When Chicago Fire forward Brian McBride underwent surgery for a labral tear in his right shoulder this summer, it was thought he would take almost four months to return to the pitch. It only took the veteran eight weeks.
After returning, McBride wasted no time getting back into the game. Before his surgery he had six goals under his belt this season. He tacked another onto that in the Fire's match against Toronto FC in late September.
In honor of his speedy recovery and immense talent on the soccer field, the league has made him a finalist for the 2009 MLS Comback Player of the Year Award. The winner will be announced next Tuesday, November 10.
The Fire struck first, but the Revolution took home the win.
In the first leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinal match-up, Chicago came out strong. With a rebound shot from Chris Rolfe in the 17th minute, the Fire took an early lead that they maintained through a majority of the first half. But in the first minute of stoppage time before the half, Emmanuel Osei managed to knock a header into the net for a valuable goal to tie the game.
Going into the second half, there appeared to be promise for the Fire to take the lead. But despite a couple close calls, they could not manage to get the ball to the back of the net. In the 75th minute, New England delivered the final blow. Shalrie Joseph scored his first career playoff goal after winning a foot race to the ball with Fire goalie Jon Busch.
The win gives the Revolution an advantage in the deciding leg of the semifinals, which will be played at Toyota Park on Saturday, November 7.
Being the only major league team in Chicago to make the playoffs this fall, the Fire certainly ended on a good note. With a 1-0 win over Chivas USA last night, the Fire have clinched a spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs for the 11th time in 12 years.
With less than ideal conditions--constant cold rain and heavy winds--the players found footing the ball difficult and sharp cuts were even harder to manage. Despite these problems, Chicago dominated most of the first half, with three consecutive corner kicks in the 15th minute. Seven minutes later, the Fire shot three shots after a fourth corner kick, but none reached the back of the net. The game entered halftime with neither team scoring.
Tonight, the Fire have one last chance to clinch a playoff spot. If they succeed, they will have secured a position for the 11th time in 12 seasons. All they have to do is win...or tie.
Chivas USA faces Chicago at Toyota Park tonight at 7 p.m.. Chivas has already made the playoffs, which presents less pressure for them to pull off a win. However, they are still a tough team, and the Fire need to play as if there is no tomorrow...because there may not be.
These two teams have faced each other nine times in the past and come up with an even record of 4-4-1. While they may have won their first meeting with Chivas back in May, Chicago had to battle for that game and will probably need to do it again tonight. Another factor working against the Fire: They have been winless in the last six matches, posting three losses and three ties. Chicago hopes to add a game to the win column with this final matchup and, ultimately, take themselves into the postseason.
One more chance. That's all the Fire have left in the regular season to clinch a playoff spot. On October 22, in their finale match against Chivas USA, the Fire will attempt to make the playoffs with either a win or a tie.
Chicago fought hard against New England last night and successfully held the Revolution to a shutout with a 0-0 tie. While the Fire would have preferred a win, the opportunity for post season play is still alive. However, if the Fire fall to Chivas this week, the team will be forced to sweat it out until the weekend results are posted to see if they have made the playoffs.
So come cheer on the Fire as they fight to stay alive against Chivas USA on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. at Toyota Park.
The Fire has made the playoffs in 10 of their 11 seasons. They plan to continue that tradition tonight. And if they do not win, they have to rely on others to lose. That's a lot of pressure.
The Fire travel to New England to play at Gillette Stadium to face the Revolution for the second time this year. In their first meeting in the SuperLiga 2009 final, the Fire defeated New England 2-1. Last season, the Fire went 3-0-0 against the Revolution, with two of those wins coming on the road. This past record gives the Fire an emotional edge over the Revolution, but anything can happen. There is no guarantee for the Fire.
If the Fire win, they will be in the playoffs. If they happen to tie, then D.C. United, FC Dallas, and Real Salt Lake need to lose. If the Fire lose tonight, then D.C. United, FC Dallas need to lose, and Real Salt Lake needs to fall to New York or Toronto needs to lose to Salt Lake.
But let's just hope the Fire do not need to count on any other team to win but themselves.
What do the Chicago Fire and Best Buy have in common? They both love soccer. Maybe in different forms, but that won't really matter come next Monday when they both help in hosting the North American launch of EA Sports FIFA Soccer 10.
On Monday, October 19, the Best Buy Hancock Center will host the launch event starting at 4 p.m. Entertainers from around Chicago will be at the John Hancock Center Plaza engaging passersby and encouraging people to attend the event. On top of that, Chicago Fire star player Cuauhtémoc Blanco, who is featured on the cover of FIFA Soccer 10, will be on the red carpet and in the store to sign autographs for fans.
FIFA Soccer 10 will be available in retail stores on Tuesday, October 20, but 32 lucky fans will have the chance to play the video game next Monday during an in-store Xbox 360 tournament during the launch. The preliminary and quarterfinal round will be held during the party, while the semifinal and final rounds will be held on Actober 22 at Toyota Park before the Fire's final regular season match against Chivas USA. The winner will receive a 42-inch Panasonic 1080P Viera HDTV from Best Buy.
Next Monday, the Fire and Best Buy will combine and launch one of the most popular video games to date. Make sure to come check it out.
It's hard to believe it's been 12 years. The Chicago Fire are almost into their early teen years, and the club has certainly matured quickly.
The Fire was founded on the 126th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire on October 8, 1997. In the inaugural season, the Fire won the MLS cup and the U.S. Open Cup, known as the coveted "Domestic Double." Since that first season, the team has claimed the U.S. Cup three more times.
To celebrate the team's inception, the supporter club, Section 8, is throwing a party this Thursday, October 8 at Toyota Park. And everyone's invited. The event will include food, music, games, and various other activities for fans to participate in, as well as an opportunity to meet the players and staff of the Fire.
Tickets are $15 in advance through the Section 8 website, or $20 at the door. The tickets include price of admission and all food and drink at the party.
So come out and celebrate the teams final year as a pre-teen, and help support them in their efforts to take over first place in the Eastern Conference.
