Sporting KC Reserve Schedule Released

Today, MLS released this year's reserve schedule for all teams. Once again Sporting is in the Central Conference, where they will play each of the other 5 teams home and away to give them a total of 10 games. Sporting though, has already announced one other reserve game, on their schedule on their team site.

The Swope Park Rangers open their season against Creighton University, 3 days after the season opener against DC United. They then kick off their "league" season a week later in Salt Lake against RSL. They play their next 4 games at home, all at LiveSTRONG Sporting Park.

The full team will then travel to Chicago on the weekend of May 12th, because the day after the first team plays the Fire, the reserves play the next morning. Double the games for a Cauldron road trip, as long as at least 1 bus is willing to leave Chicago around noon.

After the Chicago game, the Rangers play only 1 game in June, 1 in August, and 2 in September. Certainly a front loaded schedule for the reserves. Hopefully some other games get scheduled in there as well.

The best part of the schedule for me though, has to do with the times of the games in Kansas City. Of the 6 reserve games that they've announced, 5 of them are at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, and will be played in the evening. That means, should the games be open to the public (and I have no reason to believe that they won't, there's a greater likelihood of fans being able to attend.

Here is the team's schedule.

Date	Opponent	Local Time	Location
Tuesday, March 13	CREIGHTON UNIV.	7:30pm	LIVESTRONG Sporting Park
Tuesday, March 20	at Real Salt Lake	11:00am	RSL Training Field
Tuesday, March 27	HOUSTON DYNAMO	7:30pm	LIVESTRONG Sporting Park
Tuesday, April 10	CHICAGO FIRE	7:30pm	LIVESTRONG Sporting Park
Tuesday, April 24	COLORADO RAPIDS	7:30pm	LIVESTRONG Sporting Park
Tuesday, May 1	FC DALLAS	7:30pm	LIVESTRONG Sporting Park
Sunday, May 13	at Chicago Fire	10:00am	Toyota Park Practice Field
Saturday, June 9	at Colorado Rapids	11:00am	DSG Park Field 20
Tuesday, August 14	at Houston Dynamo	10:00am	Houston Amateur Sports Park
Tuesday, September 11	REAL SALT LAKE	11:00am	Sporting Club Training Center
Tuesday, September 25	at FC Dallas	7:30pm	FC Dallas Stadium

Undermanned Comets Hold Off Lancers

Without three players that put in a large number of minutes for the team today, the Missouri Comets built a 13-5 lead by late in the 4th quarter, but had to hold on late to defeat the Rochester Lancers 13-11 for their 5th straight win.

The Comets were without 3rd leading scorer, Vahid Assadpour, Cristiano, and recent signing Bato Radoncic today as they took on the Lancers. To go along with that, the Comets lost Ryan Junge and Tiguinho during the course of the game due to injury.

The Comets grabbed the early lead as Neto backhealed a pass from Tiguinho into the net. Only a minute later, the Lancers actually pulled ahead off a restart 3 pointer from Mauricio Salles. The Comets continued to push to try to get the lead back, and late in the quarter they pulled ahead again. Once again it was Neto finding the net off another assist from Tiguinho. This time Tiguinho got open on the right hand side and played a ball across the box to an unmarked Neto who tapped the ball home.

In the second quarter, the Lancers retook the lead, as Andrew Hoxie beat Danny Waltman in net to make it 5-4. Just after the midway point in the half though, the Comets retook the lead. This time through John Sosa. Byron Alvarez led a 2v1 break and then fed Sosa who slotted the shot under Patrick Hannigan to make it 6-5. Just over a minute later, Bryan Harris fed a pass to Neto, and the Brazilian fired a shot from 3 point range the went into the roof of the net giving the Comets a 9-5 lead. Waltman was called to make some big saves, including one where he made it across the length of the goal and knocked a ball off the line to keep the lead for Missouri.

In the second half, the Lancers began to push the game more, looking to get themselves back into the game. And at each turn, Waltman came up big, making a number of big saves. Including once again saving one off the line. Late in the quarter, Missouri extended their lead. With less than a minute left, Lucas Rodriguez fed a pass to the back post for Geison who beat Hannigan low again making it 11-5.

The fourth quarter saw both keepers once again come up big for their side, Waltman continued to keep the Lancers out of the net, while Hannigan kept his team in it as well. Missouri though did find another goal just before the half way point. Alvarez picked up his second assist of the game, feeding Geison who scored his second goal making it 13-5. The Lancers though kept things close, and finally found a way past Waltman. Doug Miller got the first goal with just over 9 minutes gone. Less than a minute later the Lancers were within 3, thanks to a goal from Gary Boughton.

Then as the game was winding down, things got interesting. The Lancers brought on the 6th attacker with about 2 and a half minutes left and pushed the game even more. That lasted for only about 30 seconds though when a blue card came out for Sallas. The Comets went onto the power play, but they were on the power play for about a minute when Lucas Rodriguez found himself going to the box for boarding. So with the teams playing 4v4, the Lancers brought the "5th attacker" back on the field. The Comets withstood the pressure and with 25 seconds left Harris tried to lead a break. Instead, Harris was up ended by Kyle Manscuk and went into the boards. The foul was the last of what had been a chippy 4th quarter, and Harris came up ready for a fight. Players from both teams came off the bench and a scuffle broke out. The referees quickly broke things up. When everything cleared up, Manscuk was shown a red card for his challenge, while Harris was given a blue card for retaliation and went to the box himself. So for the last 25 seconds the two teams played 3v3. The Lancers had one good late chance right before time expired, but Waltman came up with one last big save. In the end, Waltman had over 20 saves as the Comets held the Lancers off.

Combine the Comets 5th straight win with a 3rd straight loss for the Milwaukee Wave, and Missouri is back in the race to potentially win the Central Division. Missouri has to win out while the Wave continue to lose, but it is still possible. The Wave have 1 game against Syracuse before ending the season with 2 against the Comets.

Kamara Called Up for Leone Stars

Kei Kamara posted on Twitter today that he will be traveling to Sierra Leone in the next few days. Kamara's comment: "Packing for an even longer trip this time...Orlando then Sierra Leone then Soa[SIC] Tome & Principe."

Kamara and Sporting KC head to Orlando tomorrow to begin the final phase of preseason training. But while KC is in Orlando, there is an international match date, on the 29th of February. Roger Espinoza and Teal Bunbury will already miss time in Orlando due to national team commitments, and now Kamara is set to as well. Shortly after the first tweet, Kamara confirmed his call up saying: "Guys am only going for a game on the 29 Feb. And should be back in time for the Opener in DC. Hopefully lol jk."

Kamara's tweets along with the fact that the Leone Stars play Soa Tome & Principe in a friendly would make it obvious that Kamara will be representing his country in the upcoming friendly. Kamara will join up with his national team before heading to the island nation in the Gulf of Guinea.

With Kamara and Bunbury both gone, there's certainly an opportunity for Dom Dwyer, Jacob Peterson, and Soony Saad to all step up and contribute during the tournament down in Orlando coming up this week.

New Byline to Back Post

Last night Thad and I got together to record a new episode of From the Byline to the Back Post. We discussed the Sporting Juniors college signings, changes to the academy system, getting our cup back, preseason so far, including international call ups and contract extensions. In segment two we discuss the Comets, Magic, and former Wizards news. Available via Posterous and iTunes.

Zusi Signs Extension

Last weekend, Robb Heineman posted on Twitter that "pending league approval got another guy resigned". Speculation on who that was ran around for a few days. The two names that were regularly brought up were Matt Besler and Graham Zusi. The two had breakout years last year, with Besler stepping up and anchoring the central defense for KC and becoming an asset on set pieces, especially with his long throw. While he may not have gotten a ton of assists off them, Besler helped set up at least 5 goals with his throw ins. Zusi as well become a threat on set pieces, playing in some great corners and free kicks, leading the team in assists with 7, and also scored 5 goals as well.

Today, Heineman confirmed that they had re-signed Zusi to a new 4 year contract. This move has obviously been met enthusiasm from most fans that I've seen. It locks in a fan favorite for the next 4 years. Zusi will play the prime years of his career in KC. And should a club come calling after Zusi, KC will get themselves a nice transfer fee from the move if it were to ever happen. For quotes directly from Zusi check out the Star's article. Congrats to Graham.

More Sporting International News

To go along with Teal Bunbury's call up to the US U23 team two more Sporting KC players have/had national team duties to attend to. Today, Honduras named their roster for their upcoming friendly against Ecuador. The game will take place on February 29th, the same date that the US national team is set to take on Italy in Italy. Espinoza is the lone MLS representative in the team. Missing out on the game is former Houston Dynamo forward, Carlo Costly. The man who was one time linked with a move to KC, and who scored the clinching goal against KC in the playoffs, will miss out on the game because he's not playing regularly, instead he was in Miami playing against retired "fat" players as Honduras coach termed it (not related to Espinoza at all, but found it hilarious that the coach said this).

