soccer ball.

Still a rebranding would seem to imply that the team will be doing more than replacing the logo. It seems like it would point to a name change and potentially a color change as well. Rumors of this change coming when the stadium opens have been running around for a while. One thought people had was that the team will change their colors more to match those of the scarf that was given to season ticket holders at the start of the season.
Other thoughts have thoughts have the name Wizards going out as well as the colors. There's been rumors posted in comments around the net saying that the Wizards will be changing to Sporting KC, or something similar to that. But in regards to that, I'm not finding any trademarks currently registered for Sporting Kansas City.

As for the rebranding, I'm against it. This team is the Wizards, has been since 1997. They've won an MLS Cup, appeared in another final, won a Supporters' Shield, and a US Open Cup all under the Wizards name. There's been a history that has developed with the name and with the supporters of the club. People can come out and say "well it's only 14 years" but all history needs to start somewhere and develop, my question is why throw that away, especially if it's for a Europoserish name like Sporting KC. That name does nothing for me except show a poor attempt to try and bring in fans of European league by giving the team a name that sounds like it's from Europe. These fans that they're trying to bring in were also the ones that complained about the jerseys originally, and the count up clock, and the shootout. Those went away, then they complained about the overtime, then it was the style of play and the time of year. These fans are always going to be coming up with excuses to support their European team over MLS, changing the name isn't going to bring them over.

I hope they don't rebrand the team, but I have a feeling they will be. Either way I'll continue to refer to them as the Wizards.

Conference Changes Coming, Wizards Switching Again?

Today, MLS commissioner, Don Garber, had a live chat with USA Today about MLS as a whole and what's coming in the future. He talked about capitalizing on the big World Cup crowds around the country and increasing attendance, along with the addition of designated players during the summer window. He also talked about the upcoming CONCACAF Champion's League games for LA, Toronto, and Seattle and the plan to bring in the 20th team some time around or after the 2013 season.

The thing he said that I'm going to focus on tonight is his talk about the way the league will look next season when both Portland and Vancouver enter the league. Obviously these two teams are going to be entering the Western Conference, giving them 10 teams while the East will have 8. Garber has said that 2 teams will move to the Eastern Conference next season. Two teams moving East though doesn't make complete sense, because that then puts 10 East and 8 West. So what is likely to happen is 2 to the East, one moving back West. The two teams moving to the East seem likely to be Dallas and Houston as the league will likely want to keep the Texas rivalry going. So who moves West to replace them? Most likely the Wizards one would guess. After Dallas and Houston, KC is the next furthest West and have a history in the Western Conference so it would seem likely that KC would be the ones that would move back to the West.

Again the Wizards would get the short end of the stick having to switch conferences. Garber has focused on creating regional rivalries, and that's one of the reasons why the league keeps conferences. But KC hasn't gotten that chance. They were in the Western Conference until the 2005 season when they were forced to move to the East to accommodate Salt Lake and Chivas. Now KC will likely see themselves moving back to the West losing, at least in part, the rivalries they'd started to create in the Eastern Conference. It's just frustrating to think that the Wizards will once again be switching conferences.

New Byline to Back Post

This week's From the Byline to the Back Post is up now for your listening pleasure on iTunes and Posterous. This week we talk about the Manchester United game and the upcoming Toronto game with side bars into other topics as always. Enjoy.

Nielsen an All Star

MLS today announced the final 7 MLS all stars who per the MLS collective bargaining agreement will receive their all star bonus but will not be dressing for the game against Manchester United tomorrow night down in Houston. While the Wizards have no one playing in the game, they did have someone named as one of the 7 inactive all stars. That was goalkeeper, Jimmy Nielsen, who led all MLS players in fan voting. Seattle had 3 players named to the inactive team, with Colorado, Columbus, and New York all adding one a piece. Two of those selections I wasn't that impressed with on this list, and that was Freddie Ljungberg and Robbie Rogers who both are having unimpressive seasons. Kei Kamara got snubbed from being named to the roster, and Michael Harrington certainly had a case as well. But congrats to Nielsen on being named to the "inactive" list. For Wizards fans it's the best of both worlds, Nielsen gets recognized, and they don't have to worry about him potentially getting injured in the game.

Chhetri Wants to Join National Team

This January the AFC Asian Cup is to be held in Qatar, and India will be competing in the tournament. The Indian national team is currently involved in a training game in Portugal to prepare for the tournament. Due to Sunil Chhetri playing with the Wizards, he is unable to attend. According to The Telegraph from India though, Chhetri wants to go join his country men in preparations. Siting unnamed sources, The Telegraph says that Chhetri is desperate to get to Portugal to join the rest of the team. He's also apparently upset with his lack of playing time for KC, which has consisted of only 45 minutes of competitive action for the Wizards. The Indian national team is willing to pay his salary while he's with the team, but will not be able to pay any compensation to the Wizards for him getting out of his contract midseason.

