Hillcrest Road

Starting 11 Girls Meet David Cook-We Have Proof

2008-05-10T15:24:00.003-05:00

So they really did meet this now-famous Blue Springs resident. Jenny didn't get the best shots (so she said) of the group, but apparently the American Idol camera guy did. So maybe you'll be seeing the girls on the show or the website? As Jenny said, our fingers are crossed. As it is, here is what she got. A couple of these are already on Jenny's MySpace page.

Kansas City White 2-2 Kansas City Orange

2008-05-09T15:12:00.004-05:00

Today, the boys took part in a spirited scrimmage out at Swope since we don't have an MLS match this weekend. The game was just as you would expect for a weekend MLS contest. Lots of high-energy play, including a few physical tackles, yellow cards and players yelling at the opposition.

White took the lead early through Marinelli then surrendered two goals to Morsink and Pore before equalizing through Sealy just 30 seconds from the final whistle. All healthy players took part in the contest, including Davy Arnaud.

Marinelli put white up in the 23rd minute off a nifty bit of combination play that started with right back Chance Myers. Myers played a long ball from around the half line curling behind the orange defense for Claudio Lopez. Lopez spun on a defender and played a square ball for Marinelli streaking through the middle. Marinelli calmly finished past Kronberg from the top of the area for a 1-0 lead.

Morsink tied the match in the 36th minute after collecting a loose ball 25 yards off the end line in the middle of the field. Morsink cut to his right and looped a bending ball into the upper corner off a slight deflection to tie the match 1-1.

Orange took the lead in the 44th minute through Ryan Pore. Midfielder Roger Espinoza flicked a ball to Pore at the top of the 18 yard area, and Pore blasted it inside the near post along the ground for a 2-1 lead.

White equalized in the dying seconds when Sealy put home a short goal inside the six-yard area. Eloy Colombano began the play, coming up the right flank and serving a long pass to the back post for Davy Arnaud. Arnaud headed the ball centrally to Sealy, who fought off a defender and poked home a shot from close range past on-rushing goalkeeper Boris Pardo.

Coach was pleased with the contest, citing the intensity and quality of play from both sides as highlights.

Lineups:

White-Hartman, Myers, Hohlbein, Wahl, Harrington, Colombano, Jewsbury, Marinelli, Victorine, Lopez (Arnaud 46), Sealy

Orange-Kronberg (Pardo 46), Leathers, McKenzie, McMahen, Kraus (Miles 62), Souter (Pizarro 46), Zavagnin, Morsink, Espinoza, Pore, Trujillo (Souter 82)

Scoring:

KC White- Marinelli (Lopez, Myers) 23rd minute
KC Orange- Morsink (unassisted) 36th minute
KC Orange- Pore (Espinoza) 49th minute
KC White- Sealy (Arnaud, Colombano) 90th minute

Intra-Squad/David Cook

2008-05-09T09:35:00.005-05:00

Jenny Matthews just gave a shout out to her Starting 11 Girls while talking on the air to David Cook, who is still currently in studio. Don't forget to head out to Swope at 10:30 for an intra-squad scrimmage on our bye week. Practices have been intense this week, and today's match should be no different.

**Updated**

Also, take a look at Martin Rogers' ranking of best players in MLS, where our own Claudio Lopez falls at 12th. Think he should be higher than that? Read the article and let Martin know.

Starting 11 Girls Photo Shoot II

2008-05-08T17:09:00.001-05:00

Now that the pics have entertained you for a while, here's a behind-the-scenes YouTube video. I know we've had Starting 11 Girls like crazy lately, but I don't really think anyone is complaining too much.

Make sure to watch NBC 41 tonight, as Davy and Jack were interviewed after winning a soccer tennis tournament. They got a nice little surprise while on camera. Good stuff on TV.

