After over 80 matches in a Crew uniform, two-time MLS Cup champion Aidan Morris is expected to play his final match for Columbus on Saturday.

Over a week ago, it was reported that Morris will be signing with England’s second-tier EFL Championship Middlesbrough FC. With the anticipation that the deal will become official early next week, the Crew will be honoring Morris following Columbus’ upcoming match at Lower.com Field against Sporting Kansas City.

More: Crew midfielder Aidan Morris leaving Columbus for EFL Championship’s Middlesbrough FC

The matchup against Kansas City will be the Crew’s first match at home since May 11, when they fell to FC Cincinnati 2-1. During the six weeks of road matches Columbus had on the schedule, the Crew went 4-1 in MLS play, with their only loss coming against Inter Miami 2-1 on Wednesday.

The temperature at Lower.com Field on Saturday night is expected to be even hotter than it was in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. when the Crew took on Miami due to the heat wave across the United States. According to the Weather Channel, the temperature Columbus around kickoff will be 91 degrees, but will feel like 95 degrees.

With the different backgrounds of the players on the Crew’s roster, some prefer playing in this type of heat.

“I played in Africa, so for me, that’s good,” said Crew defender Steven Moreira. “Of course, when it’s hot, we have to control the game more, and the ball.”

Follow along for live updates from the Crew’s match against Sporting Kansas City:

Recently retired Ohio State University athletic director Gene Smith was the Crew’s “match ignitor” on Saturday night before Columbus’ match against Sporting Kansas City. The “match ignitor” is involved in a pregame tradition for the Crew used the get the crowd excited for the upcoming match.

The temperature 15 minutes before kickoff at Lower.com Field is 94 degrees but feels like 97.

Columbus’ match against Sporting Kansas City will serve as a farewell for midfielder Aidan Morris, with the club expected to hold a postgame ceremony for the 22-year-old.

Fans via social media have also organized their own way to honor Morris and are planning to sing a chant the fan base has created for Morris in the eighth minute of the match, which coincides with his No. 8 jersey number.

Read more about the Crew’s plans to honor Morris here.

Here is the starting 11 for Kansas City vs Columbus:

• GK: John Pulskamp
• DF: Robert Castellanos
• DF: Dany Rosero
• DF: Robert Voloder
• MF: Zorhan Bassong
• MF: Kayden Pierre
• MF: Nemanja Radoja
• MF: Memo Rodriguez
• FW: Stephen Afrifa
• FW: Willy Agada
• FW: Erik Tommy

Here is the starting 11 for Columbus vs Kansas City:

• GK: Patrick Schulte
• DF: Rudy Camacho
• DF: Yevhen Cheberko
• DF: Steven Moreira
• MF: Max Arfsten
• MF: Mo Farsi
• MF: Aidan Morris
• MF: Darlington Nagbe
• FW: Cucho Hernandez
• FW: Christian Ramirez
• FW: Diego Rossi

Here is the Kansas City’s official availability report:

• Danny Flores (head): Out
• Felipe Hernandez (undisclosed): Out
• Tim Leibold (quad): Questionable
• Logan Ndenbe (knee): Out
• Alan Pulido (knee): Questionable
• Daniel Salloi (ankle)
• Remi Walter (knee)

Here is the Crew’s official availability report:

• Evan Bush (arm): Out
• Jacen Russell-Rowe (international duty): Out

Here are the officials for the Crew vs Kansas on Saturday night:

• Referee: Marcos DeOliveira
• Assistant Referee 1: Ian McKay
• Assistant Referee 2: Chantal Boudreau
• Fourth Official: Nabil Bensalah
• VAR: Kevin Scott
• Assistant VAR: Joshua Patlak

The Crew are 23-26-9 overall against Sporting Kansas City. This is Columbus’ first match against Kansas City since 2019.

The Crew vs. Sporting Kansas City English-speaking radio broadcast will be on Alt 105.7 FM and available via the iHeartRadio app. Columbus’ regular radio broadcaster Chris Doran will be on the call.

The Spanish radio broadcast can be found on La Grande 102.5 FM and the La Grande radio app with Juan Valladares doing play-by-play.

The Crew-Kansas City match will be available on Apple TV via an MLS Season Pass subscription. Here are the broadcast teams for tonight:

• English broadcast: Neil Sika (play-by-play), Lloyd Sam (analyst)
• Spanish broadcast: Raul Guzman (play-by-play), Carlos Ruiz (analyst)

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m., Saturday, June 22 at Lower.com Field.

bmackay@dispatch.com

@brimackay15

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On Friday, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly made a move that will enable the state to lure the Kansas City Chiefs as well as the MLB’s Kansas City Royals from Missouri, via ESPN. Kelly signed legislation that will help both professional sports teams pay for new stadiums if they indeed decide to change locations. 

