I this story posted on the Dirty Tackle blog today. Jaguares of Mexico have replaced the last name of players on the back of their jerseys with each player's twitter handle. This comes about a month after Valencia put thier twitter handle on the front of their jerseys in place of a sponsor.
This past season, Sporting players, employees, commentators, and fans can all be found on twitter and much more so than in years past. I personally use twitter almost exclusivley for keeping up with the team and seeing what the collective fan reaction is to what's going on with the team and the league. It seems to me that much of the more traditional forms of discussion, such as BigScocer, have seen much of their traffic shifted to these new forms of media like Twitter and Facebook.
The twitter handles of Wizards can be found and promoted on the website, in the program, and even during the introductions of players at games. With heavy use of Twitter in Sporting's push in the play offs (#ibelievethatwewillwin), to the use of multiple Twitter accounts assocaited with the organization and stadium (@sportingkc, @robbheineman, @joinsporting, @livesrtongpark, @SportingInnov, etc), to having multiple players very active tweeters, I could totally see Sporting becoming the first team in the MLS to put player's handles somewhere on their jerseys.
This a little video I found on blog, The Offsides Rules. It highlights some of the technological features of the park and what the organization is doing to engage fans and enhance the game day experience.
I don't have an android phone or an iPhone so I've never been able to take advantage of the different apps while at the stadium. I've heard good things but also some backlash about being distracted from the play on the field. I'd be curious to find out how effective that technology has been in enhancing the game day experience.
On the blog post, there was a snide post about "corporate buzzwords" in the comment section. Although I'm sure you'd find some cynicism in KC, I think those criticisms are mainly a reflection of people from outside the metro area. My best guess is that they're just jealous that they don't have a stadium as nice as ours and their ownership group isn't doing enough to reach out to them.
I have no problem with our ownership exporting and making a bit of profit off of what they've accomplished. It gives us some great PR/exposure and it allows them to see some return from all the money they've invested in this team and LSP.
Over the last year or so I've heard a little bit of criticism of OnGoal as being only in it for the money. That might be part of their motivation but they won't see any real return on their investment for years to come. The team has yet to make profit since the team was bought. I truly believe the ownership in it for the right reasons. But that doesn't mean they can't leverage what they've learned, consult others, and make some money.
I think in the future you'll see the technology being used at LSP being implemented in stadiums around the country and around the world. I saw a tweet that the CIO from Real Madrid was in town a few weeks ago. Not only will you see our technology in the rest of sports, but I'm guessing they'll find a way to utilize this technology in other areas of the market. Sporting Innovations will be only the beginning. We'll see the partnership with Cisco as well as Google and their high speed fiber grow in the years to come.
I for one am excited to see where all of this goes. It's fun to follow this stuff and see our team being used a vehicle for driving innovation in sports and the marketplace but I hope (I think they will) continue to invest in the team and product on the field.
MLSsoccer.com named Alecko Eskandarian's second goal of the 2004 MLS Cup the 32nd best moment of the Final's history. Here's a video of the goal as well as some reaction from Davy and Kerry.
This incident is probably why many Wizard's fans continue to refer to DC as Handball United. The DC faithful have always contended that he didn't do it on purpose. The rules basically say that it's at the referee's discretion to determine whether a handball has been committed if a player handles a ball in order to avoid injury. I think it's a clear handball and no referee, who had clearly seen it, would have let the goal the stand.
That season, that team, and that game are very special to me. My family had always been to a handful of Wizards games every season since the league started in 1996. By the 2004, I had become a pretty big fan of the team. Half way through the season, my Dad told me that if the team made it to the Cup, he'd make sure we flew out to LA to see them play. Lo and behold the Wiz made it to the championship and my Dad, brother, and I made the journey to the Home Depot Center. The whole experience was incredible and heartbreaking. We flew out in the morning and flew back to KC that night. It was a tough game to watch with us giving up so many goals in such a short period of time, especially Alecko's second. We railled a bit with Josh's PK conversion and kept up the pressure, but in the end it wasn't enough.
From that day forward I was hooked and have been a die hard fan ever since. I like the Royals. I like the Chiefs. But the Wizards are My team.
