Kansas City Mike checks in.

Mike is the Kansas City Wizard blogger who writes downthebyline. You have to salute dedicated Wizard fans such as Mike. MLS teams such as KC (and Columbus) represent the legacy of Lamar Hunt, a man who dedicated millions to establishing soccer in the American heartland. We Toronto fans can be justly proud of our contribution to recent success, but we did arrive very late to the party in MLS terms. It is interesting to speculate if we would have been as dependable/passionate if we had been part of the leaner years. Mike was good enough to supply me with the KC view on their home opener versus TFC.
Weather Report
He is unsure as to what style of spring weather Kansas City will provide this weekend. It could be mild, it could be wild. Stay tuned.
Attendance projection
There should be a sell-out, but Mike worries that empty seats will appear on tv." Honestly I'm fully expecting a sell out crowd. There will be open seats that your fans will see "behind home plate" but that reason is because that is a GA (general admission) area like the grass berm because the seats behind home plate are horrible, so most of the people will be sitting on the berm instead."
Progress with the new KC stadium
Mike says "Stadium plans are going well, official renderings still haven't been released yet unfortunately although we keep begging for them. The mall itself should be down in another month or so I believe." For those who have yet to check out his blog the construction of the new stadium involves the dismantling of an existing mall property.
Hopes and Fears
Mike is worried about the increased strength of TFC, particularly the addition of DeRo. (TFC fans shudder when we recall the performance of the team on the fall 08 visit to KC - it might have been an all time low). Kansas City fans are looking forward to the debut of Santiago Hirsig, their new Argentinian midfielder. Remember that the Wizards were a playoff team last year and they were knocked out by the eventual Cup champs, Columbus.
Thanks again Mike for the information. We wish you limited luck in your first game, but would love to be tangling again come playoff time this year !!