In other news for internationals playing with Sporting KC, Daneil Cyrus is in camp with the Trinidad and Tobago U23 team as they too prepare for the Olympics. Today they played the Guyana national team. Cyrus started for the T&T U23 team as they took care of Guyana 3-1. The team is preparing for their qualifying group that will contain favorites Mexico out in LA. Cyrus, who is still on KC's roster, has not been a part of preseason, instead being granted leave for "personal reasons". With Cyprian Hedrick signing (per a Tweet from Dom Dwyer, since deleted) and Stefan Antonijevic still hanging around, you have to wonder about Cyrus' future with Kansas City after he appeared in 2 games last season playing just over 100 minutes before breaking a bone in his foot in a reserve game.

Bunbury Called into US U23 Camp

US national team U23 coach, Caleb Porter, today announced his upcoming roster for the team's camp in Frisco, TX. The 23 man roster will start on Sunday the 19th of February. The camp will end on the 29th when the US team takes on the Mexican U23 team at FC Dallas Stadium in Frisco.

Included on the roster, is Sporting KC forward, Teal Bunbury. Bunbury is one of 8 forwards included on the roster, 5 of whom are based in the US in MLS. It'll be interesting to see how Bunbury fits in though, because many of the forwards included on the roster play very different games. So with the likes of Freddy Adu, Juan Agudelo, Joe Gyau, and Brek Shea, along with others, it'll be interesting to see where Bunbury fits in with that team. The camp is likely one of the last opportunities to impress before the Olympic qualifiers kick off on March 22nd for the US.

Bunbury will miss a good stretch of the team's preseason training in Orlando. Bunbury will miss all 3 group games of the Disney Pro Soccer Classic that Sporting is competing in while in Orlando. He could possibly play in the championship or consolation game on the 3rd should Peter Vermes want him too, but I think Vermes would give him a rest after the camp.

With Bunbury gone, it certainly provides an opportunity to other players on the roster, especially reserve strikers, Dom Dwyer and Soony Saad, giving them a chance to impress Vermes while in Orlando.

Former SKC Wizards Update

The MLS season is getting closer, and we're approaching the end of the former SKC Wizards season. Some former are still on trial with different teams, including Scott Sealy who looks set to sign with Dallas. In other news, former player, Scott Lorenz, will be playing in Florida this year with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, who had former players Aaron Hohlbein and Abe Thompson on the team last year. New rumors today have had the Colorado Rapids apparently interested in Eddie Johnson, but that rumor appears to be getting shot down already. here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Stephane Auvray
Chris Brunt
Doug DeMartin
Mauro Fuzetti
AJ Godbolt
Willy Guadarrama
Santiago Hirsig
Eddie Johnson
Chris Konopka
Michael Kraus
Jonathan Leathers
Amir Lowry
Rauwshan McKenzie
Ryan McMahen
Michal Mravec
Anthony Noriega
Ryan Pore
Ofori Sarkodie
Sam Scales
Scott Sealy
Milos Stojcev
Ivan Trujillo
Lance Watson

MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Season is over.
Adam Cristman - LA - Season is over.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Season is over.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Season is over.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Season is over.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Season is over.
Kurt Morsink - DC - Season is over.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Season is over.
Shavar Thomas - Montreal - Season is over.
Tyson Wahl - Montreal - Season is over.
Josh Wolff - DC - Season is over.

NASL
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Season is over.
Aaron Hohlbein - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.
Scott Lorenz - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.
Abe Thompson - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.

USL
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Out of season.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Out of season.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Out of season.
Akeem Priestley - LA - Out of season.
Yomby William - Richmond - Out of season.
John Wilson - Charleston - Out of season.

PDL
Byron Carmichael - Ocean City - Out of season.
Sergei Raad - FC Jax Destroyers - Out of season.

NPSL
Nelson Pizarro - San Diego Flash - Out of season.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Wichita Wings - Played in Wichita's 6-3 loss to Milwaukee.
Nick Garcia - Kansas Magic - Did not play for the Magic
Pat Healey - Baltimore Blast - Scored a goal in Baltimore's 18-9 loss to Missouri.
Mike Jones - Illinois Piasa - Did not play for Illinois. Played in Illinois' 6-5 loss to Detroit.
JT Murray - Louisville Lightning - Did not play in Louisville's 8-5 win over Ohio.
Boris Pardo - Comets - Did not play in either of the Comets games.
Yomby William - Norfolk SharX - Played in Norfolk's 21-4 loss to Syracuse. Played in Norfolk's 21-17 win over Syracuse.
Paul Wright - Anaheim Bolts - Did not play in Anaheim's 12-10 win over Tacoma. Did not play in Anaheim's 12-11 win over Tacoma.

International
Vicente Arze - Diosgyor - Hungary - Next game 2/22
Omar Bravo - Cruz Azul - Mexico - Played 83 minutes in Cruz Azul's 0-0 draw with Tijuana.
Sunil Chhetri - Mohun Bagan - India - Did not play in Bagan's 2-1 win over Mumbai.
Eloy Colombano - Defensores de Cambaceres - Argentina - Lost 3-0 to Deportivo Laferrere.
Pablo Escobar - Deportivo Cali - Colombia - Did not play for Deportivo Cali.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - Scored a goal in North East's 2-0 win over San Juan Jabloteh.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Mexico - Dressed but did not play in Santos' 3-1 loss to Morelia.
Zoltan Hercegfalvi - Honved - Hungary - On winter break.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Defeated Reno 3-1.
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - Tied Vitoria 0-0. Defeated Juazeiro Ba 4-1.
Will John - Vinogradar - Croatia - on winter break.
Neal Kitson - Northampton Town - England - Did not dress in Northhampton Town's 1-0 win over AFC Wimbledon.
Igor Kostrov - FC Tiraspol - Moldova - on winter break.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Next game 2/19
Yura Movsisyan - FC Krasnodar - Russia - On winter break.
Craig Rocastle - Thrasyvoulos Fylis FC - Greece - Games this week were canceled.
Matt Taylor - SC Paderborn 07 - Germany - Dressed but did not play in Paderborn's 5-1 loss to Greuther Furth.
Diego Walsh - TOT SC - Thailand - Season is over.

New Trialist

Not only today did quite a few of KC's rookies and trialists finally get a good run out in one of the preseason games, there was also a new trialist that started at the forward position, replacing Bobby Convey for the last 30 minutes. KC hasn't really had many known trialists other than the 3 that stayed with the team after their week of training in KC, so it's interesting to see that we're looking at what trialists we've brought in. The trialist, John Owoeri, appears like he's already spent some time trialing in the United States. If it's the same Owoeri, he spent time last year trialing with the Columbus Crew. The Crew though did not pick up the Nigerian. And although they apparently had to expose him in the expansion draft for some reason. An article out of Nigeria made it sound like his Egyptian club, Ismaily wanted compensation if he signed another contract, although Owoeri had apparently not been getting paid by the club.

The 25 year old Owoeri has been capped by the Nigerian national team and also appeared for Nigeria in the FIFA World Youth Championships. It'll be interesting to see if KC look to add another forward to their roster.

Dwyer Hattrick Leads Sporting Past FC Tucson

Sporting KC closed out the Arizona leg of their preseason today with a win over local PDL side, FC Tucson. In a 120 minute game that was cut short due to the weather, KC got goals from Kei Kamara, Roger Espinoza, and a hattrick from rookie, Dom Dwyer gave Sporting a 5-1 win over the local side. The first 60 minutes of the game saw a team that contained mostly first teams get a 2-0 lead.

It was actually FC Tucson that had the best chance early, as Jon Kempin, who started in goal, was called for a penalty after bringing down Tucson's Kevin King in the box. Kempin though redeemed himself as he stopped the ensuing PK from Reid Schmitt. KC opened the scoring in the 18th minute, as Soony Saad successfully challenge the Tucson keeper for the ball in the air off a long ball from Luke Sassano. Saad's challenge caused the ball to Kamara who knocked the ball into the net giving KC the 1-0 lead. KC doubled the lead 5 minutes before halftime through Espinoza who fired home from about 30 yards out, beating Tucson keeper Mike Selmo.

KC made full scale changes in the 60th minute, and for the first time in preseason, the rest of KC's draft picks that hadn't previously played, and the trialists got a chance to get onto the field. It was Tucson that got the first response though, as Schmitt beat trialist goalkeeper Steve Spangler in the 65th to make it 2-1.

