New Contracts for Zavagnin and Savic, Dufty Promoted to Sporting Position

Sporting KC made further announcements about their game day coaching staff today in a press release. The team announced that assistant coaches, Kerry Zavagnin and Zoran Savic had signed new contracts with the club. At the same time, the club promoted Swope Park Rangers goalkeeping coach, Alec Dufty to the same position with Sporting KC, taking over the position vacated by John Pascarella as he leaves to take over the Des Moines Menace of the PDL.

Zavagnin continues his long running tenure with Sporting KC, having been with the club since 2000 when Sporting KC drafted him in the Superdraft (at the time the Superdraft included the ability to draft players who were in the US minor leagues as well). After a nine year playing career with KC, where he became the club's all-time leader in appearances, starts, and minutes played, Zavagnin jumped right into the coaching ranks, becoming an assistant under Curt Onalfo in 2009. He continued as an assistant under Peter Vermes after Onalfo was fired mid-way through the 1999 season. Zavagnin has been a part of all six of Sporting KC's trophies in their history, from the 2000 MLS Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup, to 2015's US Open Cup.

Savic is also a staple in the Kansas City soccer scene, having been a player and a coach for the Kansas City Comets indoor soccer team back in the 1980's and 1990's. After a stint as an assistant with Chivas USA under Preki and as an analyst on the Kansas City Wizard broadcasts, Savic joined Vermes' staff when he took over as head coach.

Dufty, the newest member of Sporting's staff joins from the Rangers, where he'd spent the 2016 working with Jon Kempin, Zac Lubin, and Adrian Zendejas as the Rangers made it all the way to the USL finals. Dufty had a career that saw him bounce in and out of MLS for a few years. He started his career in 2009 with the New York Red Bulls, making his one MLS appearance. He bounced around as a league goalkeeper before signing with AC St. Louis in the USSF D2 Pro League. That same season he was loaned to the Chicago Fire and signed with the Fire for the 2011 season. After his playing career, he spent time coaching in the college ranks before being named an assistant coach with Toronto FC 2 in 2015.

Sporting Legends 2016 Voting Open

Sporting Kansas City today opened fan voting for this year's Sporting Legend inductee, the team gave fans a list of four players to vote for beginning today and running through Monday the 27th. This year's inductee will be unveiled on August 20th at Sporting KC's game against the Vancouver Whitecaps. This year's nominees are Mo Johnston, Ron Newman, Josh Wolff and Kerry Zavagnin. Certainly a group of players that every Sporting KC fan should know, but for me there were really only two choices when it came time for me to vote. First let's look at what each player has brought to the club.

Mo Johnston

The former Scottish international came to Kansas City early in the 1996 season and proceeded to play six seasons with Kansas City before retiring after the 2001 season. When he retired he was the club's second all-time leading scorer in goals (32) and assists (31) for the club behind Preki. Now he is seventh for league goals and sixth for assists for Kansas City during his career. During his time in KC, Johnston played in 170 games (149 league games) and played over 14,000 minutes for the club. He also is well remembered for the blood he spilt helping lead Kansas City to their first MLS Cup final back in 2000. After winning game three of their series against the LA Galaxy, tying their series on four points apiece, KC and the Galaxy went into a mini-game. Just five minutes into the golden goal mini-game, Johnston challenged for a ball in the air, taking a boot to the face but knocking the ball to Miklos Molnar who scored to win and send KC through to MLS Cup.

Ron Newman

Sporting Kansas City's first coach, the indoor coaching legend had plenty of experience when he was named head coach of the KC Wiz and was already a National Soccer Hall of Famer. Newman with offensive options like Preki, Digital Takawira, and Mark Chung scored the third most goals in the league in 1996 and the second most in 1997. He twice led the Wiz(ards) to the playoffs in 1996 and 1997 advancing to the Western Conference finals in 1996 and eliminated in the semifinals in 1997. KC's offensive power dried up in his final full season with the club in 1998 as the Wizards finished bottom of the Western Conference, winning just two of their final 10 games as they missed the playoffs for the first time. Newman only lasted four games into the 1999 season before he was fired with the Wizards 0-4 on the season. Newman finished his career with a 50-50 record for KC (ties were not introduced in MLS until the 2000 season), which is now good for the third most wins in club history of KC's four full time coaches behind Bob Gansler and Peter Vermes.

