Back From Break

We're back from the Thanksgiving break (mmm gotta love that turkey!) and about to enter the month of December, holiday season. What went down over the break? A few things.

Jimmy Conrad posted his latest story at ESPN.com. This time, Jimmy wants to start a Linux-style debate about the future of MLS. Mike at Down the Byline has taken the bait and written up his response to Jimmy. What is your take? Post a comment below with your thoughts or a link to your thoughts if you blog elsewhere.

The KCW Juniors U-18s defeated St. Louis Scott Gallagher Metro 2-0 Sunday at Swope, while the U-16s tied 1-1. The U-18s are now 2-1-0 in their first three U.S. Soccer Development Academy matches. The U-16s are 1-0-2 through their first three.

Charlie Davies did an interview with ESPN. Ives Galarcep breaks down a portion of the interview.

Former Wizards forward Yura Movsisyan is preparing for a January move to Denmark for Randers FC. Randers is the club Will John first played for after leaving the Wizards after the 2007 season.

The Republic of Ireland is asking to be the 33rd team into the World Cup? Yes that was a hand ball, but the game was still tied when it happened. How could that book them a place into the finals? Discuss.

Watch the Juniors Today

Don't forget, the KCW Juniors U-16s and U-18s face St. Louis Scott Gallagher Metro today at 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. CT at our Swope Park Training Center. Come on out and see the players who are striving to become the next Kansas City Wizards stars!

For directions, type your address in the box below:

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Support Kansas City's Bid

As you all know, we're running a petition to get as many supporters as possible by the time the USA Bid Committee picks 18 cities next month to be part of their official bid to FIFA due in May of 2010. We've been on the rise for some weeks now, but we still need your help to climb higher toward the top to show everyone how much Kansas Citians support the effort. If you haven't already, visist www.goUSAbid.com/kc and sign the petition. If you have, invite your friends. If you've done both, invite different friends and tell them to invite friends. Every signature helps!

Watch the KCW Juniors Sunday

The Juniors will return to action Sunday with games against St. Louis Scott Gallagher Metro at Kansas City’s Swope Park Training Center. The U-16s from each club will face off at 10 a.m. CT, with the U-18 teams playing at 12 p.m. CT. The matches are open to the public free of charge. Feel free to come on out for either game or both games. As Jon Parry says below, everyone is welcome!

“Our first and foremost priority is player development, and I was very pleased with our performances last weekend in Texas,” KCW Juniors DOC Jon Parry said. “We had only trained together for a short period of time due to high school soccer, so that says a lot about the nucleus of players we have returning. We have our first-ever U.S. Soccer Development Academy home games this weekend, and I encourage fans to come out and watch the matches.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a very wonderful turkey day! Be thankful that no Wizards were taken in yesterday's expansion draft and that the weather in KC has been lovely, among other more personal things.

Philly Takes 10, None from KC

Today, the Philadelphia Union selected their first 10 players in team history in the expansion draft. Philly took no players from the Wizards. Former Wizards defender, Shavar Thomas, was selected in the draft from Chivas USA. The list of 10 selected players is below:

Player (Pos.) Former Club
Jordan Harvey (D) Colorado Rapids
Andrew Jacobsen (M) D.C. United
Brad Knighton (G) New England Revolution
Sebastien Le Toux (F) Seattle Sounders FC
Stefani Miglioranzi (M) LA Galaxy
Alejandro Moreno (F) Columbus Crew
Dave Myrie (D) Chicago Fire
Shea Salinas (M) San Jose Earthquakes
Shavar Thomas (D) Chivas USA
Nick Zimmerman (M) New York Red Bulls

UEFA Champions League Play

There are some fun match-ups today in the UEFA Champions League, including Juventus-Bordeaux and FC Porto-Chelsea. Follow along live at Soccernet's MatchDay Commentary. Otherwise, just pull up their live score page and watch the action there.

Watch the Expansion Draft results live on MLSnet.com at 2 p.m. CT.

A Pair of Drafts

Today, the Expansion Draft for Philadelphia Union will take place. There will also be a waiver draft later in the day. While there usually isn't a lot of turnover in waiver drafts, one never knows. The list of 10 players taken by Philly is expected to come out around 2 p.m. CT. Check back here to find out if any Wizards players were selected. We'll also let you know if any movement takes place in the waiver draft. Enjoy your Thanksgiving Eve! There's some good Champions League action later on. More on that later.

