Positives, problems, and a plan.

With the year at a much too quick end it seems like a good time to post another long catch-all.

KC has been accused of many things including, lack of attention to detail on a day-to-day basis, a fat keeper, a poor back-up, lack of finishing, lack of defense, lack of scheme, Bunker Bob tactics (my personal favorite fallacy), not playing :90 and rolling over.

Two Cup semifinals, a solid record featuring just one more loss than LA and SJ, and extending LA in the playoffs are more than just signs of quality.

They earned praise for their ability to raise their game at times during a match and for wing play. Most of their games were entertaining at a minimum, even the drubbings. Even the few 0-0 draws were unusually entertaining compared to previous seasons. Ticket sales are up apparently, they wear one color, and fans are increasingly getting marginally older, more knowedgeable, and more blue. Now if they would just rid themselves of the embarassing "little Wizards' girls", ugh!

Please people, only the mothers of the rugrats living vicariously through their spawn enjoy it. Everyone else is cringing outright or watching in a way not unlike rubbernecking an accident scene on the side of the road at night. You know you shouldn't because of what you might have to witness, but you just can't help but look.

So what to fix? Off field, attendance would be key. It's hard to tweak the schedule because at some point more warm Saturadays are required and they are already filled. So why not try to market to adults? KC is a noted fair-weather sports town. Not many showed up for Chief's games until they A) won some games, and B)discovered the party available to them (tailgates). Both happened before attendance peaked. KCW will not have the sell-out atmosphere of winter Sunday's, but the weather is certainly better for grills, cold beverages, and fewer clothing. To me this is the most sellable point of KCW. DC's is 3 titles and a pseudo-tradition. CHI's is the event atmosphere of wherever they play in addition to the great FIRE concept. LA and MET have helpful demographics among other things. CLB has a stadium and a concept that works there. COL has better marketing apparently. NE has a world class park and a concept. KC has few of these things, can't get them today, and so they should accentuate their natural positives - tailgates, many good looking ladies, and people looking for a party. Pander to the big appetites of our city, they'll show up and bring bored friends. Just an idea. Also, The Comets have increased their corporate sponsors by three-fold over last year. If that level can sell to adults, certainly MLS can. Eight other MLS teams seem to be doing it.

On field. At the risk of making a strong statement, I believe KC has almost everything it needs right now.

Coach: Gansler has coached at the highest level and won titles. He takes flak, but the record is more than favorable. A fair schedule or one more finish in Game 1 v LA and maybe there are no gripes. Mulqueen has certainly helped Bo reach a higher standard and Meola is quality. Bliss is a mostly unknown quantity to me, but his resume is great. Fault coaching if you must, but who's better and available? If injuries are tied to the trainer then maybe Chet North could find another level, but what do I know? Chet has been a good guy every time I've met him.

GK: Abs withstanding, Meola is great when healthy; even Bo was much better over last year.

D: Everyone else's fans hate Garcia. What bigger compliment to a defender? His tackle on Hernendez' breakaway in the 2000 playoffs still stands as one of the best tackles I've ever seen in 20+ years of watching games at all levels. That said, a suspect back line was sometimes routed and blew way too many leads to get a pass. Bordering on criminal was thier collective inability to stop set pieces until October. In the recent KC Star article Burns was rumored to be gone with good servant Vermes. A healthy Burciaga hopefully will help replace Burns and Talley wasn't horrible in replacing Vermes in the central D (and did provide goals). Guti and Brunt are the only other fill-ins on the roster. Bag on Brunt if it makes you feel better. To me he's an obviously gifted athlete that looked every bit like a rookie from a small school that was asked to do mental and physical things he never had to before. Jerry Rice was in the same boat once is all I am saying. That's a pretty young back line that may be solid for some time if things break right. Obviously, this is the gap to be filled.

