8th Home Game Attendance

photo courtesy of Jarred Donalson

The Wizards had another sellout at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park tonight in their win over Real Salt Lake. That sellout tonight does a few things for Sporting KC's attendance this year. The first, is that KC could have an announced attendance of 0 for each game for the rest of the season and the first 8 games (average 8,400 if 0 the rest of the way) this year would out draw the average of the 1999 season of 8,183. The other thing that this sellout did, is it put the total attendance so far this season at 142,802, which is more than the 1998 season (137,189), 1999 season (130,924), and the 2001 season (142,402).

Here's the attendance for the 8th home game through the years. And take a look at the list for the last home game.

1996 - Arrowhead
17,921
Average - 13,919

1997 - Arrowhead
10,124
Average - 8,861

1998 - Arrowhead
5,304
Average - 7,633

1999 - Arrowhead
6,190
Average - 8,713

2000 - Arrowhead
5,675
Average - 9,545

2001 - Arrowhead
8,031
Average - 11,131

2002 - Arrowhead
19,641
Average - 12,312

2003 - Arrowhead
16,349
Average - 15,273

2004 - Arrowhead
26,223
Average - 16,654

2005 - Arrowhead
5,519
Average - 9,615

2006 - Arrowhead
21,936
Average - 12,043

2007 - Arrowhead
11,766
Average - 9,512

2008 - Community America Ballpark
10,385
Average - 9,596

2009 - Community America Ballpark
10,385
Average - 9,789

2010 - Community America Ballpark
10,288
Average - 10,005

2011 - LIVESTRONG Sporting Park
18,467
Average - 17,850

Some low points this week in the 98, 99, 00, and 05 seasons, with only one of those even cracking 6,000. Here are the rankings of the seasons currently with their movement from last week and the amount their average went up or down.

1. 2011 - 17,850 (-) (+432)
2. 2004 - 16,654 (-) (+1,367)
3. 2003 - 15,273 (-) (+154)
4. 1996 - 13,919 (-) (+572)
5. 2002 - 12,312 (+1) (1,047)
6. 2006 - 12,043 (+1) (1,414)
7. 2001 - 11,131 (-2) (-443)
8. 2010 - 10,005 (+2) (+41)
9. 2009 - 9,789 (+2) (+86)
10. 2005 - 9,615 (-2) (-585)
11. 2008 - 9,596 (+1) (+113)
12. 2000 - 9,545 (-3) (-553)
13. 2007 - 9,512 (-) (+322)
14. 1997 - 8,861 (+1) (+180)
15. 1999 - 8,713 (-1) (-361)
16. 1998 - 7,633 (-) (-333)

Some big drops this week with the 2005 and 2000 season all losing over 500 off their average from last week. The 2011 season's lead decreases, but that shouldn't be a problem in the end as they're still averaging over 1,000 more than the 2004 season at this point.

Year End Review of 2010 Wishes

The year is almost over and it's time to take one more look at my wishes for the year 2010. Here was my take on the wishes half way through the year.

1. The stadium starts to take shape. While I respect Gooch over at the Star, this was the story of the year for KC soccer. The win over United was great, but the fact that this stadium has gone from being approved in January to being the structure you see below. It's amazing that 506 days after dirt started moving at the site the team will take the field for the first time at their new stadium. It's great, a sign of the work the team has done, along with an economy that favored the team to getting work done quickly.

photo courtesy of Thad Bell

2. Qualify for the playoffs early. May be better to just skip this one, the team didn't even qualify for the playoffs this year.

3. Some silverware. Another wish unfulfilled.

4. SI's that contribute more. I think this wish was fulfilled pretty well. Jimmy Nielsen did well, although wasn't as strong the second half of the season. Stephane Auvray proved how valuable he was. Ryan Smith will continue to be a difficult player for opponents to deal with and shut down. Craig Rocastle had a very strong second half to the season being a composed, strong presence in the midfield for KC down the stretch.

5. Re-sign Kei Kamara. This got done during training camp and Kamara was named the team's MVP for the 2010 season.

6. Round of 16 appearance for the USA in the World Cup. The US loss to Ghana was disappointing but it was a great trip for the United States. Overall it was a great tournament for the US and the goal by Landon Donovan against Algeria has been one of the best sports moments of the year, and this video never gets old and still gives me goosebumps.



7. A home record of only 1 loss. Another one that didn't happen. KC finished 7-5-3 in their last season at Community America Ballpark, 24 of 45 points at home isn't good enough and is one of the areas that the team must improve in 2010.