Hillcrest Road a Finalist for Best Soccer Blog

U.S. Soccer announced the finalists today for the 2009 Best of U.S. Soccer Awards. Hillcrest Road is one of 10 blogs still in the running! Thank you to everyone out there who nominated us for this great honor. We are extremely humbled! The competition is stiff, but we would appreciate every vote for Best Soccer Blog!

The other categories include:

• Best Goal
  
• Best Assist
  
• Best Performance: Player
  
• Best Performance: Team
  
• Best Video
  
• Best Soccer Bar
  
• Best Soccer Blog
  
• Best Fan Photo
  
• Best Photo
  
• Best Clutch Moment
  
• Best Academy Story
  
• Best Soccer Specialty Store.

To vote on all the awards, click here. To skip straight to Best Soccer Blog, click here. Everyone can vote once per day. Voting ends on December 13.

Now let's take a look at the competition for Best Soccer Blog:
duNord - Bruce McGuire compiles a daily (unbelievable) list of soccer stories from the U.S. and abroad. A true must-read for soccer fanaticos.

The Shin Guardian - A newer blog on the block that has put up a good deal of content and advertised itself well via Facebook and other methods. Did an in-depth interview with Peter Vermes when he became Interim Head Coach during the season.

Soccer by Ives - Well known and widely read, Ives Galarcep and company provide great content each and every day on soccer in the U.S. and abroad. A very good one.

Match Fit USA - A relatively new blog that is updated constantly and provides quality links and analysis from around the soccer world.

Soccer Insider - The lone finalist run through an official news organization, Steve Goff's Soccer Insider from the Washington Post dishes out insight not only on D.C. United, but anything within the world of soccer.

No Short Corners - Amazingly in touch though located oversees, Greg Seltzer and Sean O'Conor cover all aspects of American soccer, most notably American abroad. These two are top-notch.

This is American Soccer - Adam Spangler does some seriously in-depth analysis on the beautiful game from an American perspective. Sponsored by Nike since 2005.

Pitch Invasion - Offers up a little bit of everything from MLS to the EPL. They do a great job of finding interesting reads and offering up sound opinions.

Women's National Team Blog - The lone finalist from U.S. Soccer's lineup of quality blogs, the Women's National Team blog offers inside info on each WNT camp and the regular players as they play club ball.

Hillcrest Road - That's us. We offer the latest on the Wizards and try to keep everyone in the know on significant happenings throughout MLS and the international game. Thanks again to everyone who nominated us!

Wizards Announce Protected Players

The players protected from Wednesday's expansion draft for Philadelphia Union are:

M Davy Arnaud
D Jimmy Conrad
D Michael Harrington
M Jack Jewsbury
F Kei Kamara
D Jonathan Leathers
M/F Claudio Lopez
M Kevin Souter
F Josh Wolff
M Graham Zusi
F Zoltan

Juniors Teams Win to Open DA Play

Check out the full information over on the KCW Juniors blog.

Reasons KC Should Host World Cup

The Game is In KC

View more presentations from Whitney Mathews.

Wigan Pounded, Players Offer Refund

Yes folks....that was a 9-1 victory for Tottenham over Wigan. That's the biggest whooping in the EPL since Man U beat Ipswich 9-0 in 1995. Today, the Wigan players have agreed to refund the money spent by traveling supporters at Tottenham, with their captain saying:

"We feel that as a group of players we badly let down our supporters yesterday," said Wigan captain Mario Melchiot. "This is a gesture we have to make and pay them back for their loyalty."

RSL Takes MLS Cup

Real Salt Lake captured their first MLS Cup championship last night in their first visit to the League title game. Robbie Findley equalized for RSL after a shot from former Wizards forward Yura Movsisyan was blocked into his path. LA took the lead in the first half through Mike Magee after Beckham played Donovan into space and Donovan fed a beautiful ball to Magee at the back post.

In PKs, Landon Donovan missed high and Nick Rimando came up with two huge saves for RSL to win 5-4 in two extra rounds of kicks. Highlights below:

Who Are Ya?

