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.

Kansas City Wizards Change Name and Logo

The team formerly known as the Kansas City Wizards announced Wednesday afternoon that their name going forward would be Sporting Kansas City. The team is trying to reinvent itself with their new stadium opening next summer. Their new logo was also unveiled, and hopefully all this newness will translate into better soccer played on the field. The Wizards were disappointing last season, finishing out of the playoffs in a league where half of the teams go to the postseason.

The new name is a nod to the way European and South American clubs name their teams. Around the world, professional sports teams are known as Sporting Clubs and might have teams competing in several different sports.

Originally Kansas City's Soccer team was known as the Wiz - perhaps the worst EVER name for a sports team. They changed to the Wizards a season later - not much better. They definitely needed a new name and the timing is perfect with a real soccer stadium opening up. I think they went the wrong direction with the new name, however - a mistake many MLS teams have already made. Using Football Club (FC) or Real in the name alienates many Americans who are not used to sports teams being named in this way. In a time that is very important to growing soccer in the US, I think more traditional American name would serve better. Then again maybe no one cares about soccer anyway and never will. Maybe it will grow on me.