8. At least 40 goals this season. KC only got 36 goals this season, but only 6 teams out of 16 even hit 40 goals this season so while the team not hitting 40 sucks, they were in very good company. And they at least weren't DC who hit an all time low for MLS with only 21 goals.

Update on 2010 Wishes

We're half way through the year, so it's time to give an update on my 2010 wishes that I posted back on New Year's Eve.

1. The stadium starts to take shape. Safe to say that this is a wish that is coming along nicely, roof trusses are on site, and the west side of the stadium has all the pre-made terraces in place for the seats to eventually go in. And it's always fun to go check out the webcam.

2. Qualify for the playoffs early. Yeah this isn't happening, the playoffs alone look close to impossible at this point of the season.

3. Some silverware. The only one the Wizards even had even a snowball's chance in hell of winning is MLS Cup by sneaking in as the 8 seed or something. They're already eliminated from the US Open Cup and the Supporters' Shield is well out of reach at this point.

4. SI's that contribute more. The Wizards have so far been able to get more out of their international players than they have the previous few years. Jimmy Nielsen has helped fans to forget about the fact that the team didn't re-sign Kevin Hartman. Stephane Auvray has been strong in the center of midfield, but has missed time due to injury. And Ryan Smith has been a consistent threat on the left, although less so as of late.

5. Re-sign Kei Kamara. This was taken care of shortly after training camp started. And if not for Kamara this team would be in worse shape than they already are. He's well on pace for a career year this year, hopefully he picks it up some more.

6. Round of 16 appearance in the World Cup for the US. I went conservative and the US pulled it off. Sure they struggled a bit, fell behind in all but one of their games and had problems with starting games on the back foot, but it was a good performance from the US and helped them to catch the eye (at least for a short time) of the regular sports fan. Yes the overall result did end up a little disappointing, but it was still fun to watch this team, and I don't think any US soccer fan will forget where they were or how they celebrated Landon Donovan's winner vs. Algeria.



7. A home record with at most 1 loss. Didn't happen. The team has lost 2 of their last 3 games at home, losing to the Columbus Crew and the New York Red Bulls.

8. At least 40 goals this season. This doesn't look likely to happen at all. Through 13 games, they are tied for the least goals in the league with 11. They're currently on pace to set a new team low for goals in a season, currently it's 33 set in 1999 and tied in 2001 and 2009.

So overall I thought my predictions were a little on the safe side, and at the half way point of the year, it looks like I'm right on 4 of the 8 at least at this time, we'll see how the end of the year shapes up.

2010 Wishes

We're about to ring in 2010 and the start of a new decade. With a new year about to start it's time to look at my wishes for another year.

1. The stadium starts to take shape - Forget this whole breaking ground stuff, I want to see the stadium actually start to take shape this year. I want to see the bowl start to come around, I want to see the stadium actually start to take shape. Because if it hasn't in the upcoming year I have a feeling we're going to be seeing the move KC crowd get VERY loud.

2. Qualify for the playoffs early - I'm tired of waiting until the last week or two of the season to see if we qualify for the playoffs. Let's qualify with a few more weeks to go please.

3. Some Silverware - Yes, again, I want silverware, every year I'll be asking for this.

4. SI's that contribute more - The contribution by this past year's new SI, Santiago Hirsig left something to be desired. He did decently enough, but his contribution was less than I think many people expected. Hopefully the two new signings Robb Heineman mentioned as well as the offensive players he alludes to will conntribute more to the cause this year.

5. Re-sign Kei Kamara - This one should be known pretty quickly. Kamara brings something to the Wizards that they've probably not ever had in a forward. A combination of size, speed, and strength Kamara will be an asset to the Wizards this season.

6. Round of 16 appearance for the US in the World Cup - I'm leaning on the side of caution on this one. I want to put a wish further in the World Cup, but getting out of the group is the first and biggest goal. While most US fans (including myself) want the US to advance further, a date potentially for revenge against Germany from the 02 World Cup or against Ghana for the 06 World Cup would be big for the US.

7. A home record with at most 1 loss - Going from a very conservative wish to a much more difficult one. The Wizards had a horrible home record last season, the worst in the league. The season before CAB was more of a fortress. The road record was adequate for a playoff team in MLS, but for the Wizards to be successful in 2010 the team needs to be much better at home than their 4-6-5 last season.

8. At least 40 goals this season - That's a 12 goal increase from last season. That's definitely a big increase, but having been tied for second worst in the league last year, the team needs drastic improvement. The team can't expect Josh Wolff to score 11 goals again next season. Kamara, Claudio Lopez, Davy Arnaud, Herculez Gomez, and any offensive signings need to contribute more to the team.