Starting 11 Girls to Meet David Cook

2008-05-08T13:54:00.004-05:00

David Cook, as you may know, is from this area. David Cook, as you may know, is also pretty big on that American Idol show or something. Well, he'll be in town tomorrow for "David Cook Day" and is going to sing the National Anthem at the Royals game. That's all fine and dandy, but the highlight of the day will certainly come tomorrow morning when he stops by over at Mix 93.3 beginning at 9 a.m. for a little on-air interview with our favorite radio personality, Ms. Jenny Matthews. Jenny says she wants all of KC to storm Westport when he gets there tomorrow, and that he might even do a little impromptu performance at the Sun Fresh. Shhhhh.

What's even bigger news for David, we're sure, is that 10 members of the world-famous Starting 11 Girls will be present as he speaks to Mix. He is, no doubt, stoked to meet Monica, Marissa, Sarah, Jamie B., Jamie H., Amber, Mandy, Paige, Jenni and Kelli. Say hi for us girls. Most of Kansas City won't get this close to David for a long, long time.

meet

Starting 11 Girls Photo Shoot

2008-05-07T16:29:00.005-05:00

Last night, the Starting 11 Girls held a photo shoot for promo materials for the season. Below are some of the results of the shoot, and some more will be posted online at kcwizards.com soon. Enjoy.

Mandy

Paige

Group

Mandy, Jenni, Taylor, Shelby

Jillian

Taylor

Shelby

Great work ladies. You all look beautiful.

Hillcrest out.

Bowl for a Cause and Jimmy C Show

2008-05-07T14:14:00.001-05:00

Starting 11 Girl Sarah K. has hooked us up with a great cause. Next Wednesday, May 14, head on over to Lucky Strike Bowl in the Power and Light District. For just a $25 donation, you get free bowling, shoe rental, Wizards prizes and more. All proceeds go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, so get over there, then visit The Jimmy Conrad Show right down the block at McFadden's.

See the informational flier here.

Soccery-Volleyball II Goes Wonderfully

2008-05-06T17:09:00.007-05:00

St. Pius X held our second soccer-volleyball fund raiser of the year today and it was a resounding success. The gym was packed, our boys won (2 games to 1). Defender Chance Myers, midfielder Kurt Morsink, midfielder Roger Espinoza and league pool goalkeeper Andrew Kartunen represented the Wizards, while various St. Pius students and faculty rotated into the game. St. Pius X used this game as a chance to fundraise for Eurosport, which provides sports equipment to children in developing countries. After the match, our guys signed autographs (including some for some young ladies who apparently found the guys pretty darn cute -- one a couple asked Chance sign their arms) and THEN Chance and Roger played a little basketball against some of the students. It was a fun day all around.

To sign your school or group up for a soccer volleyball fundraiser, contact Erin Lawless our CR guru at elawless@kcwizards.com or 913.387.3424.

Bob Luder, our beat reporter went to the event and had a blast. Read his story about it here and see the video from Jim Barcus here.

Piojo Stars on The Offside Rules

2008-05-06T09:07:00.005-05:00

Cartoonist and footie fan Brian Barkey featured Piojo in his streamer shower at the weekend in Columbus. View the original link here at The Offside Rules.

Also, with the off weekend coming up, the coaching staff wants to implement a serious game atmosphere this Friday. Beginning at 10:30 a.m., we will play an intra-squad scrimmage on the fields at Swope. As always, it is open to the public, and all are encouraged to attend.

Chance and Roger Get Props

2008-05-05T12:06:00.005-05:00

Jeff Carlisle over at Soccernet did a piece over the weekend on impact rookies. He rated Chance as the number 2 rookie so far and Roger as the number 5 rookie so far. Also getting props in the story were Michael Harrington for his early goal last season and Tyson Wahl for cracking the starting 11 for us this year. Enjoy the story here.

