Sasha Victorine interview and other stuff from practice 08-14-2008

Went out to practice today and got a little wet. Not as bad as most of the players. First team players were running offensive set piece drills when I got there. Looked real good. Some extremely sharp passing and nice finishing. Hope it goes that well in the game.

Here is Sasha looking a little more damp than usual.


I managed to talk to Sasha for a couple minutes before he went inside...


Sasha talks about getting his first goal this season.



It seems like the team has had a hard time playing the full 90, there is often a 10 or 15 minute period that the team does not play well. It that something the team is working on?


Comically, after the rains today, the grounds crew turned on the wrong sprinklers and soaked a couple of our goalies getting ready to practice some drills. I had my camera put away so by the time I got it ready again I was only able to catch these two shots.







I talked with David Ficklin for a couple minutes today as well. He had no real knews to share about the stadium. I asked him if the latest postponed meeting worried him. He replied with absolute conviction that it did not. "The project will get done" he said. It is unsure how the timeline might change because of the latest delay. I was going to try to pry more out of him but we were interrupted and he escaped.



Peter Vermes was welcoming in someone for a meeting while Josh Wolff was being interviewed by Pete Grathoff of the Kansas City Star. Nice shoes Josh...

More Zavagnin retirement audio

Kerry Zavagnin in the Chivas game...

I wanted to put up some additional audio from the press conference. Many fans have already expressed the desire for Kerry to become an assistant coach for the Wizards. Prior to admitting this was his last season, he talked about getting his coaching license and wanting to coach someday. He would like to coach the Wizards when that spot is open in the future.

I agree with all the fans that would like to see him be an assistant coach next year. If you ever sit close enough to hear the players on the field, you have most likely heard him coaching on the field already. If you ever go to practices, you will see him helping other players and directing them when needed.

In this clip, Kerry Zavagnin talks about the fact that he would like to coach in KC someday.





Kerry Zavagnin talks about getting his coaching license, proving peoples expectations wrong...

Kerry Zavagnin announces he will retire at end of season

Kerry Zavagnin talked about his future in the weekly press conference today. Kerry admitted to Bob Luder of the Kansas City Star that this would be his last year.


Here is the audio...


Here is the Star story...
Wizards’ Zavagnin to retire at season’s end

Kansas City Wizards practice 08-13-2008

Stopped by practice Wednesday morning. When I arrived, half the team was running passing/shooting drills and the other half was working on set pieces.

Midfielder to wing to forward or wing to forward to mid; whatever the combination they practiced (and there were several), it created lots of shots on goalies.

Boris Pardo about to catch a shot...


Eric Kronberg knocks shot to the side...


Carlos Marinelli launching a shot...



After drills, the team scrimmaged. One team was the starting lineup from the last game and they played the reserves. The following are a few shots from the scrimmage. You can see the rest at http://tpbinkc.smugmug.com/gallery/5695653_hirxG/1/351213844_xD5Ex#P-1-15






Harrington did get dinged and came out of the game. Myers took his place. It did not look too serious but we will see how he looks tomorrow.

Kansas City Wizards practice 08-12-2008

Wanted to post a little from Tuesday's practice. The Wizards held a small side tournament. Very entertaining and some great play. Hillcrest Road was out there as well and you can read the details of the teams in Hillcrest Road practice report. Initially the orange team looked very good with Espinoza and Pizzaro scoring frequently and keeping offensive pressure on each opponent. Victorine looked really good in the offense as well.

Pizzaro running away from Lopez tackle...



Two rookies that are close friends? No, Espinoza taking ball from Myers...


Marinelli driving past Captian KC to score winning goal...


Carlos looked really good in the final game. He looked good throughout the day but he really looked good in the final.

Davy Arnaud interview part 2

If you’re sole job was the short-term growth of the Wizards fan base and increasing appreciation for the sport within the community, what would you do?




What's in your CD player or Ipod right now?



Jimmy wrote in his blog: “when I happened to glimpse best friends and teammates, Davy Arnaud and Jack Jewsbury, holding hands (like usual) and buying their normal tabloid trash for the plane ride”. Truth or slander?

Thanks to everyone that left questions in the comments. I hope that we can make this a regular event.

Davy Arnaud interview part 1

The winner (or loser) of the vote to be interviewed was Davy Arnaud. I managed to get a few minutes after practice this morning and he willingly answered questions. Thanks to Mike at Down The Byline for participating in this joint effort. I will post the rest of the answers a little later, enjoy...

Are there any nicknames you guys have for Wizards players that the Cauldron really should know?



If you could bring in 1 player from another MLS team who would it be? DPs or grandfathered DPs don't count. The first voice you hear on this is Jimmy Conrad, he was walking by and heard part of the question.



How would you rate your personal performance this season so far?



Do you read the blogs and bigsoccer and see what's said about the team?



I will get the rest up as soon as I can.

Interview Poll

In the interest of better serving our readers, Mike of Down The Byline and I are working together. We will setup interviews with a player of your choice (if possible). We have selected 4 players that you may want to ask a question or two. The selection was based upon their performance in the last game and the probability that I can get them to stop for a few minutes to talk. Go to the poll on the side of this blog and vote for who you want interviewed. You can also vote at Down The Byline and both votes count. One of the few times you can vote more than once (if you do not live in Chicago). Leave questions in the comments to this post and at the post on Down The Byline. Let us know if it is a player specific question or a general question to any player. Please be reasonably polite. I am not going to ask a player why they are #$%&*@...