M: Zavagnin is the solid dependable link to midfield. Good enough for me. Guti on a wing playing to a healthy Quill reaped benefits in the playoffs. More of that should come next year. Klein can run all day and prvide his own depth. Preki is Central. Simu, Armstrong, and Gomez can provide depth or start if needed. Our midfield is stacked on both sides and central. Not too many problems except maybe age and available PT. A trade is highly possible from this position.

F: Fabbro showed he can score and be dangerous at a reduced pace. Launguage and being here for a full year should enable him to pick up some of the load. Brown certainly should have done more than score 4 with his 30+ shots. I don't remember too many of those shots being ify in nature. Most were quality opportunities. By all appearances, Brown has that rare mentality to forget mistakes and look forward. If either can finish at even a slightly higher rate KC will be greatly improved.

Future Additions: A #3 overall draft pick Jan 17. and some possible Cap casualty (read: LA after picking up the Korean) pick ups loom. I belive you take the best athlete available regardless of position, but the obvious needs are mean defenders with size and an assassin up front. Depth and a young Preki-type being among lesser ones.

Team concepts: The lack of coverage on set pieces stands out. Finishing was below par. Blowing leads and lacking :90 minutes of road effort I think are fair gripes. Forwards playing defensively is another area predicated on effort. Embarassing conduct and consequences of such is another very correctable area. All but the first concern have probably been addressed at length.

Finishing should be a team-wide off season focus for three reasons. KC's 2002 was a horrible year for finishing statistically (only tragicly inept dc was worse and KC created far more chances), they set a team record for ties, and Preki is still Preki and will eat up shots and opportunities as he has every minute of his MLS play. Last year #11 had 88 shots and just 7 goals. At 39/40 this ratio isn't likely to change radically. As there are only so many chances in a game, others much finish at a higher rate to compensate adequately.

[soapbox]
What I would do given the paycheck and ability to decide in the off-season:

1. Scout everything possible to be better informed. Klein, Garcia, and Zags are all draft picks. Burciaga and Brunt have potential. That leaves about 15 draft picks that didn't work. Not horrible, but draft picks are the most Cap friendly additions possible. 2. Every practice will highlite finishing drills after a standard practice. If they can do it tired, they can do it anytime. In addition every 4th practice would be a simulated game with piped in crowd loud noise taken from ESPN tapes at Chicago, Barcelona, or whatever. Something needs to be done to address the the lack of road performance. 3. Shape 2003 marketing to increase the focus on adults and the "party" to be had. No new efforts, but continue what is in place for the inevitable youth marketing. Keep giving out blue things at games. Encourage blue anything at games. Be bold, demand it. Is there anyone that wasn't impressed by Chicago's late season atmosphere, field aside? 4. Get a real mascot. how hard is it to get a blue wizard and some simple tricks to go with the character? There are a thousand Santa's everywhere come December. There are a few hundred thousand older guys with time and tricks. Surely one retired creative guy with will and a brain could pull this off to the degree it would do everything the dragon does. It seems to me that with a Renassance Fest in town, there should be at least 2-3 guys that actually do do it. Or keep the green Dragon and add the Wizard. Isn't this part of what advertising and marketing companies are for? 5. Address the passion in Arrowhead. Write some stadium cheers. Make some oversized cards for the cheerleaders. K! C! or Go! Wiz! Steal from someone - Who's the best?!? Blue! Who?!? Blue! I dunno, I'd demand more from my Mktg. people and get it done. Find the sorely missed Brazilians and thier wonderful drums. It's still the one aspect of KC atmosphere that was (and still would be) unique to MLS. Other teams have drums, but they can't play the samba laced rythyms of circa '97. Not even close. That isn't a knock on anyone, just an indication of quality. Sam, you want to back me on this point? Arrowhead has historically lacked widespread passion from all but the Mystics corner. Passion is contagious and having two sections of it increases the synergy of the whole stadium. This is why the "redneck" from 118 gets so much video board play. Basic stuff Wizards. Why do you think Mexi games are so much fun?

I hate that March is so far away and I love my Wizards.
[/soapbox]