Josh Wolff

Currently Sporting KC's second leading scorer in league play, tied with 43 with Davy Arnaud, Wolff spent two spells with Kansas City from 2003 to 2006 and 2008 to 2010. Wolff's time in KC among fans really seems to be judged on his final season with Kansas City in 2010 when Wolff scored just two goals in 26 appearances and played over 1500 minutes for the club. Wolff though was a successful striker for the club during what was a very lean time in terms of goal scoring; three times he led the clubs in goals scored, in 2004, 2005, and 2009. Up until recently he was also the player to win the most caps (38) for his country while a member of Kansas City. He's still the leading goal scorer in that category at this time with six goals scored for the US.

Kerry Zavagnin

Leads sporting Kansas City in most longevity categories, he's appeared in the most games in all competitions (281), started the most games in all competitions (291), started the most league games (228), second in league games played (237), first in minutes played in both league (20,515) and in all competitions (25,278). The defensive midfielder was never flashy on the field, he wasn't a destroyer type in the defensive midfield position, and he just stood players up and won the ball. It wasn't glamorous, but he did get some recognition with 21 caps for the US while a member of Kansas City. Zavagnin has stayed in KC since his retirement, immediately stepping into an assistant coaching role under Curt Onalfo and Peter Vermes.

For me the voting on this came down to two players, Johnston and Zavagnin. With Newman, while he did great things for soccer over his career his performance as head coach for Kansas City would best be described as mediocre with a .500 record, I don't think a .500 record for a coach is enough to get into a "hall of fame" no matter what he did in his career outside of Kansas City unfortunately. As for Wolff I think he could eventually make it, he has the goal scoring numbers to at least be considered for a spot, but his time in Kansas City was really hampered at times by injuries that will stick out in fans' minds.

Johnston and Zavagnin are both deserving players, Johnston for his heart on the field and his goal scoring in the early years of the club while Zavagnin's longevity combines with his strong ability in the middle of the field to be one of the better defensive midfielders in the league. Both players should definitely be Sporting Legends at some point, but my vote this time is going to go to Kansas City's current assistant coach, Kerry Zavagnin. Zavagnin's longevity with the club as a player showed his importance to the club in an important position. From being the stand-up midfielder next to the destroyer Matt McKeon in his early years with KC to taking a leadership role with the club and being a shutdown defensive midfielder for Kansas City, Zavagnin was a key part of the club for a long period of time and only now with Matt Besler does it look like some of Zavagnin's records with the club could be in jeopardy of falling. He's a very deserving Sporting Legend without taking into account his work as an assistant and being part of every Sporting KC team that has won any championship.

Sporting KC Best XI - Midfielders

The voting for the midfielders in Sporting KC's "Best XI" has finished up and with that done I'm taking a look at how I selected my team for the Best XI. The first thing I immediately noticed when going in to make my picks was the fact that after selecting three defenders, we were selecting five midfielders, setting up a Bob Gansler-esk 3-5-2 lineup for the Best XI team. With the five spots available, there were 14 players available for selection; Sporting Legends like Preki and Chris Klein were available for selection along with current players Roger Espinoza, Benny Feilhaber, Paulo Nagamura, and Graham Zusi. Also included in the list was the club's first draft pick, Matt McKeon and fellow MLS original, Mark Chung, and players from the middle of KC's history, the likes of Davy Arnaud, Chris Brown, Francisco Gomez, Jack Jewsbury,  Sasha Victorine, and Kerry Zavagnin. Certainly a difficult vote, but easier for me personally than the last one when it came to the defenders.

First, I'm not even going to attempt to beat around the bush here with the first player I selected, Preki, he is the best player to have ever played for this club, the only player to win the MLS MVP award twice in their career, the second time at 40, he absolutely is on the Best XI.. He's the team's all-time leader in goals (71 league, 81 all) and in assists (98 league, 104 all) appeared in over 200 games, starting over 200 in all competitions, falling just one short of that in league play (199). This whole discussion for the top five midfielders for the Best XI really should have just been done as Preki and the other four midfielders as arguments can be made for or against other candidates, but I don't see a logical way that you can argue against his inclusion in this team.

There were two other players that I immediately added to my list of five midfielders, Davy Arnaud and Chris Klein. The recently retired, future Sporting Legend and last year's inductee as a Legend, Arnaud and Klein are both no-brainers for me as a fan. Both are in the top 10 in terms of appearances (Arnaud 240, most in club history, Klein 200), and starts (Arnaud 213, Klein 183), they're also both top five in terms of goals (Arnaud 43, Klein 39) and assists (Arnaud 35, Klein 45). While the pair certainly isn’t Preki, the pair is ahead of the rest of the pack of players in the midfield and easy selections for spots two and three in the midfield.