End of the Year Wishes Review

The year 2009 ends tonight so it's time to take a look back at my wishes for the year of 2009. For reference here are my original wishes and my mid-year review of them.

1. Ground breaking on the stadium - Well, Robb Heineman said it would happen by the end of the year, but with the late snow and everything, that looks extremely unlikely. But the Wizards seem to have a permanent location (although I thought the same about the Bannister site) and hopefully the paper work for the Legends site will be signed off early in 2010 and official ground breaking will be soon behind.

2. 10-15 goal scorer for the Wizards - This wish was actually fulfilled as Josh Wolff hit a career high with 11 goals. Unfortunately the other 23 players that appeared in league games for the Wizards this season only scored 20 (with 2 own goals). The Wizards finished the season tied for 13th in scoring. I was thinking at the time that with a 10-15 goal scorer it would mean KC would have over 40 goals.

3. US qualifies for World Cup 2010 - This one happened with one game to go thanks to a 3-2 win in Honduras. The draw for the World Cup was fairly kind to the US when looking at other groups. The US will be playing England, Algeria, and Slovenia in Group C. Definitely a group the US can qualify out of.

4. US does well at the Confederations Cup - (Reposting my comment from the mid-year review) If you'd have told me at the beginning of the year that the US would finish second at the tournament, I would have been ecstatic. And while I am very happy with the performance in the second half of the tournament, seeing how the US finished second is disappointing. Sure it was Brazil in the final, but up 2-0 you would hope the US could hold on. Still, though, a big win over Spain in the semifinals, and a nice win over Egypt are two good things to take from the competition.

5. Some Silverware - LOL, yeah that didn't happen, not even close.

6. Lopez has a 2009 season like the end of the 2008 season - Not a bad season for Lopez overall, he contributed on almost half of the Wizards 33 goals this past season (7 goals, 8 assists). Any other player and most fans would be very happy with that type of performance out of a player.

7. A blowout home win - Another one that wasn't even close to happening especially with KC's poor home form this past season. KC had a league worst, 4-6-5 at Community America Ballpark this past season. Probably the biggest thing that needs to improve heading into next season.

More Post Season Awards

The Wizards 2009 season on the field wasn't that great, but off the field, the team has had a good offseason. Jimmy Conrad brought home the Humanitarian of the Year, Chet North brought home Head Athletic Trainer of the Year, and now the Wizards grounds crew has been awarded the Field of the Year for the Wizards home field, Community America Ballpark. The award was voted on by a panel of 6 judges who judged the facilities based on 4 criteria; playability and appearance of the playing surfaces, innovative solutions, effective use of budget and the development and implementation of a comprehensive, sound agronomic program. Congratulations to Jay Griggs, Justin Bland and Michael Moyer, the Wizards grounds crew staff.

End of the Season Stats

Here are some more stats for you as the Wizards season is now over. Unfortunately most of them are depressing. You'll be seeing more stats this week as I get the information finalized.

KC scored 33 goals this season, tying the 99 and the 01 Wizards for the lowest scoring team in Wizards history.

KC was 4-6-5 at CAB this year, worst in the league. In contrast, KC was 4-7-4 on the road this year, 7th best in the league. If the Wizards had a more respectable home record, they would have made the playoffs this year.

KC was 6-0-1 when leading at the half, second best in the league.

KC also went undefeated when scoring first. KC was 8-0-4 when they scored first. In contrast, KC did not do well at coming back when down a goal. The Wizards were 0-13-3 when they allowed the first goal of the game.

Against the Eastern Conference, the Wizards were 4-6-4, 16 of a possible 42 points. Take away the 5 games against New England and New York, and the Wizards went 0-6-3.

The Wizards set a team record for red cards received in all competitions this season, as they received 9 red cards. The Wizards also had team records set for red cards given to opponents in leauge play(10) and in all competitions (12).

This year's rookie class (Matt Besler and Graham Zusi) was the smallest rookie class to actually see the field in a league play since 2005 when Scott Sealy and Ryan Pore were the only players to see the field.

First Kick 2010

For those that hadn't seen my twitter post earlier today (BTW, twitter is currently the best way to follow this blog in regards to breaking news on the Wizards during the work day), the Wizards season opener for 2010 has been released. KC once again opens the season at home, this time against DC again on March 27th at 7:30pm at CAB. The second time in three years at home, and the third time in four seasons against United. Due to the way the schedule comes out for KC, we actually know the team's second match of the season. On April 3rd, KC will travel to Houston to take on the Dynamo in their home opener at 7:30 pm.

