Folks, we may have a regular KC Wizards correspondent on our hands. Here’s another installment courtesy of Kurt Austin, Mizzou Men’s Soccer Club President and aspiring writer.

The Wizards begin qualification for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, a 40-team tournament held since 1914, tonight at Real Salt Lake (6 p.m., 97.3 FM in Kansas City which may or may not be available via webstream on kcwizards.com). In a departure from the last four years’ tournaments in which every MLS team has been guaranteed a spot, the MLS will only send eight teams to this year’s tournament which runs from June thru October. The top six teams from 2006 receive automatic births, while the other six teams (Toronto FC is ineligible to compete because they are not a U.S. club) will compete for the remaining two spots in a single-elimination bracket.

Analysis aside, the biggest question is whether either team will play their first-team players?

For the Wizards, this game couldn’t come at a worse stretch in the schedule. Although they’re only one game into the season, this mid-week contest comes on the heels of a game in D.C. last Saturday and a match looming at first-place Chicago this Saturday. Three games in seven days is never easy, let alone all on the road. But it gets worse. The Wizards then play mid-week again, this time their home opener against Toronto FC on Wednesday, April 25th, followed by yet another game Saturday, this time at Toronto. That’s five games in 14 days to start the season; played in three different time zones and two different countries.

Common sense suggests when given such a situation you rest your first-team in a non-league, domestic tournament qualifier like tonight’s. After all, sprinting out of the gate in a seven-month, 31 game season is sure to spell doom down the stretch. And if the last two years tell us anything, every ounce of endurance left for a playoff-push is critical (one point shy of a playoff spot last year, two shy in 2005).

But I hope we don’t. Sure, be smart about your substitution use and rest anyone still sore or injured from Saturday, but before bringing out the reserve squad consider this: You’re playing in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. What better a way to honor our former owner who brought soccer to Kansas City? What better a year than this for the Wizards to claim the cup in memory of his legacy?

Here’s to hoping Curt Onalfo takes a page out of fellow Kansas City coach Herm Edwards strategy book. You play to win the game. This time, more than any other, it’s worth it.

Also of note, the expansion Springfield Demize will be attempting to qualify for the U.S. Open Cup this year as well. Eight USL Premier Development League teams will earn spots with two coming from each conference. With 12 teams in their central conference, including the last two years’ PDL champions (Michigan Bucks and Des Moines Menace, respectively), this will be no small task for the Demize. Their qualifying games are: May 12 vs. Boulder Rapids Reserve, May 19 at Sioux Falls Spitfire, May 24 vs. St. Louis Lions, and May 26 at Kansas City Brass. These games will also count towards their regular season league standings.