That leaves us with just two spots left and another 11 players still available for selection. From here one thing I looked at to help narrow my list down was a player's longevity with the club. While players like Mark Chung, Paulo Nagamura, and Sasha Victorine have done a lot for the club, I don't think they've done it over a long enough period of time to give them one of the final two spots on the list. And while it may bother a few of the newer fans I feel that Feilhaber falls into that same category. While he has 18 league goals and 25 assists, he's played less than 100 games for KC (91) and started 84. For the last two spots I felt that there were players that have been at a higher level for longer than Feilhaber has.

One of the hardest parts of the midfield selection was giving some credit to those players who don't play an attacking midfield position. Players like Espinoza, McKeon, Nagamura, and Zavagnin never put up great offensive numbers when they played in Kansas City but that shouldn't keep them from being able to be selected to the Best XI in my opinion. At the same time I had to keep reminding myself that this wasn't a team that would actually take the field, so some lack of defensive help, or two to three players that mainly play the right wing is just fine when selecting your players (it's the same issue that I always used to have selecting my fantasy team, building a good well rounded team, but lacking because I tried to build a "team" and not one to just get points).

After eliminating Nagamura earlier due to his lack of longevity, I'm left with Espinoza, McKeon, and Zavagnin among defensive minded midfielders. While Espinoza has had the most success of the three at the national level and McKeon had a strong career for the Wizards, if I'm going with any defensive minded player in the midfield, it's going to be Zavagnin, second behind Arnaud in terms of appearances in league play with 237, but first in appearances in all competitions (291), starts (281), league starts (228), and is the team's leader minutes played in league (20,516) and all competitions (25,290).

While Zavagnin leads the way if I go with one defensive minded midfielder, I still have seven players left with Brown, Gomez, Jewsbury, and Zusi joining Espinoza, McKeon and Zavagnin. Of those seven I feel I can comfortably knock it down to five, because while Chris Brown and Francisco Gomez both played over 140 games across all competitions for Kansas City, when I think of a Best XI midfield for Kansas City, neither one of those players is even close to the discussion. Brown was a consistent performer, but the way that I think would relate him to many newer fans would be that he was Gansler's Jacob Peterson, he worked hard, it did all the things that were asked of him, and he did well in practice, in an earlier MLS without the skill players there are now that was enough to get you consistent starts. As for Gomez, he just never reached the expectations that were there when he was signed as a Project 40 player (the precursor to the Generation Adidas program). He'd been seen as an eventual replacement for Preki at the attacking midfield position, but never got close to that level.

With the remaining five, I just felt that I could cut the final three I needed to so I could get my five midfielders. While Jewsbury appeared almost 200 times in league play for KC, he struggled for a long time even finding a position on the field for KC. While he eventually slotted in mainly as a defensive midfield, Jewsbury spent time as a forward, wingback, and a winger for Gansler. He was a good player, but when KC brought in a better one for that position, he moved elsewhere on the field. He really fit the jack of all trades joke that people made. The last two I cut from my list were Espinoza and McKeon. I stated the reasons for considering Zavagnin above both of them above, but I'd also put Zusi above both of them. Zusi has been a strong performer for Kansas City, a top 20 goal scorer and already in the top five for assists in both league and all competitions for KC. He very likely won't ever catch Preki for number 1 on the list but should easily set himself as second on that list by the time he retires.

So with just the forward line to go, here is my Best XI for Sporting KC so far:

Klein - Arnaud - Preki - Zusi

Zavagnin

Besler - Conrad - Garcia 

Nielsen

Sporting Legends 2015 Voting is Up

Sporting KC today announced the nominees for the 2015 Sporting Legends class. The announcement reads like this year we may only get a single player added to the group of names on the wall outside the Victory Suite. If true, I think it's the best move for the Sporting Legends program as a whole. I understand the first class being big because it is the first year, but it really should just be a single entry each year. This allows the process to be extended longer instead of getting all the worthy candidates in early and then wondering if they'll elect someone who really doesn't deserve it, or wait years for the likes of Matt Besler and Graham Zusi to retire so they can be added to the wall.

This year there are four nominees in the class, Mo Johnston, Chris Klein, Ron Newman, and Kerry Zavagnin. Johnston, Klein, and Zavagnin were all up for election last year but missed out while Jimmy Conrad, Lamar Hunt, and Peter Vermes went into the club. Newman is up for the first time. I'll go ahead and make the case for each of the nominees.

Like last year with Vermes and Zavagnin, I can't vote for a player still currently with the team as part of the technical staff, so while Zavagnin is the all time leader in appearances in all competitions (291), starts in all competitions (281), starts in league play (228), tied for the most playoff appearances (23), played the most league minutes (20,516), and the most minutes in all competitions (25,290) I just can't feel like I can vote for Zavagnin at this time even though he really does deserve to be a Sporting Legend in the future.

