Month: August 2020

Sporting KC back in action Friday in Minnesota

Major League Soccer’s anticipated return to home markets delivers a showdown as Western Conference leaders Sporting Kansas City (4-1-0, 12 points) visit second-place Minnesota United FC (3-0-2, 11 points) on Friday at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The newest chapter of this Midwestern rivalry will kick off at 6:30 p.m. with three hours of live coverage on FOX Sports Kansas City Plus, FOX Sports Midwest Plus and FOX Sports GO beginning at 6 p.m. Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM will also provide local radio calls of the action, with The Final Whistle postgame show airing immediately afterward on 810 WHB.

The first five months of an unprecedented MLS campaign saw Sporting and Minnesota play five regular season matches apiece. Both clubs raced to 2-0-0 starts in early March prior to a lengthy suspension of play, which preceded the historic MLS is Back Tournament last month at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Sporting met Minnesota in the team’s group stage opener on July 12 and took a 1-0 first-half lead through forward Khiry Shelton, but the Loons struck twice in second-half stoppage time to snatch a 2-1 victory.

Minnesota finished second and Group D and progressed to the tournament semifinals, while Sporting beat the Colorado Rapids and Real Salt Lake to finish atop the group before ultimately falling to the Philadelphia Union at the quarterfinal stage.

Friday marks the beginning of a fast and furious run of matches through the end of the regular season. All MLS clubs will play 18 more times between now and Decision Day on Nov. 8 to conclude the 23-game regular season. The MLS Cup Playoffs, featuring an expanded field of 18 teams, are slated to begin on Nov. 20 and culminate with the 25th MLS Cup on Dec. 12.

Under the guidance of 12th-year manager Peter Vermes — the longest tenured head coach in MLS — Sporting is off to one of its best starts in recent memory. The club boasts a plus-8 goal differential, tied for the best in MLS, and its 13 goals scored are the most through the first five matches of a regular season in club history.

Key offseason additions Alan Pulido (three goals, four assists) Khiry Shelton (three goals, one assist) and Gadi Kinda (two goals, two assists) have played instrumental roles for one of the league’s most potent attacks. On the opposite end of the pitch, Sporting goalkeeper Tim Melia currently boasts a 316-minute regular season shutout streak dating back to Feb. 29, the longest active run in the league.

Similarly, head coach Adrian Heath and Minnesota are enjoying the best start to a campaign in the club’s four-year existence. The Loons remain unbeaten in regular season play and have 12 goals through five matches, all of which have taken place away from home.

Midfielder Jan Gregus is tied for second in MLS with four assists, while Kevin Molino (two goals), Luis Amarilla (two goals) and Ethan Finlay (two goals) have provided a clear scoring punch.

Sporting and Minnesota have battled on 13 occasions since the Loons joined MLS in 2017, with Vermes’ side holding a 5-4-2 record across all competitions.

The teams split the regular season series in 2019 — Sporting prevailed 1-0 at Children’s Mercy Park last August and Minnesota claimed a 2-1 home win a month later — prior to locking horns in the MLS is Back Tournament this summer. Sporting is winless in five previous trips to Minnesota in all competitions and will aim to end that drought in the Loons’ 2020 home opener.

Despite their strong position in the standings, Minnesota is currently faced with a pair of defensive injury concerns.

Former Sporting center back and reigning MLS Defender of the Year Ike Opara will miss the game with an undisclosed injury, while starting goalkeeper Tyler Miller recently underwent hip surgery and is out for the season. In Miller’s absence, newcomer Greg Ranjitsingh will likely get the nod between the posts.

The 27-year-old won consecutive USL Championship titles with Louisville City FC in 2017 and 2018 prior to joining Orlando City SC in the MLS ranks last year.

Midfielder Felipe Gutierrez is the only Sporting player ruled out on Friday. The club’s top scorer from 2019 had successful knee surgery in June and will be sidelined for the rest of the season.

Supporters can access the Sporting KC app for additional in-game updates and visit https://www.sportingkc.com/post/2020/08/20/join-minvskc-virtual-watch-party-friday-aug-21-2020 to join a virtual watch party for the match.

Story from Sporting KC

Resiliency during COVID-19 topic of program

Wyandotte County reported 5,448 cumulative COVID-19 cases at 4 p.m. Thursday, an increase of 51 cases since Wednesday. There were 109 cumulative deaths, no change since Wednesday. (From UG COVID-19 webpage)

Becoming resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic was discussed at a University of Kansas Health System news conference on Thursday morning.