The match ended in a 2-2 tie. The Chicago Fire only scored one goal. How did this happen?
Thanks to an own goal by Toronto FC defender Nick Garcia, the Fire got their first point in the 14th minute. But not before Toronto scored within the first ten minutes of the game with a shot from Dwayne De Rosario. In the 46th minute, Chad Barrett gave Toronto the lead again with an impressive header. Then in the 79th minute, Brian McBride evened the score. McBride connected with the pass from Justin Mapp at the top of the six-yard box and sent a strong header past goalkeeper Stefan Frei. This goal was the first one from McBride since his shoulder surgery back in July.
The tie gave the Fire an important point to remain solidly in second place. While a win would have been ideal, a tie still helps the Fire on their path to qualify for the playoffs. With only three more games in the regular season, the Fire need to maintain the intensity if they want to overtake Columbus.Their next match is Friday, October 2 against the L.A. Galaxy at 10 pm.
Will he or won't he? President Obama may go pitch Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics afterall (with Arne Duncan in tow). But, as everyone knows, Oprah has the last word.
Whither goest thou, White Sox? Kenny Williams is trying to figure that out.
Cubs fans disillusioned by the outcome of this season can take a look back at the 1984 team. Not that the outcome then was any better, but still...
Seattle's T.J. Houshmandzadeh says he has something to prove when the Seahawks meet the Bears this Sunday. Meanwhile, the Bears seek to establish the running game. But if wide receiver Johnny Knox continues his ascent, we can wait a little while.
Mixed martial arts star Fedor Emelianenko is coming to Chicago in November. Take appropriate action.
And you find yourself...riding a bike down Michigan Ave. Musician David Byrne talks about his cycling fixation and cruising around Chicago.
Boxer David Diaz brings it back home this Saturday.
If you're participating in the sixth annual Salmon Classic this Sunday at Northerly Island, use this as inspiration.
The Chicago Fire prepare to honor another Chicago soccer team who weren't too shabby themselves in their day.
Late Chicago Olympian Willye White has a new park named in her honor.
The Big Ten football season kicks off this Saturday and while other teams discuss strategy for their upcoming opponents, Northwestern's gridiron gang has different concerns on their mind.
The Chicago Outfit close out their 2009 season this Saturday at the Windy City Fieldhouse. Get pumped up for the contest by checking out the cool video below.
The Chicago Fire (10-6-10, 40 pts.) fought hard yesterday as they took on the Eastern Conference Leading Columbus Crew (11-4-10, 43 pts.). The two teams have tied the last five regular season matches between each other, and this time the Fire was hoping to snap that trend. But to no avail.
The Fire came out strong in the first half with a goal in the sixth minute from midfielder Peter Lowry. After receiving a touch pass from recently returned forward Brian McBride, Lowry sent a right footed shot inside the left post. Lowry struck again in the 35th minute. Chris Rolfe played a ball intended for Cuauhtémoc Blanco, but the Crew defense deflected the pass and set up a perfect shot for Lowry at the center of the box. The Fire went into the half with a 2-0 lead and the hopes of a victory.
But the second half belonged to the Crew. In the 55th minute of play, defender Robbie Roger sent a ball from the left for Guillermo Barros Schelotto. He positioned himself nicely for a header three yards off the goal line, and the ball went sailing into the right side of the net. The score was leveled in the 78th minute with a penalty kick from Schelotto.
Despite both teams battling hard for the win, neither could seem to outscore the other. The tie leaves the Fire in second place, only three points behind the Crew. With only four games left in the MLS regular season, the Fire will continue to fight for first place as well as the Supporters Shield, awarded to the team with the best record. The Fire's next match will be Saturday, September 26, against Toronto FC at Toyota Park at 7:30 p.m.
One point. That was all the Chicago Fire (10-6-9, 39 points) needed to tie for first place with Columbus. Of course, a win for three points would have been better to take over the top spot, but the Fire did not mind sharing a point with Real Salt Lake last night in their 1-1 tie.
Fire player Chris Rolfe, with his sixth goal of the season, scored in the 44th minute of play. With a header from the left side by Mike Banner, the ball sailed to the middle and midfielder Marco Pappa helped it along to Chris Rolfe inside the box. Rolfe flicked a shot with this right foot just inside the right post past Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando.
Coming into the second half, the Fire had the lead, but Salt Lake was determined to redeem themselves. In the 72nd minute, they evened the score with a goal from defender Jamison Olave, connecting with a pass from Andy Williams from 8 yards out. Both teams continued to battle during the remaining minutes, but neither could come up with a game-winning goal.
Now the Fire have a pivotal match against the Columbus Crew coming up next Sunday, Sept. 20 @ 2 p.m. at Toyota Park. This match will determine who will takeover the first place spot in the Eastern Conference.
He's back! Yes indeed, Brian McBride is back in full-contact training with the Chicago Fire and may be eligible to play as early as this Saturday's upcoming game against Salt Lake. McBride has been out of play due to shoulder surgery back in July, which was required to clean out some minor damage.
Fire coach Denis Hamlett says he is doing well, but they are being cautious and working on his fitness to prepare him for match play. Although McBride probably does not need it. With a lead in goals scored for the Fire this season, despite missing eight games, and a knack for acquiring injuries, particularly to his face, McBride is certainly a fighter. He has returned far sooner than anyone anticipated, but that comes as no surprise to his couch and teammates.
McBride is a key player on the Fire, and having him back will certainly aid them in their next few games.
The Chicago Fire fell behind early last night, and they were never able to recover. Long-time rival D.C. United scored in the 11th minute of play, with a header from Bryan Namoff off a free kick. One goal and that was all it took.
The Fire could not seem to perform on offense, and their depleted defense made matters even worse. Despite many corner kick opportunities, the Fire were only credited one shot on goal in the first half. The second half offered Chicago numerous free kicks, but the team could not seem to generate any scoring chances. Fire Coach Denis Hamlett attempted to create some offense with various substitutions late in the second half, but to no avail. D.C. United held off a couple potential shots to win the game 1-0.