That leaves us with three; Johnston, Klein, and Newman. Johnston joined the team early in the 1996 season and announced his arrival with a two goal performance in KC's 6-4 win over the Columbus Crew. Johnston's 31 league goals was good for second when he retired after the 2001 season, he's now sixth on that list for KC. His 32 in all competitions has him in seventh place overall. His 28 league assists and 32 in all competitions is good for fifth overall on both lists for KC. He finished his career with 12,600 league minutes and 14,182 in all competitions, both were team highs when he retired, since he's fallen to ninth and twelfth respectively. The same holds true for his appears where he finished with 149 league and 169 overall but has fallen to tenth and twelfth on both lists now.

Klein appeared in 235 games in all competitions for KC which was good for second all time for KC when he left the club. He's now fifth on that list. His 200 league appearances is good for sixth for KC. He's currently sixth in minutes played in league play (16,381) and in all competitions (19,437). His 39 league goals and 43 in all competitions are both good for fourth all time for Kansas City. His 45 assists in league play is good for second all time for KC while his 52 in all competitions was just recently knocked to third by Graham Zusi.

Newman was Kansas City's first coach, in fact on October 11th, 1995 he was named the first coach in MLS history when he was made coach of the KC Wiz. Over the course of three plus seasons with KC, Newman compiled a 50-50 record for KC, with no draws in the league's first four seasons, Newman picked up 14 shootout wins to go along with 36 regulation wins for KC. He set a club record for league wins in a season with 21 in the 1997 season when KC won the regular season Western Conference.

For me, my vote is going to Chris Klein. The current LA Galaxy president's longevity with KC is clear in the stats, but his goal scoring and assist totals are still impressive for Kansas City. While Johnston probably has the more iconic moment for KC of the two with his bloody face after the 2000 Western Conference finals, but I feel that this year Klein gets the nod for me.

The Case for Sporting Legends

Today Sporting KC announced five former players for the club who are up for election to become the second class of Sporting Legends, a hall of fame type program created to honor the greats that have played for KC throughout the years. Last year the club elected Preki, Tony Meola, and Bob Gansler to the first class. This year the player elected to become a Sporting Legend will be decided by fans in a vote on the team's website and social media. The top vote getter will be unveiled later this summer. So I figured I'd take a look at the five players up for selection and who should be selected.

First for me, I can't vote for people that are still a part of the club. So sorry to Peter Vermes and Kerry Zavagnin, but the two of them fall off the selection process for me. Both I think will end up becoming Sporting Legends eventually. I think the two will go in for different reasons though. For me, I'm not sure that Vermes playing career here alone is worthy of being considered a Sporting Legend. Vermes played less than 80 league games for KC, the fewest of the five players available. He was named defender of the year in 2000 and was an MLS Best XI pick that year. But honestly I'm not sure that he's a club legend on that alone. What he's done as technical director and head coach will be what carries him to that status.

For Zavagnin his play on the field speaks for itself and should make him a Legend. He is the team record holder for league minutes played at 20,516, minutes in all competitions at 25,290, appearances in all competitions at 291, and starts in both league (228) and all competitions (281). He's second on the team in league appearances at 237. But like Vermes I just can't vote for him when he's still a member of the club, and technically he's still never left since 2000, transitioning from a player in 2008 to an assistant in 2009.

So with those two off the table in my opinion my vote comes down to three remaining players, Jimmy Conrad, Mo Johnston, and Chris Klein. All three will eventually be added to the list but it comes down to who should be in the second class. Two of the three, Conrad and Klein captained the club for at least a short period of time with the club. The two are also comparable when it comes to appearances in all competitions, (230 for Conrad, 235 for Klein), league appearances (204 for Conrad, 200 for Klein), starts in all competitions (228 for Conrad, 216 for Klein) and league play (203 to 183). Klein as the more offensive minded player obviously finished with more goals he was second on the team when he left with 39 in league and 43 in all competitions, he's since fallen to fourth in both. Compared to Conrad's 17 goals (both league and all competitions) which are both team highs for defenders. Klein is also second on the team all time in assists with 45 league and 52 in all competitions. Comparatively, Conrad helped to anchor the 2004 back line that was one of the best in MLS history at that time.

