Hillcrest Road

Who Are Ya?

2009-11-20T17:02:00.003-06:00

Who are ya rooting for this weekend? We have the big-name LA Galaxy taking on small-market and workmanlike Real Salt Lake for the MLS Cup championship. The match takes place Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. CT from Qwest Field live on ESPN and ESPNHD. Make sure to tune in.

Former Wizards Chris Klein (Galaxy) and Yura Movsisyan (RSL) could play in the match. Do your loyalties lie with either player? Who do you want to see take home the crown since the Wizards aren't still in the running?

More Hand-y Work

2009-11-20T16:11:00.003-06:00

Thierry Henry now says that a replay would be the fair thing, but FIFA won't have any of it. Roy Keane thinks FAI should drop the cause and move on, and France's coach Raymond Domenech seems just happy to have qualified.

The KC Star got in on the act today, as Matt Schofield chimes in on the story, laying out the details for those who haven't yet heard of them and offering a modern-day morality lesson.

What do you think? Replay? Should Ireland stop complaining? Do you still respect Henry? Let us know.

KCW Juniors Join DA This Weekend

2009-11-20T12:41:00.004-06:00

The KCW Juniors U-16 and U-18 teams will play their first-ever U.S. Soccer Development Academy matches over the weekend. Both teams face Texas Rush AJ Auxerre Saturday and Texas SC DTH Sunday in the suburbs outside of Houston, Texas. Kansas City Wizards ownership group OnGoal created the Juniors program in 2007 as part of the MLS youth development initiative. The Juniors are one of five clubs to join the Development Academy program for the 2009-10 season.

For updates on the games this weekend, click over to the KCW Juniors blog which has been back at it over the past few weeks. We will provide updates on matches, player news and other relevant information there throughout the season. For more on the U-18s, including a roster and game schedule, click here. For more on the U-16s, click here.

The first home games in DA play will come next Sunday against teams from St. Louis Scott Gallagher at 10 a.m. and noon at the Swope Park Training Center.

Expansion Draft Rules Out

2009-11-19T14:58:00.004-06:00

Yesterday, MLS released the rules for next week's expansion draft to help Philadelphia select their first 10 players. We must turn in our list of protected players Monday at 2 p.m. CT. Who do you think will make the list? Who would you protect?

Last season we lost Tyson Wahl to Seattle. The list of all players we have lost in expansion drafts is shown below.

Some key points:
• Teams may protect 11 players between their Senior and their Developmental Roster.
• If the Player's contract expires at the end of 2009, he will still be considered part of the Team's Senior Roster.
• If a Team protects a player, it is not obligated to exercise the player's option. It may renegotiate a new budget number for the player as in previous years.
• If a player retires, he will not be a part of the Senior Roster, but his Team will lose its right of first refusal to him should he ultimately decide to play.
• Teams may make available a number of international players equal to their total number of international players minus 3, provided that if a team has 3 or less international players it may make available not more than 1.
• Players on a Team's Developmental Roster, other than Generation adidas players who have not been graduated at the end of the 2009 season and Home Grown Players, will be part of the expansion draft.
• Generation adidas players (who have not been graduated at the end of the 2009 season) and Home Grown players are automatically protected (teams do not have to use a protected slot on them)If Philadelphia selects a Developmental Player it must offer him a Senior Roster position and he must be on Philadelphia's Senior Roster as of Roster Compliance Date.

Pos. PLAYER YEAR TEAM
M Diego Gutierrez 1998 Chicago Fire
M Francisco Gomez 2005 Chivas USA
F Matt Taylor 2005 Chivas USA
GK William Hesmer 2007 Toronto FC
D Tyson Wahl 2008 Seattle Sounders FC

Henry the Hand-yman

2009-11-19T12:04:00.003-06:00

The Irish FA is calling for a replay. Will it happen? Who knows, but there is no doubt that it was a hand ball. Thierry Henry even admits it:

USA at Denmark in 90 Minutes

2009-11-18T12:06:00.003-06:00

The USMNT will face Denmark today at 1:30 p.m. CT on ESPN Classic and ESPN2 (for an explanation of this, click here). You can watch the match at either 810 Zone thanks to a watch party sponsored by Budweiser. The USMNT Blog has revealed the 18-man roster for today, which includes both Jimmy Conrad and former Wizards striker Eddie Johnson. If you can't make it to a TV or the watch party, follow along via the U.S. Soccer Twitter. We will provide some updates as well via our Hillcrest Road Twitter.

