Month: September 2014

Costa Rican team to visit Sporting KC tonight

Sporting Kansas City continues its 2014-2015 CONCACAF Champions League campaign on Thursday as it plays host to Deportivo Saprissa in the first of back-to-back group stage matches at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan.

Sporting KC (0-0-1, 1 pt) and Saprissa (1-0-1, 4 pts) were drawn into Group 2 of this year’s edition of the tournament along with Real Esteli FC (0-1-2, 2 pts).

Tickets to both matches are included in Sporting Kansas City season ticket packages. Additional tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com or at the Sporting Park box offices on game day. Because of CONCACAF regulations, there will be no standing room only tickets released for CCL home matches.

Thursday’s match will kick off at 7 p.m. and will be nationally televised on Fox Sports 1 (English) and Univision Deportes (Spanish).

Sporting Kansas City opened the 2014-2015 CCL group stage in Nicaragua, playing Real Esteli FC to a 1-1 draw at Estadio Independencia last month. Sporting KC conceded an own goal in the sixth minute before winger Antonio Dovale leveled the score 10 minutes later with a perfectly placed free kick.

Sporting KC advanced from group stage of the 2013-2014 edition of the tournament before falling to eventual champions Cruz Azul in the quarterfinals.

Saprissa will be making its fourth appearance in the current format of the competition and first since the 2011 edition when they reached the semifinal stage. Sporting KC and Saprissa have previously played in CONCACAF competition meeting in the 2005 Champions Cup quarterfinals. Saprissa prevailed 2-1 on aggregate after a scoreless first leg in Kansas City.

In this year’s tournament, Deportivo Saprissa leads Group 2 with four points after two games against Real Esteli: a 1-1 road draw and a 3-0 home victory. Real Esteli is second with two points through three contests. Sporting KC can draw even with Saprissa in the standings with a win on Thursday. Sporting KC is the only MLS team making a second consecutive appearance in the CCL and conceded just one goal in three CCL matches at Sporting Park during last year’s competition.

Saprissa is the defending champion of the Costa Rican Primera Division and is undefeated (3-0-1) in their first four league games. Forward Ariel Rodriguez is the Champion’s League joint-top scorer thus far with four goals in the tournament, including a hat-trick on Aug. 26.

The CONCACAF Champions League features the top club teams from across North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The winner of the tournament earns a berth in the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup. The tournament started in 1962 and was originally called the CONCACAF Champions Cup before switching to the current format in 2008 (and now called the CONCACAF Champions League).

– Story from Sporting KC

KCKCC celebrates Constitution Day

Constitution Day was celebrated Sept. 17 at Kansas City Kansas Community College. (KCKCC photo)
Constitution Day was celebrated Sept. 17 at Kansas City Kansas Community College. (KCKCC photo)

by Kelly Rogge
In recognition of the adoption of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, the United States celebrates Constitution Day every Sept. 17. And as in past years, Kansas City Kansas Community College students, faculty and staff spent some time remembering the hard work and dedication of the United States’ founding fathers.

“What is the history of this great document,” said Ewa Unoke, KCKCC professor and chair of the Constitution Day Committee during KCKCC”s Constitution Day event Wednesday. “The American Constitution is the best, most dynamic Constitution in the world. Why? Remembering our founding fathers came from England, they did not like absolutism or a monarchy. So the founding fathers decided to divide the power of the king of England into three – the executive branch, the legislative branch and the judicial branch. We did not like kings and queens because we like freedom, and it is the love of liberty that brought the founding fathers here.”

Constitution Day was created in 2004, replacing what was previously known as Citizenship Day. Sept. 17 was chosen because that was the day that the Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution. The federal law requires that all educational institutions that receive public funds provide some type of education programming on the history of the American Constitution, leading to events such as the one at KCKCC.

This is the ninth year for the Constitution Day event at KCKCC. Among the 60 students and staff who attended were Michael Vitale, vice president for academics and Cherilee Walker, dean of the arts, humanities and social science division. The event included a presentation from Bryan Whitehead, journalism professor at KCKCC; Joe Grasela, reference librarian at KCKCC and Valdenia Winn, professor at KCKCC and a state representative in the Kansas Legislature. Each took one part of the U.S. government and spoke on its history as well as how that relates to state government. Janet Velazquez, law professor at KCKCC, was the moderator and led the question and answer session.

Those in attendance were also given a copy of the Constitution to take with them and were able to ask questions following the presentations.

For more information on Constitution Day or how to get involved with the Constitution Day committee, contact Ewa Unoke at eunoke@kckcc.edu or call 913-288-7119.
Kelly Rogge is the public information supervisor at KCKCC.

A panel discussion was part of Constitution Day Sept. 17 at KCKCC. (KCKCC photo)
A panel discussion was part of Constitution Day Sept. 17 at KCKCC. (KCKCC photo)

Fight reported at Washington High School during past week

A cell phone video of a fight at Washington High School, 7340 Leavenworth Road, Kansas City, Kan., has been playing on news reports from KMBC-TV.

A school district spokesman today said that the school is currently calm and orderly, and the district takes the safety of its students very seriously.

Police today confirmed that there was a fight on Monday between two students at the school, and an arrest was made for battery.

Police also confirmed there was a fight last Friday; officers responded and five arrests were made.

Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools spokesman David Smith said in a statement: “We take the safety of our students extremely seriously, and work hard to maintain a safe and orderly school environment in all of our buildings. Our goal is, of course, to never have a fight in any of our schools. That is a very high mark to hit, and we are extremely concerned that the televising of video of a school fight will actually serve to encourage the very behaviors which we are trying to prevent. Our district police officers, campus officers and the KCK Police Department are working together to identify any individuals involved in disruptive behavior, and to deal with them in accordance with our Code of Conduct and applicable laws. The school is calm and orderly, and we continue to work hard to make sure that all students are learning.”