The last nominee, Johnston burst onto the scene for KC in 1996, scoring two goals in his debut, a 6-4 win over the Columbus Crew. By the time he retired after the 2001 season, Johnston was at the time the team's second leading scorer in league play with 31 and in all competitions with 32, he's since dropped to sixth in both of those categories. He also added 28 league assists, 32 in all competitions. When he retired he was the team leader in minutes played in both league play (12,600) and all competitions (14,182). He also ended his career as the leader in league (149) and all competition appearances (169), same for starts (142 league, 157 all competitions). And he is also part of one of the great images in team history with his bloody face in the 2000 Western Conference finals after taking a boot to the face in the process of helping to set up Miklos Molnar's series winner in a mini game, sending KC to MLS Cup.

For me this is a tough decision. Conrad is arguably my favorite KC player of all time (my son's name is Conrad). Meanwhile, Johnston was one of my original heroes while growing up watching the team play. And Klein was one of the players I tried to model my play on the wing after when I played myself.

In the end, as I said, all five of these players will eventually be Sporting Legends, but for this vote I'm going to vote for the player that gave the most legendary moment in their legendary career, and that's Johnston. That play of him taking the boot to the face is forever etched in my mind watching it happen from my parents seats at Arrowhead. He deserves to go in in this class.

An aside.

While I vote for Johnston of the five players available to choose from, I continue to be disappointed that the team's original founder, Lamar Hunt is not included or inducted yet as a Sporting Legend. We were told last year that Hunt deserved to be in a class of his own. To me there's no reason at all why Hunt should not be a Sporting Legend yet.

Vermes, Zavagnin, and Six Other Former Wizards Up for Hall of Fame

Today, US Soccer came out with their list of candidates available for selection to the US Soccer Hall of Fame. On that list are two current coaches of Sporting KC. Head coach and technical director, Peter Vermes is on the list again, as is assistant coach, Kerry Zavagnin, in his first year of eligibility. Vermes is in the final year on the "player ballot", should he not be elected to the Hall of Fame this year, he will move to the veteran ballot next year.

Vermes and Zavagnin are joined by five other former Wizards players on the players ballot, and one other is available on the veterans ballot. Two other former Wizards are like Zavagnin and in their first year of eligibility. Joining Zavagnin is Jose Burciaga Jr. and Tony Meola in their first year of eligibility. The other 3 former Wizards players available are Mike Burns, Chris Henderson, and Roy Lassiter. Burns, like Vermes is in his final year of being eligible for election on the player's ballot. Should he not be elected, he'll join Vermes and Mike Sorber on the veterans ballot. Sorber joined the veterans ballot a few years ago.

Of the former Wizards players up for election, I think Meola is probably the leading candidate to get elected on this ballot. Meola was the starter for the US in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups and has 100 caps for the US national team.

Random Wizards News

Not a lot of big news today, but some different random bits of news about the Wizards.

First, Wizards President, Robb Heineman has an update on what's going on out at the Wizards stadium site out at the Legends. No big news on that front, other than they continue to move dirt around and are getting ready to start moving dirt away from the site. Below is the video from Hillcrest Road.



Also from Hillcrest Road the past two days, Kerry Zavagnin has been providing practice updates over at the Wizards blog. Yesterday was the first day of those updates and today he added even more to the report on practice. Today's report provides a lot more information on what the team is doing in practice, but yesterday gave more thought to the belief that goalkeeper Kevin Hartman will not be back in KC. Yesterday Zavagnin said that the #1 shirt is wide open that there's not really a #1 at the moment. You could say people are reading to much into it, but some people, including myself see this as a sign that Hartman likely isn't going to be in KC next season.

On the US national team front, no Wizards were named to the US roster for the upcoming friendly against El Salvador in Tampa in late February. This move doesn't bother me at all, I'd rather Wizards players be in camp right now preparing for the 2010 MLS season.

Finally, a little delayed news from before the signing of Kei Kamara was completed. According to Soccer America before the signing was completed the Wizards were apparently contacted about former MLSer, Stern John, who has been playing in England since leaving MLS after the 1999 season. There isn't word on whether the Wizards were actually really interested in signing John, only that they'd been contacted about him. The signing of Kamara, as the SA article says, likely took KC out of the running to get John, as the Adam Cristman trade showed the Wizards already had too many forwards on the roster.

Onalfo GONE!

Thad over at The Back Post has the breaking news, with the press release coming soon, that Coach Onalfo has been dismissed by the Wizards. The move comes after the Wizards embarrassing 6-0 loss to Dallas on Sunday. Along with Onalfo being let go, assistant coach, Kris Kelderman was also let go. That leaves Kerry Zavagnin and John Pascarella as the two remaining coaches.