Record at Home

The Wizards dropped two more points at home last Saturday night when they drew with the Galaxy 1-1. Compared to last year, the Wizards are struggling at home this year. The Wizards are 3-3-3 at home this season, earning them 1.33 points per game when they play at Community America through 9 games. Compared to the rest of the league at home, the Wizards are tied for the 3rd worst points per home game (PPHG) record so far this season, with Dallas and San Jose. Only New York (1 point per game at home) and surprisingly, Chicago (1.25 points per home game, but 5-1-4 on the road) have a worse record at home. Below is the current PPHG for each team along with their points and the number of home games they've played.

	points	Played	PPHG
New York	9	9	1
Chicago	10	8	1.25
SJ	12	9	1.33
Dallas	12	9	1.33
KC	12	9	1.33
LA	13	9	1.44
Toronto	18	11	1.64
RSL	18	9	2
Houston	18	9	2
Seattle	22	11	2
Colorado	18	9	2
New England	14	7	2
Chivas	19	9	2.11
DC	19	9	2.11
Columbus	22	10	2.2

Coach Onalfo has preached in weekly press conferences that he wants the team to average 2 points at home this season and 1 on the road. So far the team isn't even close to that total, and would actually need to win their remaining home games this season to average 2 points per home game this season.

The question is, why are the Wizards not doing as well this season as they did last year at CAB? There are probably a couple reasons. The first reason probably has to do with most teams now having played a game at CAB and knowing more of what to expect when they come to KC. The other issue has to do with how the team plays. From interviews that Thad and I have done with players they say that their style of play isn't really suited to the field dimensions at CAB.

My question in response to that, is why is the team not playing a style that is conducive to the place where you play most of your games? You would think that Onalfo would have created a game plan and style of play that would allow the Wizards to exploit their smaller field when playing teams that are used to a bigger field. The strategy worked well for the original San Jose Earthquakes when they played at Spartan Stadium. Sure, it's probably not as attractive a style of play, but it gets the results.

Stadium Opening Delays

Things are not looking good at the moment for the Wizards stadium at Hillcrest Road opening up in time for the 2011 season. According to the Kansas City Business Journal, it looks like chances are starting to get very slim for an opening in 2011. Due to the current state of the economy it's hard for the developers to sign any retail or office tenants for the project. This means that the Wizards could be spending a fourth season at Community America, or possibly find a new location, potentially Arrowhead since renovations would be done there.

The article also brings the ugly idea of relocation back to the forefront saying that the Wizards occasionally get offers from other cities trying to lure a team there. The problem with the statement in the article is that it doesn't come from a person working for OnGoal or the Wizards, but someone working for Lane4Property Group, which makes the statement very odd. The other thing in the article that is disturbing is the lack of comment by Robb Heineman who is usually more than willing to give a quote on the project. Hopefully this is just a small bump in the road, but it's certainly not good for the team that they could be spending a fourth season without a permanent home.

Time to Plan the Rest of My Year

Well the MLS schedule is out, which means that it's time to start planning out the rest of my year around the Wizards schedule. We already knew the first two games of the season, at home against Toronto on March 21st and at Colorado on the 28th. The Wizards will welcome both ESPN2 and FSC to Community America Ballpark for the first time. They'll host the Red Bulls Thursday April 23rd on ESPN2, the team's only appearance on ESPN this year. There are 3 FSC appearances, the Wizards will be on FSC on their visits to Chicago on April 18th and the Crew on May 9th. They'll host Chivas on May 23rd on FSC. Thankfully there is no 6 game road trip early in the season for the team to go through.

The Wizards only have 2 games in the month of June and 3 in July, likely to help schedule congestion with SuperLiga this year and the Confederations Cup and Gold Cup. The Wizards spend the last 2 months of the season alternating 2 away and 2 home games. And for the first time since the 2004 season, the Wizards end the season at home, as they'll take on DC United on October 24th at CAB. The team will take on the expansion Sounders up in Seattle on April 11th. And the return leg against the expansion side will be October 17th.

This year, the Wizards play each team home and away once, and then have 2 "rivalry" games. For the Wizards, those two rivals are New England and DC? Yes, that's right, the Wizards two rivals are apparently DC and New England. DC will visit KC twice, while the Wizards will visit New England twice this year. Not really sure on that, but since the Wizards don't have any real regional rival, the Wizards get the leftovers. Although I'm surprised by the fact that New England was not paired with TFC and New York, while DC didn't get New York and another team further East. Either way, the season is almost here.