From there though, it became the Dom Dwyer show, as Dwyer scored 3 goals over the final 20 minutes of the game. The first game 5 minutes after Tucson got on the board, Dwyer put away a cross from supplemental draft pick, Shawn Singh. Nine minutes later, Dwyer had his second goal after navigating through a crowded penalty area and squeezing the ball past a few defenders and into the net. Just before the final whistle at the 90 minute mark, Dwyer finished off a cross from Cyrus Saydee with a glancing header to make it 5-1.

The team left for the airport virtually right after the game to head back to KC. The team will have tomorrow off before training in KC Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Monday they'll depart for the final phase of preseason in Orlando.

Sporting Juniors/Open Tryouts

Some news that Sporting KC released earlier today regarding the Juniors and upcoming Open Tryouts.

Last week I posted about the Sporting KC Juniors that I'd been able to find that had signed for colleges. Today Sporting KC came out with a full list of those Juniors players that have signed to play at the collegiate level.

Along with Daniel Hare (DF) (Loyola Chicago), Derek Schrick (MF) (SMU), Taylor Walter (MF) (Colgate), Eric De Julio (DF) (Creighton), Andrew Brown (FW) (Bradley), Nate Opperman (FW) (Evansville), David Isaacks (MF) (Rhode Island), Evan Wright (GK) (St. Louis), and Andrew Lightner (DF) (Dayton) all of whom I'd mentioned in my previous article, 8 other Sporting KC players have committed their future to a college.

Joining De Julio at Creighton will be Chris Tuso (MF). Shane Woods (FW) will be going to Drury University. Drew Wilson (MF) will be going to Fort Hays State, while Andrew Miller (DF) is headed to the NAIA semifinalist Baker University. Finally 4 players are headed to Barton County Community College. Included in the list of players following Kevin Ellis' path to Barton is Eduardo Moreno (FW), who was invited to a U17 game at Bradenton back in December of 2010. Also joining the Cougars are Garrett Pulliam (FW), Jacole Turner (GK), and Isai Gutierrez (FW).

I believe all these players have been in the system long enough for KC to potential call any of them up as potential future home grown players, so definitely a few guys to keep your eyes on.

Open Tryouts

Also released today, the team announced that they will once again be hosting open tryouts. Unlike previous years when the tryouts have been held in preseason though, this year, the open tryouts will take place June 9th and 10th. Again the tryouts will be held at the Swope Park training facility. They're only allowing the first 300 people who register and cost between $200 and $208. The finalists will be given the chance to train with the first team and try to pull a Kevin Souter or Nelson Pizarro and make the KC roster.

With the tryouts being held midseason though I have to wonder how likely it is for any of the guys that tryout this year to actually make the team. It just seems a little odd to have the tryouts now, but that could be because I'm used to them being in February.

Live For It

That's the campaign for Sporting KC this season, "Live for It". The team debuted their commercial last night during the Grammy Awards. The team will be advertising with the commercial (another that will debut during the season opener), along with online, outdoor, print, and radio. The team will be doing billboards around the city, the billboards will include two of Sporting KC's newest national team players, CJ Sapong and Graham Zusi. Later ads that will go up will include Matt Besler and Jimmy Nielsen.



The big conspiracy that's popped up with the announcement is the fact that Teal Bunbury is not being included in the ads. There's likely nothing in the conspiracy, but it is interesting that two guys that had been part of last year's campaign (and are still with the team) are not involved in this year's campaign as both Bunbury and Kei Kamara are not featured. Again, there is likely little to nothing to it, but it's certainly gotten plenty of people talking like it means something.

Cauldron Tickets Sell Out

The Cauldron sold out of their allotment of tickets to the home opener in about 25-30 minutes. An amazing feat for the section. I'm still absolutely amazed at the growth of the section over the past few years. Hell when I joined in 2004, only about 8 years ago, the section was 25-30 people, 100+ was a really good night. Now the section is 2000 every single game without a problem. Selling the 300 that they had tonight in a span of 30 minutes is just a huge sign of the growth.

Tickets are currently on sale for season ticket holders to get extra tickets to the first 8 games. Sporting members get their shot later this week. And Friday they go on sale to the general public.

Comets Clinch Playoff Spot

The Missouri Comets had gotten their magic number down to 1 on Friday with their win over the Baltimore Blast. They didn't wait long to make make that magic number 0. The Comets took care of business today in Milwaukee, defeating the Wave 17-14 to punch their ticket to the playoffs.

The Wave grabbed an early 2-0 lead on the power play less than 5 minutes into the quarter. It was the last 5 minutes of the quarter where the excitement was though. Lucas Rodriguez tied the game at 2-2 on the power play, off an assist from Byron Alvarez. Less than a minute later though, the Wave were not only 4-2 up, but 6-2, as they scored two goals in the span of 13 seconds. Before the end of the half though, the Comets were back in the game, as Ryan Junge scored to make it 6-4 after 1 quarter.

The Comets got the second quarter going in style as Geison hit a 3 pointer just over 3 minutes in, and right around the 4 minute mark, Neto scored to put the Comets on top 9-6. Once again the end of the quarter saw a lot of action. Vahid Assadpour got on the board with a goal to make it 11-6 with under 3 minutes left. Less than a minute later, the Wave made it 11-8. But before the half was over Assadpour grabbed his second to have a 13-8 lead in the half.

In the third quarter, Milwaukee was the only team to score making it a 3 point game at 13-10. Into the fourth quarter with Missouri in the lead, John Sosa added an early goal to make it 15-10. Milwaukee pushed the game looking to get back into it, and Hewerton Moreira led the charge, scoring 1 goal to make it 15-12 around the half way point of the quarter. Then almost immediately after putting on their 6th attacker, Moreira scored to get the Wave within one. That's as close as the Wave got though, while still with the 6th attacker on the field, a long pass from Danny Waltman was missed by two Wave players and headed into the empty net. Making it 17-14 and completing Assadpour's hattrick.

The Comets will host the Milwaukee Wave on March 9th at the Independence Events Center in their playoff matchup.

Sporting Win Second Preseason Game

In the second preseason game of the season, KC once again took care of business, this time against their First Kick opponent DC United. What would be assumed to be the first team started the game again for Kansas City. It was the same lineup as KC put out against San Jose last weekend, with one exception. Teal Bunbury was replaced in the starting lineup by CJ Sapong. In fact Bunbury didn't play at all in today's game.

The starters played for 60 minutes, save Julio Cesar who subbed out at half time for Paulo Nagamura and Luke Sassano came in for Roger Espinoza before the team made the full scale changes at the hour mark.

In the game itself, KC grabbed the lead in the 34th minute through Graham Zusi as one of his free kicks beat Bill Hamid in the United net giving KC the 1-0 lead. Shortly after the full roster change, KC doubled the lead. Jacob Peterson pounced on a loose ball and beat United goalkeeper Joe Willis to the ball. The ball bounced to Soony Saad who tapped the ball into an unattended net to double the lead. With about 12 minutes left, DC got on the board and it was from the foot of a former Wizard, as Jose Burciaga Jr, a guest player for DC. Burciaga slide a shot past Eric Kronberg and into the net making it 2-1. KC though held on for the win. Sporting will end the Tucson leg of their preseason on Tuesday when they'll play FC Tucson.

Highlights below.

We Want Our Cup Back

Back when I posted about my 2012 Wishes, one of the wishes was wanting to get the 2000 MLS Cup back. For those that missed it, or don't know, the 2000 MLS Cup is not in Kansas City. The cup that teams get to keep after winning MLS Cup is in Dallas at the Hunt Sports Group Headquarters in Dallas.

Since that point, I've not said much about the the trophy or built off of that comment regarding getting the trophy back. James has picked up that slack with this fantastic post regarding the situation. He's picked up my slacking off and started the process of trying to bring the cup back to Kansas City. He's set up a Facebook group, and is working on getting a group together to write cordial letters to Clark Hunt and HSG about getting our trophy back.

I hope all Sporting KC fans get involved in the process of trying to get the trophy back. The thing to remember though is sending letters bashing Hunt or HSG is not going to get the trophy back. I'm not saying to kiss their ass either, but you need to have a fair balance of the two in any letter. Just blasting them and demanding the trophy back is going to likely be met with deaf ears. If you're professional in it then you stand a better chance of getting your point across.

Comets Move Closer to the Playoffs

The Missouri Comets magic number for clinching a playoff birth this year is now down to 1, after an 18-9 win over the Baltimore Blast at the Independence Event Center. The win, coupled with a 6-3 loss to the Milwaukee Wave in Milwaukee leaves the Comets 1 win or 1 Wichita loss away from clinching a spot in the playoffs this year.

