WHO: Swope Park Rangers, 0W-2D-4L, 2 points, 17th place Eastern Conference

WHAT: A regular season USL Championship match

WHEN: Monday, May 6, 2019, 8:00 p.m. EDT

WHERE: Children’s Mercy Park, 1 Sporting Way, Kansas City, KS 66111

WATCH: Catch it on TV on WBKI-58, listen on one of the iHeart stations, or stream it on ESPN+. The club’s having a watch party at El Nopal (which one is up to you! (it’s actually the one in Middletown)), while you can surely catch it at one of our other favorite haunts, including Against the Grain, Saints, Molly Malone’s, and Falls City Taproom.

WHO, AGAIN? Remember 2017 when Swope Park made the USL Cup final here in Louisville and they were very good, and we also all got upset about Kate Markgraf making shitty but also true comments about Slugger Field? Well, this isn’t that same team.

Kansas City is actually one of the MLS clubs that takes player development very seriously and while I’m sure they liked having a winning team in the USL, it wasn’t a team that was developing their young talent into first team talent, which is the point of this enterprise (for Sporting KC, anyway). So, they basically sent all their veteran players packing, stocked the roster with a lot of young guys, and have looked quite bad so far in this 2019 season.

To wit, they’ve scored eight goals and given up fifteen in just six games. They haven’t won yet. However, this isn’t a situation where City can expect to waltz into SPR’s big empty stadium and expect to be handed three points. First, Morados have their own problems to deal with. Second, Sporting KC isn’t above sending their bench down to USL to play just to give those guys some reps. SKC’s already sent down occasional USMNT appearance-maker Kellyn Rowe, Costa Rica international Rodney Wallace once this year, to say nothing of potential starlets Gianluca Busio and Tyler Freeman. One-time USMNT Great Hope Gedion Zelalem has made two appearances for Swope already, and I wouldn’t be surprised if tonight marked his third.

Swope really aren’t all that bad from a numbers standpoint, either. They usually keep the ball, winning 56% possession on the year. They’re accurate if reluctant shooters. They pass a lot, and they complete most of them, over 75% in the opposing half. That’s a lot. How they don’t turn that into chances, I’m not real sure. Let’s hope the trend continues.

What we’ll see out of Louisville City is probably more interesting. Are Luke Spencer and George Davis IV healthy enough to start? Or will we see a third shake at the same starting lineup that’s picked up six points in the last two games? How about those Derby Festival warmup shirts? WHERE CAN I GET ONE?

In any event, it should be an interesting match. Let’s keep the good Derby vibes going and take care of business.

VAMOS MORADOS