Venue Capacity

The Wizards may have finished at the bottom on MLS in attendance this past year, but they finished atop all sports when it comes to venue capacity. The Sports Business Journal (subscription only to read the article unfortunately) has complied the attendance for all the teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and MLS and compared them to the size of the stadiums they play in. The Wizards topped that list with 106.9% capacity for each home game. Of course the Journal does not take into account the fact that the Wizards played one game at Arrowhead, which bumped their average attendance over the 10,385 capacity that CAB has for soccer. Still an interesting stat for you. Here's the full list of teams that had a capacity average of 100%, thanks to a poster on bigsoccer.

End of the Year Look at 2008 Wishes

2008 is almost over, which means I need to look back at my wishes for 2008.

1. Save Bannister Mall Petition Fails - As I said in my mid-year review, the petition failed early in 2008, and we haven't heard from Richard Tolbert since that failure. Now with everything secured, it looks like we won't have to worry about him at all.

2. Public Ground Breaking for the Wizards SSS in Early 08 - Well that didn't happen, wasn't even close. Looks like we won't have a ground breaking until some time this coming year due to all the monetary delays.

3. Eddie Johnson Stays in KC - Again as I said in the mid-year review, Johnson is gone, went to Fulham, and this season has been loaned out to Cardiff City, where he still hasn't scored, and is struggling to get off the bench. Johnson hasn't scored a league goal since his 93rd minute penalty kick goal against Columbus on September 15th of 2007.

4. More Consistent Goal Scoring - This one didn't happen either. The Wizards weren't able to get consistent goalscoring from anyone on the team. With Davy Arnaud being the team's top goalscorer with only 7 goals, this one has to go down as an unfulfilled wish.

5. Good Start to US Qualifying for South Africa 2010 - Well the US is into the Hex without much trouble. The US won their first 4 games of qualifying clinching their spot in the Hex with 2 games to play. Qualifying will start back up in February with the US taking on Mexico in Columbus, OH.

6. Some Silverware - The Saturn Cup and New Mexico Cup don't count, the Wizards ended the season without any silverware. They finished in the regular season 15 points behind Supporters' Shield winners, Columbus and were eliminated by them in the MLS Cup playoffs. The Wizards other chance for silverware was in the US Open Cup. They went out in the quarterfinals to Seattle Sounders.

7. A Friendly Against a Foreign Team for the Wizards - As I said I mid-year, I wasn't happy about the timing of it, but the Wizards did have their first home friendly since 1997 when they took on sister club Atlas.

8. Sell Outs at CAB - We had sell outs, but not the number I was hoping for or expecting. The Wizards sold out 5 games at CAB this year. Definitely not a great number. Hopefully next year the Wizards will do better in that regard.

Wizards Opening 2009 Season at Home

The Wizards will open the 2009 season the same way that they opened the 2008 season, at home. This time, the Wizards opponent will be Toronto FC. Today the league announced the home opener for all 15 teams. With that announcement, the Wizards have their opponents for the first two weeks of the regular season.

After opening at Community America Ballpark March 21st at 7:30, the Wizards will go on the road for their second game of the season, as they'll play in Colorado on Saturday March 28th against the Rapids with that kickoff set for 8:30. The schedule on Hillcrest Road for all teams only lists the home openers, so don't assume that because the Wizards aren't listed that they are off the weekend of April 4-5. They could still be off, or they could be playing at home again, or on the road against a team that's already had their home opener.

State Money Delays Delay Stadium

The Three Trails development at the old Bannister Mall site were approved yesterday, but the delay in the funding from the state of Missouri have now delayed the opening of the stadium. The original plan for the opening of Hillcrest Road was for the start of the 2010 season. Unfortunately, the delays have pushed back the beginning of construction, which have pushed back the opening of the stadium. According to the KC Business Journal, the completion of the stadium has been pushed back to 2011, meaning that the Wizards will be playing another year at Community America Ballpark, according to Robb Heineman. Overall, this shouldn't come as a surprise, since the development has been delayed for so long. Although, since it's been only about 6 months since the original plan for demolition to begin, one could guess that with decent weather, the Wizards could be opening up their new stadium half way through the 2010 MLS season. Either way, it looks like the Wizards will have two more years in their temporary stadium out at the Legends before getting into their own stadium.

2008 MLS Attendance

The 2008 season is over for the Wizards following their loss to Columbus on Saturday. With that done, it's now time to start looking at some of the end of season stats for the Wizards. The first stat this offseason to look at, is the Wizards attendance for the 2008 season compared to the rest of the league and to last season. First here is the average attendance for each team.