The game tonight against the Blast started slow for both teams. The first quarter was an extremely sloppy affair as neither team was really able to create much with their possession and both teams seemed to lose it easily. Both Danny Waltman and Sagu were tested once or twice, but other than that, the first quarter was a complete and total stalemate.

The second quarter started very similar to the first, with neither team being able to really retain possession. The Blast had employed a very high pressure defense, pressuring Waltman and his two defenders very early on. This lead to a lot of early turnovers by the Comets. The combined with some chippy play pointed to the two teams both getting on the board soon. Just under 6 minutes into the quarter, the Blast broke the deadlock. Machel Millwood knocked a ball towards the middle of Missouri's box. It took a bit of a deflection, and Ricardinho was the first one to react and knocked the ball past Waltman for a 2-0 lead. Twenty-five seconds after the Ricardinho goal, the Blast were up 5-0. The Comets turned the ball over almost immediately off the kick off, Mike Lookingland fed the ball to Mike Deasel who raced a good quarter of the field unpressured and let loose a shot that got past Waltman and into the net for a 3 point goal.

The Comets called a timeout immediately to regroup, and it seemed to make a difference. From the timeout the Comets were getting more pressure and were finding quicker ways around the Blast's high pressure. Just after the half way point of the quarter, the Comets got on the board, as Byron Alvarez laid a ball into the middle for Vahid Assadpour who beat Sagu and made it 5-2. Unlike the Blast though, the Comets didn't need 25 seconds to score their second goal. Instead, it only took them 9 seconds, as Bato Radoncic won the ball immediately off the kick off, raced to the yellow line and let loose with a shot that Sagu was slow to get down for and the ball hit of the post and in, and just like that the Comets were level at 5-5.

The Comets weren't done though, and once again off the kick off, the Comets immediately won the ball through Christiano. Christiano fed Neto with a through ball that he fired past Sagu to make it 7-5. The Comets had gone from 5-0 down to 7-5 up in the span of 24 seconds. After taking the lead, the Comets sat back for a little bit. It took them 1 minute 1 second to grab another goal. Bryan Harris had a run in deep to the Blast end, he laid the ball back to Assadpour who beat Sagu for his second of the night and gave the Comets a 4 point lead at 9-5. In a minute twenty-five, the Comets had gone from 5-0 down to 9-5 up. The score held up through the end of the half and the Comets went into the half up 9-5.

The third quarter once again started with the Blast continuing their high pressure looking to get back into the game. But in their eagerness to get back into the game they got caught with too many men on the field. On the ensuing power play, the Comets were able to extend their lead. Lucas Rodriguez collected a pass from Assadpour and seemed to have all day just outside the 3 point arc to shoot. Rodriguez had time to line up his shot and fired a blast into the upper corner past Sagu to make it 12-5. From this point, the Blast really started to push the game and the game became the Danny Waltman show as more than once Waltman seemed left out to dry by his defense, but the goalkeeper stepped up and made a number of great saves, including getting across his goal once or twice to save goals. The Comets tried to break on the counter and Assadpour led a 2v1 with Neto but chose the shot instead of laying the ball off to his teammate and Sagu collected. The Blast did start to pull back into the game late in the quarter, as Shaun David played a ball into the middle for Ricardinho, who finally beat Waltman, but the Comets keeper almost made it across to keep it out but only got a small touch on it. With just under 4 minutes left, the Blast pulled back within a goal as they scored again to make it 12-9. Waltman on the series came up with two nice saves but could do nothing about the third as Pat Healey was fed by Adriano Dos Santos and Healey buried his chance. Late in the quarter, the Blast got their first power play of the game as Leo Gibson was called for kicking. The Comets though were able to kill the power play for the rest of the quarter, leaving them with only 1 second to kill in the fourth.

The Comets started off the fourth and were able to kill off the last second and get back to full strength. Just over a minute into the quarter, the Comets were back on the power play as Deasel was called for boarding. Unlike the Blast's last opportunity, the Comets again took advantage. They worked the ball around the perimeter before Rodriguez played the ball in down low to Alvarez who fired a shot into the roof of the net as Sagu went down for the save, making it 14-9. The Blast pushed for a way back into the game, and earned another power play as Stefan Stokic got a blue card for holding. The Blast once again though couldn't find a goal, in fact it was the Comets who controlled the ball for the majority of the two minute power play. Shortly after Stokic's power play was killed, the Comets found themselves on the power play again, as Max Ferdinand found himself in the penalty box for barreling into Waltman as he was playing the ball. To make matters worse for the Blast, the Comets once again scored on the power play to make them 3 for 3 with a man advantage compared to the Blast's 0 for 2. This time it was Rodriguez again, as he collected a pass from Gibson around the corner of the box and fired a shot past Sagu and into the net for his second of the night.

Waltman continued to come up big for the Comets making some more big saves and guaranteeing himself man of the match honors. With just under 4 minutes left, the Blast pulled Sagu for the 6th attacker. While the Blast had the majority of the possession after that, they couldn't find a goal. The Comets had a few quick counters with the open net but couldn't quite convert. Then with just under a minute left, Christiano fired a shot that was going to go just wide, but Geison raced onto it and buried it into the net to kill the game off and make it 18-9.

As mentioned above the Comets and need just one more win, or one more loss by the Wings to clinch themselves a spot in the playoffs. The Comets will have the first chance to wrap up a playoff spot on Sunday when they travel to Milwaukee to take on the Wave. Should they lose that the next opportunities would come next weekend when the Wings and Comets play the Rochester Lancers on back to back nights. A win by Rochester in the first game or by the Comets in the second will clinch a playoff spot.

Comets vs Blast Play by Play

Comets back in action tonight against the Baltimore Blast, play by play here.

Changes Coming to Academy System

It looks like members of the Sporting KC Juniors system will have some big decisions to make this coming fall. The rumor making the run around the internet today is that the US Soccer Developmental Academy will be making changes to the season, making it longer. The announcement sounds like it could even come tomorrow. The plan would increase the season to a 10 month season, starting in September and ending in June.

The change in season will cause a major decision to be made for players. With the extension of the season, players in all the USSDA teams, including the Sporting KC Juniors, will have to decide whether this schedule will be right for them. Choosing to play for a USSDA team would mean no high school soccer for these players.

It's certainly a big decision to make. I know some of my best memories of playing soccer came playing for Raytown South High School. It's an experience and one to really enjoy for any player. There's just something about representing your school that makes you feel good and fills you with some pride. But on the other side the academies are probably some of the best paths to get to the pro game. Especially in Sporting KC's case where there is a direct path from the Juniors system to the professional team. It'd be one of many sacrifices that someone that wants to potentially play professional soccer would need to make.

I can see both sides of the debate and both sides certainly have their merit. It'll be interesting to see how many, if any players decide to leave the SKC academy because they want to play for their high school team.

Sporting KC Extend Deal With KSMO

Sporting KC today announced a new TV deal with KSMO today. Not only today did KC announce that KSMO will be broadcasting the 2012 season, but KSMO will also be broadcasting the 2013 season as well. There's plenty of good news out of the deal that was announced today.

First, all 28 games that are not being broadcasted on national television will be shown live on KSMO. So outside of the games on ESPN, ESPN2, and NBC Sports, KSMO will be the home of Sporting KC. To add onto how good the relationship between KC and KSMO is, KC will have two of their games this season on sister station, KCTV5, the local CBS affiliate. They will be showing KC's home game against the Houston on 7/7, the first of three Eastern Conference final rematches. That game's kickoff time has been moved up 30 minutes to accommodate the new station. KCTV5 will also be showing the September 22nd game from Saputo Stadium. This is a good sign of how well Sporting KC has done this past year in KC, reports were that KC's ratings improved as the season went on and were higher than anyone really expected I think. It shows good faith in the team by KCTV5 that they're going to put the games on.

As part of the deal, the 30 minute preshow continues on KSMO, which I really like. It continues the "major league" feel of the broadcast. The fact that there is pregame, hyping the game and looking at both Sporting and the opposition just seems to give the broadcast that extra level of legitimacy.

Also returning is the Sunday evening Off the Pitch. The weekly recap show was another step forward for KC last season. Good content and good insight into the week that was for KC. I'd like to see some of the production values improve, but overall I'm extremely happy that this show has returned for me to watch.

In unsurprising news, Callum Williams and Jake Yadrich will be returning together to the booth. I like the move, Williams is extremely good in the booth and will only continue to improve. Yadrich brought stability to the color position after the first bit of the season saw KC rotate through who was in the booth with him.