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

Thanks to Steve Goff for posting this:

Bid on Game-Worn Jerseys

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

The KC Star thinks you should too!

Conrad Makes USMNT

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.

Sign the Petition Over the Weekend

While you're enjoying your crazy-mild November weekend in KC, take some time to sign the petition to bring the FIFA World Cup to town, and invite all your friends. We're now past the 5400-signature mark, in 9th place among the 27 cities bidding to host World Cup matches. Help us pass Dallas, then move toward Tampa Bay and Cleveland. Visit www.goUSAbid.com/kc, sign the petition then invite your friends and family to do the same. Our city would make an outstanding host for World Cup matches. Let the world know you want the opportunity!

Rk City Signatures*
1 Seattle 15163
2 Atlanta 13123
3 Houston 11919
4 Indianapolis 10064
5 Philadelphia 7255
6 Cleveland 6615
7 Tampa Bay 6308
8 Dallas 5536
9 Kansas City 5423
10 Charlotte 4901

*As of Friday afternoon

Conrad Wins Humanitarian of the Year

The highlight video shown at the final match of the regular season when Conrad was named Team Humanitarian of the Year.

For the second time this season, Jimmy Conrad has received a Humanitarian of the Year honor. This time, it's the League-wide U.S. Soccer Foundation/MLS W.O.R.K.S. Humanitarian of the Year. Conrad is sharing the honor with Logan Pause of Chicago, the first time the honor has been shared. Check out details from the press release:

"It's an incredible honor to be thought about in these terms,” Conrad said, “and I know my parents will be very proud of me."

“The best gift someone can give is themselves and their time,” Jennifer Currier, Midwest Regional Walk Director for Autism Speaks said. “Jimmy is busy in the community, spreading awareness about Autism and promoting healthy activity among children. He honestly cares about the kids and helps them have fun at clinics and other events.”

Conrad, who hails from Temple City, Calif., is an 11-year MLS veteran, five-time MLS All-Star and former MLS Defender of the Year. He continues to be active in philanthropic efforts throughout the Kansas City area and is being recognized as an exemplary role model within the community for his involvement with local schools, youth organizations and MLS W.O.R.K.S. initiatives. Conrad regularly speaks with students at local schools about teamwork and the importance of setting goals in presentations that he designed. Conrad was recently named to the Board of Directors for the Kansas City Zoo.

For a second consecutive year, Conrad served as a spokesperson for Athletes Against Autism and the Child Protection Center, actively partaking in efforts to raise money and awareness for the organizations. This season he participated in an appearance at the Kick It 3v3 Championships to raise awareness for the UN Foundation’s Nothing But Nets campaign, and also raised funds for the campaign locally through autograph sessions in Kansas City.

Conrad also receives support for his philanthropic efforts from his wife, Lyndsey. While he is busy supporting community groups, Lyndsey, serves as the President of the Kansas City Wizards Wives Club. Their biggest project this season was a school supply drive at CommunityAmerica Ballpark called “Stuff the Bus.” As part of the event, Conrad and his wife set up a soccer clinic for inner-city children with other MLS players. They donated school supplies collected during “Stuff the Bus” and spoke to the children about the importance of staying in school.

Conrad has won Team Humanitarian of the Year four times during his career, including three times for Kansas City. Conrad was first recognized with the award in 2002 while a member of the San Jose Earthquakes. Conrad has won the Kansas City award in both 2004, 2005 and 2009.

U.S. Soccer Foundation/MLS W.O.R.K.S. Humanitarian of the Year Winners:
2009: Jimmy Conrad – Kansas City Wizards; Logan Pause – Chicago Fire
2008: Jose Luis Burciaga Jr. – Colorado Rapids
2007: Diego Gutierrez – Chicago Fire
2006: Michael Parkhurst – New England Revolution
2005: Brian Kamler – Real Salt Lake
2004: Chris Henderson – Colorado Rapids
2003: Ben Olsen – D.C. United
2002: Steve Jolley – MetroStars
2001: Tim Howard – MetroStars
2000: Abdul T. Conteh – San Jose Earthquakes

Ready for Juniors Season?

The U-18 and U-16 KCW Juniors teams are about to begin their existence in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. To follow the Juniors this season, visit the official page at www.kcwizards.com/kcwjuniors or the Juniors blog at www.kcwjuniors.blogspot.com. Both teams kick off DA play Saturday, November 21 at Texas Rush AJ Auxerre.