Chance

Happy Monday/Reserve Game

2008-05-05T11:21:00.003-05:00

Greetings Kansas City, it’s good to be back. After a 0-1-1 trip to Columbus, sleeping on a friendly bed last night was nice. The reserve squad tied Columbus yesterday morning 1-1 on a first-half free-kick goal from Ryan Pore. Pore stayed behind in Ohio with family after the game and had a small contingent at the reserve match. They were excited to see him score.

There was an Argentine consulate of sorts set up behind the north goal at The Crew’s Obetz Training Center. Wizards Claudio Lopez, Carlos Marinelli and Eloy Colombano chatted with Crew members Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Gino Padula for most of the reserve match. Another Argentine, Nico Hernandez, played all 90 for the Crew reserves.

Little Argentina.

Scoring Summary:
KCW - Ryan Pore (unassisted) 22'
CLB - Steven Lenhart (Emmanuel Ekpo) 43'

Columbus Crew Reserves (0-1-1) - Andy Gruenebaum, Ryan Junge (Andrew Peterson 65), Andy Iro, Jed Zayner, Ryan Miller, Nicolas Hernandez, Emmanuel Ekpo (George Josten 45), Stefani Miglioranzi-C, Brad Evans, Steven Lenhart (Guilherme Só 85), Jason Garey

Substitutes not used: Casey Latchem, Steve Traeger

KCW Reserves (2-0-2) - Eric Kronberg, Matt Marquess (Nelson Pizzarro 45), Aaron Hohlbein, Rauwshan McKenzie, Jonathan Leathers, Roger Espinoza (Michael Kraus 64), Sasha Victorine, Kerry Zavagnin-C, Ryan McMahen (Kevin Souter 45), Ryan Pore, Ivan Trujillo (Scott Sealy 45)

Substitutes not used: Boris Pardo, Geoff Miles

Misconduct Summary:
CLB - Jed Zayner (caution) 59'
CLB - Brad Evans (caution) 67'
KCW - Kevin Souter (caution) 77'

Goalkeeper Eric Kronberg was on quite a roll during the game. After a whistle stopped play while the ball was still in the air and heading toward goal, Kronberg decided he didn’t want to let it into the net even though it would not count. He scrambled back quickly and jumped to grab the ball. He misjudged the ball, however, and it fell through his arms, off his knee and straight into the goal. Everyone on the bench had quite a chuckle. Moments later as the ball was in the Crew end of the field, Kronberg turned to the bench and took a bow, again eliciting quite a laugh.

In the second half, forward Scott Sealy was taken down by Columbus in the penalty area for a spot kick. Everyone let out a loud appeal for the call, with Kronberg the loudest of the bunch. As the referee pointed to the spot and quieted the masses, Kronberg let out a yell of “RED CARD” from his goal area, taking everyone by surprise. The entire bench burst into laughter again and Kronberg gave his supporters a wave.

Hillcrest Road did not win any card tournaments for the trip, but again showed moderately well on the return flight. In 6-man and 5-man tournaments, Hillcrest came in 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Hillcrest did win a three-man game, however, so that was good.

Thoughts from the trip:
-Captain Kansas City plays some mean MarioKart on Nintendo DS.
-Aaron Hohlbein sat next to Kansas City Royals pitcher Luke Hochever’s wife on the way back to KC. Very nice girl.
-One lady from the plane claimed to be an “analyzer” and was telling our players their personalities based on their signatures. Pretty humorous stuff.

Hillcrest out.

Game Day #7

2008-05-03T17:39:00.004-05:00

It's cloudy and breezy in middle Ohio as we near kickoff. The US Women are currently tied 4-4 in a crazy affair against the ladies from down under on FSC, with our game to follow immediately. There's a chance of rain, but that should not last long if it does come. The temperature is good, so if the rain holds off, it will be a great evening for footie.

**Corrected**
Executive VP Greg Cotton and OnGoal member Pat Curran greeted The Cauldronites who made the trip with two cases of beer. Welcome friends. I spoke with Robert Houghton briefly outside the stadium, and he said around 20 will be behind the south goal sporting the Cauldron banner, some drums and a few flags. Let's get some goals toward that end, boys.