The interim coach will not be announced until the team has been informed following Monday's off day, but you have to think Zavagnin and Pascarella are the leaders to be the interim coach. My guess is it would be Zavagnin in the interim role and potentially see Paul Rideout step up as an assistant to help out.

I'm shocked that this move happened so quickly. The last 2 months without a win have been frustrating and it's finally come to a head. I thought that this move could be coming after Saturday, but not this soon. Good for OnGoal for stepping up, seeing there was a problem, and working to fix it.

Thanks to what Onalfo has brought, he at least got us back to the playoffs finally, but the team has not improved under him in the last 2 and a half years, we are still a boarderline playoff team.

More Open Tryouts Information

Hillcrest Road has posted a quick recap of this past weekend's open tryouts. They have a good link to the list of players that made Day 2 of the tryouts. Some of the local players were able to advance to day two and some of the guys that I'd looked up elsewhere also made it. According to the Hillcrest Road link, about 10 of the players that participated in day 2 will be invited back to train with the first team at some time. Two of those players were locals Austin Williams of William Jewell College and Chad Becker of Rockhurst. Will be interesting to see who the other players to be brought back will be.

Over the course of the weekend of watching soccer I was asked by 3 members of the Wizards/front office about why I wasn't out there playing. Kevin Souter and Kerry Zavagnin both asked why I wasn't out there. The same came from Wizards Vice President, Greg Cotton on Saturday. Sorry to disappoint, maybe next year if situations improve.

Vermes Interview

Thad over at The Back Post recently had a phone interview with the Wizards Technical Director, Peter Vermes. He had to divide the interview into three posts, but you can see Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 on his blog. Part 1 deals mainly with new players. The team is looking at a couple players, and 1-2 may join the team for training down in Florida. Vermes confirmed that the team looked at Carlo Costly, but he wasn't someone they were trying to sign. Overall Vermes is happy with the team currently, and as he mentioned to me at the draft, the team is strong, and they are looking to fill a few holes and add depth.

Part 2 deals with the rookies and exhibitions. Vermes mentions that the team has already released 3rd round draft pick, Neal Kitson. Fourth round pick Akeem Priestley is trying his luck abroad first. Matt Besler and Doug DeMartin are already in camp, while Graham Zusi will join the team in Florida. He also mentions that they are currently working on their game schedule for the trip to Mexico, and there may be one preseason game in town as well.

Part 3 has to do with the new coaches, Kerry Zavagnin and John Pascarella, who played with Coach Onalfo when they were with LA, and he played with Vermes in their youth. Also, in Part 3, as Vermes says, "Nothing in the fire for a jersey sponsor".

Check out the interviews.

Appearances For the Wizards

Time to update the list of Wizards players that have appeared in 100 games for the Wizards. There was plenty of movement on the list, as Kerry Zavagnin, Davy Arnaud, Jimmy Conrad, and Jack Jewsbury made movement up the list. There was only 1 player who joined the list of players to play in 100 league games for the Wizards, and that was Sasha Victorine. The big note about the list this year is the fact that Kerry Zavagnin became the all time leader in MLS games played and MLS games started, passing Nick Garcia for both records. To put into perspective, playing 30 games a year, it will take 3 years for current players Davy Arnaud and Jimmy Conrad to pass Zavagnin's record. Bolded players are still with the team at the time of this posting.

Kerry Zavagnin - 237
Nick Garcia - 224
Preki - 218
Chris Klein - 200
Davy Arnaud - 166
Jimmy Conrad - 154
Mo Johnston - 149
Matt McKeon - 144
Jack Jewsbury - 138
Tony Meola - 125
Chris Brown - 123
Diego Gutierrez - 119
Uche Okafor - 119
Jose Burciaga Jr. - 115
Francisco Gomez - 114
Sean Bowers - 111
Sasha Victorine - 106
Digital Takawira - 103
Josh Wolff - 92
Kevin Hartman - 60
Michael Harrington - 59
Kurt Morsink - 42
Claudio Lopez - 28
Roger Espinoza - 22
Aaron Hohlbein - 19
Lance Watson - 16
Jonathan Leathers - 15
Chance Myers - 10
Abe Thompson - 8
Herculez Gomez - 8
Kevin Souter - 7
Matt Marquess - 5
Nelson Pizarro - 3

Wolff is the only player that has a chance of joining the group next season as he only needs to play in 8 games to reach that milestone. The hights Hartman can get is up to 90.

No new players joined the 100 starts list this season, but the list should see at least 1 new player next year, possibly 2 if Wolff can start half of next seasons 30 games.