Former SKC Wizards Update

Here's another former SKC Wizards update. The MLS season is getting closer. Some of the names in the unknown category will probably start to jump onto teams here in the near future. Here's the rest of the update.

Active without a club or unknown
Stephane Auvray
Chris Brunt
Doug DeMartin
Mauro Fuzetti
AJ Godbolt
Willy Guadarrama
Santiago Hirsig
Eddie Johnson
Mike Jones
Chris Konopka
Michael Kraus
Jonathan Leathers
Scott Lorenz
Amir Lowry
Rauwshan McKenzie
Ryan McMahen
Michal Mravec
Anthony Noriega
Ryan Pore
Ofori Sarkodie
Sam Scales
Scott Sealy
Milos Stojcev
Ivan Trujillo
Lance Watson

MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Season is over.
Adam Cristman - LA - Season is over.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Season is over.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Season is over.
Frankie Hejduk - LA - Season is over.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Season is over.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Season is over.
Kurt Morsink - DC - Season is over.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Season is over.
Shavar Thomas - Montreal - Season is over.
Tyson Wahl - Montreal - Season is over.
Josh Wolff - DC - Season is over.

NASL
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Season is over.
Aaron Hohlbein - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.
Abe Thompson - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.

USL
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Out of season.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Out of season.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Out of season.
Akeem Priestley - LA - Out of season.
Yomby William - Richmond - Out of season.
John Wilson - Charleston - Out of season.

PDL
Byron Carmichael - Ocean City - Out of season.
Sergei Raad - FC Jax Destroyers - Out of season.

NPSL
Nelson Pizarro - San Diego Flash - Out of season.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Wichita Wings - Scored a goal in Wichita's 19-17 win over Rochster.
Nick Garcia - Kansas Magic - Did not play in either of Kansas' games.
Pat Healey - Baltimore Blast - Scored a goal in Baltimore's 22-8 loss to Milwaukee.
Mike Jones - Illinois Piasa - Did not have a game this week.
JT Murray - Louisville Lightning - Did not play in Louisville's 10-6 win over Kansas.
Boris Pardo - Comets - Did not have a game this week.
Yomby William - Norfolk SharX - Did not have a game this week.
Paul Wright - Anaheim Bolts - Did not have a game this week.

International
Vicente Arze - Diosgyor - Hungary - On winter break
Omar Bravo - Cruz Azul - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes in Cruz Azul's 2-0 win over Jaguares. Came off the bench and played 17 minutes in Cruz Azul's 2-1 win over Nacional Asuncion.
Sunil Chhetri - Mohun Bagan - India - Started and played 90 minutes in Mohun Bagan's 1-1 draw with East Bengal.
Eloy Colombano - Defensores de Cambaceres - Argentina - Lost 3-1 to Deportivo Espanol.
Pablo Escobar - Deportivo Cali - Colombia - Did not play for Deportivo Cali.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes, scoring a goal in North East Stars 2-1 loss to St. Ann's Rangers. Did not play in North East Stars loss to Defense Force.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 10 minutes in Santos' 2-1 win over Pumas.
Zoltan Hercegfalvi - Honved - Hungary - On winter break.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Lost 3-0 to Highgate United.
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - Defeated Itabuna 4-3. Defeated Vitoria Da Conquista 2-0.
Will John - Vinogradar - Croatia - on winter break.
Neal Kitson - Northampton Town - England - Did not have a game this week.
Igor Kostrov - FC Tiraspol - Moldova - on winter break.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Season is over.
Yura Movsisyan - FC Krasnodar - Russia - On winter break.
Craig Rocastle - Thrasyvoulos Fylis FC - Greece - Game this week was postponed.
Matt Taylor - SC Paderborn 07 - Germany - Dressed but did not play in Paderborn's 3-2 win over Union Berlin.
Diego Walsh - TOT SC - Thailand - No game this week.

Sporting KC Announce Single-Game Ticket Sale Date

Today, Sporting KC released information regarding the sell of single-game tickets. Starting next week, the team will start selling single game tickets to the team's first 8 home games. Games against New England, Dallas, LA, Real Salt Lake, Montreal, San Jose, Toronto and Chicago. Tickets will begin to go on sale starting February 13th for season ticket holders. Their presale will last until Wednesday the 15th at 10am. Starting at 10am on Wednesday a presale will begin for "Sporting Club Members". Their presale will end the 16th at 10am. Finally on Friday, February 17th, tickets will go on sale to the general public.

So you have 3 different release dates for tickets depending on what your status is (Season ticket holder, Sporting Club Member, or general public).

New Podcast

We had some upload issues with the podcast, but here's the podcast from this past week. Thad and I discussed national team call ups, preseason news, the roster so far, my article about wanting a Sporting KC/KC Brass merger. It's up for you on Posterous and on iTunes.

Sporting Juniors College Signings

Since national signing day was a week or so ago, I've gotten a few emails from people asking about where certain Juniors players were heading for college. Instead of directing people to 5 different places, I figured I'd post a list of players that have signed or at least have verbally committed. So with all apologies to Alex and his former Juniors update, here's some commitments for you. The players below are linked with official announcements from the school. If there is no link from the player, then I've pulled the information on their verbal commitment from here.

Andrew Brown - Bradley - I've found not official announcement from Bradley, but Brown has verbally committed to play in the Missouri Valley Conference with the Braves.

Eric De Julio - Creighton - No official announcement from Creighton on their official signings, but De Julio has signed with Creighton.

Daniel Hare - Loyola, IL - Hare is heading to the Chicago area to play with the Ramblers at Loyola Chicago.

Davis Isaacks - Rhode Island - No official announcement from Rhode Island, but Isaacks has verbally committed to Rhode Island.

Andrew Lightner - Dayton - Lightner has become one of the 8 additions to the Flyers team for this coming season.

Nate Oppermann - Evansville - Of all the Juniors that got time with the reserve team last year, Oppermann got the most, or close to it. He'll join Brown in the Valley playing for the Purple Aces.

Derek Shrick - SMU - There's no announcement from SMU, but Sporting posted on the Juniors blog that Shrick has signed with the Mustangs.

Taylor Walter - Colgate - Another player with no official announcement from Cologate, but has verbally committed to the Raiders.

Evan Wright - St. Louis - Goalkeeper, Wright will play on the opposite side of the state for the Billikens .

I haven't found anything so far on any players on the U18's and where they possibly committed to.

A Look at the Depth Chart

With the first preseason game of the season under their belts, KC is one step closer to the start of the season. We are only 33 days from the first game of the season at DC United on March 10th. With plenty of people seeming to be fairly in unison on who the majority of the starting 11 is, let's take a look at the depth chart. Peter Vermes over the last few years has seemed to have an interest in picking up guys that can play multiple positions. And it's proven here with lots of players showing in 2 or more different positions for Sporting.

Projected starters are in bold. Players currently not under contract currently are italicized.

Plenty of the depth the further you go can go a few different ways. There are a few arguments that can be made in a few places, none more apparent than at center forward where you could argue for Teal Bunbury or CJ Sapong to be the starter.

Goalkeeper - Jimmy Nielsen, Eric Kronberg, Jon Kempin, Steve Spangler, Scott Angevine

Left back - Seth Sinovic, Michael Harrington, Korede Aiyegbusi, Roger Espinoza, Bobby Convey, Shawn Singh

Center back - Matt Besler, Aurelien Collin, Julio Cesar, Lawrence Olum, Daneil Cyrus, Cyprian Hedrick, Stefan Antonijevic, Kyle Miller

Right back - Chance Myers, Michael Harrington, Kevin Ellis, Shawn Singh

Defensive midfielder - Julio Cesar, Roger Espinoza, Paulo Nagamura, Lawrence Olum, Luke Sassano, Michael Thomas, Cyprian Hedrick, Peterson Joseph, Birahiim Diop

Box to box midfielder - Roger Espinoza, Paulo Nagamura, Michael Thomas, Graham Zusi, Konrad Warzycha, Luke Sassano, Peterson Joseph, Birahim Diop

Attacking midfielder - Graham Zusi, Konrad Warzycha, Paulo Nagamura

Left forward - Bobby Convey, Jacob Peterson, CJ Sapong, Soony Saad

Center forward - Teal Bunbury, CJ Sapong, Dom Dwyer, Soony Saad, Kei Kamara, Birahim Diop

Right forward - Kei Kamara, Jacob Peterson, Dom Dwyer, Soony Saad, Chance Myers

Cyrus Called into Trinidad Camp

Daneil Cyrus is not in camp with Sporting KC due to "personal reasons" and it doesn't look like he'll be joining the team soon. Word out of Trinidad (h/t The Daily Wiz) is that Cyrus will be joining the Trinidad and Tobago U-23 for a camp. The camp will be capped off by two friendlies again the full national team of Guyana. The teams will play on the 14th and the 16th, the first match being less than a week away. Since Cyrus has yet to be in camp, it would seem unlikely that the TnT international would return for a few days then leave for Trinidad, but stranger things have happened. Trinidad continues to prepare for their Olympic qualifying matches coming up.