What's the Development Academy you ask? Check it out:

What is Jimmy Cooking Up?

Vote, Sign, Nominate

First of all, go vote for the AT&T Goal of the Year and Degree Men Save of the Year awards. Both Arnaud and Lopez are up twice for the Goal of the Year honor and Hartman is up three times for the Save of the Year award. You can find links to the highlights of these plays at previous posts below.

Second, go sign the petition to bring the FIFA World Cup to Kansas City. We're creeping up the list, now occupying 12th place among bidding cities. With a strong push tonight, we'll surpass New York/New Jersey for 11th place. Go to www.goUSAbid.com/kc, sign the petition, invite your friends and family and help us get there!

Lastly, U.S. Soccer is now accepting applications for four categories in the Best of U.S. Soccer awards. Nominations are being accepted for Best Soccer Bar, Best Soccer Specialty Store, Best Soccer Blog and Best Fan Picture. Click here to read more about the awards and nominate those that you feel are deserving. I have heard that a few of you have nominated Hillcrest Road for Best Soccer Blog. We certainly appreciate that! Here in Wizards land, Mike at Down the Byline, Thad at the Back Post, the folks at KC Soccer Review, Gooch and several others all do a wonderful job. Anyone from this group is deserving. We encourage you all to nominate your favorite blog, whether it's ours or one (or more) of theirs. Show what KC soccer fans read!

U.S. U-17s Trailing Italy

The U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team continued their quest for the FIFA U-17 World Cup this morning with a Round of 16 match-up against Italy. Italy took a lead in the 29th minute through AC Milan's Giacomo Beretta. Follow the match at U.S. soccer's Twitter, ESPN360.com or the U.S. Soccer match tracker. We'll provide updates after the fact and through our Twitter page.

**Update** The U.S. scored after the break to tie the match at 1-1, but allowed a goal just minutes later and ended up losing 2-1.

Jimmy Conrad Show Finale

Conrad celebrating after the USA clinched qualification in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Photo courtesy of Andy Mead/Yellow Card Journalism.

Tonight, the final Jimmy Conrad Show of the 2009 season takes place live from Fox and Hound in Overland Park from 8-9 p.m. CT. As an added incentive for fans who come out to the show, Conrad will be raffling off an autographed U.S. National Team jersey he wore in the final two FIFA World Cup qualifiers. If you look closely, you can see it under the Qualified 2010 shirt above! (Hmm...maybe that's a jacket. Well....it's in there.)

If you can't make it to the show to enter the drawing, listen live locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB or streamed at kcwizards.com.

Goal of the Year Nominees

Attackers Davy Arnaud and Claudio Lopez are both up twice for the AT&T Goal of the Year award. Davy is nominated for his long-range, left-footed bomb in Week 1 and a give-and-go and give-and-go effort in Week 13. Lopez is up for his free kick in Week 10 and his past-the-halfline bomb in Week 19. Click here to pick your favorite and help our guys make the final 10, which will be announced November 11.

Also, a reminder that a UEFA Champions League watch party is taking place right now at the Leawood 810 Zone. Head over that way to watch Chelsea take on Atletico Madrid. Follow the other games from elsewhere on Fox Soccer Channel or at the ESPN Soccernet live score page here.

Save of the Year

Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman has three nominees up for the Degree Men Save of the Year honor. His stops from Week 8, Week 11 and Week 32 are among 40 nominees for the award. Go vote here to help narrow the field to the top 10 saves of the year for another round of voting. The top 10 saves will be announced November 11.

Also, don't forget about today's UEFA Champions League watch party at the Leawood 810 Zone. The festivities start at 1 p.m. CT, with Davy Arnaud and Jack Jewsbury set to attend to view the match with fans. If you don't have lunch plans already, we hope to see you out at the 810 Zone at Town Center.

Worst Jerseys Ever?

The good ol' Wiz jerseys on Carlos Valderrama day.

This one is worth a chuckle. The folks over at UniWatch have put us up against the Colorado Caribous and the USMNT from 1994 for the worst-ever soccer jerseys. What do you think? Were they right? Which of our former jerseys is your favorite awesomely bad uniform?