Greetings from Pacific Northwest

Hello all, Hillcrest is up here with the team in mild-weathered Seattle. No rain so far. I thought it was supposed to be dreary up here? Tonight's game should be an interesting one. Seattle is one of the stronger teams in USL-1 each year, and with the scheduled move to MLS next year, this squad is no different. Watch the game live at www.USLLive.com. Things to note:

-Former Wizard Taylor Graham will likely start for Seattle.
-KC is 1-0 all-time in Open Cup play against Seattle, with a 4-0 win at home back in 2001.
-We defeated the Sounders last preseason 3-2 at BVDAC in Overland Park, Kan.
-12 Sounders who suited for that match are still on the Seattle roster.
-Youssouf Kante, a guy from France who tried out at the same trial that produced Kevin Souter and Nelson Pizarro, is on Seattle's roster.
-Pizarro is on the trip.
-Hartman is not here, so Kronberg will get his third start in Open Cup play so far this season.
-Former Wizard player and assistant Chris Henderson is Technical Director for Sounders FC, the MLS version, and will likely be at the game tonight.
-If we win, we will face the winner of Charleston Battery vs FC Dallas Tuesday, August 12.
-It will be a road match no matter what.

Wolff is Back

For those of you who haven't checked the website in the last hour and aren't on our press release list, forward Josh Wolff is back. Wolff returns to KC after spending the last couple seasons at 1860 Munich in the 2.Bundesliga. Wolff, 31, played 80 games with the Wizards from 2003-2006, scoring 27 goals (T-5th in Wizards history) and tallying 20 assists (7th in Wizards history). Wolff currently has 52 caps and 9 goals for the U.S. National Team.


Glad to see Wolff back? Where do you see him fitting into the squad?

RailHawks vs Chris Brown RIGHT NOW

Don't know much about our U.S. Open Cup opponent for next Tuesday? Remember when Chris Brown played so many games in a row at forward for the Wizards? Well, you can get a look at each right now on Fox Soccer Channel. Brown's Portland Timbers are on the road at WakeMed Park in Cary, NC to take on the Carolina RailHawks. Do a little scouting and watch a former Wizard run around in USL1.

Game starts at 7 p.m. CT.

Happy Tuesday

Greetings Hillcrest Road faithful. Don't forget to pose a question for Jimmy and Jack above. They will be asked tomorrow after practice and then posted here at Hillcrest Road afterward. By all accounts, practice was an intense one today and featured some post-practice "conditioning". The guys got after it.

The KCW Juniors, fresh off a successful Kansas State Cup campaign two weeks ago in which the U-16, U-17 and U-19 teams were victorious, is in the midst of the tryout process right now. The U-13 roster has already been decided. See it here. U-15 through U-18 teams will be chosen tonight and tomorrow. See those call-back lists here. For all your KCW Juniors information, visit www.kcwizards.com/kcwjuniors.

Had a chat with former Wizards goalkeeper Chris Konopka today. Chris says he's doing well. The season runs the same time as MLS, so he's in full-swing with Bohemians. He says their starting goalkeeper, Brian Murphy, is a talented 25-year-old who is a joy to train with. The weather in Dublin was great the first two months he was there, but has been overcast and rainy since. He wished all involved with the Wizards the best and says he's keeping track of the team. Good chatting with you Chris. Enjoy Bohs!

U.S. Open Cup Game Day

First, take a look at Bob Luder's piece on midfielder Davy Arnaud and his long road back to health. Arnaud is expected to play at least 45 minutes tonight against Colorado. He looked very strong against Municipal Saturday.

Former Wizards defender Jose Luis Burciaga Jr. is in town with Colorado and also back to health. He hopes to play tonight. As most of you know, Jose has been active in match-ups between KC and COL. He scored a goal for COL in his first game against the Wizards after an off-season trade and was red carded as a member of the Wizards in his last match against Colorado last season.

Don't forget, season ticket holder use Special Game A tonight and can use their corresponding parking pass to park adjacent to the field at Shawnee Mission North District Stadium. Standard Parking will be on hand to help direct fans entering and leaving the match.

See you guys at the stadium! The Cauldron will be sitting in section "K" on the East side, for those interested in sitting there tonight.

Some Stories We Missed

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

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.

First Seen on Hillcrest Road

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.

Rando Thoughts

Greetings everyone, I wanted to give a shout-out to the kids of Plaza Middle School, Heroes Team who were lucky enough to hear a career-day speech from Hillcrest Road today. Hopefully they were able to take something from the talk; I certainly enjoyed myself. One of the kids from Plaza will be a special guest blogger at some point in the season, so be prepared for that.