The Fire remain in second place, one point behind the Columbus Crew. They will have next weekend off, and then return to play Saturday, September 12 against Real Salt Lake at 8 p.m.
The Chicago Fire took on the Colorado Rapids, a team Chicago has struggled with in the past, last night at Toyota Park. In the teams first meeting this year in Colorado, the Fire pulled off an amazing win against the Rapids, something they had not done in over 8 years. Last night when the Fire went down 2-0 early in the second half, it looked as if the Rapids were going to redeem themselves from the earlier match. However, the Fire came back strong with three goals in a row.
The Fire began their comeback with a penalty kick opportunity from Cuauhtémoc Blanco in the 72nd minute. Chicago tied the game in the 85th minute with a shot from Midfielder Mike Banner, his second goal of the season. Then, with just seconds left in the game, Justin Mapp sent a cross from the edge of the box back into the area and defender Dasan Robinson placed the header into the left side of the net for the game-winning goal of the match.
The 3-2 victory gave the Fire their 100th regular season win at home, and it was the first time Chicago had won a match after being down by two goals. Needless to say it was quite an accomplishment for the Fire. The team still remains in second place in the Eastern Conference, only 1 point behind leaders Columbus Crew and 8 points ahead of third place Toronto FC. The Fire return to MLS action on August 29 against D.C. United at Toyota Park for their third consecutive home game.
The Chicago Fire (9-5-8, 35 pts) are still in second place in the Eastern Conference despite a 2-0 loss last night to the L.A. Galaxy. Toyota Park was packed with a sold out crowd, and the Fire faced a big game against the Galaxy and their British star player, David Beckham. However, Beckham was not the player they needed to be concerned about.
Mike Magee started the game off for the Galaxy in the 23rd minute with a low shot to the right side of the net past a diving Jon Busch. Landon Donovan doubled the lead after winning a foot race down the field with Fire defender Dasan Robinson and finishing the shot from 8 yards out. The loss ended the Fire's two-game winning streak at home, but they hope to redeem themselves this weekend when they take on the Colorado Rapids at Toyota Park, Sunday August 23, 7 p.m.
The Western Conference leading Houston Dynamos broke the Chicago Fire's five-game winning streak last night with a 3-2 win at Robertson Stadium. Not only that, but the shutout streak for the Fire's defense was also broken with Houston's first goal, which came in the 21st minute of play.
Houston struck first with forward Kei Kamara took a pass from midfielder Geoff Cameron and finished the goal from close range. In the 38th minute, the Dynamo added to their lead with the first goal of the season from midfielder Ricardo Clark. The Fire went into the half down by two, but came out strong in the second half hoping to gain the win. Within the first five minutes of the second half, the Fire leveled the score with goals from midfielders Chris Rolfe and Peter Lowry, the first goal of his MLS career for Lowry. Rolfe hit a rocket shot after receiving a pass from Patrick Nyarko. Lowry connected with an impressive cross pass from Cuauhtémoc Blanco and knocked the ball passed Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad.
Then in the 83rd minute, Fire defender Brandon Prideaux was called for a foul on Corey Ashe inside the area, giving the Dynamos a penalty kick opportunity. Stuart Holden took the penalty kick and scored the game-winning goal with a shot to the left side of the net.
The Fire, now 8-4-8 with 32 points, still sit comfortably at second place in the Eastern Conference, 4 points behind the Columbus Crew (36 pts) and 4 points ahead of D.C. United (28 pts). The Fire play again on Sunday, August 16 against the Kansas City Wizards at Community America Ballpark (2 p.m. CT).
$1 million was within reach. But when the final penalty shot from Tigres player Itamar Batista sped past Chicago Fire goalie Jon Busch, the Tigres became the winners of the 2009 SuperLiga Final.
The Fire scored first in the 10th minute with a header from Patrick Nyarko. The Tigres did not see the back of the goal until two minutes before halftime, when Batista got around two defenders and shot the ball into the lower-right corner. With momentum going the other direction at the start of the second half, the Fire was forced to come out blazing. Despite delivering 9 shots on goal, The Fire could not break the 1-1 tie, and the game went to penalty kicks to determine the winner.
While the Fire delivered three goals, the Tigres did one better with four to take home the trophy and the prize money.
The Fire returns to MLS play this Sunday, August 9, when they travel to Houston to take on the Dynamos, leaders in the Western Conference.
USA v. Mexico. It has become a heated rivalry in the region over the past few years, and tonight will be yet another showdown between the two countries. The Chicago Fire will host the Tigres UANL of the Mexican Primera Division in the SuperLiga 2009 Final. The Fire have posted a 3-1-0 record in the tournament and hope to add one more win tonight to hoist the trophy for the first time. However, the battle for the prize will not be easy. The Tigres were the only team to defeat the Fire in the tournament when they last met in the final game of group play on June 26. Needless to say, both teams will be in top form in the match tonight.
Both teams hold an impressive record this year. Chicago is coming off a victory against Real Salt Lake on Saturday, which extended their undefeated run to five games in league play. The Tigres are coming off a 3-1 win and sit level at the top of Group 3 in the FMF Primera Division.
The SuperLiga, in its third year, pits top soccer teams Mexico and MLS against each other for local bragging rights and one of the biggest purses in the region. If the Fire win tonight, they will be the third MLS team to win the annual competition. So the Tigres are looking to become the first Mexican team to win the tournament. No matter the outcome, the rivalry will live on.
The match kicks off tonight at Toyota Park at 7 p.m.
There had been thunderstorms all day the first Fire game I attended. But it was the playoffs and one of the reasons I was excited to be living in Chicago was the chance to watch the Fire. Not only did the squad featured three world class players in Peter Nowak, Hristo Stoichkov, and Lubos Kubic, but the young Americans were of a class rarely seen in MLS: Josh Wolff, DaMarcus Beasley (back when he had a whole career in front of him), future national team captain Carlos Bocanegra, Ante Razov and Chris Armas. Even role players like Jesse Marsch and Diego Gutierrez would prove to be among the best role players in the history of the league.