Cyrus continues to be one of the three players to not report to camp yet for KC along with Birahim Diop and Pablo Punyed. While Cyrus only played just over 100 minutes, his loss could be a bit of a blow for KC. KC entered this season with Cyrus likely being one of the candidates to be the center back on the bench, but the 4th or 5th option overall behind Matt Besler, Aurelien Collin, Julio Cesar, and possibly Lawrence Olum. If Cyrus doesn't end up on the team this year it would put Olum firmly in that spot, although he'd likely face some challenge from rookies Cyprian Hedrick and Stefan Antonijevic.

Sporting Win Preseason Opener

Sporting KC got their first preseason game under their belts today when they took on the San Jose Earthquakes today down in Arizona. The two teams started the game with what would likely be considered their first team lineup. Both teams got things started quickly in the game. The Quakes grabbed the lead inside the first 5 minutes, as Chris Wondolowski finished off a cross from Marvin Chavez. Only a minute or so later, Sporting were level. Kei Kamara finished a cross from Roger Espinoza to level the scoring at 1-1.

KC made full scale changes at half time, although other changes were made in the first half as well. Jon Kempin played the majority of the game after coming on for Jimmy Nielsen. Late in the second half, KC grabbed what proved to be the winner. CJ Sapong had been fouled 25 yards out from goal and Konrad Warzycha stepped up to take the free kick. From 25 yards out, Warzycha hit the free kick over the wall and it dipped into the net out of reach of Jon Busch. Sporting have another friendly upcoming a week from today against DC.

Former SKC Wizards Update

Another week of Sporting KC Wizards updates. As mentioned yesterday, 8 former players are up for the US Soccer Hall of Fame. Coming up soon, Stephane Auvray will figure out his new team in India when the new premier league holds it draft for "lesser known" and Indian players. Also, Neal Kitson is on the move, joining Northampton Town of the Football League 2. Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Stephane Auvray
Chris Brunt
Doug DeMartin
Mauro Fuzetti
AJ Godbolt
Willy Guadarrama
Santiago Hirsig
Eddie Johnson
Mike Jones
Michael Kraus
Jonathan Leathers
Scott Lorenz
Amir Lowry
Rauwshan McKenzie
Ryan McMahen
Michal Mravec
Anthony Noriega
Ryan Pore
Ofori Sarkodie
Sam Scales
Scott Sealy
Milos Stojcev
Ivan Trujillo
Lance Watson

MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Season is over.
Adam Cristman - LA - Season is over.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Season is over.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Season is over.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Season is over.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Season is over.
Chris Konopka - MLS Pool keeper - Season is over.
Kurt Morsink - DC - Season is over.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Season is over.
Shavar Thomas - Montreal - Season is over.
Tyson Wahl - Montreal - Season is over.
Josh Wolff - DC - Season is over.

NASL
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Season is over.
Aaron Hohlbein - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.
Abe Thompson - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.

USL
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Out of season.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Out of season.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Out of season.
Akeem Priestley - LA - Out of season.
Yomby William - Richmond - Out of season.
John Wilson - Charleston - Out of season.

PDL
Byron Carmichael - Ocean City - Out of season.
Sergei Raad - FC Jax Destroyers - Out of season.

NPSL
Nelson Pizarro - San Diego Flash - Out of season.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Wichita Wings - Scored a goal in Wichita's 16-13 loss to Milwaukee.
Nick Garcia - Kansas Magic - Did not play in the games for the Magic.
Pat Healey - Baltimore Blast - Played in Baltimore's 18-10 win over Norfolk. Played in Baltimore's 8-7 win over Rochester. Had an assist in Baltimore's 26-4 win over Norfolk.
Mike Jones - Illinois Piasa - Had an assist in Illinois' 12-3 win over Ohio.
JT Murray - Louisville Lightning - Did not play in Louisville's 7-6 win over Missouri.
Boris Pardo - Comets - Did not have a game this week.
Yomby William - Norfolk SharX - Played in Norfolk's 18-10 loss to Baltimore. Played in Norfolk's 17-8 loss to Rochester. Played in Norfolk's 26-4 loss to Baltimore.
Paul Wright - Anaheim Bolts - Hah a goal and an assist in Anaheim's 10-5 loss to San Diego. Did not play in Anaheim's 17-3 win over Arizona.

International
Vicente Arze - Diosgyor - Hungary - On winter break
Omar Bravo - Cruz Azul - Mexico - Started and played 66 minutes in Cruz Azul's 2-2 draw with Atlante.
Sunil Chhetri - Mohun Bagan - India - Did not play in Mohun Bagan's 3-1 win over Chirag United. Started and played 57 minutes in Mohun's 2-0 win over Arrows.
Eloy Colombano - Defensores de Cambaceres - Argentina - Lost 2-1 to UAI Urquiza.
Pablo Escobar - Deportivo Cali - Colombia - Did not play for Deportivo Cali.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - Came off the bench and played 7 minutes in North East Stars 3-2 win over Police FC.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Mexico - Dressed but did not play in Santos' 3-1 win over Tijuana.
Zoltan Hercegfalvi - Honved - Hungary - On winter break.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Tied Humble Lions 0-0.
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - Defeated Serrano BA 3-1. Beat Feirense 3-2.
Will John - Vinogradar - Croatia - on winter break.
Neal Kitson - Northampton Town - England - Did not play in Northampton Town's 1-0 loss to Torquay United.
Igor Kostrov - FC Tiraspol - Moldova - on winter break.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Season is over.
Yura Movsisyan - FC Krasnodar - Russia - On winter break.
Craig Rocastle - Thrasyvoulos Fylis FC - Greece - Played 90 minutes in Thrasyvoulos' 2-1 win over Pierkios.
Matt Taylor - SC Paderborn 07 - Germany - Next game 2/3.
Diego Walsh - TOT SC - Thailand - Defeated BEC Tero Sasana 3-2.

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.

Sassano Re-Signed

It's been rumored and speculated on since he pulled out of the re-entry draft, but today, Sporting KC finally made it official. Luke Sassano has signed a new contract with Sporting KC. Sassano had played in 9 league games last year in a season that was cut short by some injuries. Sassano had not had his contract picked up and had gone into the re-entry draft. But before the first stage of the re-entry draft took place, Sassano disappeared from the list, prompting the re-signing speculation. Finally it was made official today, so Sassano will return for his second season in Kansas City.

Three Trialists Heading to Arizona

Three of Sporting KC's trialists are heading to Arizona with the Sporting KC team. Goalkeepers Steve Spangler and Scott Angevine will be joined by former Michigan State midfielder, Cyrus Saydee in Arizona. The team departs tomorrow.

Sadly for Irving Garcia, Matt Kuhn, Myron Samuel, and Kevin Struck the attempts to make the Sporting KC roster end after a few days.

It's interesting that KC is taking two goalkeepers with them to Arizona as trialists. With Jimmy Nielsen signing a new contract in the offseason, and Jon Kempin being an off-budget home-grown player, Spangler and Angevine are battling for a roster spot against Eric Kronberg. In reality I see that as an extremely difficult uphill battle for both of them to make this roster.

Saydee is the third trialist making the trip, he's still fairly young, but like Spangler and Angevine, he still has a big uphill challenge to make the roster.

No mention has been made of the teams draft picks yet, so one would assume that they are all headed down to Arizona. No mention was made of Shawn Singh or Pablo Punyed who were both not at training today. So we'll see what's going on soon enough.

Training Thoughts

Today was Sporting KC's last training session in Kansas City before heading off to Arizona for a few weeks. A fairly light session for the most part, that involved two teams scrimmaging, and a third team working off to the side.

First game:

Orange team - Nielsen, Collin, Olum, Harrington, Warzycha, Thomas, Aiyegbusi, Dwyer, Kamara

Blue team - Kronberg, Myers, Cesar, Besler, Sinovic, Sassano, Joseph, Convey, Saad

Neutral - Zavagnin

Only one goal in this one, a Joseph Peterson and Luke Sassano worked a very nice 1-2 together finishing with Joseph flicking the ball past Nielsen and into the net. Shortly after that though, Joseph went off with an injury that he was icing later.