Some of you have probably seen the 30-second commercials on Time Warner Cable channels that feature highlights from last year with some cool freeze-frame effects. Our friends at Liquid 9 produced those for us and got a little love on the web in a story published here at broadcastnewsroom.com. Good stuff. Thanks to the people of Liquid 9. They are great partners to deal with. Check them out at www.iloveliquid9.com.

Many of you saw the Barry Manilow contest promoted on our website and by Star102. The lucky winner was Penny Johnson of Merriam. Penny and one guest will receive a limo ride to Phillips Chophouse inside Hotel Phillips then on to Sprint Center for Manilow: An Evening of Music and Passion and then returned home again via limo after the show. Penny also received a Wizards jersey autographed by Manilow and tickets to a match. Congrats Penny. Enjoy!

Also, a former Wizards employee Gregg Hibbeler won an award for his youth coaching this week. Hibbeler, a coach at QWEST Soccer Club, will receive a Responsible Coaching Award and $500 grant for his focus on creating a positive, character-building experience for young athletes. Liberty Mutual will present Hibbeler with the grant tonight at one of his team's practices. Congrats Gregg, and good work.

Liverpool Wins... Errr Ties/Power Rankings/More

Happy Earth Day everyone! Hopefully you've celebrated it by planting a tree, not buying way overpriced gas and using recycled bags at Target, Wal-Mart or wherever you choose to shop. How about the UEFA Champions' League match today? Liverpool snatched tie from the hands of victory with a last-gasp own-goal by John Arne Riise. Wouldn't want to be that guy on the streets of Merseyside. Hopefully, for his sake, he scores the winner next week at Stamford Bridge.

In other news, Coach Onalfo did a great segment on 810 WHB today, hopefully some of you heard it. We're working on getting the audio from that to share with everyone either here or at kcwizards.com. Also, the Wizards sit atop the power rankings by both ESPN Soccernet and Soccer by Ives. Good stuff lads.

Also, congrats to former Wizards forward Chris Brown, who was named first team all-USL1 after scoring the game-winning goal last weekend for Portland Timers. Well done, Brownie.

The Jimmy Conrad Show Tonight

Hey everyone, don't forget about The Jimmy Conrad Show tonight at McFadden's and live on 810 WHB from 8-9 p.m. We had some technical difficulties last week on kcwizards.com and MLSnet.com, but those should be sorted out today.

This week, Wheelock is in Russia and captain KC will be out of commission due to family obligations, but Davy Arnaud and Dave Borchardt will ably take the helm. Jose Luis Burciaga Jr. will join from Colorado, as will midfielder Lance Watson of the Wizards.

See you in the Power & Light District!

Also, check out a preview of this weekend's match from Sean at MLSnet:

USA v Poland

Hello all, Bob Bradley has named his 18-man roster for Wednesday's friendly in Poland. The 18-man squad features 3 MLS players, 2 former Wizards, 3 Fulhamerica players and a pair of goalkeepers who are the class of the EPL, both of whom happen to be MLS alums.

See the roster below and the U.S. Soccer release here.

ROSTER BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (2): Marcus Hahnemann (Reading FC), Tim Howard (Everton FC)
DEFENDERS (7): Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Cory Gibbs (Charlton Athletic), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
MIDFIELDERS (5): Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Eddie Lewis (Derby County)
FORWARDS (4): Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC), Josh Wolff (1860 Munich)

Our U-23s fell 1-0 in overtime today against Honduras but will be going to Beijing anyway. Good work lads.

Practice Today/Front Office Visit

Greetings everyone, today's practice was quite the cold one. The guys mostly played 11 v 11. With various players sitting out due to bumps and bruises, the lineup got a little fun. Toward the end, goalkeeper Boris Pardo was playing as a target forward. He and Jimmy Conrad had a few nice aerial battles off of restarts and goalkeeper punts. Boris informed Hillcrest Road after practice that he never played goalkeeper until he was 14. He continued playing primarily as a field player in high school then played both in college. Butterfly goalie anyone?

Kevin Souter made his Wizards practice debut today. He played in central midfielder for the reserves, sporting the same yellow boots that made him so visible during open tryouts. Tomorrow after practice, Hillcrest Road will grill him with 10 tough questions. Get ready.

This afternoon, the front office got a special visit from former intern Sandy Sauer. Those of you who attended games regularly in 2007 will remember her as the light-skinned Latina running the show at pre-game events such as Salsa night. Sandy brought by her newest roommate, Lola the dog. Photos below:

Smile Sandy.