Kerry Zavagnin - 228
Nick Garcia - 224
Preki - 199
Chris Klein - 183
Jimmy Conrad - 153
Davy Arnaud - 145
Mo Johnston - 142
Matt McKeon - 126
Tony Meola - 125
Jose Burciaga Jr. - 110
Diego Gutierrez - 108
Uche Okafor - 107
Sean Bowers - 104
Digital Takawira - 100
Jack Jewsbury - 97
Josh Wolff - 85
Kevin Hartman - 60
Michael Harrington - 57
Claudio Lopez - 25
Kurt Morsink - 23
Aaron Hohlbein - 18
Jonathan Leathers - 12
Roger Espinoza - 12
Abe Thompson - 7
Chance Myers - 7
Herculez Gomez - 7
Lance Watson - 5
Kevin Souter - 4
Matt Marquess - 4

Zavagnin Joins Coaching Staff

What most Wizards fans wanted to happen has happened. Kerry Zavagnin, who retired at the end of this past season, will be staying in Kansas City. Today came word that the Wizards have named Kerry Zavagnin an assistant coach with the team. Zavagnin fills the second assistant coaching position that had been left empty this past season after the departure of Chris Henderson to become the technical director of Seattle Sounders FC of MLS.

I love this move personally. Zavagnin is a fan favorite and has shown a willingness to be a leader for the team. He'd stated his interest in getting into coaching, and the rumor had always been that the Wizards would offer him a position, it's great to see that finally happen. He joins a growing list of former Wizards that are coaching in the professional ranks, including Preki (Chivas USA), Brian Johnson (Real Salt Lake), Francisco Gomez (Bakersfield Brigade), Sean Bowers (San Diego SeaLions), and Jake Dancy (Orlando Sharks)

Thank You for Everything Kerry

The Wizards loss to the Crew on Saturday night brought the end to the career of one of the greatest Wizards players in history, Kerry Zavagnin. Zavagnin didn't have the flashy stats of the likes of Preki or the name recognition of Tony Meola, but he will certainly go down as one of the greatest in team history. And if there's ever a Wizards Hall of Fame, he's in on the first ballot in my opinion. Here is a look at some of Kerry's final stats with the Wizards.

In MLS:
228 games started, 237 total appearances in league play, for a total of 20,516 minutes played, all team records. In that time, he scored 8 goals, many of decent quality, as seen here.



In MLS Playoffs:
23 games played, all starts, tied for team record with Nick Garcia. Seconds in playoff minutes with 2065 minutes played.

In the US Open Cup proper:
15 games played, all starts, for a total of 1327 minutes played, 3 more records for Zavagnin.

International play:
The Wizards have never played a competitive game in international play without Zavagnin being on the field.

One of only two players (Matt McKeon the other) to play in all 6 of the Copa Merconorte games back in 2001.

He's the only Wizard to play in all 8 of the Wizards games in the CONCACAF Champion's Cup (2002, 2005) playing in every minute of each of those games for a total of 750 minutes.

Total Wizards career:
281 games started, 291 total games played for a total of 25,270 minutes played, all Wizards records. He's the only Wizard to have over 25,000 minutes for his career.

Total MLS playing career:
247 games started, 276 games played for a total of 22,359 minutes played.
In all competitions, Zavagnin started 300 games, playing in a total of 331 games, raking up 27,162 minutes played.

As you can see, Kerry owns basically every games started, games played and minutes played record the Wizards have. On top of all of that, he was always willing to talk with the fans either out around town, after games, or on road trips.

In the end, all that can be said is thank you Kerry, thank you.


photo credit to Scott Pribyl/Kansas City Wizards

Sunday After Stats

Stats from last night's 3-1 win over the New England Revolution.

Kerry Zavagnin's appearance was his 237th and final regular season appearance for the Wizards, a club record. He finished with 20,516 minutes played in league play, also a club record.

Davy Arnaud's goal was his 32nd goal in MLS play, breaking the tie with Mo Johnston for 3rd on that list.

Arnaud's goal was also his 40th goal in all competitions for the Wizards.

Arnaud's goal was his 7th goal in all competitions, tying him with Claudio Lopez for the lead in that category. It was also his 7th goal in league play, good for the Wizards Golden Boot this year.

In the 64th minute last night, Arnaud went over the 15,000 minute mark in all competitions for the Wizards, he's the 6th Wizards player to hit that mark.

Kevin Hartman's 60th MLS game with the Wizards, all starts.

Michael Harrington went over the 5000 minute mark for his MLS career.

Harrington, Jimmy Conrad, and Hartman started every MLS game this season.

Conrad and Hartman also played all 2700 minutes this season.

Claudio Lopez's assist was his 7th of the season, tying him with Jack Jewsbury for the team high.