It rained on and off during the game, but that didn't dampen the fans spirits as the Fire dismantled New England 6-0 on their way to setting a record home winning streak. The combination of some brilliant soccer, the brisk fall weather, and fans that just wouldn't be stopped -- well I'd been to MISL games, I'd been to for the first time in America it really felt like I'd just been to a soccer game.
The Fire has been through a lot in the past nine years. They've been to Soldier Field, they've been to Naperville, they've been back to Soldier Field, and they've ended up in a place called Bridgeview. They've seen the franchise change ownership and the front office change hands Peter Wilt, to John Guppy to a guy that may or may not like soccer named Something Greeley. Between 2007 and 2008 a team that had only had two coaches in its history saw three coaching changes.
Two weeks ago, the weather couldn't have been more gorgeous for the last Fire game I attended before moving out of state for graduate school.
The Chicago Fire extended their winning streak with a 1-0 win over Real Salt Lake last night at Toyota Park. This was the first of two meetings this year between the two teams, and Salt Lake hoped to continue their success against the Fire from the previous year. Chicago held a record of 0-0-2 against Salt Lake last year, but that did not deter the team from coming out strong this time around.
The game remained scoreless in the first half, despite eight shots from Salt Lake and four from Chicago. Then in the 76th minute the Fire scored the game-winning goal with a header from forward Patrick Nyarko. Chicago gained three points with the win, giving them 32 total points.
The Fire currently hold the second place spot in the MLS Eastern Conference, sitting only one point behind the Columbus Crew who also gained three points in the league last night. Chicago hopes to continue their undefeated streak, as well as gain another shutout win next Sunday, August 9 against the Houston Dynamo at 7:30 p.m. central time.
Boy, you have one inter-team spat... Even though the Bears are denying any rift between Brian Urlacher and new QB Jay Cutler, USA Today has concluded that the team is the new Dallas Cowboys.
Can we leave the poor guy alone? A documentary is being planned on Steve Bartman and the "incident".
Speaking of the Cubs, the middle of their lineup (Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez and Milton Bradley) are heating up at just the right time.
If the Illini make it to the Rose Bowl again, they can thank... Donovan McNabb?
If you join up with the Fork In The Road biking and dining group, will you be having a well-rounded meal?
The Chicago Huddle, a weekly Bears preview and recap show, is looking for a spokesperson to open each program. Looking at the photo on the front of the video, I can't for the life of me figure out what they're looking for.
The Chicago Women In Baseball League and the Chicago Gems baseball club will take their skills to a bigger audience when they conduct and exhibition prior to the start of a Schaumburg Flyers game during Women In Baseball Day
The Chicago Fire held onto their first place spot and increased their winning streak to 5 last night with a 0-0 tie against Seattle. Both teams displayed a strong defensive effort, and kept the game scoreless despite the Sounders having the third-largest home crowd at Qwest Stadium behind them. Throughout the match, there were a couple close calls from Seattle, including a corner kick in the 85th minute started by Sebastien Le Toux and headed by Patrick Ianni. Luckily, a goal was avoided with the help of Chicago midfielder Chris Rolfe.
Chicago and Seattle played with 10 players each most of the second half when Chicago's John Thorrington was ejected from the game in the 54th minute after receiving his second yellow card. Seattle held onto a one-man advantage for only a short while until Freddie Ljungberg was ejected in the 59th minute for colliding with Chicago's C.J. Brown and then arguing the call.
Chicago, now 7-3-8, gained another point with the tie and are holding strong at the top with 29 points. Now the Fire have to prepare for their next home match this coming Saturday, August 1, against Real Salt Lake.
It's been a good week for the Fire's Cuauhtemoc Blanco. His goal and assist earned him MLS Player of the Week honors, the second time he's earned the accolade. The win boosted the Fire to first place in the Eastern Conference with a 7-3-7 record. Blanco, meanwhile, has four goals on the season, along with seven assists. Here's his extra time goal here, while his slick assist is attached below.
Even with one of Chicago Fire's star players, Brian McBride, out due to shoulder surgery on Friday, the team pulled off a win against San Jose last night to hold on to their first place spot in the Eastern Conference. The defensive play of both teams limited the scoring to 0-0 for most of the game. In the 82nd minute, forward Patrick Nyarko, who took McBride's place in the starting lineup, scored the game winning goal with an assist from Cuauhtemoc Blanco. As the match went into stoppage time, Blanco came through for the Fire again with an additional goal chipped over San Jose's goalie. Thanks to Nyarko's goal, the Fire broke their three game scoreless streak at home. The win also gave Jon Busch his 5th shutout of the season.
The Fire's next game will be against the Seattle Sounders on July 25. Even though McBride will be unable to play again as his labral tear surgery is keeping him off the field for 4-6 months, the team appears to be maintaining a strong intensity without him. If the team can keep the momentum in their next game, first place will stay in Chicago.
This week has been full of high points for the Chicago Fire: reaching the first place position in the Eastern Conference with a tie against the Columbus Crew; having two players, defender Wilman Conde and midfielder Cuauhtémoc Blanco, selected for the MLS All-Star First XI; topping off with a 2-1 win in the SuperLiga semifinals against defending champions New England Revolution. Yes, the team is certainly--pardon the pun--on fire.
The semifinal match took place last night at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA. This is the first year that the Chicago Fire has participated in the SuperLiga tournament, but they are extremely familiar with New England. The Fire have played the Revolution in 35 regular season games and 13 post-season matches. And while the Revolution had the upper hand at home last night, holding a 15-8-2 record against the Fire when playing at Gillette Stadium, Chicago showed no sign of intimidation.
In front of the largest crowd this season at Toyota Park, 18,123 people, the Chicago Fire battled the Columbus Crew to a 0-0 tie. Though neither team scored a goal, both came away with a positive outcome. Chicago surpassed D.C. United by one point, and now stands in the first place position in the Eastern Conference. The Crew also gained a point for the tie.
Despite strong offensive attempts from both teams, neither could finish off their shots. Goalies William Hesner and Jon Busch held their opponents to a shut out, the fourth one this season for Busch. The Fire's defense stepped up allowing the Crew only 4 shots on target. Although the Fire had 11 shots on target, they could not manage to put the ball past Hesner, who had a career high in saves.
