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Since this bit of Twitter news may have been lost in the afternoon's shuffle that was FIFA's self-promoting dog and pony show the FIFA 2012 Ballon D'Or presentation ceremony, Sporting Kansas City (and later Major League Soccer itself) announced, via the club's official Twitter account, that the 2013 MLS full-season schedule will be released Wednesday morning, at 11 am CT.
Hey, it's never too soon to start tailgating. Official 2013 schedule to be released at 11 am CT on Wednesday. Stay tuned to #SportingKC.com
— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) January 7, 2013
MLS announced Sporting KC's first three fixtures of the season on December 18. Sporting will open the season on March 2 at PPL Park against Philadelphia Union, head north of the border a week later to take on Eastern Conference cellar-dwellers Toronto FC, and the LIVESTRONG Sporting Park opener will be the following week, March 16 against pseudo-rivals Chicago Fire.
Of particular interest to supporters will be the various road trips afforded to Sporting KC, with many hoping for a midweek-weekend back-to-back much like the April 2012 Wednesday-Saturday away trek against Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps. Speaking as someone who traveled with the roughly 150 supporters - flying into Seattle, hopping the train into Canada and Vancouver, and another back down the beautiful Pacific Northwest coastline to the Rose City that week - MLS should aim to pair away dates in this manner, whenever possible.
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With MLS using an unbalanced schedule once again in 2013, Sporting will face each Western Conference club only once during the season. Assuming a swapped home-and-away series every other year, Sporting will this year host Vancouver, Portland, Chivas USA, Seattle Sounders and Colorado Rapids, with away trips against MLS Cup champions LA Galaxy, Supporters Shield winning San Jose Earthquakes, FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake. Sporting went an impressive 6-1-2 against the West in 2012 en route to a second-straight Eastern Conference regular season first-place finish (and playoff exit thanks to Houston Dynamo).
A favorable early season schedule - at D.C. United, vs. New England Revolution, vs. FC Dallas, at Chivas USA - saw Sporting get off to a perfect 12-point start in 2012, ultimately reaching 7 wins out of 7 before their first defeat of the 2012 season at JELD-WEN Field on April 21.
What possible back-to-back road trips are you hoping MLS throws Sporting KC?