With the transfer window open, the Wizards could certainly look to replace Chhetri if they were willing to let him go and join the national team, but I'm not so sure the team is wanting to let him go. I keep hoping that he'll get the chance to get some first team minutes, if for nothing else to at least see a bit more of what he can do. The US Open Cup game was so soon after he arrived he hadn't fully adjusted to his team mates. And with the United game over the weekend, he was thrown into a situation where he wasn't going to impress unless he was brilliant as he was deployed as a lone striker on a team playing with 10 men.

700 New Season Tickets Sold

The Wizards started the first day after beating Manchester United with the phones ringing off the hook. Today was the day the Wizards started selling new season tickets for the 2011 season, the team's first in their new stadium that is set to open in June. By the end of the day today, the Wizards had sold over 700 new season tickets for next season. While that's nothing compared to what some of the expansion teams around the league are selling early in their ticketing process, for a team like the Wizards, who unfortunately alienated many fans over the first 15 years of their existence, this is another step in the right direction. Along with the larger devoted staff, stadium, and other amenities OnGoal has added, the Wizards are making huge moves to finally, fully, get themselves out of the hole the team was in after Lamar Hunt put the team up for sale in 2004. Now to continue the building by getting the team to compete and win more on the field, and get some hardware, because KC always seems to love a winner.

Friendly or Not, that was a Good Result

I'd talked previously about how today's game didn't mean much to either side, if the Wizards won it was because Manchester United wasn't playing with all their stars. If United won, it was because, well, they're Manchester United. That said, KC put on a very good performance today out at Arrowhead Stadium, as they took down the Premier League club 2-1. This despite playing 51 minutes a man down after Jimmy Conrad got sent off in the 39th minute for a foul on Dimitar Berbatov. KC came out as the more aggressive side, which was to be expected in a game like this. KC pushed the tempo early on, with Ryan Smith causing major problems for Rafael down the Wizards left and Teal Bunbury working well in the middle to be a physical forward. The Wizards early pressure paid off in the 11th minute, when Bunbury held the ball up well, played it to Kei Kamara, who picked out Davy Arnaud streaking through the middle of the field. Arnaud beat the offside trap (being held on by Rafael) and dribbled into the box. It appeared that Arnaud may have touched it a bit too far ahead of him, but he beat Ben Amos to the ball and tucked it into the far corner to give KC a surprising 1-0 lead.

KC continued to push the game and should have doubled their lead in the 22nd through Smith. Michael Harrington played a great ball into the box, where Smith had once again lost Rafael (a theme from the game if you can't tell). Smith though scuffed his shot and Amos was able to get down and make the save. There was also a very scary moment for Smith in the first half, as he went down with a non-contact injury to his knee. Watching the replay on the video screen (BTW for those people that attend games at CAB, how nice is it to actually be able to see replays on a video board again?) I thought for sure that Smith had torn his MCL or worse, his ACL. Smith was able to come back in though and continued to play.

In the 30th minute, United had their best chance to equalize up to that point, as Nani got the ball at midfield, was able to beat Shavar Thomas and dribble into the Wizards box. Jimmy Nielsen was quickly off his line though and was able to block Nani's chance. A minute later, Nielsen again made a nice save on Nani, this time off a free kick that Nani headed on towards goal. Nielsen got his finger tips to it and tipped it over the bar. United got their chance for the equalizer in the 41st, after Conrad brought down Berbatov in the box. Conrad didn't get the ball and it was absolutely a penalty, but the red card referee Terry Vaughn handed out seemed harsh, especially in a friendly match. Still, the call stood, and Berbatov, fooled Nielsen and slotted the ball to Nielsen's left as he went right.

Being a man down didn't seem to bother KC too much, as they came right back down the field and found the equalizer through Kamara. Smith played in a corner, and Kamara reached it first, heading it over Amos and onto the cross bar. The ball came down and hit just on the other side of the line. There will be questions of whether the whole ball crossed the line or not, but the goal was given, and KC was probably deservedly on top heading into the half time break.

At half time, KC only made one change, as Eric Kronberg got into the game. Kronberg was tested a lot more than Nielsen was in the first half, as United pressed forward and used the man advantage to their advantage. Kronberg denied Mame Biram Diouf a few times in the half for a few of his 5 saves. KC still got a few chances of their own, as Kamara set up a great opportunity for second half sub, Jack Jewsbury, after a great play down the win. Jewsbury's blast from just inside the box was well saved by Amos. The Wizards sat further and further back though and the chances continued to pile up for United. Wizards forward, Sunil Chhetri came on as a second half sub, but was largely ineffective due to the lone forward role he and the Wizards were playing at the time while a man down. United's chances fell to some of their younger strikers, on as subs. Danny Welbeck had a cross go right off him with an empty net, but over the goal. Then in the 81st, Welbeck played a fantastic ball with the outside of his foot that found Federico Macheda in the box, but his strong header was right at Kronberg and he was able to cover the rebound. KC was able to hold on, to the final whistle and take the friendly 2-1.

