LIVESTRONG Sporting Park Hosts USA World Cup Qualifying Match Tonight

The United States Men’s National team has a big game tonight against Guatemala, the semi-final round of 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifying. The match will take place at Kansas City’s LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, and will begin at 6 p.m.

The United States needs a win or a tie to advance to the finals. The Americans can also advance with a loss in the game based on the result of the Jamaica vs. Antigua and Barbuda match, but the US squad has made it known it intends to go for the win. USA found itself in this game after winning a critical World Cup qualifying match against Antigua and Barbuda 2-1, with both goals being scored by national team veteran Eddie Johnson.

LIVESTRONG has turned into one of the best venues to watch soccer in the nation, and Kansas City has slowly grown an impressive soccer fan base. A lot of the credit has to go to the success of Sporting Kansas City, which has become one of the best teams in major league soccer and is fueled by a terrific home crowd whenever it plays in KC.

With the Royals stuck in two decades of futility and the Chiefs looking like the worst team in the NFL this season (not to mention they haven’t won a playoff game since January of 1994) Kansas City fans should be grateful that they have Sporting KC and LIVESTRONG park. Our MLS team has given the city a winner to root for, and helps attract marquee matchups like tonight’s world cup qualifier featuring our national team.

Is Kansas City turning into a soccer town? If the Royals and Chiefs keep underperforming, it is entirely possible.

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Chiefs Find New Low Against Bucs

It is a sad time to be Kansas City Chiefs fan, as the team continues to find new lows. The most recent came on Sunday, when Kansas City was blown out by the lowly Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 38-10. The loss drops the Chiefs record to 1-5 on the season.

Entering the game, it looked like Kansas City would have an opportunity to exploit a weak Tampa Bay offense. The Chiefs were coming off an impressive performance against the Baltimore Ravens, and the Bucs had struggled moving the ball this season. After limiting Tampa Bay to only seven points in the first half, Kansas City was lit up in the second half, and wound up surrendering three second half touchdowns and a field goal. Josh Freeman, who has struggled this season and most of his pro career (Freeman has a career rating of only 79), threw for over 300 yards and three touchdowns and looked like a Pro Bowler.

Despite the defensive struggles, Chiefs fans have to be the most frustrated with the offense’s performance. Brady Quinn struggled at times, which is to be expected considering this was his first start since 2009. Quinn did make a couple of good throws, and both of his interceptions really weren’t his fault. A lot of blame needs to be directed at the coaching staff, who dialed up a vanilla game plan despite the fact that Tampa Bay has struggled against the pass this season and lost its best cornerback, Aqib Talib, to a suspension. The Bucs were expecting the dink-and-dunk passes and runs, and with no vertical game, the offense managed only 3 points. Quinn may be rusty, but the coaching staff needs to get aggressive and play to win, rather than playing not to lose. Especially against a struggling unit that was without its best player.

Kansas City’s lone touchdown came on a great special teams play, as running back Shaun Draughn blocked a Buccaneer punt that was recovered by Edgar Jones. Jones made a nice play to get into the end zone, which at the time cut Tampa Bay’s lead to 21-10.

At this point, it is apparent that the Chiefs are heading for a disastrous season that will likely cost GM Scott Pioli and possibly head coach Romeo Crennel their jobs. Pioli absolutely deserves the ax, as he has had four years to build a team and has failed to put a winning product on the field. Crennel is a good defensive coordinator, but has not been successful as a head coach in the NFL. If the team had a top offensive coordinator and a good quarterback, Crennel might not be in the mess he finds himself in.

Unfortunately for Kansas City, the team picked up a victory earlier this season over the Saints. Since the team isn’t getting anywhere near the playoffs, it needs to get the best pick possible in next year’s draft to find someone who can make an immediate difference to this team. It is a sad reality, but winning games no longer does this team any good.

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Kansas City Chiefs - Tampa Bay Buccaneers Preview

If the Chiefs are going to crawl back into the AFC West race and have a respectable season, they’ll need to take advantage of a winnable game on Sunday. The Chiefs’ next opponent, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, have won only one game this season, and have struggled on both offense and defense.

