----Original Message Follows----
From: "Langdon, Jerry (GNS)"
To: Jose Alfredo Flores
Subject: RE: to Jerry Langdon - Jose's contact info
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 15:45:45 -0400

JOSE...GOOD STORY. TOO EARLY TO TELL IF MANY USED THIS. I DOUBT TOO MANY
DID. PROBABLY JUST TOOK AP AND RAN WITH IT. WITH SO MANY PAGES TO CLOSE WITH
PRO FOOTBALL AND BASEBALL PLAYOFFS, THEY AREN'T GOING TO WAIT TOO LONG. I
WOULD IMAGINE AP GOT THE QUOTER ON BY 6 OR SO. WE WERE CLOSER TO 8. I
PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE SAID TO GET IT IN QUICKER. IT WAS A GOOD JOB, THOUGH,
AND I LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU AGAIN.

JERRY

  ^Kansas City Wizards 1, Chicago Fire 0

  BY JOSÉ ALFREDO FLORES
  Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON - Tony Meola may need to build a new trophy case after Sunday's
performance. The Kansas City Wizards goalkeeper lived up to the expectations
of being the regular season Major League Soccer MVP. He made incredible
saves throughout the day and even had a little luck on his side as he led
his team to a 1-0 win over the Chicago Fire in MLS Cup 2000 in front of
39,159 at RFK Stadium.
   The win capped off a tremendous turnaround season that saw Meola fully
recover from a knee injury that sidelined him for most of last season and
saw Wizards coach Bob Gansler turn a 8-24 team last year into MLS champs a
year later.
   "I knew that with Gansler and the players we had that we could put a
championship team together," said Meola, who finished with 10 saves.
   The lone goal of the match came in the 11th minute when Danish
international Miklos Molnar took a poor clearing attempt in the goal box by
Jesse Marsch and tipped in the rebound for his fifth goal of the postseason.
The Wizards were undefeated this year when the "Danish Dynamo" scored
(14-0-1).
   "I guess I'm their lucky charm," said Molnar, one of three Wizards to
retire after the game. "You can also call my goal luck, but the ball went
over the line and that's all that matters."
The scoring play started when Wizards midfielder Chris Klein stole the ball
away from Diego Guitierrez. Klein then sped down the right sideline, passing
Chris Armas, arguably the best defensive midfielder in MLS, and sent a cross
to Molnar that was intercepted by Marsch before Molnar capitalized on the
mistake.
   The remainder of the game saw the high-octane Fire offense create
numerous
scoring chances that either hit the cross bar or were saved by Meola.
   In the 54th minute Guitierrez collected a deflection off a free kick only
to see his point-blank shot hit the top cross bar.
   Meola, who also captured MLS Cup MVP award, comeback and goalkeeper of
the
year honors, made some of the best saves of the season during the match's
final 10 minutes.
   In the 82nd minute Ante Ravoz sent a high centering cross to Josh Wolff,
who one-timed a shot that was stopped by a reaction save from Meola.
   "Tony was at the right places at the right times," said Wolff. "He was
able to get to everything."
One minute later Dema Kovalenko dribbled through a series of Wizard
defenders and had his breakaway shot in the goal box swatted away by a
sprawling Meola.
   "The extraordinary for Tony is every day," said Gansler. "He makes these
kinds of saves every day, perhaps a few more today."
   The Fire out-shot Kansas City 22-6 and held the ball for eight minutes
more than the Wizards.
   "We created a good number of chances," said Chicago coach Bob Bradley.
"We
didn't do well in terms of how we took those chances."
   At the end of the match Meola fell on his back with his hands in his face
as his teammates piled on top of him to celebrate the win, the first Kansas
City professional sports championship since the baseba;; Royals won the
World Series in 1985.
   "We said we wanted to use this game as an exclamation mark on our nine
month trek and we did that," Gansler said. "We feel very much satisfied with
our accomplishments."
  The Wizards franchise has experienced both highs and lows in its five-year
history. In 1996 the team reached the Western Conference championship and
then won 21 matches in 1997. They then fell on hard times, winning 12 games
in 1998 and eight in 1999. Only three players - Mo Johnston, Uche Ukafor and
Preki - remain from the club's original 1996 season.
   "Those three define what the Kansas City Wizards are," said Meola.
   "This is a special moment for me," said Johnston, who along with Wizard
forward Alex Bunbury also retired after the match. "There were some gray
days in the past, but those days are over. This means so much for me and I
made sure to give Preki a special hug today."
  The team has also struggled in attendance, averaging 9,287 per game in its
five years at cavernous Arrowhead Stadium. Wizards investor-operator Lamar
Hunt, who missed only the 13th of 816 games played by his NFL Kansas City
Chiefs to attend the soccer game, hopes for better attendance figures.
   "This is a different battle," said Hunt. "This battle here is against the
bill collector. But I think it's (the championship) going to bring a lot of
support. This team deserves it."
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