Lola gives a Logan Smith a goodbye kiss.

Feedback requested: Do you like random front-office tidbits like these? If so, we'll do more. If not, all players it is. Hillcrest nation, please speak.

EJ Debuts/Open Tryouts

EJ made his first-team debut for Fulhamerica today, entering in the 76th for fellow American and close friend Clint Dempsey. Fulham fell late to West Ham, however, 1-0. See Fulham's match report here and Soccernet's here.

Open tryouts are in the last session of the day at KC Sports Lodge. It's been a good day with some quality soccer played. Tomorrow will be another good one, with tryouts starting at 9 tomorrow morning for around 60 remaining hopefuls. Having technical difficulties but will return later with some photos from tryouts.

Former Wizards Leading Teams

With the news that former Wizards #10 Mo Johnston is moving from Head Coach to Manager/Director of Soccer, Hillcrest got to thinking about all the former Wizards calling the shots at MLS teams throughout the league. In total, nine former players are either a head coach or a technical director/player personnel decision maker. Let's recap them:

Peter Vermes - Technical Director Kansas City Wizards
PV, our local favorite, played for the Wizards as a star center back from 2000-2002. Vermes was named 2000 MLS Defender of the Year as the Wizards defense led the team to its first-ever championship. That season, Vermes started centrally in a 3-5-2 with inexperienced wing backs Nick Garcia and Brandon Prideaux. PV became Technical Director of the Wizards in November of 2006 and helped orchestrate drafts last season that produced regulars Michael Harrington and Kurt Morsink and top reserve Aaron Hohlbein.

Brian Bliss - Technical Director Columbus Crew
"Blissy" played but one season with the Wizards, 1998, but became an organizational mainstay shortly thereafter. Bliss joined the staff as an assistant coach in 1999 and remained until 2006. He became the interim head coach after Bob Gansler stepped down mid-season in 2006 and was a finalist for the permanent job before Kansas City selected Curt Onalfo. Bliss was named Technical Director of Columbus last month.

Mike Burns - Director of Soccer New England Revolution
Burns played in 43 games as a left back for the Wizards in 2001 and 2002. He has been Director of Soccer for New England (with whom he played from 1996-2000) since April of 2005.

Chris Henderson - Technical Director Seattle MLS
Henderson was a valuable player on the 2000 MLS Cup Championship squad in his second and final season as a Wizards player. Henderson scored 12 goals and recorded 15 assists in 61 matches over that span and came back to Kansas City in 2007 as an assistant coach after retiring from the league. Henderson, a Washington state native, was named Technical Director by Seattle MLS in January.

Mo Johnston - Manager/Director of Soccer Toronto FC
Johnston starred for the Wizards from 1996-2001 as a forward known for his dangerous offensive ability and leadership. He scored 31 goals and added 28 assists, good for third in both categories in Wizards history. The former Celtic, Everton and Rangers striker first became a coach/player personnel guru in 2005 with MetroStars, leaving mid-season 2006 when Bruce Arena took over. Johnston was head coach of Toronto FC for their first season but has moved upstairs to give more time to his player acquisition duties. Johnston has been responsible for the drafting of Marvell Wynne, Jozy Altidore and Maurice Edu.

Frank Klopas- Technical Director Chicago Fire
Klopas played as a forward for Kansas City in 1996 and 1997, scoring 7 goals and adding 11 assists in 49 games. He then went to Chicago for two seasons and was named Technical Director of the club in January under new ownership group Andell Holdings.

Garth Lagerway- General Manager Real Salt Lake
Lagerway started the most games at goalkeeper in the Wizards inaugural season, posting a 1.75 goals against average in 23 games (22 starts). Lagerway went on to spend four more seasons in MLS for Dallas and Miami. After his career, he became a broadcaster for D.C. United before being hired by Real Salt Lake as GM last September.

Alexi Lalas- General Manager Los Angeles Galaxy
Lalas played one season for the Wizards, recording 4 goals and 1 assists in 30 games in 1999. His career wrapped up in 2003 with the Galaxy, who he now leads. Lalas began his front-office career for AEG as GM of the San Jose Earthquakes after his retirement, transferred to MetroStars in 2005 until Red Bull officially took over and then joined LA in April of 2006. Lalas oversees Director of Soccer Paul Bravo in Los Angeles but still has a role in player-personnel decisions.