Again, this was only a friendly, but the Wizards played a very good game, even a man down. They took the game to United early and controlled the game for long portions in the midfield. And it's not like United's midfield was a totally watered down version, as it contained Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Darren Gibson, and Nani, all 4 have plenty of first team games under their belt. Even Nani was impressed with the way the Wizards played, saying “ It's difficult to compare them directly to Barcelona because they're one of the best teams in the world to play that kind of football, but they play very nice and quick and they passed the ball well like a quality Spanish club. Their style was good.”

Stephane Auvray had a fantastic game shutting down the passing lanes in the middle of the field. The only real faults I can find with the team today was once again the center of defense. Conrad for his red card, even if it was questionable, and Thomas who continues to get beat by pace. I lost track of how many times I saw him go down for a tackle and miss badly. I know a couple times they almost led to goals.

Wizards Man of the Match - Stephane Auvray - Auvray was the midfield engine for KC today, worked his butt off, and helped KC control the midfield against a very strong team. Auvray's good play was also seen by the hole he left when he subbed out for Graham Zusi, who didn't play bad, but him and Auvray just play two different midfield roles.

Honorable Mention - Kei Kamara, Eric Kronberg

Player Ratings - Nielsen 6, Harrington 6, Thomas 4, Conrad 4, Espinoza 6, Arnaud 7, Auvray 9, Rocastle 6, Kamara 8, Bunbury 7, Smith 8. Subs Besler 6, Kronberg 7, Aiyegbusi 5, Chhetri 5, Jewsbury 6, Zusi 5, Myers NR.

Quick Stat - There will be no Monday after stats tomorrow since there won't be a lot of stats to cover, but here's one. The announced attendance for tonight's game, 52,424, was not only the largest crowd in KC soccer history, but is also the largest attendance in Missouri soccer history, topping the mark set by the 2001 World Cup qualifier at Arrowhead against Costa Rica.

Apparently There's a Big Game Tomorrow

So apparently out at Arrowhead tomorrow there's this pretty big game going on involving the Wizards and some team from England that's apparently really popular, Manchester United. The team arrived in KC today. The game tomorrow in KC is going to be the biggest soccer game here at least since the 2001 World Cup qualifier between the US and Costa Rica, if not ever. I lean more towards the later, because while the qualifier back in 2001 had more importance to it, the game of soccer wasn't at the level it is at now in this country. Bringing Manchester United here is a big accomplishment for the Wizards and Kansas City as a whole. These are the types of teams that usually only play on the coasts and occasionally Chicago, so to get them into KC is a big deal. This is only the 5th club friendly involving a foreign team here in KC since MLS started. The first was back in 1996 when the Wizards played Veracruz at Arrowhead in September of 1997. The second was a game back in 2005 when the Columbus Crew played a friendly against Santos Laguna at Arrowhead Stadium as part of a double header with a Wizards league game. I was one of a couple hundred fans in the stands for that game. Then there was the game against sister club, Atlas in the Wizards first year at CAB. The fourth occurred last year, also at Arrowhead, when the Wizards, OnGoal, and SUM hosted a match up between Chivas Gualajara and Club America. This is easily the biggest one of the 5, and it certainly has the biggest club out of all those as well. Should make for a fun time at Arrowhead tomorrow.

With this being a friendly, I expect to see a lot of substitutions made by the Wizards and by Manchester United. Already we've heard that Sunil Chhetri will get time on the field, and I'm sure other reserves will get a run out as well. I expect close to a starting lineup to at least start the game against Manchester United tomorrow and the subs to start to come in at half time. It'll be a good chance for the Wizards stars to impress in front of one of the best clubs in the world. While for the reserves, it gives them a chance to impress and attempt to work their way into the lineup for league games. This will be the biggest "friendly" reserve game for the reserves that they've ever played in. Getting time for guys like Chhetri, Jamar Beasley, Santiago Hirsig, and others who don't regularly make the bench will get the chance to show what they can do.

With all the changes I'm expecting during the game tomorrow I'm not posting a prediction on the lineup, key match up, or prediction. Overall, I'm just looking to have a good time, enjoy seeing my two favorite clubs in the world play each other. I'll be in the Cauldron cheering for the Wizards in the group that will more than likely be the minority group of supporters in the stadium. But then again most of the United fans at the game tomorrow are likely the "plastic" kind that have never even been to Old Trafford. So I guess I can take solace in that point.

NBC Action News Broadcast

For those that missed tonight's NBC Action News broadcast at 10pm tonight, I was interviewed for what ended up being the lead story for the broadcast tonight, the Wizards-United game on Sunday and it's potential impact on KC and it's bid for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.

New Byline to Back Post

This week's From the Byline to the Back Post is now up for your listening pleasure. This week Thad and I discuss the All Star game, the Sal Zizzo lottery, the Nikos Kounenakis signing, the Omar Bravo rumors, and the games against Colorado and Manchester United. Available both via the iTunes store and Posterous. Enjoy.