Archbishop Joseph Naumann of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas and Bishop Susan Candea of the Central States Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America discussed hope and resiliency for the community during the pandemic.

Archbishop Naumann of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, said he would encourage a person of faith to turn to the Lord or to the Scriptures and read from the word of God. Prayer needs to be real.

“An important part is listening to the Lord, and if we do that, we know the Lord is with us,” he said. “A phrase that’s most often used in the Scriptures is ‘Be not afraid.’”

He said he would encourage people to open their hearts to the Lord, be honest and hear the response that the Lord is with them.

In a lot of ways, he said, the Lord is inviting people to show concern and to be witnesses of hope.

Physical exercise and not overloading on the news also is important, he said.

On a biochemical level, fear can lead to changes in the brain and lead to inflammatory processes, according to Dr. Dana Hawkinson of KU Health System.

Archbishop Naumann said, “One of the ways I think we can come through this fast is not to be so inward-focused., when you’re feeling down, to call somebody else to get support from them but also to give support and encouragement. There are a lot of ways the Lord is inviting us to show our love and concern to others in the community at this time and to be witnesses of hope.”

Bishop Susan Candea of the Central States Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America said people are fearful, for good reason.

Walking is her way of dealing with COVID-19 fears. She has walked quite a lot, she said, and also has found it helpful to journal and write about it.

While they are not able to sing in the congregations the same way, there is still good music that can be listened to, for example, on YouTube, and she likes the song, “Be Not Afraid.”

It reminds her the fear is not the ultimate reality and it brings her to a better place, she said.

“It is an opportunity to learn to love deeper our neighbors, ourselves, to connect with God and our spirituality,” she said.

Bishop Candea said as challenging as it is, there is an opportunity to find hope in ways that are real and authentic, and can “really make a difference in changing the way we understand our life together as a community and on this planet. So that is the hope that keeps me going, that there is something more at work, and I want to be part of this as we come through it.”

Dr. Hawkinson said exercise, music and art were good ways to break out of the harmful stress and anxiety surrounding COVID-19.

The University of Kansas Health System reported 26 COVID-19 patients in the hospital on Thursday morning, compared to 23 on Wednesday, according to Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection control and prevention at KU Health. Nine of the patients were in the intensive care unit, an increase of two since Wednesday, and five were on ventilators, an increase of two.

Wyandotte County reported 5,448 cumulative COVID-19 cases at 4 p.m. Thursday, an increase of 51 cases since Wednesday. There were 109 cumulative deaths, no change since Wednesday.

Free testing offered


Free testing is offered from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Unified Government Health Department parking lot at 6th and Ann, Kansas City, Kansas. For more information, call 311.

For more information on who may be tested and what to bring, visit https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19.

The KU doctors’ news conference is online at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/221948789231582.

The UG Health Department sports order is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/08132020localhealthofficerorderregardingsports.pdf.

The Wyandotte County school start order is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.

Wyandotte County is under a mandatory mask order and is in Phase 3 of the state’s reopening plan. For more information, residents may visit the UG COVID-19 website at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information or call 311 for more information.

The CDC’s COVID-19 web page is at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html.

Letter to the editor

Dear editor,

We the Democratic primary voters of Kansas District 37, have elected 19-year-old Aaron Coleman as our nominee for the Kansas House. He’s touched us with his community presence: his eagerness to mask up and knock on door after door, hear our concerns, and share his vision for a state in which we all enjoy universal healthcare and the other earmarks of a prosperous nation that cares about its people.

Having newly moved here during the winter of 2019, I looked up Aaron and his opponent on the Internet and discovered that whereas his opponent did not like making firm statements on the issues, Aaron makes no secret that he’s working to further Bernie’s vision – a vision giving hope to so many of us here in “the Dotte.” As Aaron has learned from talking with us, we care less about political drama and more about what a candidate will do for us.

I understand our district is a progressive, economically challenged pocket of a largely Republican state. Many in the Kansas House would rather keep the more conservative Stan Frownfelter than make room for someone like Aaron Coleman who truly represents our district. But this is America: we all deserve a voice.

Susan Stevens
Kansas City, Kansas