U.S. Roster vs. Denmark
2 - Jonathan Spector
3 - Carlos Bocanegra
4 - Michael Bradley
5 - Benny Feilhaber
7 - Stuart Holden
12 - Jonathan Bornstein
13 - Ricardo Clark
15 - Jimmy Conrad
17 - Jozy Altidore
18 - Brad Guzan
19 - Robbie Rogers
22 - Frankie Hejduk
25 - Clarence Goodson
28 - Dax McCarty
32 - Jeff Cunningham
33 - Edgar Castillo
35 - Marcus Hahnemann
36 - Eddie Johnson

Last Chance to Bid!

2009-11-17T16:20:00.001-06:00

Buy Claudio Lopez's or any other players jersey here.

Four hours remain in the game-worn jersey auction. All proceeds to to a good cause, so click here and bid on your favorite player's jersey!

Last Chance to Vote!

2009-11-17T14:22:00.001-06:00

Voting for the AT&T Goal of the Year and Degree Men Save of the Year awards ends TODAY. Get your last-minute votes in and help Claudio Lopez, Davy Arnaud and Kevin Hartman in their quest for an end-of-season Play of the Year honor.

Goal of the Year voting

Save of the Year voting

Rumored USMNT World Cup Kit

2009-11-17T09:58:00.003-06:00

Will that be our kit come the 2010 World Cup? Put me in the "hopes so" category! What are your thoughts?

Speaking of the National Team. We will be hosting, along with Budweiser, watch parties for tomorrow's friendly at Denmark at both area 810 Zone locations. The match kicks off at 1:30 p.m. CT. The game will be shown in its entirety on ESPN Classic, with most of it on ESPN2 as well unless the Ukraine-Greece UEFA playoff finale goes into extra time.

M&I Bank Event/MLS Insider Blog

2009-11-16T17:53:00.004-06:00

Tomorrow, our good friends at M&I Bank will be "tackling hunger". If you have time, stop on by and make a donation for a great cause. From M&I's release: M&I Bank and its partners, including Sports Radio 810 WHB, Mix 93.3 and Hampton Inn & Suites Country Club Plaza, will host the Tackle Hunger Food Drive to benefit Harvesters Community Food Network on Tuesday, Nov. 17. The food drive, which aims to raise 150,000 meals or $30,000 for Harvesters, will be held from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at M&I Bank on the Country Club Plaza, located at 800 W. 47th St.

In other news, MLS Insider, the Twitter, has now morphed into MLS Insider, the blog. One of the first segments was a phone interview with our own Peter Vermes about who he thinks will win MLS Cup this Sunday and his experiences as an MLS Cup champ in 2000 for the Wizards. Head over to MLS Insider Blog for PV's take(s).

Vote Now for Arnaud, Lopez, Hartman!

2009-11-16T13:55:00.004-06:00

The voting for the AT&T Goal of the Year and Degree Men Save of the Year awards ends tomorrow. Get your last-minute votes in and help Claudio Lopez, Davy Arnaud and Kevin Hartman in their quest for an end-of-season Play of the Year honor.

Goal of the Year voting

Save of the Year voting

Grounds Crew Wins Award

2009-11-16T12:37:00.005-06:00

Look at that beautiful surface.

We'll give you the press release on this one so we don't miss anything important...props to Jay, Justin, Michael and anyone else who helped them along the way!

The Kansas City Wizards announced Monday that the Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA) has named CommunityAmerica Ballpark’s playing surface the Professional Soccer Field of the Year. A panel of six judges independently scored each entry based on the playability and appearance of the playing surfaces, innovative solutions, effective use of budget and the development and implementation of a comprehensive, sound agronomic program. Kansas City’s grounds crew faces the unique challenges of converting a minor league baseball field into a Major League Soccer surface throughout a nine-month season that features vastly different weather patterns due to the team’s location in the Midwest.