Our lineup:
Hartman, Myers, Conrad, Wahl, Harrington, Colombano, Jewsbury, Morsink, Espinoza, Lopez, Trujillo

subs:
Kronberg, Hohlbein, Zavagnin, Victorine, Marinelli, Sealy, Pore

Hesmer passed the pre-game fitness tests and will start in goal. Ezra Hendrickson will fill in at left back for the injured Padula.

CLB lineup: Hesmer, Hejduk, O'Rourke, Marshall, Hendrickson, Gaven, Carroll, Moffatt, Rogers, Schelotto, Moreno

subs: Gruenebaum, Iro, Miglioranzi, Ekpo, Evans, Garey, Hernandez

Greetings From C-Bus

2008-05-02T20:41:00.006-05:00

Hillcrest Road checks in from its first road trip of the year. The flights from KC to CHI and CHI to CLB were a little bumpy, but we arrived in one piece. The landing in Chi-town had a nice little hop and skip to it, but the pilot did what he gets paid to do. The layover in CHI was a little lengthy, but it made for some quality reading time for some and card-playing time for others. Captain Kansas City found a neat rocking chair to post up in, picture below.

For those of you keeping score at home, Hillcrest has been involved in four card games thus far, finishing in 2nd, 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively (final game was a three-person game, but 3rd place looks better on paper than last place). Not a bad record for the first roadie. The team is in relax mode after a nice dinner of soup, salad, chicken Parmesan, roast beef, pasta and rice. Yum, yum.

Jimmy says hi KC.

Also, forgot this morning about Roger Espinoza having friends/family in town for this match. After playing for a year at Ohio State, he knows some people around. The crowd is sounding like it will be more and more Wizards friendly.

Pore Off Injury List; In Hometown Paper

2008-05-02T09:11:00.004-05:00

Midfielder/forward Ryan Pore received a little lovin' today from his hometown newspaper, the Mansfield News Journal. Curt Conrad (no relation to Onalfo or Jimmy) put together this nice piece about Pore, his early season injury, and his return to his home state.

Pore, who rooted for Columbus growing up, will have around 600 friends/family from the Mansfield area at Crew Stadium this weekend. Add that number to the group of Cauldronites making the trip, and Columbus could feel strangely home-like for KC this weekend.

Wizards Partner for Cheer/Dance Camp

2008-05-01T15:26:00.004-05:00

As so many of you with young daughters know, cheer and dance camps, clinics and classes are hugely popular. We are joining the trend, partnering with Lynn O'Brien Cheer and Dance Camps for a program in early June at KC Sports Lodge that coincides with our match against Columbus on Saturday, June 14 at CAB. For more info, read the release here at kcwizards.com.

You can also head to lynnobriencheer.com for more details and register for the camp here.

Some Stories We Missed

2008-05-01T10:23:00.003-05:00

Mr. Siringi and Matthew Schofield of the KC Star continued their world footie features this week, but I didn't notice until today. Siringi offers up another breakdown of Champions' League clashes. (Man U and Chelsea fans smile here). Schofield weighs in on the Premier League race (Man U and Chelsea fans smile, again, here) and the fate of several of our Americans in the EPL. Unless Fulhamerica completes a massive two-game performance, we might be in trouble.

"Great stuff" to you both. There is a large community of soccer fans in this town, and they have been pining for more about The World's Game.

Not to be outdone, Mr. Pete Grathoff checked in with his MLS Notebook that features former Wizard goalkeeper William Hesmer and his strong performance so far this year. "Great stuff" to you as well, Pete.

Scholes winner:

Chelsea-Liverpool highlights:

Jimmy's Show

2008-04-30T17:01:00.001-05:00

The Jimmy Conrad Show is going all goalkeepers, all the time tonight as our friends Kevin Hartman and former Wizards 'keeper Will Hesmer join Jimmy and Wheels tonight. Hartman will be live at McFadden's (starting at 8 p.m. CT) and Hesmer, of course, over the phone from C-Bus. Check them out in person or listen at 810 WHB in KC or online at kcwizards.com or MLSnet.com.