The Chiefs have had every intent to remain at Arrowhead Stadium, extending the lease in a renovated facility and stadium complex that would keep the franchise in the state of Missouri for the next several decades. The renovation plans still have a hurdle to clear, however, and the state of Kansas is officially ready to pounce. 

Earlier in the week, Kansas lawmakers approved a House bill that would change certain criteria for STAR (sales tax and revenue) bonds qualification, via the Associated Press. STAR bonds are a financing tool that allows Kansas municipalities to issue bonds to finance the development of major commercial, entertainment and tourism projects. The measure now goes to the Kansas Senate. 

The attempt to lure the Chiefs to cross the state line from Missouri to Kansas has been in play. The bill will also require any pro sports team development to include a 30,000-plus seat complex with at least $1 billion in investment. This is also an attempt to lure the Kansas City Royals’ new MLB stadium plans into Kansas. 

The Chiefs announced plans to renovate GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium this year, but those plans may be changing, thanks to some developments back in April. The voters in Jackson County, Missouri, rejected a sales tax measure that would have helped fund major renovations to Arrowhead Stadium and a new downtown ballpark for the Royals. 

With the measure not being passed, the Chiefs may have to look elsewhere and build a new stadium. A potential move to Kansas doesn’t force the Chiefs to relocate to another city if they can’t reach a deal with Jackson County. Kansas legislation doesn’t have to put a stadium sales tax up to vote, giving the Chiefs an option they’ll strongly consider. 

“I do feel very much a sense of urgency, and we will approach it from a broader perspective going forward because time is short for us at this point. So, we need to see what other options are out there for us,” Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt said back in April, via a transcript provided by the team. “I really can’t speculate on how any of that is going to turn out. 

“GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium is a special place for our family and our fanbase. That was one of the reasons we focused on it with the last effort. Going forward, it may make more sense for us to be in a new stadium.”

The Chiefs will have options in building a new stadium, which appears to be the plan going forward with the STAR criteria passed. Hunt isn’t abandoning an opportunity to remain at Arrowhead Stadium, but getting a new stadium is gaining traction. 

The new stadium may not be an open-air stadium, either. 

“We were obviously very focused on GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Obviously it’s a special place for our fanbase and I believe it could be a special place for our fanbase for another 25 years with the right renovation,” Hunt said. “But we’re just going to have to be open minded in how we approach this. 

“That may involve a new stadium, and it could be an open-air stadium or it could be a dome stadium.”

This story was first published in KCUR’s Adventure newsletter. You can sign up to receive stories like this in your inbox every Tuesday.

Kansas City knows how to have fun in the well-cooled indoors, from our growing distillery scene to the metro’s forever-intriguing vintage and thrift stores.

Kansas City’s independent galleries have their own surprises for you this season. Whether you’re looking to escape this year’s bitter summer heat in a meaningful way, or trying to find that perfect date idea, add these six summer art exhibits in the list to your itinerary.

“Squint” by Wolfe Brack

This June, art lovers can enjoy an intimate art experience at Wolfe Brack’s solo exhibition, “Squint,” on display now at the Smalter Gallery on W. 39th Street.

A work called “Quirks” consists of numerous rectangular pieces of paper with a miniature head and a hand-written description, along with a pair of adjustable magnifying glasses. Kansas City-based Brack ignores the conventional belief that art should be admired from afar and never touched, and instead invites the audience to get up and personal with these pieces.

Each piece of the collection represents “the thoughts, experiences, habits and things overheard that make up our everyday realities, personalities and personal idiosyncrasies,” the piece description says. Here, you’ll find private rants and quips, small glimpses of individual lives.

For example, one piece says, “Jarius is an open book, but the writing is illegible.” Another says, “Celia’s feeling spicy today and is just looking for a reason to reinforce some stereotypes.” Maybe, if you look closely, you’ll find a quirk that reminds you of your neighbor, your friend, your coworker – or yourself.

• When: Now through July 13, 2024
• Where: 1802 W 39th Street, Kansas City, MO 64111

Ophtograph Gallery Inaugural Annual Art Exhibition

Ophtograph Gallery is a newly established artist-run space inside The Hobbs Building in Kansas City’s West Bottoms. Its inaugural exhibition captures the very fabric of Kansas City’s community — its people — through intimate portraits, thought-provoking landscapes, and candid snapshots.