"This is a well-deserved award for Jay Griggs, Justin Bland and Michael Moyer," Kansas City Wizards Manager Peter Vermes said. "Those guys do an unbelievable job every week to get the field at CAB ready for Major League Soccer matches. Players in our League cover a lot of ground and put a lot of wear and tear into a field. Making the changes that we make on an every-game basis and keeping the playing surface in world-class condition is a testament to the hard work and ability of our grounds crew."

"This was a great effort from the entire Wizards grounds crew to get the field at CAB ready for Major League Soccer," Jay Griggs, Wizards Sports Field Operations Manager for CommunityAmerica Ballpark said. "Our Wizards crew removed sod and dirt nine different times and installed dirt and sod eight different times this season to complete the conversion to soccer. Our job is to provide a first-class playing surface for MLS games, and this award acknowledges that effort."

Other professional field award winners included Lambeau Field, home of the NFL's Green Bay Packers (Professional Football Field of the Year) and Whataburger Field, home of the Corpus Christi Hooks (Professional Baseball Field of the Year). The Colorado Rapids’ surface at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park was named Professional Soccer Field of the Year in 2008. The Wizards have never previously won an award from STMA.

“The Field of the Year Award validates the intense dedication of our members,” Kim Heck, CEO of the Sports Turf Managers Association, said. “Each year STMA awards no more than 14 Fields of the Year, so a very small percentage of our members are winners. Jay Griggs and his crew are very deserving of this prestigious award for their exhaustive work at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.”

Griggs and the entire grounds crew, including Justin Bland and Michael Moyer, will be presented with their award during the Annual Awards Banquet on Fri., Jan. 15, 2010, which is held every year at the Annual STMA Conference and Exhibition. The 21st Annual STMA Conference and Exhibition is Jan. 12-16, 2010, at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort and Convention Center in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Soccer Stories Abound

2009-11-16T11:47:00.003-06:00

There's all kinds of MLS and soccer lovin' going around this morning in our fine land. Devin Barclay, now a rock star on Ohio State's campus, played parts of five seasons in MLS from 2001-2005. He suited up for Tampa Bay, San Jose, D.C. United and the Columbus Crew before hanging up the cleats and--eventually--picking up some other cleats. Read the story here from the AP.

In Houston, a proposed stadium for the Dynamo is shaping up to be one of the key issues in the upcoming Mayoral race. Hopefully the stadium gets built no matter which candidate is elected.

The KC Star put together a great article about a homeless soccer tournament that took place at Avila on Saturday. Check it out, and check your assumptions about the homeless at the door.

Busy Weekend of Futbol

2009-11-13T16:11:00.004-06:00

It's a busy weekend of futbol, as the MLS Conference Finals take place and the final places in the 2010 FIFA World Cup will begin to become more clear. CONCACAF 4th placers Costa Rica will host Uruguay tomorrow night, and the first leg of the UEFA playoffs will take place. The U.S. National Team, complete with our captain Jimmy Conrad, will play Slovakia tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. CT on Fox Soccer Channel. For a full list of soccer on TV, visit Soccer by Ives.

Check out this shooting drill from USsoccer.com before tomorrow morning's game:

Shootout Silliness

2009-11-13T15:56:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Steve Goff for posting this:

Bid on Game-Worn Jerseys

2009-11-12T17:35:00.003-06:00

That jersey is currently for sale here.

After some technical difficulties, our player jersey auction is up and running in the auction section at kcwizards.com. Bid on your favorite player's jersey for a good cause. Proceeds from most will go to the Kansas City Soccer Foundation, with Kevin Hartman's pink jersey benefiting the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Go bid!

2009 Wizards Highlights

2009-11-12T11:20:00.002-06:00

Speaking of highlights, don't forget to vote for Davy Arnaud or Claudio Lopez for the AT&T Goal of the Year award and for Kevin Hartman for the Degree Men Save of the Year award.