LA - 26,009
Toronto - 20,108
DC - 19,835
New England - 17,580
Chicago - 17,034
Houston - 16,939
Salt Lake - 16,179
New York - 15,928
Chivas - 15,114
Columbus - 14,622
San Jose - 13,713
Colorado - 13,659
Dallas - 13,024
KC - 10,686

The Wizards finish at the bottom of the league in attendance. Before shots to move KC come up, remember that the Wizards played 14 of their 15 games at Community America Ballpark, which has a capacity of 10,385. The sad part of it, though, is the fact that only 5 of the Wizards' regular season games at CAB this year were sellouts. The attendance was supported by 26,113 showing up at Arrowhead for the game against the LA Galaxy.

Kenn.com has a great breakdown of the average attendance compared to last year. Overall, attendance for MLS was down 1.9% compared to last year. A lot of that can fall on both KC and San Jose playing most of their games at small temporary stadiums (3 of San Jose's games were played at McAfee Coliseum home of the A's). The other big culprit for the drop in attendance was Dallas, which experienced a 14% drop in attendance from last year to this year. KC's 7.8% drop is down mainly due to their move to CAB.

Mid-Year Wishes Update

Back in December I wrote my yearly wishes for this coming year. Now that we are over halfway through the year, it's time to look at my wishes and see how they're coming.

1. Save Bannister Mall Petition Fails - Well that failed in January/early February. So that looks to be taken care of. We haven't heard from Richard Tolbert in a while, so it looks like that may be out of the way. With the governor signing the budget, there is only 1 step left for the stadium construction to begin.

2. Public Ground Breaking for the Wizards SSS in Early 08 - This one hasn't happened. It looks like they won't begin construction until August at the earliest. From looking at the situation in retrospect, this idea was almost impossible with the needing for the budget to be signed for it to go through.

3. Eddie Johnson Stays in KC - Left in January, and signed with Fulham. Bought out his contract and has played fairly sparingly for Fulham last season.

4. More Consistent Goal Scoring - This one is a no as well. The Wizards don't really have a consistent goal scorer so far this season. We have both Claudio Lopez and Jimmy Conrad leading the team in league goals with 3. Ivan Trujillo and Lopez have 4 goals in all competitions. More consistent goal scoring is going to be needed to compete this season.

5. Good Start to US Qualifying for South Africa 2010 - Beating Barbados 9-0 on aggregate is a good start, although the away leg was only 1-0. Things kick off again in August.

6. Some Silverware - Well the way the league has gone so far this season, the team likely isn't going to be getting the MLS Cup or Supporters Shield. After the game last night, the Wizards are into the US Open Cup Quarterfinals. That right now has to be the team's best bet for silverware.

7. A Friendly Against a Foreign Team for the Wizards - I'm not excited about the timing of the game, the day after a league game, and right after a stretch of 5 games in 13 days, but we have a friendly, against sister club, Atlas. I don't like the timing, it's going to be basically all reserves, and the reserves bench players for the most part in the game. But still, I probably can't complain since the team did bring Atlas in.

8. Sell Outs at CAB - Three sellouts in the six home games so far this season. Not a terrible stat for the Wizards. This is especially true with the fact that the three non sellouts were: a moved game time (for KU's Final Four appearance), a Wednesday night game, and a chilly Saturday evening game. Hopefully the majority of the remaining games for the Wizards will be sellouts.

The Cauldron in 2008

Supporters of the Wizards that stand in the Cauldron will be back in action in a few weeks cheering the boys in blue. With the season on the horizon, I got in contact with the President of the KC Cauldron, Robert Houghton. I got the chance to ask him a few questions about the section and what is planned for the section. I want to thank Robert for taking the time to answer these questions in preparation for the season.

With the season right around the corner, I wanted to get an update on what the Wizards "most fervent supporters" are doing in preparations for the 2008 season.

As many people know, the left field berm at CAB is being replaced by bleachers specifically for the Cauldron. This will present a great opportunity for visibility of the section as well as allowing us to maximize our impact on the game. We will have more drums in the section and are loking to possibly add some brass as well. There will be a new energy in the Cauldron this year as we build on our size and impact, while looking forward to moving into our permanent stadium for the 2010 season. This is a great time for people to get in on the greatest group of supporters in MLS.

Recently on Oz City there was a post about how to improve the section, one of the things talked about, was a name change. Do you think that the name of the section needs to be changed?

