It’s Just One Game for Sporting KC, the Sky Isn’t Falling

For the Glory KC is back with the 73rd episode of the show!

Sporting Kansas City got the 2024 season underway on Saturday night and it was more of a whimper than a bang, but it’s early. While play was sloppy and the passes were often off target, it is only one game into the year and the team managed a draw despite not playing particularly well.

Sheena returns to the podcast, and we break down the goals by both teams and a tactical wrinkle with Erik Thommy and Remi Walter. We also look at Peter’s subbing patterns, the crappy Houston Dynamo fans booing Memo Rodriguez, a few player debuts and how the replacement refs did.

Beyond the game, there was other news around Sporting KC this week. Peter Vermes gave an interview to the KC Star with some juicy information about four Designated Player targets that didn’t work out, including Kellyn Acosta and four players to watch as breakout candidates this season.

And SKC announced their roster designations including two surprise DPs (Salloi and Radoja) as well as green cards and some clues about new signing salaries. We even get a little behind the scenes from my trip to Swope Soccer Village to watch Sporting KC II play UMKC (they won 5-2).

We also spend a little time with the KC Current and MLS at large.

In the Digital Crawl, we touch on the following topics:

• Who should be Sporting Legend
• A new SKC II signing
• A US Open Cup update (and it’s not positive)
• SKC Academy and SPR player Tucker Lepley signs with the LA Galaxy
• A couple non-roster invitees of the KC Current, including the owners daughter
• And a US Soccer update on the full national team and the U-20 women

Here is a quick rundown of topics (and approximate start times):

• Sporting KC draw at Houston – 5:31
• Peter Vermes Interview – 36:48
• SKC II Behind the Scenes – 42:54
• SKC Roster Updates – 49:32
• Around MLS – 55:15
• KC Current – 57:43
• Errors and Corrections – 1:07:57
• Digital Crawl – 1:08:14

Upcoming Schedule:

• USWNT in the CONCACAF W Gold Cup
  • Mon, Feb 26th vs Mexico at 9:15 PM CST
  • Quarter Final next weekend (date/time TBD)
• The Philadelphia Union play Deportivo Saprissa on Tue, Feb 27th at 7:15
• Sporting KC host Philadelphia Union – Saturday, March 2nd at 7:30 
• KC Current play the Houston Dash in preseason next Sunday (March 3rd)

Spotify took away our ads, so we turned on “Listener Support.” Don’t feel obligated, but if you have a few spare bucks and a fan of the pod, we’d appreciate your donation.

Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.

You can find For the Glory KC wherever you get your podcasts. Just search “For the Glory KC” and be sure to subscribe! Here are some helpful links:

Spotify | Apple | Amazon | iHeartRadio | Google | Castbox

Be sure to like and subscribe to the podcast. Five-star ratings and reviews will help others find the pod. On Spotify you can review on the mobile app by clicking the three dots. On Apple, it’s much more straight forward. If it’s not quite five-star worthy yet, feel free to let us know in the comments or on Twitter (@PlayFor90 or @ForTheGloryKC) Sheena essentially runs our FTG Twitter, so that’s a great way to get her takes.

Also, you can find the podcast on all the social media platforms: @ForTheGloryKC on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook or you can email us at ForTheGloryKC at Gmail.

Transcript from Revoldiv available after about 24 hours. Click the link, then search “For the Glory KC” for a free transcription (or you can transcribe any podcast you’d like).