Apart from the impressive soccer played, the crowd was another sight to be seen. Not only was it the biggest crowd this year, it was also the craziest. Fans chanted "Chicago Fire" for what seemed like the whole game, as various people in the crowd waved flags and lit flares. Though it was disappointing not coming away with a win, the Fire hope to draw the same enthusiasm to their next home league game July 18 against the San Jose Earthquake.
Two is a magic number. The Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew have played to 2-2 ties their last three regular season meetings, and both sit at the top of the Eastern Conference standings with first place in their sights. This Saturday, July 11, the Fire take on the Crew at home to determine who will surpass D.C. United and take first in the East.
The Fire are coming off an incredible 2-1 win against the Colorado Rapids, which gained them a win and three points leaving them tied with D.C. United. Columbus sits just one point below Chicago, and will be hoping to add another win to their season (5-3-8). The Crew have won 9 of their last 10 games, dropping one to Dallas in mid-June. Before the win over the Rapids, Chicago had lost three games in a row. However, after a strong performance in Colorado, breaking a 10-year losing streak to the Mile High team on the road, the Fire have a real chance to defeat the Crew and reach #1.
The Fire will be playing at home at Toyota Park, where they hold 9-5-5 record against the Crew. Home field advantage will come in handy this Saturday. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and will air on ESPN2.
As four-time Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup winners, the Chicago Fire entered last night's third round game against the Wilmington Hammerheads (USL-2) with confidence. The Hammerheads had not played a Major League Soccer (MLS) team since they lost to the New York Red Bulls in 2006. However, that fact did not show at all as the Fire fell to the Hammerheads 1-0. Chicago dominated a majority of the game and was presented with plenty of opportunities to score, but none of their shots were able to get past the Hammerhead's goalie Daryl Sattler. The loss knocked the Fire out of the tournament, and now they must travel to the Mile High city this weekend to face the Colorado Rapids for their first league match in two weeks.
Chicago has done tremendously well on the road this year with 4-1-3 record in 8 games. Colorado, though, has historically been a difficult city for the Fire to dominate. This is the first encounter of these two teams this year, and both share the exact same record and hold the fourth place position in their respective conferences. The Fire hope to pick up three road points this weekend, which is something they have only accomplished twice in 11 years of play, and they have not won a game against the Rapids since 1999. Their record against Colorado is not the only thing the Fire has to worry about. After a long undefeated streak (11 games), the Fire lost three consecutive games in June. The team hopes they will not post a fourth consecutive loss this Saturday.
The 4th of July game will take place at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado, and kick-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.
The Chicago chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America is meeting tomorrow to figure out once and for all how they should regard players of the Steroid Era in their future Hall of Fame voting. One Delaware sports writer is urging them to "do the right thing."
When the dust clears after tonight's NBA draft, will Kirk Hinrich end up wearing a new uniform?
Local Iowa State and Duke basketball fans might have something to do next January 6.
The Fire is gearing up for its next match in the Super Liga against fellow MLS club Chivas USA Tuesday at Toyota Park.
ChicagoNow blogger Matt Olsen lists 10 Chicago sports surprises that weren't really surprises. Personally, I'd add the continually rising cost projections for hosting the Olympics.
It'll be Mark Brown (no, not this Mark Brown) instead of Gonzalo Omar Basile who will take on Fres Oquendo at "Windy City Fight Night 3" this Friday at the UIC Pavilion. On the undercard, Rita "La Guera" Figueroa has a rematch with Tammie "The Tasmanian Devil" Johnson. Man, I love nicknames.
The Chicago Machine hope to end a three-game losing streak when they take on the Washington Bayhawks this Saturday at Toyota Park in Major League Lacrosse action.
If you just can't let go of the 1985 Bears, you might have a reason to watch the Cleveland Browns a bit closer this season.
The Lou Malnati's Pizza Bronco team does a worst-to-first run in the Wilmette House women's baseball league. Meanwhile, it's the Riveters versus the Skyline and the Comets versus the Turtle Rock in Chicago Gems Women's Baseball League action at Bedford Park Fields.
On the other side of town, the Cubs' top pick says he was hoping they would select him all along because he admires their history...
...which, as a Tribune article states, has been well documented on film.
A golf foursome with Ben Roethlisberger, Justin Timberlake and Michael Jordan? Somebody pinch former Chicago cop Larry Giebelhausen, because he must be dreaming.
Chicago's long history of heavyweight boxing add another chapter as Frez Oquendo takes on Gonzalo Basile in a June 26 bout.
Fire fan favorite C.J. Brown looks back on 12 years with the team.
Finally, meet the man who motivated Michael Jordan to greatness (by beating him out for the last spot on their high school basketball team): Leroy Smith. (If he looks a little like Charlie Murphy, that's purely coincidental, we're sure.)
The Chicago Fire's 11 game unbeaten start to the season ended in catastrophic fashion in a 3-0 loss to Dallas FC at Toyota Park. The Fire gave up two first half goals to set plays, continuing an alarming trend, before Kenny Cooper - who seems to always score against the Fire - added a third with a free kick. Another alarming trend is the Fire's inability to match their road results when playing in front of their home crowd.
There were mitigating circumstances for their miserable performance. Playing their third game in eight days and missing usual starters Wilman Conde, Gonzalo Segares, and Blanco, fans can hope this is a fluke. Some, however, will say the unbeaten start to the season was a fluke. One thing is for certain though: with Bakary Soumare set to join the group of Fire players leaving and CJ Brown leaving yesterday's match injured, the Fire have a tough month ahead of them.
We finally found out where all the breaks the Fire couldn't catch at Toyota Park are. They're on the road. The Fire's 3-2 victory over league-leading Chivas USA, was the latest in a string of victories from the Fire that haven't measured up in quality to the games they only tied at Toyota Park. Though anyone not named Arsene Wenger will tell you, quality doesn't matter. Results do. You could see that on the faces of Fire players, as they celebrated the final whistle like it was a playoff win.