Second Game

Blue team - Kempin, Myers, Cesar, Besler, Sinovic, Sassano, Convey, Saad

Green team - Sangler, Strunk, Hedrick, Antonijevic, Miller, Kuhn, Saydee, Garcia, Ellis

Neutral - Warzycha

This game ended 1-1. The green team, full of trialists certainly came out the hungrier of the two teams to start, really pushing the blue team. The green team got rewarded with a goal as Konrad Warzycha played a 1-2 with Matt Kuhn and Warzycha buried his shot past Kempin. The goal seemed to wake the blue team up as much of the rest of the game was controlled by them. Warzycha got their goal as well finishing off a cross from Soony Saad. Later on, Kevin Ellis suffered what appeared to be a sprained ankle as he went for a long cross. Ellis went down and seemed to be in a lot of pain, but was helped off and left with ice on his ankle.

Third game

Orange team - Nielsen, Collin, Olum, Harrington, Warzycha, Thomas, Aiyegbusi, Dwyer, Kamara

Green team - Angevine, Strunk, Hedrick, Antonijevic, Miller, Kuhn, Saydee, Garcia, Saad

Neutral - Zavagnin

This game ended 0-0 with Saad forcing a good save out of Jimmy Nielsen at the end of the game to keep it scoreless. The orange team though was the better of play throughout this one. Saydee had to clear one chance off the line for the green team, but other than that both teams struggled to create real opportunities during this game.

Jacob Peterson, Roger Espinoza, and Paulo Nagamura were all running on the side of the field. Birahim Diop and Daneil Cyrus are both taking care of family issues (although rumors abound that Diop is going to go to Colombia to join Octavio Zambrano).

So who was impressive during the short scrimmages this morning?

The player that impressed me the most today was Konrad Warzycha. He looked incredibly comfortable on the ball. In the second game where he was on offense only he showed a good ability at being able to settle the game and pick out players on his team. Both of his finishes were well taken as well.

Matt Besler continues to step his game up. I thought he was at a different level last year, but just in the training today it seems like he's taken it to another level. Yes it was only a practice, but Besler looked intense out on the field. He also did a very good job of getting forward (although I doubt he'll be doing a ton of that in real games).

Really other than that it was hard to pick out guys who really stood out. The games were short field (they played between the 15's on the Chiefs practice field). But overall compared to last year when I attended the same practice, the level of the practice was a totally different level than it was last year. There seems to be a different level of intensity going on this year. More focus and more centered on certain things. That could come from the fact that Peter Vermes and players have driven home this week, that they've all come in, in better shape and better prepared. That means that Vermes doesn't have to spend as much time on certain things and instead can build quicker.

Finally some quick thoughts on the trialists and draft picks. Remember that these are based on just my one training session of viewing.

Scott Angevine - Goalkeeper that is trialing with the team. He's going to have trouble making the team I think though, but based off his tweets is heading to Arizona with the team.

Stefan Antonijevic - The kid is definitely big. He plays simple which is good for a defender, but the biggest thing that stood out to me was when he got shouldered off the ball by Soony Saad.

Dom Dwyer - Lots of movement teamed with Kei Kamara on his team, didn't get a ton of touches in either game though.

Cyrpian Hedrick - Hedrick did a decent job for the green team in the center of defense, did well with his distribution.

Irving Garcia - The guy was active on the field with a lot of movement off the ball, but really didn't do a whole lot when he did get the ball.

Matt Kuhn - Not going to say a lot here to avoid bias claims, (although I may be more harsh on him since I've seen him play a lot more). Kuhn had some decent play, did a good job of on Warzycha's goal for the green team. Did well getting his head up and with his passing, but could be a step quicker with decision making.

Kyle Miller - Partnered well with Kuhn in the midfield for the green team, did well getting forward and hanging back when needing to.

Pablo Punyed - Wasn't there, hasn't been there all week apparently. Looking at options overseas it appears.

Myron Samuel - Was not out there today. Didn't get any confirmation, but it seems he may already be gone.

Cyrus Saydee - The guy is small like his bio shows, Aiyegbusi size. He did a decent job down the wing, but his size is going to work against him.

Shawn Singh - Didn't realize until I was typing this up, but I didn't see KC's first round supplemental draft pick today.

Steve Spangler - Didn't make any mistakes in goal, nothing he really could have done on the goal he allowed, but he has his work cut out for him trying to make this team with KC already having 3 goalkeepers on the roster. The team isn't going to get rid of Jimmy Nielsen or Jon Kempin, so Spangler is going to have to beat out Kronberg to make this team, and I don't see it.

Kevin Struck - In these short games it's easier for the backs to get forward, and Struck did a good job of getting forward when he could.

Sporting KC News to End Your Week

No major news out today, but here are some quick hits news wise for you on your Friday.

Sporting KC vs LA game time changed

Sporting KC's match up with LA on April 7th at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park has changed times and stations. Yesterday the team announced that the game would now kick off 1 hour earlier at 3pm Central time. The move in start time is to facilitate a station move for the game, as instead of being on ESPN2, the game will be on the mothership, ESPN. It's been a long time since KC has had a game, let alone hosted one. I honestly can't quite remember when there last was one.

Collin closing in on green card

Good news for KC on the front of potentially signing more internationals. Aurelien Collin posted today on Twitter after practice that he was headed to meet with his lawyer to discuss his green card. While the part about becoming an American citizen is a ways away, the good news in Sporting KC terms is that KC will free up at least one international spot. With the spots currently full Collin getting his green card would be a boost. With Jimmy Nielsen and possibly Korede Aiyegbusi also working on their cards' KC could have plenty of international space available.

Sporting KC International News

The next few bits of news are related to Sporting KC players and their potential national team aspirations. The first has to do with Roger Espinoza, while the last two, courtesy of The Daily Wiz have to do with Lawrence Olum, and supplemental draft pick, Pablo Punyed.

Not surprisingly, Espinoza left off Honduras camp roster

With Sporting KC currently in preseason camp, this news isn't surprising, but Roger Espinoza was left off the camp roster ahead of Honduras' February friendlies. Honduras' coach named a roster today for the camp that includes the man who put the dagger in KC's 2011 season Carlo Costly. Espinoza will obviously stay with KC as they continue preseason.

Olum heading to Kenya in February?

Alex over at The Daily Wiz today posted a comment and a video link about KC's Lawrence Olum heading to Kenya in February. The timing of the trip to Kenya would seem odd considering the fact that KC will be right in the middle of preseason, but Olum has wanted to represent his country for a while at this point and this may be the best chance for Olum to appear for the Kenyan national team. Kenya is scheduled to have two matches on the 23rd and the 29th against Egypt and Togo, and one would assume that Olum would hope to make his international debut and become the 32nd player to appear for their full national team while a member of Sporting KC. Still the timing of the trip is just a bit odd being in the middle of preseason.

Punyed to Represent El Salvador U23 team?

There are some rumors out of El Salvador, that supplemental draft pick, Pablo Punyed could be looking to potentially join Teal Bunbury and Daneil Cyrus in Olympic qualifying. Rumor out of El Salvador is that the St. John's product participated in some tryouts down there for the national team in preparation for Olympic qualifying. El Salvador has been grouped with the US, Canada, and Cuba in a group that will play in Nashville.

Sporting KC and the PDL

Tonight I was watching Metro Sports Zone on Metro Sports, watching a feature that was being done on Kyle Miller and Matt Kuhn and their attempts to become the 5th and 6th local players on Sporting KC's current roster. It struck a thought in my head that I'd been thinking about yesterday after an announcement from the Seattle Sounders. Yesterday, the Seattle Sounders announced that they'd reached a partnership with the Tacoma Tide that sees the Tide become the Sounders FC U-23.

The Sounders become the 5th MLS team to get a team in the PDL, joining Chicago, Portland, Vancouver, and DC. Orlando City of the USL-Pro division also has a U-23 team in the PDL. The idea of a PDL team I think is a really good idea for MLS sides. Especially with the academies becoming more and more important. Players that played in the academy but aren't quite ready to make the jump up to the first team could play on the PDL team while in college to improve their play and potentially be a later academy signing similar to Kevin Ellis, who was signed after 2 years at Barton Community College. A place for those guys to play is certainly a good thing, especially if the players know there is a linked connection between the PDL team and the MLS squad.

Some people will say that the idea of having a PDL team hasn't worked out too well for the Fire though. There were 11 players from the Chicago Fire Premier that were selected in the MLS SuperDraft in Kansas City, and the Fire didn't get the rights to those players. The main reason for that was because academy signing requirements require the player to have to have been in the academy before they enter college. Most of the Fire Premier players only joined the team AFTER they entered college, hence why they couldn't be signed by the Fire. But I think we're going to see more and more players that attend college for a year or two and continue to play with their MLS academy teammates in the summer with the teams U23 teams in the PDL.