I don't feel that the section needs a name change from "The Cauldron", it fits well with the team, has a history to it, and can work even if the team were to change to something other than the Wizards at some point. Now, as for our specific supporter group within the Cauldron, I suspect that there will be an effort throughout the 2008 season to identify a name for our supporter group and make a push towards an even more organized supporter group within the Cauldron for the 2009 season.

What do you think of the name "The Cauldron" in regards to how it relates to the team name, the Wizards?

As I mentioned in my previous answer, I think the name works great for the supporter section. It does tie well to the current team name, but I also don't think it would be limited by the teams name should that change.

I noticed that the Cauldron has a new logo that is on their website. How did the leadership come about choosing the new logo for the section?

Initially, the idea of a Cauldron logo was floated out on Big Soccer to solicit input from all members of the Cauldron. Unfortunately, as things seemed to do more often than not, the discussion on Big Soccer quickly "turned south". So, after a few really good ideas had been posted, the Cauldron Leadership group took the final decision internal. We discussed the pros and cons of the various proposed logos, and after having some changes implemented on a couple of them, we decided on a final logo to represent the Cauldron.

I've noticed a thread on bigsoccer about working on making the website better. What are some things that you think the Cauldron website needs to do to be a better place for information about the section?

Stu Bentley, our Communications Officer, can speak to this better than I can, but we are looking to make a few changes. One change is to remove the "People" page. This was added back when we were a much smaller group, and since the Cauldron averaged over 300 people per game in 2007, we have outgrown that page. It will be replaced with a mutli-media page that will have phtos, videos, and pod casts that will revolve around the Cauldron and the Wizards. We are hoping to work with the Wizards Front Office in 2008 to produce more in-game videos of the Cauldron that will be housed on the Cauldron website. We are also working on improving the Chant section to have more of our chants with audio as well as text. We also hope to get many of the Sudakas chants added to the Chant page.

I know that the group has done flyers before to little or no effect. But the cups seemed to be a bigger, better hit. What kind of recruitment tools is the Cauldron thinking of using now to get more people interested in the section?

We will have a new Cauldron scarf this season, utilizing the new official Wizards colors. Having seen the new scarf, I can tell you that it looks fantastic and should sell quickly to people in and out of the Cauldron. We are also planning on rolling out other new Cauldron merchandise this season. Another thing you will see, now that we are out of Arrowhead, is more information distributed within the Cauldron on game-days. This will give a greater opportunity to reach all of the people in the Cauldron, as opposed to only the members on Big Soccer and on our Cauldron mailing list. The biggest thing we can do to aid in recuritment is to make the section a "destination". Make people want to come to the Cauldron, as it will be the place to be at Wizards games.

With the new location at CAB that is much closer to the field, what are some of the groups plans for visiting teams?

The goal we have for the next two seasons is to make the corner of the field the most hated area in MLS for visiting teams to venture into. If we can get the opposing players and/or opposing coaches thinking about or complaining about the Cauldron, then their minds are not on the game...and we will have done our jobs! We are working on new banners and signage for the section as well as more tifo's this season. Confetti and streamers will play a big part as well (think Toronto and Houston).

Any specific plans/ideas for growing the section this coming season?

We are planning on having two or three "Grow the Cauldron" nights this season. The idea behind this, is get people in the Cauldron so they can see how much fun it is, and they will want to become a permanent member of the Cauldron. We did this a couple times in 2007, and along with a few other changes, it really boosted the average attendance of the Cauldron throughout the season. Another boost for growing the section is the pre-game tailgate. It has become the largest tailgate in the parking lot and shows no sign of letting up.

Any other things that the Cauldron is working on for the upcoming season?

As with every season, we are actively working on creating new songs and chants for the 2008 season. With the smaller confines at CAB, we are hoping to get more of the non-Cauldron fans involved in the chants and songs. We will also be planning one or two Cauldron road trips for away games this season. Many Cauldron members feel that if someone new to the section attends a Cauldron road trip, they will be hooked on the Cauldron for life.

Anything else that you'd like to say?

Just that I look forward to having the best on and off the field experience in the history of the Wizards. Everyone, feel free to swing by the tailgate before any game and make sure to come to the Cauldron to "Stand. Sing. Cheer" with the "most fervent supporters" in Kansas City. And if you see me, say hello.

Thanks again for your time Robert.

2008 Wishes for the Wizards

After looking through how my wishes for 2007 went, it's time to make my wishes for the upcoming year in regards to the Wizards.