Lopez's goal was his 7th in all competitions, ties him with Arnaud for the team lead in that category.

Player interview poll.

Thad has posted this week's player interview with Herculez Gomez up on his blog. Gomez talks about the game winning goal against San Jose as well as how well he's fitting into the team. He's certainly fit in very well on the right wing, giving Davy Arnaud the chance to move into the center of midfield. Gomez also talks about the upcoming game against New England, and how fans can expect more blue collared, hard nosed play.

He also has a great interview with Kerry Zavagnin about his final regular season home game. Kerry talks about the banner that the Cauldron made, along with the fact that the team flew in his family for his final home game, which is an amazing gesture from the team for Zavagnin. His genuine appreciation for the work done by the Cauldron (both in the interview, and in this article) is amazing, he's certainly one of the Wizards greats.

Weekly Player Interview

Thad has this week's player interview with Kerry Zavagnin up on his website. He also has an interview up with last week's winner of the player interview poll, Tyson Wahl.

With Zavagnin, Thad talks with him about the playoff chances for the Wizards, talking about the recent recovery of the team to get back into the playoff chase. In regards to his last home regular season game, he talks about his chances of playing and his recovery from an injury that's been nagging him. Zavagnin also touches on the fact again that he wants to coach, although he hasn't had any conversations on becoming a coach anywhere specific yet. He also takes time to thank the fans for their support of him the past 9 years in KC.

With Wahl, Thad talks with Wahl about having to mark up on Blanco a fw weeks ago and then having to mark Taylor Twellman this past week. Along with a look into marking up Scott Sealy on Saturday. He also talks about the competition between him and Aaron Hohlbein. As always it's good stuff from Thad in his interviews with the players.

Sunday of, Stats

Some stats from today's game against the Dynamo.

Davy Arnaud's goal, his 4th of the season, was his 29th goal in MLS. Breaking a 4 way tie he was in with Scott Sealy, Josh Wolff, and Digital Takawira for 4th on the Wizards list.

In the 14th minute, Arnaud passed Mo Johnston to move into 6th on the Wizards MLS minutes played list. Arnaud finished the game with 12,677 minutes.

Today was Michael Harrington's 50th start in MLS.

Today was Kerry Zavagnin's 300th competitive start with an MLS team (he spent time with the Metrostars before being drafted by the Wizards.).

The Wizards this season have used 29 players in all competitions, which is a team record, topping the 27 the team used in 2006.

When Herculez Gomez came on in the 70th minute, he became the 25th player to appear in a Wizards game this season. This ties a team record set in 1999.

In the 16th minute, Jimmy Conrad went over 15,000 minute mark in competitive games with the Wizards. He is the 5th player in Wizards history to hit that mark.

Roger Espinoza is the first rookie of this year's class to hit 1000 minutes in competitive games.

Zavagnin Interview

Thad has posted the second player interview, this time with Kerry Zavagnin. Some good answers from Zavagnin this time from what you guys asked and some that we had as well.

Sunday (Now Monday) After Stats

Ok, wanted to get these out today before I went to bed after getting back from Colorado, here are a few stats after this weekends game.

Last night's game was Kevin Hartman's 50th game in league play with the Wizards. Hartman has played in every minute of every league game since coming to the Wizards for 4500 minutes.

Jimmy Conrad played in his 144th MLS match with KC, tying him with Matt McKeon for 7th on that list.

Michael Harrington is the only player to play in all 23 of the Wizards competitive games this season.

Jack Jewsbury hit the 9500 minute mark in all competitive games.

Kerry Zavagnin hit another milestone this week. Along with breaking his tie with Nick Garcia for most league games started (225), Zavagnin becomes the first Wizards player to go over 25,000 minutes in all competitions.

Here are some other stats from the Wizards release on the game.

Hartman is only 37 saves behind Tony Meola's saves record of 1136. His next save will be Hartman's 1100th.

Hartman has also played 26,235 minutes over his MLS career, only 7 behind Chris Henderson for 2nd on the all time list.

Zavagnin Retiring

Rumors that had been swirling all season have finally been proven true, Wizards midfielder, Kerry Zavagnin will retire at the end of the season. Zavagnin, the Wizards all time leader in games and minutes played won an MLS Cup and MLS Supporter's Shield in 2000 along with a US Open Cup title in 2004, when he was also selected to the MLS Best XI team. It's been a great run for Zavagnin, who is a huge fan favorite, and one of the all time great Wizards players. Zavagnin also made 21 appearances for the US Men's National team in his career.

Thad has some audio from today's Wizards press conference where he announced he was retiring.