Kansas City does have a local PDL team themselves, the Kansas City Brass. The Brass have been around since 1997, one year less than Sporting KC has been. The Brass and the Wizards have a good working relationship, the team has drafted a lot of players that have spent time with the Brass while they were in college. In fact, the past two coaches for the Brass, Jefferson and Lincoln Roblee have both assisted Peter Vermes and the Sporting KC staff at times, including during the open tryouts the past few years. The two teams also play quite often during the summer as a way for some of the reserves a chance to play.

So it's not like the two teams are at odds with each other, they have a very good working relationship. But there is something to be said about making it an official relationship between the two teams, to give a good continued path from the Juniors to the first team with a stop in between for those that may not be quite ready to step from the Juniors directly to the first team. I've seen lots of local KC players go to places like Des Moines for the summer to play with the Menace instead of staying in KC. The goal should be to keep all the best KC players, especially those tied in with the Juniors academy in town where they can be watched and coached by the Sporting KC staff.

Former SKC Wizards Update

A day late due to the Comets game last night, but here is this week's former SKC Wizards update. In news this week, Shavar Thomas has a new team, having signed for the expansion Montreal Impact. Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Stephane Auvray
Chris Brunt
Doug DeMartin
Mauro Fuzetti
AJ Godbolt
Willy Guadarrama
Santiago Hirsig
Eddie Johnson
Mike Jones
Michael Kraus
Jonathan Leathers
Scott Lorenz
Amir Lowry
Rauwshan McKenzie
Ryan McMahen
Michal Mravec
Anthony Noriega
Ryan Pore
Ofori Sarkodie
Sam Scales
Scott Sealy
Milos Stojcev
Ivan Trujillo
Lance Watson

MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Season is over.
Adam Cristman - LA - Season is over.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Season is over.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Season is over.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Season is over.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Season is over.
Chris Konopka - MLS Pool keeper - Season is over.
Kurt Morsink - DC - Season is over.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Season is over.
Shavar Thomas - Montreal - Season is over.
Tyson Wahl - Montreal - Season is over.
Josh Wolff - DC - Season is over.

NASL
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Season is over.
Aaron Hohlbein - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.
Abe Thompson - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.

USL
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Out of season.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Out of season.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Out of season.
Neal Kitson - Rochester - Out of season.
Akeem Priestley - LA - Out of season.
Yomby William - Richmond - Out of season.
John Wilson - Charleston - Out of season.

PDL
Byron Carmichael - Ocean City - Out of season.
Sergei Raad - FC Jax Destroyers - Out of season.

NPSL
Nelson Pizarro - San Diego Flash - Out of season.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Wichita Wings - Scored 2 goals in the Wings 18-16 win over Milwaukee. Had a goal and an assist in the Wings 9-6 loss to Milwaukee.
Nick Garcia - Kansas Magic - Did not play in the Magic's 6-5 win over Cinncinati.
Pat Healey - Baltimore Blast - Scored a goal in Baltimore's 18-2 win over Norfolk.
JT Murray - Louisville Lightning - Did not play in Louisville's 7-4 win over Illinois. Did not play in Louisville's 9-7 win over Ohio.
Boris Pardo - Comets - Did not play in the Comets 14-6 win over Norfolk. Did not play in the Comets 33-12 win over Syracuse.
Yomby William - Norfolk SharX - Played in Norfolk's 18-2 loss to Baltimore. Played in the Sharx 14-6 loss to the Comets.
Paul Wright - Anaheim Bolts - Did not have a game this week.

International
Vicente Arze - Diosgyor - Hungary - On winter break
Omar Bravo - Cruz Azul - Mexico - Started and played 76 minutes in Cruz Azul's 1-1 draw wiht Pachuca.
Sunil Chhetri - Mohun Bagan - India - Did not play in Bagan's 2-1 loss to Sporting Clube de Goa. Did not play in Bagan's 2-1 loss to Prayag United.
Eloy Colombano - Defensores de Cambaceres - Argentina - Next game 2-1.
Pablo Escobar - Deportivo Cali - Colombia - Did not play for Deportivo Cali.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - Did not play in North East Stars 1-1 draw with Defense Force.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 15 minutes in Santos' 1-0 win over Jaguares.
Zoltan Hercegfalvi - Honved - Hungary - On winter break.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Scored a goal in Harbour View's 2-0 win over Sporting Central.
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - Lost 1-0 to Bahia De Feira. Defeated Juazeirense 2-0.
Will John - Vinogradar - Croatia - on winter break.
Igor Kostrov - FC Tiraspol - Moldova - on winter break.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Season is over.
Yura Movsisyan - FC Krasnodar - Russia - On winter break.
Craig Rocastle - Thrasyvoulos Fylis FC - Greece - Started and played 90 minutes in Thrasyvoulos' 1-0 win over Vyzas. Started and played 90 minutes in Thrasyvoulos 1-0 loss to Veria.
Matt Taylor - SC Paderborn 07 - Germany - On winter break.
Diego Walsh - TOT SC - Thailand - Defeated Samut Songkhram 1-0.

Kris Boyd Linked with Move to KC

Silly season continues to go on around the world, and today Sporting KC was named in the silliness. Sky Sports is reporting that the "Kansas City Wizards" are interested in Scottish international striker, Kris Boyd. The 28 year old striker was most recently with Eskisehirsqor in Turkey, where he recently had his contract canceled. He's also recently played with Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest. He was a prolific goal scorer for Rangers but since leaving the Glasgow club his scoring record has gone down.

Rumors on a Boyd move to the US started a week or two ago when he was linked with a move to the Houston Dynamo. The Dynamo apparently brought Boyd into town for 3 days. The two teams couldn't reach a deal though. In fact according in the news that Boyd would not being joining the Dynamo, the release said that Boyd "would not be plying his trade in MLS this season."

That comment would certainly seem to kill the Sky Sports rumor right there from the aspect that Boyd isn't going to play in MLS. To add to the quick killing of this rumor in my mind would be MLS' discovery process. Since Boyd has already been with the Dynamo, one would assume that the Dynamo have the discovery claim on Boyd. But I'm not sure how the discovery process changes with a designated player. If KC were though, that would fly in the face of Robb Heineman's tweet the other night, about the team not having a DP this window. Meaning KC would have to work out a deal with the Dynamo most likely to get Boyd's MLS rights. And I just totally don't see it happening. I just don't see Boyd as a move that KC would be making right now.

Zusi Goal Leads US Over Panama

The US "Camp Cupcake" roster closed out their camp down in Panama today with a 1-0 win thanks to a goal by Sporting KC midfielder, Graham Zusi. Like the game on Saturday against Venezuela, both Zusi and Teal Bunbury started for the United States, while CJ Sapong found himself starting on the bench. The US got a good start, as Zusi finished off a chance in the 8th minute to give the US a 1-0 lead. Zach Loyd played the ball into the box, where Bunbury had overrun the ball. The ball hit the back of Bunbury's heal and fell right into the path of Zusi who one timed his shot past the keeper and into the net for his first international goal.

After the goal it became somewhat of the Nick Rimando show as the US defense struggled for long periods of time in the first half and Rimando had to come up with some big saves to preserve the USA's 1-0 lead. The US did have 1 other great chance those as Jermaine Jones fired in a blast from long range that the Panamanian keeper had to just knock into the air. Chris Wondolowski closed in on the rebound but somehow the keeper recovered in time to knock the ball away before it crossed the line. But the first half man of the match was easily Rimando who came to the US' rescue numerous times.

Things got worse for the US in the second half as they tried to weather the Panama attack as Geoff Cameron received a red card for denying a goal scoring opportunity for Panama. The Panamanian went down a little easy, but welcome to CONCACAF refereeing Jurgen Klinsmann. In the second half it wasn't so much that Sean Johnson, who came on for Rimando, had to come up big, but Blais Perez missed some good chances for Panama to tie the game.

For the Sporting KC players, besides the goal, Zusi had a strong game and was one of the bright spots for the US, especially in the first half, he made way in the 66th minute for a more defensive minded player in Brad Evans. Bunbury in his second start struggled once again, especially with his first touch. He's been playing himself off the national team radar it would seem with this play. Bunbury made way for teammate Sapong in the 76th minute. Sapong once again didn't have much opportunity to do much, especially as a lone forward for a team down to 10 men. Sapong though did a decent job of trying to hold up the ball when he got the opportunity to, but his chances were hurt by the fact that the US was playing with 10 men. Those 3 will now return to KC, but according to Peter Vermes earlier today, those 3 will not be at training until the team leaves for Arizona.