In “Childhood,” taken by gallery director and Kansas City street photographer Robert Reed, a white elderly woman takes center stage, smiling at someone outside the camera’s framing. The bubbles in the picture suggests the potential presence of a child off-screen, making the viewer consider the meaning of the title.

In another one of Reed’s pieces, “7 Days,” we see someone standing in front of a large white banner with red text reading “STOP GENOCIDE.” The individual wears a bright orange beanie, holographic sunglasses, and a red bandana as a mask, while the bold text in the background casts a painful shade over the colorful composition.

• When: Now through Aug. 15, 2024
• Where: 1427 W 9th Street, Suite 502, Kansas City, MO 64101

“Passing Moments” at Belger Crane Yard Studios

Once a year, Belger Crane Yard Studios in the 18th & Vine District showcases works created by its current residents. Titled “Passing Moments,” their 11th such exhibition includes work by Joel Pisowicz, Gina Pisto, and Logan Reynolds.

The pieces on display reflect each artist’s experience and growth over their residency, while serving as vessels for nostalgia and memorials.

For instance, Gina Pisto’s “memory portal II” resembles the literal circular shape of a portal with a smooth, glimmering center. The center is surrounded by various blooming florals with a matte finish, making its glaze an irrefutable temptation, hypnotizing the audience and drawing them closer.

As you stare into the center, ask yourself: Are you the type who’d peek into the dark well in the middle of the woods? And, if the answer is yes, what do you see?

• When: Now through Sept. 7, 2024
• Where: 2011 Tracy Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64108

“Butter and Oil” by Mary Clara Hutchison

“Butter and Oil,” a solo exhibition by Kansas City-based Mary Clara Hutchison, is dedicated to giving the mundane a new meaning. Now on view at Vulpes Bastille in the Crossroads, the exhibition repurposes household objects like clothes, old furniture, and even slices of toast as sculptures and installations.

By doing so, Hutchison emphasizes the repetition within our daily routines and explores the intimate relationship fostered between ourselves and our environment.

In one of the installations, Hutchison hung fabrics and textiles resembling outfits, linens, towels, and blankets on a metal grid to create an abstract mix of textures.

In another, a matrix of toast slices is hidden behind two large curtain panels, inviting the viewers to step closer and peek through the cover. Both works quantify ordinary things to make the viewer curious about what the simple actions of making ourselves breakfast or washing our clothes mean on the larger scale of feeling a sense of stability and comfort.

• When: Now through June 27, 2024
• Where: 1737 Locust Street, Kansas City, MO 64108

“Fictions” by Andrea Burgay

In a bookish mood? Stop by the Kansas City Public Library’s Central Library Branch this summer to see vintage paperbacks repurposed into mixed-media sculptures, in Brooklyn-based Andrea Burgay’s solo exhibition, “Fictions.”

Burgay’s process is the literal presentation of “digesting a book.” She begins with layering texts she’d sourced from thrift stores or used book sales with collage elements like paint splashes, paper scraps, and fabric. Then, Burgay takes the books apart and reassembles them repeatedly, meshing stories across different genres: sci-fi, romance, action, nonfiction, etc.

These books ended their previous life and regenerated new tales and identities, morphing out of their original content: a cunning comparison to how human beings can part ways from our previous forms to grow anew from our experiences.

The only pity, perhaps, is that you cannot hold the books and flip through them. Nonetheless, you can see the recomposed stories bursting through the covers: some are ravaged scraps with illegible texts, and others are audacious colors demanding attention.

• When: Now through Aug. 17, 2024
• Where: 14 W 10th Street, Kansas City, MO 64105

“COGITATUM” by PHYBR

If you love the bold colors and expressions of street art, stop by the Upper Level Gallery in the Crossroads and explore the world of Kansas City street artist PHYBR. In his solo exhibition, “COGITATUM,” PHYBR created a distorted dreamscape with acrylic paintings capturing the movement and reflectiveness of metal shimmers.

A large portion of the exhibit is dedicated to abstract works highlighting how light interacts with a metallic, fluid material while referring back to the human anatomy. “Vita Post Mortem” takes the contour of a pregnant woman and turns her into a golden honey river flowing within her shape. At one angle, it looked like a gold skull resided in her body. At another, you may see a vague ghostly face where the fetus should be.

PHYBR’s portraits are equally impressive, using the same high-contrast palette to create a futuristic and surreal ambiance for his characters. In “Key to the Universe,” PHYBR illustrates a Black woman shimmering with glitter and bright pools of colors on her cheek, chin, and neck. Her eyes gaze into the sky with confidence.

• When: Now through June 29, 2024
• Where: 504 E 18th Street, Kansas City, MO 64108