By Ridge Mahoney

The news out of Kansas City — Wizards for sale! –could be construed as surprising, except for the fact that for years Lamar Hunt has ignored attempts by developers and soccer officials in Johnson County, Kansas, to build a stadium/soccer complex.

Plans are being drawn up for sports/entertainment facilities in the suburbs of Overland Park and Olathe, but neither city has been approached by the Wizards. The team has quietly been up for sale for at least a year, according to a source.

Of the 12 teams scheduled to play in 2005, the Wizards and Earthquakes lag far behind the rest of the league regarding facilities, and AEG's stance regarding San Jose is old news.

There are no plans for a stadium in New England but as one source puts it, ''The Krafts own their stadium. Lamar doesn't own Arrowhead, and that makes a big difference.'' Another source estimated the Wizards' losses at close to $2 million annually.

Says yet another source, ''That's where all the soccer activity is, in the suburbs. You know, the Wizards do have a following and there's interest in the team, but Lamar insists on playing at Arrowhead and for a lot of those people it's just too far to drive.''

Hunt cited the failure of a bi-state tax initiative that would have provided funds to renovate Arrowhead as his rationale for jettisoning the Wizards, which he called ''a financial drain'' on the NFL Chiefs.

The MLS team is also a drain on resources, as numerous Chiefs employees have been saddled with soccer responsibilities since Hunt Sports Group merged some of the teams' operations.

DIPSY STAYS PUT: The Fire shelved a deal that would have sent forward Dipsy Selolwane to Real Salt Lake because word leaked out the deal was done when it wasn't. As of last week, the deal had been pulled off the table.

Coach Dave Sarachan said Monday negotiations are continuing with forward Ante Razov, who is out of contract and has been the subject of trade rumors. The MetroStars are in the market for a forward, and so are the Earthquakes, who have lost Landon Donovan to Bayer Leverkusen and could also be losing Canadian striker Dwayne DeRosario, who might not qualify for a work permit in England because of Canada's low spot in the FIFA rankings but could be eligible for the same type of tourist visa as is D.C. United New Zealander Ryan Nelsen.

COLORADO SEARCH: Who gets the Rapids coaching job may come down to money. According to sources, the team isn't offering a lot of it.

The low end of the head coaching pay scale in MLS is in the range of $100,000 — although the highest-paid coaches make more than twice than that — and the Rapids were reportedly offering in the high five figures as an initial salary.

Depending on whom you talk to, nearly every candidate named publicly could be construed as the favorite. Fernando Clavijo is a longtime buddy of former U.S. international Marcelo Balboa, who is heading the search; former MetroStars fitness coach Juan Carlos Osorio and U.S. national team assistant Curt Onalfo both did well in their interviews; D.C. assistant Tom Soehn has long been regarded as being ready to step into the top job, Brian Bliss publicly expressed his enthusiasm for the position, etc.

Fire assistant coach Denis Hamlett said Monday he hasn't heard back since interviewing for the job more than a week ago. Clavijo said he talked to Rapids Governor Charley Wright yesterday and has no further information on his status, but expects the process to be done before Christmas.

''I think they talked to everybody,'' said Clavijo, ''and I got the feeling maybe they have reduced their list from six to three, but they did not tell me that.''