The Fire were down 2-1 after a couple of howlers from Jon Busch (missing a routine save) and Bakary Soumare (giving up a penalty by leaving his feet in a position where he really didn't need to). A comeback looked unlikely until former Fire stalwart Jesse Marsch received a red card for his second bookable offense. From there, Denis Hamlet had license to throw on attacking substitutions in the form of Patrick Nyarko and Baggio Husidic. The move paid off in the 89th minute as Nyarko scored a late equalizer. Then, deep into injury time a seemingly inconsequential cross led to contact on Brian McBride in the box and a pretty soft penalty call.
A little lucky? Sure. But the comeback also shows the kind of never-say-die attitude the Fire have shown all year, and more importantly, the momentum they've been gathering recently. They'll need more of that against Dallas at home this Sunday, when they'll be missing Blanco, Gonzalo Segares and Bakary Soumare due to World Cup Qualifiers.
Wipe your tears, Hawks fans. According to USA Today, the young team's gotta wear shades ('80s music reference).
Not only are Derrick Rose's academic endeavors at Memphis under scrutiny, but it looks like the grade hanky-panky extends back to high school.
So does this SAT probe mean anything for the next batch of NBA hopefuls, many of whom will be here in Chicago for the annual pre-draft camp?
Answering the cries of many Cubs fans, GM Jim Hendry says the trading of Mark De Rosa isn't the problem. Meanwhile, The Bleacher Reports thinks moving Alfonso Soriano to second is one of the answers. And if the sale of the team to the Ricketts family doesn't go through, Sam Zell says "don't worry".
So who's the most important Bear on the team right now? If you think the answer is obvious, think again.
Even with deep dish pizza and Italian beef sandwiches all over the place, Chicago is pretty average when it comes to fitness. We're 25th out of 50.
Someone found the Tampa Bay Rays 2008 AL Championship trophy in a thrift shop in Chicago. Well, not the ACTUAL trophy...
The Chicago Fire's Gonzalo Segares gets the "up-close-and-personal" treatment from Goal.com.
It sounds like a sweeps week "special report": Are playgrounds endangering our children? Watch "Not Just Fun and Games", a special investigative report...
The Fire ground out another road victory on artificial turf Sunday vs. the New York Red Bulls. The win means the Fire remain the only undefeated team in MLS. It makes their record a respectable 4-0-6. It also puts them at the top of the Eastern Conference and within striking distance of overall point leaders Chivas USA, who they play tonight in LA. The Fire might relish the prospect of a third successive away game, since wins have perplexingly come much easier on the road than at home for the Fire under the Denis Hamlet regime.
But make no mistake, the coming weeks will be hard for the Fire. Traditionally, they struggle in months that start with a J and a grueling schedule means their fitness and depth will be tested to the maximum going into this June. After tonight's match in LA the Fire return to Chicago to play Dallas FC on Sunday. That means they will be playing 3 games in 7 days on three different coasts (including the third coast). Additionally, with reports of Blanco's retirement from international soccer greatly exaggerated, that's one more player that will be jetting all over the world for World Cup Qualifiers in early June. Combine all this travel with the Fire's recent adventures with field turf and I expect we'll either see a few sluggish performances in June.
For those of you who enjoy schadenfreude, the Fire's victory piles the pressure on former Fire coach Juan Carlos Osorio. He has never beaten the Fire since leaving them for New York, and might soon be making a less voluntary departure from the Red Bulls.
For once it was the other team's turn to rue missed opportunities as the Chicago Fire won for the first time in five games against Toronto FC. It wasn't pretty. Both teams struggled with windy conditions and the artificial playing surface (check out how Toronto feels about playing on the stuff here ). Toronto had more attempts on goal than the combined efforts of the past three teams that the Fire tied. It came as no surprise to Fire fans that some of those chances were missed by former striker Chad Barrett. He also cramped in the 85th minute, though he surprised many by making it that long. There was more than a hint of controversy in the Fire's opening goal, as Chris Rolfe scored on a breakaway only moments after the ball struck Logan...Pause on the hand for what could have been a penalty.
But really, isn't it about time the Fire had a dose of good fortune? Over the past five games they've been punished for every single mistake they've made. Finally notching another win should build some confidence in the team that will go a long way the next time they have a one goal lead at home. It's weird to write this about an undefeated team, but hopefully this weekend's victory signals the end of a slump.
If you were looking for the results of today's Cubs-Astros game, forget it. Rain washed it out.
For his uncharacteristic helmet-throwing incident, the White Sox' Jermaine Dye gets suspended and fined, meaning he's going to miss most of their series against Toronto.
Speaking of Chicago vs. Toronto, the Fire travel to the Great White North to take on Toronto FC this weekend. Other Fire news: the team has qualified for the 2009 SuperLiga tournament and kick off their annual Community Soccer Series net week.
Meanwhile, Chicago's other pro soccer team, the Red Stars have a budding star with the free-spirited midfielder Megan Rapinoe. Elsewhere, ESPN shows the Red Stars some by singing out goaltender Caroline Jonsson as one of the standouts in the Women's Professional Soccer League's inaugural season.
Vancouver is still trying to hold its collective heads up high after being bounced by the Blackhawks. But at least they don't welch on a bet.
If you had a brand-new boat (and really, in this economy, who doesn't?), the Chicago Park District has given you two new harbors.
Yahoo! Sports has the Bears finishing 11-5 this season. Hmmm...what changed?
As long as the Arena Football League is gathering mothballs, former Rush coach Mike Hohensee figures he's better earn a buck somewhere else.
Tired of movie dates, candlelit dinners and walks along the beach? Try antigravity yoga (among other alternative and physical date ideas).
New video game upstart retail outlet Play N Trade opens a new store in the Chicago area.
Seeking to assert their masculine superiority, the baseball-playing Schaumburg Flyers will take on the Chicago Bandits, the 2008 National Pro Fastpitch champions, in a fastpitch softball game. Why am I temped to bet the house on the Bandits?