2009: The Year Soccer Arrived?

2009-11-12T10:44:00.002-06:00

Please chime in on this, as I'm sure there will be much debate. Ken Gude of the Huffington Post says that 2009 is the year that soccer arrived in America. Not because of Pele or Beckham, but because of mainstream media (read ESPN) upping the ante on soccer coverage. He also cites the continued success of the sport at the youth level and, consequently, improved play on the field by our Men's National Team. Read the article and let us know where you stand on the issue. Has soccer arrived? If not, when will it? Does it need to "arrive" at all? What will happen if our boys make a run in next year's World Cup?

3 Finalists for Plays of the Year

2009-11-11T16:09:00.002-06:00

That's right folks, both Davy Arnaud and Claudio Lopez remain in the running for the AT&T Goal of the Year. Kevin Hartman is also a finalist for the Degree Men Save of the Year. Help them win the first end-of-season Play of the Year award in Wizards history!

Vote for Goal of the Year

Vote for Save of the Year

The New ESPN SPI

2009-11-11T10:45:00.002-06:00

ESPN has launched a new world soccer rating system, the Soccer Power Index (SPI for short). See this as an RPI of sorts for the world of international football. They take some interesting things into account, such as performance of an international player on the club level. If Clint Dempsey scores a game-winner against Man United for Fulham, that helps the USA's SPI. I like the concept. The SPI is currently the front-page story at ESPN.com. Head over there and check it out. Otherwise, click on this link to see the SPI, these one and two links to see explanations of them and this link to head to ESPN's World Cup page. Great stuff from ESPN.

Happy Veterans Day

2009-11-11T09:56:00.003-06:00

Happy Veterans Day out there to all of you who have served as a member of the military. Special shout-out to blogger Thad, a former Marine. Today is a fine day to check out our post from earlier this year when the Wizards visited Whiteman Air Force Base.

Wizards Name Vermes Manager

2009-11-10T16:19:00.004-06:00

PV and President Robb Heineman at today's presser. Photo courtesy of Gary Rohman/Getty.

Peter Vermes will retain both the Technical Director and Head Coaching roles going forward, with the new title of Manager encompassing both responsibilities. We announced the move today at our Swope Park Training Center, streaming the event live on Justin.tv. Apologies to those who endured audio difficulties. Hopefully the live streaming experiment was, overall, a success. For more information, read the full press release at our website. Let us know what you think about the move in the comments section below.

Watch Head Coach Presser Live!

2009-11-10T11:46:00.003-06:00

Watch live video from Hillcrest Road on Justin.tv

Beginning at 2:30 p.m. CT (or just before), you'll be able to watch the press conference announcing our next Head Coach live from our Swope Park Training Center. This is the first experiment with Justin.TV, so we'll see how it goes.

Support the KC Bid!

2009-11-09T18:56:00.000-06:00

The KC Star thinks you should too!

Conrad Makes USMNT

2009-11-09T12:18:00.004-06:00

Conrad after the Costa Rica match. Photo courtesy of Andy Mead/Yellow Card Journalism.

Jimmy Conrad has been named to the US National Team for the third time this season, after first joining the team for the CONCACAF Gold Cup then re-joining for the final two World Cup qualifiers of the hexagonal. He joined the U.S. in Bratislava for Saturday's contest against Slovakia at 9 a.m. CT on Fox Soccer Channel. The USA will then face Denmark next Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. CT, but the roster could change before then.

Conrad appeared in two games during Gold Cup before missing the rest of the tournament due to the concussion suffered against Panama. He did not appear in either of the final World Cup qualifiers, though he likely would have after Onyewu's injury against Costa Rica had all three substitutes not been used. Here's a more detailed roster.

Former Wizards standout Eddie Johnson also made the squad for the first time in a while. Johnson is currently with Fulham FC, where he transferred after his stellar 2007 season. EJ is currently 9th on our all-time goals list with 17 strikes in a Wizards uniform. He scored 15 of them in 2007.