When the Kansas City Wizards learned that their first Superliga game would be played at SLU, they turned to the one Billiken on the team, Jack Jewsbury, for the lowdown on the facility.

“I told them it’s a big field where we can keep possession,” he said. “I was there yesterday and the surface looks great.”

The field at Hermann Stadium for Sunday’s Superliga match between the Wizards and Mexican club Atlas will likely be better than the narrow baseball field the Wizards play at Community America Ballpark in Kansas City, where the team is playing while waiting to see if it gets a new stadium. And the added width the team will find at Hermann is something Jewsbury thinks will work to their advantage.

“We don’t know a whole lot about Atlas,” Jewsbury said. “That’s a bit of a gray area. This past offseason, we made a preseason trip to Guadalajara (where Atlas plays) because we have somewhat of a partnership, and used their facility, so we know more about them than we will about Santos (which alonng with New England is the other team in their first round group). Like any Mexican team, they want to keep possession and it’s up to us to break their rhythm. That’s easier on a big field.

“At Community America, the confines are a bit smaller than at Hermann Stadium. the atmosphere is great, the fans are great, but it’s a bit smaller. It will be nice to open the game up. We just have to break their rhythm.”

 Jewsbury, not surprisingly, is fully behind St. Louis getting an MLS team.

“I would love to see it happen. The rivalry between Kansas City and St. Louis would be great, as it is with the Royals and Cardinals. This is a great chance for fans to come out and support soccer. I’m sure the MLS big dogs will be watching to see what the attendance is. Hopefully they’ll get one. With the tradition that’s here in St. Louis soccer, it would be great.”

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Atlas was supposed to get into St. Louis last night about 10:30, but with the weather, instead of landing in Chicago, they were diverted to Milwaukee, where they had to stay on the plane since there are no customs facilities in Milwaukee. Eventually they got to Chicago, cleared customs, and then got to St. Louis, arriving about 4 a.m. on Saturday morning. They were scheduled to have a late afternoon workout at SLU, but I wouldn’t blame them for staying in their hotel.