Luis Arroyave announced today that he's quitting as the soccer writer for the Chicago Tribune to become their celebrity/nightlife columnist - something he always had an interest in covering in his blog. As the best source for news about the Fire, he'll be greatly missed. Hopefully this won't mean the end for quality soccer coverage in the Tribune.
There is no hiding it anymore. Despite being the only undefeated team left in MLS, the Chicago Fire are mired knee-deep in mediocrity. Their 2-0-6 record leaves them an unimpressive third place in a less-than-impressive Eastern Conference. It's not enough just to not lose games. They need to figure out a way to win them too.
The New England Revolution team that the Fire played on Saturday night was so depleted by injury that they had to play the league's best defensive midfielder at center forward. Still, the Fire could only manage a draw. It's just the latest in a series of games where the Fire couldn't come up with a victory against struggling MLS teams.
The San Jose Earthquakes, Kansas City Wizards, New England Revolution, even the Columbus Crew, who were off to a horrible start; these are the teams you need to take 3 points from to have a shot at the Supporter's Shield. Having left 10 points on the table in the past 5 games, that ship might have already sailed for the Chicago Fire. So what's going wrong?
It's do or (almost) die time tonight for the Blackhawks in their playoff series against the (boo) Vancouver Canucks.
Now that he's back in the fold, the White Sox' Scottie Pods wants his old number back. Meanwhile, manager Ozzie Guillen thinks the team has more pressing needs.
Speaking of the Sox, they hold their first Volunteer Day this Saturday. It's not too late to sign up for the event, inspired by their No. 1 fan.
Derrick Rose? Jay Cutler? Patrick Kane? Who's Chicago's most marketable athlete?
Handball fanatics, the place to be this weekend is Elgin. Yes, Elgin.
The Bulls' playoff run been berry berry good to Comcast Sports.
As if the Chicago Rush didn't have enough problems, what with their entire league collapsing, now they're accused of sticking it to one of their fans.
Look out Robert Morris College: Roosevelt University is getting back into the intercollegiate athletics action.
Fresh off their victory over Kansas City, the Chicago Force take their undefeated record to Detroit to take on the Demolition in Women's Tackle Football action.
The equally unbeaten Chicago Fire, meanwhile, face the New England Revolution at Toyota Park.
It's getting hard to know what to make of this year's Fire team, but they still haven't played in a boring game this season. Last week they played some of the best soccer seen in the league and managed to throw away a two goal lead in the final eight minutes. This week against the Columbus Crew, they played their worst soccer to date and managed to come back from two goals down in the last five minutes.
Most of the match looked like a continuation of last season's Eastern Conference Final. The Crew dominated play, Blanco and McBride were anonymous, and nobody, but nobody, on the Fire was capable of defending Chad Marshall on a set play. Last year Brian McBride was assigned to the big defender, this year the Fire switched it up and stuck Bakaray Soumare on him. The result was the same, with Marshall shaking off Soumare to score the Crew's opening goal and looking like a threat every time Guillermo Baros Schellotto sent the ball his way.
The Chicago Fire may still be undefeated, but Saturday's 2-2 draw with the Kansas City Wizards sure felt like a loss. Leading 2-0 after 20 minutes and playing some of the best soccer seen from a Fire team in years, for much of the game the only real question appeared to be how many goals the Fire would score.
But Kansas City goalkeeper Kevin Hartman pulled off a series of great saves in the second half, and then former Fire striker Josh Wolff snuck in two unlikely late goals. It left most of the disappointing crowd of 10,000 scratching their heads and wondering what just happened.
Maybe with a lineup already missing the defensive prowess of John Thorrington and Wilman Conde, Fire coach Denis Hamlet didn't feel he could risk starting Cuahtemoc Blanco in an away game to the San Jose Earthquakes. He certainly had reason to be concerned about the defense, as replacement defenders Brandon Prideaux and Dasan Robinson both looked very rusty.
Or maybe he's right in his assessment that Blanco isn't ready to go 90 minutes. There were times in Saturday's match it looked doubtful Blanco could even go 45.
But if Hamlet, after watching the Chicago Fire play the first half in San Jose without Blanco and the second half with him, is still hesitant to play the Mexican star then he might just be the fun-hating monster some people make him out to be.
The Chicago Fire travel to San Jose for a match against the Earthquakes Saturday afternoon at 3pm. The big question isn't if they'll remember how to play in non-frigid temperatures. It's who is going to replace John Thorrington.
The Chicago midfielder is suspended due to his red card against New York last week. While two of the Fire's star players, Chris Rolfe and Cuahtemoc Blanco, are looking for their first starts of the season, neither one of them quite plays the same role as Thorrington. It highlights the one area where the Fire lack depth - central midfield.
Hamlet has a few options. He could start Blanco in place of Thorrington and hope the rest of the midfield can provide enough defensive cover. That's how the Fire played at the beginning of last season, with some success. He could also ask Chris Rolfe to stretch his versatility even further, playing him in the center of midfield to go along with his previous stints as a striker and wide midfielder. Or he may add another defender and move Wilman Conde or Tim Ward into the midfield. If that happens, the question is, who's going to complain louder: Blanco or people on the Internet?
The Chicago Fire will play their annual benefit match with UIC at UIC Flames Field at 7pm. The Fire are not exactly fresh off of an opening day victory over the New York Red Bulls where they had to play most of the game shorthanded due to John Thorrington's red card as well as overcome weather bad enough to shut a baseball game down. It's been noted before, but this year's team keeps proving it's made of pretty stern stuff.
Look for some of the Fire's starters to get a rest. Of course, these days the Fire is deep enough that their bench includes Chris Rolfe and Cuahtemoc Blanco, two guys that will be eager to prove that they're fit enough to play 90 minutes. Also look for rookie Baggio Husidic to try and impress his new team against his alma mater. It's a rare chance to see the Fire within city limits and the incredibly reasonable $12 admission fee will go towards the Chicago Fire Foundation.