The guys that made up the roster for that game and that season have always been the core of my Wizard's dream team. Jimmy Conrad (my all time favorite player) joined the team in 03 and established himself as our rock in the back alongside Nick Garcia. Jose Burciaga made those runs down the left side and even had a left foot blast for our first goal in that final. Davy Arnaud had a breakout season that year and really established himself in the team's starting lineup. Jack Jewsbury rallied from a disappointing rookie year and proved that he was a great utility player. Kerry Zavagnin also played a key role and you can't forget Tony Meola and the all time greatest Wizard, Preki. For me these players defined the team and will forever be ingrained in my mind as Wizards and as players that established my passion for following this team.
In the years since that final, the team has been through so much. Its crazy to think that 7 years have passed. I find my team with a new amazing ownership group, a new brand and official name, a new home, and with the exception of Davy, a completely new roster. Over the past 7 years the team and its fan base has experienced near rock bottom (the only way it could have been worse is if we'd moved) to the highest of highs (for me walking into LIVESTRONG and finally feeling like we were home).
This season and run since we've been home has been an absolute ride. I'd love to find myself back in LA come November.
Here is a YouTube clip of some reaction to Henry's red card from this past weekend. I liked hearing Roger's take on the situation. He seems to take a lot of criticism outside of KC for his play he play. Many seem to view him as a dirty player but I think there is a big difference between being dirty and playing hard for the ball. I've always admired Roger's heart and tenacity out on field and I hope he remains in KC for seasons to come.
Speaking of Roger Espinoza, Ives Galarcep wrote an amazing piece about Roger's career from growing up in Honduras, immigrating to America, playing a little college soccer, getting signed to a Generations Adidas contract and being drafted by the Wizards, to becoming an integral part of our team, and playing for Houndaras in last summer's World Cup. Like I said, I'm a huge Espinoza fan and I'm so happy to see him getting some national coverage and recognition.
Finally, in another story about immigrants, Alan Hainkel of the Bleacher Report mentioned in his coverage of last Saturday's game
"Before the game, 50 people took the oath of allegiance to the United States and became new American citizens. A US district court judge administered the oath, and they were then welcomed by US Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS). One of the new citizens from Peru then sang the national anthem."
I arrived a bit late to the game and came in right as the national anthem was being sung. I a little bummed I missed the ceremony. I love stories like these and I think its great that we welcomed these new American citizens before we witnessed the world's game. I can't think of a better venue!
It was a wonderful night at LIVESTRONG Park as the Wizards took on the Goats for an exhibition match this evening. A few things that I took away from the game:
In an interview with the KC star, Robb talked about using tonight as an opportunity to showcase our team and stadium to new fans. SKC fans were certainly out numbered and based of the hoards of red and white, as well as how many people I saw posing for pictures after the game, I would guess we were able to showcase our team to thousands of new fans. I hope all of that exposure coupled with a great experience at the park leads to some converts.
The dynamic of having opposing fans at games is something I wish we had more of in the MLS. Our games have been deafening at times this season but I would imagine whole sections of away supporters would lead to even greater crowd involvement throughout the game.
Even though we've got an immensely important home game this weekend, I have to agree with Mike from Down the Byline, it was nice to have a game to watch since it would have been almost 2 weeks between league games. It gave the team a chance to play a good opponent and prepare for Saturday's game. I was happy that most of our main starters only played about 45 minutes with the exception of Collin who played the whole game.
I'm a little worried about the field. It still looked like it was in terrible shape tonight. I know there will also be some wear and tear on it tomorrow with an event being held there most of the afternoon. It will certainly take a beating on Saturday since we play New York followed by a KC Blues Rugby game. We'll see how it holds up into the playoffs. I just hope they've learned a lot this year and can get it right come next season.
Finally, it was great to see Soony and Kevin Ellis get goals tonight. Our attack is already so deep with Kei, Omar, CJ, and Teal, its nice to know we've got even more depth beyond them.
Also I'm a collector of soccer scarves and tonight and I added my 5th Sporting scarf to the collection. Its the white "Draft" scarf with Sporting Kansas City on one side and the Adidas logo and SKC crests on the other.
