Ok, amateur hour for me. I take my camera to practice and get permission to video the players. My thought was to get the new guys for like 30 seconds or so. However, I didn’t bring extra batteries So, what I got was a clip of Davy Arnaud talking about his injury, new season, possibility of playing striker. I then took clips of Roger Espinoza and Yomby William. They’ll be posted below.
At practice, after a peptalk from Robb Heineman, the guys started off by being timed for an interval sprint. I think it was 10 yards and 30 yards. Very funny watching all the false starts and the jibes from the players. I think that Leathers was the fastest. Jack Jewsbury and Scott Sealy both ran it. So did Pore so he can practice now.
After this the teams broke down to play 3v3 games. Which is where I got shots of Espinoza and William. Scott Sealy and Pore were involved in these games but Jack wasn’t.
Next up was 6v6. There were 4 teams. Those that sat out were Davy, Jack, Sealy, and Kronberg(not sure why). Curt Onalfo played striker on a team that had mostly starters (Sasha, Harrington, Morsink) and Jon Leathers. But that team was the best. Harrington scored a goal and Sasha scored off a free kick to the far post. The other teams were mixed of veterans and new guys.
There was a trialist named Andrew DiCicco of San Diego State. Chris Snitko(1997 to 2000 w/KC) was there playing keeper. Also a red headed former UCLA keeper named Eric Reed(thanks to mizzouligan82). Alos, Reed played in USL last season for California. Eloy Colombano was not at practice (maybe he’ll join the team in Argentina?)
Overall the intensity of practice was really high. Everything seemed to be smoother today than Monday, so that’s a good sign. Now the team is off to sunny Florida.
Before practice on Thursday I went by the Swope Park training ground to get a video of the construction of the new field. It is to the south of the current fields and west of the building.
Lewis: Hall of Fame worthiness Peter Vermes–Currently the Kansas City Wizards technical director, Vermes extended his career by moving back from the front line to midfield and….
Bannister Improvement So, Richard Tolbert wants a “nice black mall” rather than “white oriented soccer” (1/27, Letter) What is a nice black mall?
Says he’s been with KC since the 27th and I think I recall him from Monday’s practice. I’ll be going out there tomorrow(Thursday). I’ll be sure to get some pictures of him.
Seems he has played at forward, midfielder and defender throughout his career. He’s 26 years old. If he’s trying to make the team as a defender, he’s got a lot of competition.
Thursday Practice
As said, I am going to practice on Thursday. Is there any particular player that you all want to see pictures off (sorry, no requests for Jimmy, Chance, Will ). I’ll even try for some video of players if you all want. Just tell me who!
*NEW* OZ City reports Will John seems to have been offered a contract with Randers FC. (updated at 11:45 AM) OG
Group Plans New Effert to challenge Bannister Mall project. A group opposing Bannister Mall’s demolition will start a new campaign to save the shopping center after failing to muster support for a petition drive challenging the Kansas City Council’s support for a nearly $1 billion redevelopment……..If you can’t get the support of the public what do you do? Come up with some crazy idea where you will be given the title to the mall. Mr Tolbert just give it up.
Tor Exclusive: Off Season Chat with Alecko Eskandarian Q: Scoring against Real Madrid or scoring in the MLS Cup ,which get you more props from players? A: You know……….But I think most of the guys remember the 2 goals in the MLS Cup, at least Jimmy Conrad does!
Well the first practice of 2008 was this morning. I traveled out there to watch them stretch, run, do some drills and rotate through two 5v5 games.
When I got there they had rosters of the players with their numbers. Which I am sure will change later. I’ll list some here. Espinoza was 45, Healy 39, Leathers 23, Marquess 36, Ibrahim Kante(trialist) 44 and William 32. McKenzie was there, but I don’t recall his #. Arze wasn’t there, he’s the one that signed with Vancouver. I am not sure if Gray was there. The supplemental keeper, Kartunen, wasn’t there either. Boris Pardo (spelling?), the league keeper, was at the session and there was a redheaded keeper there too(no idea who he was).