The biggest news for the Chiefs is that the team will have a new quarterback – Brady Quinn gets his first start in Kansas City after Matt Cassel’s concussion injury has ruled him out for Sunday. The Chiefs have run the ball extremely well this season, as Jamaal Charles has rushed for a league-leading 551 yards and also tallied 118 yards receiving. Tampa Bay has only allowed 74 yards-per-game on the ground this year, so this one may come down to whether or not Kansas City can get Charles going.

Tampa Bay has struggled offensively, averaging only 276 yards per game as a unit. Josh Freeman has been average at best under center this season, throwing for a pedestrian 790 yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions. The Bucs haven’t gotten their ground game going as well, as the team’s top two backs, Doug Martin and Legarrette Blount are only averaging 3.5 yards per carry. Kansas City’s defense looked very impressive against the Ravens last week, limiting Baltimore to only nine points despite often defending a short field due to Cassel’s turnovers. If the Chiefs defense continues to play well, a struggling Tampa Bay offense may have no answer.

Both the Chiefs and the Bucs are hard to get a read on, as the two teams have been incredibly inconsistent on both sides of the ball this year. Tampa Bay is coming off a bye week, while Kansas City is coming off an incredibly frustrating loss. Still, the Bucs’ offense has really struggled this year, and it appears that the Chiefs defense is coming into its own. If Brady Quinn can protect the football and make a couple of plays, Kansas City will have a good shot to pick up its second win of the year.

Tampa Bay has won the last three meetings in this series by a combined 13 points. Game time is Sunday at 12:00 p.m.

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DUI Checkpoints Planned For Lee's Summit This Weekend

Drunken driving-related accidents have been increasing in the Kansas City area lately, and police are taking measures to make the roads around the metro safer. One part of this plan is to increase sobriety checkpoints, which will occur in Lee’s Summit this weekend.

The Lee’s Summit Police Department’s traffic safety unity will conduct sobriety checkpoints and patrols this weekend, most likely in areas where DUI arrests and other alcohol-related incidents have occurred recently.

The police department has stated that its goal is to identify drivers who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol and remove them before an accident occurs. Several Kansas City residents have lost their lives in accidents that occurred in the early morning hours of a weekend night over the past couple of weeks, which has forced police in the Kansas City area to crack down.

The lesson, as always, is to grab a ride with a friend or take a cab if you have been out drinking. A little inconvenience or a few dollars is a much better alternative to losing your license, paying hundreds in fines or going to prison.

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Murder Suspect Van Note Freed On One Million Dollar Bond

Susan “Liz” Van Note, a Lee’s Summit lawyer who is accused of killing her father and his girlfriend, was recently freed from jail on bond. The bond was set at an astonishing one million dollars – an attempt to keep Van Note in prison by the judge. Where the money has come from is baffling the prosecution; however Van Note has paid the fee and has been released from prison.

By now, the Van Note murder case is well known to those in the Kansas City area. On the night of October 2, 2010, William Van Note, a 67-year-old millionaire businessman and his longtime girlfriend, 59-year-old Sharon Dickson, were attacked in front of Van Note’s lakefront home in the Sunrise Beach area at the Lake of the Ozarks. When police arrived on the scene, Dickson had been shot several times and had been slashed with a knife, while Van Note had a bullet wound in his head.

Dickson died at the scene, and Van Note was taken to the University Hospital in Columbia, MO and lapsed into a coma after having the bullet removed from his brain. Liz Van Note presented a signed document stating that she had the authority to make medical decisions for her father, and requested that he be removed from life support. Van Note died after doctors turned the life support machine off.

Only last month, a grand jury indictment accused Liz Van Note of killing her father and his girlfriend, and forging his signature on the document that granted her authority to make his medical decisions. Due to the premeditation of her actions, Van Note has been charged with first degree murder.

What is shocking about Van Note paying a million dollar bond is that she declared bankruptcy only a few years ago. A search has begun to find out where this money came from and how Van Note was able to beat the system. Until then, a woman who is suspected of murdering two people is walking free… after paying a one million dollar bond.

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