by Greg Seltzer for Soccer365

It was an eventful 2008 for Jimmy Conrad and the Kansas City Wizards, a bumpy year he hopes has prepared them to earnestly chase MLS Cup glory this fall.

The Missouri Azzurri entered the term excited at the prospect of adding former Argentina star Claudio López, but suffered a poor spring after winning the first two games. As the weather heated up, so did the Wizards, but they would eventually swoon again in August.

After bringing Josh Wolff back from 1860 Munich and snaring Herculez Gomez from Colorado, K.C. won five of their last seven to make the postseason, then put eventual champs Columbus to a test in the first round.

Using the current kings as example, Conrad hopes the Wizards are on the right path to make a run at their second ever Major League Soccer crown in 2009. "I think like any team, we were trying to figure out what our identity was," he told Soccer365.

"Take Sigi (Schmid and the Crew), it took them about two years to figure it out who they were and what they were about. Once they figured it out, they were pretty much the team they were gonna be all year right from the beginning."

"We played them in the preseason," he recalled. "And it was the same exact team we saw in the playoffs. Whereas for us, we were a much different team when we faced them (in the postseason). It took us about 20 games to figure out the line-up that would work and have success."

"Obviously, at the end, we made a big splash just to get into the playoffs and then put a scare into Columbus. It wasn't enough, and that's the way we need to look at it and move on."

Though they finished strong to stoke hope for 2009, Conrad knows the Wizards will need to deepen their attack to become a contender. The center back netted six goals last season, only one less than K.C. top gun Davy Arnaud. 

"I was the second leading goalscorer on the team," he cracked. "As much as I'm proud of that, I think the team would prefer it if we had another couple of guys scoring goals."

"That's an issue I'm sure we're going to address. We've already made one move to get Adam Cristman (from New England) and I think that's a step in the right direction."

Meanwhile, the defense returns nearly intact after finishing fifth-best in MLS last season. With Conrad acting as marshal for an inexperienced group, the unit noticeably improved as the year progressed.

"We definitely play a lot of young guys," he stated. "And you can't put a price on experience, so any time we can play in big games and expose our young guys to those pressure situations, it's just going to make us better as we move forward."

"Guys like Michael Harrington, Roger Espinoza, Chance Myers, Jon Leathers - all these guys are going to become better because of the situations they have to face and the decision they have to make in games that matter. That's ultimately what you hang your hat on, making the team more well-rounded as you go into next season."

Conrad says he gets plenty of help last season from assertive netminder Kevin Hartman, but stills feels the primary weight of mentoring the club's young backliners, who he credits as eager pupils.

"That means all the pressure's on me to make sure our team is performing defensively, at least on the back four," he said. "Kevin Hartman is very valuable to have (in goal), he's very vocal and put guys in good positions to make plays. He's an extension of me during the run of play when we get closer to his area of the field."

"When they ask me questions and I give them the right answer, then we see it in game experiences, now they know what to do and I don't have to explain it again. It should make my job a lot easier (this season). These guys are students of the game. They ask a lot of questions and I try to steer them in the right direction."

Perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that Conrad was among a group of 28 current and former pros to take part in a "B" Coaching License course at the Home Depot Center in December. While unsure whether he will want to work the sidelines one day, the California native has learned it's best to be prepared.

"I guess, in the long term, it's to have options," admitted Conrad. "If I did want to coach, at the pro or college level, then that would be an option for me and I wouldn't have to jump through those hoops once I made the decision. I would already have it and could go from there."

With fellow students like Hartman, Kasey Keller, Cobi Jones, Alexi Lalas and Claudio Reyna in the class, the nine-day collective was filled with good times. "The camp was fun," reports Conrad. "Any time you can tell Claudio Reyna that he's not doing something right, there's an added benefit to that."

"It was great to be around the other guys, whether they were old teammates or people I've competed against, in a more in formal setting. You could joke around and get to know the guys on a more personal level, as opposed to being a competitor."

Conrad says the beginning was probably a bit strange for the course leaders, who were charged with teaching some of the biggest names in U.S. Soccer. "It was interesting," he said. "The first couple of days, the instructors didn't quite know how to take it or where to take it."

"I think usually they are maybe exposed to guys who played in college or high school, maybe a few former pros who come through the course. But there's stuff they don't have to hold our hands on because we played in those big games and we've been exposed to the situations they're talking about in as much detail. After a couple of days, the relationship between us and the instructors was very good."

And how did he do? "I don't know yet if I passed," says the waiting Conrad. "I hope I passed! Then I could take my "A" (license course) in the next couple of years."

The National Training Center, however, is one place he will not be in January. While the U.S. Men's National Team gets their year revved up, Conrad will grab his final days of rest before Wizards preseason camp begins.

Lest anyone think the 24-cap man has hung his international boots, he declared himself ever-ready for USMNT duty. "That goes without saying," stated Conrad. "To put on the National Team shirt is an honor. I'd never turn that down."

In fact, most of Conrad's career will have been a pledge of allegiance to American soccer. Aside from a brief spell with current Polish tabletoppers Lech Poznan, the 31-year old has spent his entire career in MLS despite having other chances to try his game in Europe.

After a strong showing against eventual world champions Italy at World Cup 2006, he had several clubs interested, most notably rejecting an offer from Norwegian power Rosenborg.

"When I played at the World Cup over in Germany, I thought that was going to be the best showcase for me and I ended up getting to play," recounted Conrad. "I thought I held my own, and I got some interest that January transfer window."

"A lot of it was timing. I was 29, so there were always some teams that wanted to invest their time and money into younger players. But there were some clubs that were interested, and some of it kinda fell through at the last minute."

"I was going to be on a plane to take a physical at a pretty good club in the Bundesliga, that fell through," he reveals. "There were some options, and I was willing to go and give it a shot."

"However, (Wizards boss) Curt Onalfo, who was someone I had a relationship with through the National Team, really wanted me to stay. With my wife, we were about to have our first baby. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't."

"That being said, I'm a big proponent of MLS and this is a league I want to see continue to grow, after I'm done playing as well. I thought, if I'm going to have an impact on American soccer, it would be in my best interests to stay. It's something I thought about a lot."

Not only has Conrad invested much in the sport at home, but the sport has shown a broad desire to invest in him. When not lacing up the boots, the defender has spent much time on the other side of the notepad. In addition to columns for the likes of Soccernet, the noted cut-up now has his own radio show at MLSNet.

He may be as likely to join the media when he retires as he is to become a coach. Or true to form, he may try every endeavor available to him - so long as it advances soccer in the United States.

"If I do want to get into broadcasting, to stay in the American soccer scene would have been more beneficial to me than to go to maybe a Scandinavian league - where to be honest, most people kinda disappear from the American scene," says Conrad, continuing to explain in a general sense why he never did go back to Europe.

"The die-hards know exactly what all those guys are doing, but the fan that would casually watch the game would never hears about those players. I wanted my name to stay on the tips of those people's tongues, so that I could parlay any success with MLS or the National Team into something tangible down the line to help grow the sport."

Soccer365 reporter Greg Seltzer blogs daily over at No Short Corners.

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