There were some that did not practice with the team but did their own workouts: Arnaud, Sealy and Jewsbury. And I guess Kronberg too, as he was with the keepers but wasn’t in the 5v5 games. Ryan Pore also didn’t practice, he isn’t allowed to run around until they find out what’s wrong.
Players that weren’t at the practice were Will John, Jimmy Conrad and Chance Myers. But also Eloy Colombano wasn’t present – maybe it has to do with his visa? And no, Ivan Trujillo was not there but I think he’ll be with the team in Florida.
Kevin Harman’s hair is bleached and really short. Also Kevin looks to have thinned up a bit, by maybe 20 pounds or so. He looked leaner but more fit than last year. Ryan McMahen was out there going full board so he looks to be recovered. Overall the players touch wasn’t great and it took a bit to see some good football but it eventually came and was fun to see.
The 5v5 teams were split up pretty evenly with Wizards mainstays and new draftees and last seasons reserves. For the new guys I thought that Healy and Marquess looked pretty good. Leathers seemed to be on the same page as the rest of the guys. Espinoza looke a bit out of place pretty often but also some great plays. Ibrahim Kante, this dude is huge, he listed at 215 and 6-3. His touch was off and on. I did not get to see William Yomby play in 5v5 but he’s the tallest field player at 6-4 (only Kronberg taller).
The guys were going all out in their games too. The current roster players did pretty well, I got to see a lot of Morsink and Marinelli (they were on the same team) and they were working well together.
Funny Story
Ok, funny story time. Last year I went to a Sprint Campus practice and took pictures of Carlos Marinelli and basically broke the story that it was Marinelli that KC brought back with them from Argentina. Curt Onalfo knew about it and thought it was great that fans were interested to that level. No big deal. So today, I am talking with Robert (Cauldron President) on the phone and talking about practice. The team gathers around Curt, etc. I am relaying this to Robert and tells me that Curt is probably going to tell them to stay away from me and even point me out. All joking, right. Well, not a minute later Curt turns and points in my direction and every single player turns and LOOKS RIGHT AT ME. My heart started fluttering, my voice stuck in the middle of talking to Robert. I am thinking … Oh Shit. And just then Jack, Davy, Scott and Ryan Pore walk right by me. Silly me. Pretty funny though. I should have known I couldn’t be THAT important, let alone important
And a second funny story. This is the first time the players have gathered together, so I got from Ryan Pore that they were all still learning who was who on site, and even what their names were. Well, it proved out true in one game where Kerry Z and trialist Kante are on the same team. All throughout the games you hear first names being called out for passes, shots, to move, etc. Well, for Kante it was “hey you, big guy” from Kerry Zavagnin. That got a laugh from some of the front office staff that I was sitting with.
*previously Kante was referred to as McKenzie.*
Midseason Tournament
You know how season ticket holders have 18 games in their ticket package. So, 15 home games and one is proably for a playoff game, a second if we host the conference finals. What’s the 3rd one for? Well, I was chatting with Greg Cotton about whether there would be any home friendlies before the season started. Thought it’d be great to have Atlas in town for a game – and I think they will play Atlas but I think it will be in Mexico. Greg says that it’s still in the planning stage but there will be an international friendly tournament hosted by KC in the middle of the season. Wow. Very, very nice. I am guessing that’s probably 2 games for KC. No real details yet, but hopefully soon.
That’s all I have for now. The practices for the rest of the week are open to the public also. I do have some pictures that I try to get linked here soon.
Here’s some Video of practice. It’s 30 seconds and not the best.
So, what I got was a clip of Davy Arnaud talking about his injury, new season, possibility of playing striker. I then took clips of Roger Espinoza and Yomby William. They’ll be posted below.
Posted by georgeshook 
). I’ll even try for some video of players if you all want. Just tell me who!