Preki- Head Coach Chivas USA
Preki, still the Wizards all-time leader in goals (71) and assists (98) played 9 seasons for the Wizards (1996-2000, 2002-2005), and left as the organization's all-time leader in games played (218) and minutes played (17,818). He joined Chivas USA as an assistant coach in 2006 and became head coach prior to the 2007 season when Bob Bradley left to manage the U.S. National Team. Preki was named MLS Coach of the Year in 2007 after leading the Goats to the best record in the Western Conference. Preki was named MLS MVP twice as a player (1997 and 2003) and Scoring Champion twice (1997 and 2003).

Other former Wizards around MLS:

Brian Johnson - Assistant Coach Real Salt Lake
BJ played in 67 games from 1997-2001 as a midfielder/defender for the Wizards. He has been a member of RSL's staff in 2006.

Mark Santel- MLS Regional Ambassador
Santel played in 21 games for the Wizards in 2001 and currently serves as Regional Ambassador for MLS.

Paul Rideout- KCW Juniors Head Coach
Rideout, a former Aston Villa and Everton striker, played in 27 games for the Wizards in 1998. Rideout scored 4 goals and added 3 assists that season. He has been Head Coach of the KCW Juniors program since it was founded in 2007 after spending the previous five years as a youth club coach in Kansas City. The Juniors finished as runners-up to established youth system D.C. United in the inaugural SUM U-17 Cup last summer less than a month after the team was first formed.


If we've missed anyone else throughout the league, please fill us in and we will gladly update. Former Wizards seem to be ruling the league these days.

Practice this Morning/Chris Snitko/Jonathan Leathers QnA

Hello all, sorry this took so long today! Practice this morning was a good one. It ran a little longer than the first two this week. First, the guys stretched and warmed up as usual. Then came the 30-yard dash. Among the faster players were rookie defender Jonathan Leathers, midfielder/defender Michael Harrington and midfielder Kurt Morsink. Most of the guys finished within a very tight range; we're going to have a fast team this year.

After that, they broke out into 3v3 matches followed by 6v6 games with 'keepers. Former Wizards goalkeeper Chris Snitko was in camp for the second day this week to help out and get his competitive juices flowing. "Snitty," as he's called, held his own pretty well.

Goalkeeper Chris Snitko with the distribution. "I'm trying to get back in shape," Snitko said. "I emailed Peter (Vermes) and told him if you guys ever needed help that I wouldn't mind training. I had a great time; it was a lot of fun."

After practice, Hillcrest Road sat down with Leathers to ask him about his 30-yard dash performance and let the fans know a little about this first-year player.

Defender Jonathan Leathers was taken in the 2nd Round of the 2008 MLS SuperDraft and has come to camp full-speed ahead. Leathers finished with one of the fastest times in the 30-yard dash test today at training and can be seen zipping around the field, adding quickness to the Wizards defensive core. A graduate of Furman, Leathers comes from the same school as U.S. National Team members Clint Dempsey (Fulhamerica forward/midfielder) and Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo holding midfielder). Now for the QnA.

Leathers takes on Kerry Zavagnin during a 3v3 match.

You were one of the fastest players today in the 30-yard dash. How did the run feel?
It felt good. There were a lot of fast guys out there, but I’m happy to be one of the fastest.

What attributes do you bring to the Wizards?
I bring quickness, agility and, if I play right back, I can add to the attack. I know coach Onalfo likes to attack with numbers, and I fit into a system like that.

You played at Furman, did you get to meet Dempsey or Clark?
I met Dempsey on my recruiting trip, but Clark was already gone by the time I was being recruited. Dempsey seemed like a great guy.

How did playing at the school that produced those two players help you?
I definitely think they have paved the road for me, and knowing they came before me keeps me focused. I want to follow in their footsteps. (Head Coach) Doug Allison is an excellent coach who trains players well to become professionals.

What are your goals on and off the field?
This season, I want to make the 18-man roster and fight for a starting spot so I can get some experience under my belt. Away from the field, I want to set myself up for a career in investment banking after my playing days are over. I am getting my degree is business this semester after finishing up my last classes online.

What are your hobbies?
I enjoy rock climbing and other outdoor activities like hiking. Also, church is a very big part of my life, and I like to read.

Reading huh? What’s your favorite book?
Well The Bible. Other than that, How to Make Money in Stocks by William O’Neil. You should check it out.


And now some more practice photos:

Harrington plays a ball wide for Amir Lowery in a 3v3 match.

Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman parries a ball clear in 6v6 play.

Rookie midfielder Roger Espinoza lines up for the 30-yard dash.

That's all for now. We'll be back whenever we have more news.