1. Save Bannister Mall Petition Fails - This is a great location for the stadium, but more then that, this is a part of Kansas City that needs to be redeveloped. It's a huge eyesore on Kansas City, and if this petition gets enough signatures, the plan for the area will basically be dead due to the time line that the Wizards have. If that happens, nothing of value is going to be in this area for another 10-15 years.

2. Public Ground Breaking for the Wizards SSS in Early 08 - I want to be there when the shovels hit the earth for the first time in the construction process. Leading to the Wizards opening up their new soccer specific stadium for the 2010 season.

3. Eddie Johnson Stays in KC - I'm torn on this one between club and country. Johnson needs to go abroad to become a better striker for the US National team, but he's proven that he can be a good goalscorer in this league. I know I'm in the minority of Wizards fans, but I'd rather have Johnson up top next season then a forward who has not proven himself in MLS and will take time to adjust to the league (Sergio Galvan Rey anyone?). I have a lot of doubt that we'd be able to find the next Luciano Emilio.

4. More Consistent Goal Scoring - Johnson's form was crap down the stretch, compared to Scott Sealy, who was in crap form to start the season. Whether Johnson is here next season or not, the Wizards need more consistency out of their strikers.

5. Good Start to US Qualifying for South Africa 2010 - The US will start their qualifying process for the 2010 World Cup in 08. The US shouldn't have much trouble this year in qualifying, but it'd be nice if they didn't leave much doubt in these early games.

6. Some Silverware - Last year I just asked for a return to the playoffs. This year I'm wanting more. I want to celebrate some silverware this coming year. It's been 4 years since the Wizards hoisted the Open Cup title, it's time to get some more trophies for the trophy case.

7. A Friendly Against a Foreign Team for the Wizards - I asked for it last year, and I'll continue to ask for it until a foreign team comes and plays in KC against the Wizards. Many European teams come over to the US in the summer for preseason training, show off that new training facility by having a team come and train there, and set up a friendly against them.

8. Sell Outs at CAB - With only 10,000 seats, and more time to get a friendlier schedule this season, I want to see the 12-14 sellouts at Community America next season.

What are your wishes for the next year for the Wizards?

Year End Wants and Wishes Review

Back in December, I posted my wants and wishes for 2007. Then in June I made a midyear review of those wants and wishes. Here we are in December again and I'm ready to go through these one last time to see how well my wants and wishes were fulfilled this year.

1. The Wizards Announce 2007-2008 home. - The Wizards played the 2007 season in Arrowhead due to delays in the renovations. The Wizards announced in early November, though, announced the team's home for the 2008 and 2009 season. The team will be playing at Community America Ballpark, home of the T-Bones.
2. Announcement of Plans to Build Wizards SSS. - It was late in the year, but the Wizards did announce plans for a SSS in Kansas City. All year rumors had swirled about the possibility of using the Bannister Mall site, which closed in May. The site passed the city council on December 13th, and is now awaiting state approval for the Super TIF. While there is still opposition, the team is still positive about the plan.
   
3. Return to the Playoffs for the Wizards. - A trip to the Western Conference finals is a good way to get back into the playoffs. While the team didn't seem to show up for the final game against Houston it was definitely a plus to get back to the playoffs. Next year let's get ourselves some hardware.
4. Return to form for Eddie Johnson. - I'd say that this came through pretty nicely. 15 goals, 6 assists, MLS Comeback Player of the Year, team MVP. A nice year for Johnson, even though he did fade a bit down the stretch unfortunately. If he's here next year I'd hope he can be more consistent.
5. Jamie Trecker Exposed for the Pompous Ass He is to the Entire World. - The Wizards are staying, Trecker was wrong, that's enough for me to prove he's a pompous ass.
6. US Men's National Team Gold Cup and Copa America Success. - This one was half right, the USMNT won the Gold Cup in dramatic fashion thanks to Benny Feilhaber. Unfortunately, the team didn't seem to show up for the Copa America, going 0-3 down in South America, only scoring 2 goals.
   
7. The Wizards Bring in an Attacking Midfielder. - At the midpoint of the season, it certainly seemed like Carlos Marinelli was the answer to this want. As the season wore on, it became apparent why Marinelli has been on so many different clubs. I'm willing to give him another season, and a full preseason this year to get worked in more with the team. But another performance like his second half of the season performance this season, and I think it will be time for KC to look elsewhere.
8. A Friendly Against a European Team for the Wizards. - The one want/wish that didn't come true at all, in any form this year. There were plenty of teams over here for preseason training, but the Wizards didn't play one of them. At the least I had hoped for a friendly against our new partners, Atlas.

I'll be back later this week with my Wants and Wishes for the year 2008, so stay tuned.