Hillcrest out.

Columbus Match Preview

2008-04-30T10:33:00.001-05:00

Courtesy of MLSnet's Sean Kosednar and YouTube:

First Seen on Hillcrest Road

2008-04-30T09:34:00.004-05:00

Many of you remember the rundown of former Wizards players who are now coaches/Technical Directors/player personnel guys in MLS. Well, the KC Star took notice as well. Read our breakdown of the list from February 1 here, then read Bob Luder's take on the subject with quotes from many of the individuals here at kcstar.com.

The bottom of the article has a quick bit on the signings of Pizarro (left) and Souter (right), with a couple of quotes from Souter. Here's a picture of the pair yesterday after practice.

Unbelievable Soccer Commercial

2008-04-29T20:51:00.001-05:00

Apologies to the League contract with adidas, but Nike just introduced a ridiculously sweet football (soccer) ad. Many of you have already seen this, as it made the rounds today on several soccer blogs. If you haven't been lucky enough, here's the full version of the ad on Nike's website. Not joking folks; this ad is great. Send your friends; even if they don't like soccer. It's a fun one.

Transactions

2008-04-29T16:10:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone, just wanted to give you a heads up on two transactions. Midfielders Nelson Pizarro and Kevin Souter are in for midfielder Amir Lowery and defender Yomby William. Both Pizarro and Souter were first seen at the open tryout back in February at KC Sports Lodge. As you know, Souter went on to Argentina with the team and has been training with us since. He received his paperwork yesterday. Pizarro was also a standout at the open trial and came back to train off-and-on throughout pre-season training and into the season.

Check out the main page at kcwizards.com for a clip from Pizarro on his signing. Press release is coming shortly.

Espinoza Story

2008-04-29T09:31:00.002-05:00

If you haven't already, check out your sports section front page and read the great story done by our friend Bob Luder about rookie midfielder Roger Espinoza. Espinoza, a native on Honduras, experienced a bit of a tough childhood to get here, but he has some wonderful intentions now that he's paid to play the sport he loves. Check out the story online here and post comments so the Star knows how much you love your soccer coverage.

Also, look below for some words from Robb Heineman regarding the stadium. GOOD STUFF.

I'll post pictures as soon as Ficklin lets me.

2008-04-28T23:33:00.004-05:00

I think we're there. I saw a draft today and we need to get it priced. Assuming it comes out like we think, we'll post it. Ficklin, how long to get a bid back? We've been waiting for these pictures forever.... :) rh

Podcast Page Spicing Up

2008-04-28T16:26:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone. We're still having trouble with that nifty little audio clip trick here at Hillcrest Road, but our audio library online is getting better than ever. With Dave Borchardt now putting his radio know-how to work, we will have clips after most practice sessions from players and coaches. Check out these clips, our anthem from Blackpool Lights and archives of The Jimmy Conrad Show here at our spiffy podcast page.

Happy Monday

2008-04-28T10:03:00.003-05:00

Greetings Hillcrest Road readers, wanted to check in this morning and pass along a couple of links I missed this weekend. First, Commissioner Garber posted his second blog on Friday, focusing on nationwide media coverage of our League and sport and the inaugural World Malaria Day. Check it out here.

Also, The Offside Rules featured some recipes that have been available at kcwizards.com for a while. See the always funny post from SF here. Also, after you read there, head back to the home page for a great picture of a fan at La Bombonera climbing a fence in a Columbus Crew Schelotto jersey. MLS is coming. World beware.

Many of you already know, but for those of you who don't, here's a heads up. Mike over at Down the Byline and two of his cronies have had a fantasy draft of all-time Wizards players and are having fans vote on who has compiled the best team. Head over to www.downthebyline.com now to vote!