Sporting Kansas City's Season Ends, Controversial No-Call Late

Sporting Kansas City’s season is over, as they split a pair of games with the Houston Dynamo yet fell 2-1 on aggregate. It is the second consecutive year that KC’s season has ended in the playoffs against Houston after winning the Eastern Conference regular season title.

The game will leave a bitter taste in the mouths of Kansas City fans, as Sporting was absolutely screwed late in the game on a no-call in the box. A sporting player got the ball in great position in the box, and was blatantly tripped by Houston’s Ricardo Clark in front of the goal. The ref swallowed his whistle, afraid to make the call late in the game. The end result was Sporting’s season coming to an end.

The non-call in the box is even more frustrating due to how badly Sporting dominated last night’s game. Kansas City outshoot Houston 20-3, including 13 shots inside the penalty area. KC also had a 5-0 edge on corner kicks, a 31-1 edge on open-play crosses and held 71% possession.

Due to their dominating play, Sporting had plenty of great chances to add to their lead, but simply couldn’t find a second goal. C.J. Sapong had a great opportunity to score when he beat Houston’s goalkeeper to the ball in the box, but his shot sailed over the crossbar. Minutes later, defender Matt Besler volleyed a bouncing ball in the box slightly over the goal. Midfielder Roger Espinoza found a couple of open looks from deep, but couldn’t deliver a dangerous shot.

The non-call in the box late will loom over this game for quite a while, but Sporting certainly had plenty of chances to tie the aggregate up. The team deserves a lot of credit for not only a brilliant regular season, but fighting back and playing lights-out when their backs were against the wall. Kansas City fans have one sports team they can take pride in this fall.

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Farm Aid 2011 Will be Held in Kansas City

Representatives from the State of Kansas, Livestrong Sporting Park, and Farm Aid were in Kansas City, KS yesterday to officially announce the 2011 Farm Aid Concert will be held at the venue. For 26 years the Farm Aid organization has been raising money to promote and provide support services for small family farms. Their goal is to see the family farm thrive because they believe the small farm provides better quality food, and promotes the survival of the American small town.

Farm Aid started in 1985, one of several benefit concerts inspired by the epic Live Aid of earlier that year. Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, and Neil Young started Live Aid and have been going strong ever since. A benefit concert has been held nearly every year since 1985 and the organization has raised more than $39 million according to their website. Dave Matthews has also been very active since 1995 and a member of the Board of Directors since 2001. Farm Aid has been by far the most successful of the benefit concerts in terms of longevity.

This is the first concert scheduled for Livestrong Sporting park. It will seat 25,000 for the event, and tickets go on sale May 20th. You can get tickets before they go on sale to the general public if you become a member of Farm Aid. The cost is a $50 donation to the organization - it is an annual membership. Tickets to the show range from $29-$149 - unfortunately you have to use Ticketmaster to purchase your tickets.

Chad Ochocinco to Try Out for Sporting KC

In an odd bit of news today, Peter Vermes (Sporting KC's Head Coach) announced the Chad Ochocinco of NFL Wide Receiver Fame has been given a tryout with the Kansas City Soccer Club. He will be on 4 day trial starting next Tuesday. Chad has always had an interest in Soccer from age 4, he says. The NFL lockout will give him the opportunity to pursue a "lifelong dream to play Major League Soccer".

Chad is obviously a world class athlete who could probably excel in a number of sports and this seems to be a serious tryout, though one could have doubts with Ochocinco's past antics. He certainly will be missing the attention if the NFL season is indeed canceled for the upcoming year.

In other soccer news, tickets went on sale today for the upcoming Men's National Soccer team Gold Cup game against Guadeloupe. This game will be played at Sporting KC's new stadium, LIVESTRONG Park. The US game will be preceded by Canada vs Panama.