The Chicago Fire open their season at home Sunday afternoon at Toyota Park against every Fire fan's least favorite team, the New York Red Bulls. The Fire owned the Red Bulls last season, going 3-0 and outscoring them 11-3. Will the Fire be able to continue their domination of New York? That's just one of several questions to be answered on Sunday. Others include:
Are Fire fans ready to forgive or forget about coach Juan Carlos Osorio's hasty departure from Chicago for New York?
Will Denis Hamlet start Cuahtemoc Blanco?
Will the new reduced price seating in the terraces dilute the atmosphere in Section 8 or will it mean noisier fans in other parts of the stadium?
How many fans will a home opener draw in the usually low drawing Sunday afternoon timeslot?
Two games into the season, the 2009 Chicago Fire have shown a type of mettle that wasn't there last year. In their first game, they came back from going a goal down to beat FC Dallas 3-1. And let's get this straight, they didn't come back from just any goal. They came back from this:
Things have been so quiet this off-season for the Chicago Fire that it's almost escaped attention that their season kicks off Saturday night against FC Dallas. You can check the game out on Fox Chicago at 7:30pm or, if you like watchingsoccer inbars, Section 8 lists a few viewing parties on their website.
Now, a quiet offseason is not necessarily a bad thing. The Fire didn't need to make any major changes to their roster and they haven't. Tim Ward has been added to fill out an already deep defense and Bulgarian striker Stefan Dimitrov has been signed as the backup target guy for Brian McBride. Wilman Conde has played defensive midfield - the one area the Fire doesn't have a lot of depth - a few times during preseason. Other than that, the roster's mostly unchanged the team that came within 45 minutes of reaching the MLS Cup Final. And let's not forget, the Fire have had Brian McBride from the start of preseason this year, rather than having to learn how to play with him on the fly. After all of last year's offseason drama, for most Fire fans no news is good news.
Still, if you have to read something to get ready for Saturday's game, check out this Q&A with Fire coach Denis Hamlet where he addresses issues like playing Chris Rolfe in midfield, the situations with Lider Marmol, Tomasz Frankowski and Wilman Conde, and being the first black coach in MLS.
Oh, and the MLS Players Union released the salaries for this year. Get ready for the Justin Mapp backlash!
Clothing designer Novem has created the ultimate Chicago sports fan t-shirt.
Designed by Paul Deters, it features the mascots of every major league team in Chicago: a totem pole of White Sox, Cubs, Bulls, Bears and Blackhawks, with the Fire behind and Sky above.
It's available for $29 online or in their studio store at 1104 N. Ashland.
Didn't He Just Want To Come Home?
During the January transfer window, there was noise in England about Brian McBride's former team, Fulham, trying to sign him on loan for the rest of the English Premiere League Season. It sounded like a pretty silly idea. After all, McBride could have stayed at Fulham, but took a substantial pay cut to finish out his career in his hometown and be with his family. Why would he then turn around and go back to England for three or four months? And on top of that, why would the Fire let him miss out on pre-season and the first month of the regular season? Well, the good news is that the Fire didn't let him. The bad news is that McBride wanted to go and is unhappy about the way the Fire handled the bid- at least according to Ives Galarcep. Could this be another case of a well-seasoned pro not enjoying the level of soccer in MLS a la David Beckham?
Obama at a Fire Game?
After a last minute change to the MLS schedule that pitted the Chicago Fire against DC United in DC United's home opener, rumors flew that President Barak Obama was invited to the game. It's been neither confirmed nor denied, but my guess is it's not going to happen.
That commercial with LeBron James dreaming of playing fo the Cleveland Browns? What if some of our local non-football athletes had the same dream?
A charity stair climbing event takes place this Sunday at the 80-floor Aon Center. Around floor 57, just keep telling yourself, "It's for the kids, it's for the kids..."
One week in and I'm already going to interrupt my usual round-up of drinking in bars and watching foreign soccer to bring you a round-up of several important offseason developments for the Chicago Fire over the past week.
Farewell to the Captain
In a surprising development, Assistant Coach Chris Armas announced he was stepping down from his post to be closer to his family in New York. Armas has been with the organization since it started, first as a player, then captain, and then as an Assistant Coach. I like to think even though he's leaving; a part of him will always be with the club. Hopefully, he'll get inducted into the Ring of Fire this year. That lineup has decent management, a good sweeper, a playmaker and some strikers, but could really use a no-nonsense, tough tackling midfielder. More importantly, the fans just need a chance to thank the guy for everything he's given us. Wherever Armas lands, (and let's hope it's not the New York Red Bulls for Armas's sake) , he'll continue to be a credit to the US Soccer community.
A Cubs fan still can't get over the loss of Mark DeRosa.
The 35th Street Review gives you 10 things to watch for in Chicago baseball, 2009. Meanwhile, the Sox Machine is looking for good relievers on the cheap.
Da Bears Blog lists the only three good things about this season's team.
Bear legend Dick Butkus (not to be confused with bupkes) announces the winners of his annual national college lineman award next Tuesday.
The local high school basketball playoff picture begins to take shape, the Derek Rose Shootout brings the best in city prep hoops under one roof and one local school hopes to derail the top team in the country.
Bulls legend Michael Jordan talks about his shoes. Well, not exactly his shoes, but THE shoe.
Just got a press release saying that the Chicago Fire have extended Cuahtemoc Blanco's contract for another year. Most expected this to happen, but I was a little worried after his loan spell in Mexico. While there is an argument going around that the Fire could play a more fast-paced, counter-attacking brand of soccer without him, I think you have to consider this good news. Contract details are undisclosed - until the MLS Player's Union release salary information later this year.
No, not that "God," although the way the weather and the city's economic status has been going lately, a Second Coming might be in order.
No, the "god" in question is Liverpool soccer (sorry, football) legend Robbie Fowler and internet rumors have him coming to Chicago to play for the Fire next season.
According to the AOL Sports' Fanhouse site, Fowler, who scored 120 goals in 236 Premier League games, is thisclose to inking a deal with the Fire, although for a relatively piddling $9,000 per week. Why the lowball price? Fowler, 33, is reportedly interested in ending his career here and thanks to his real estate holding doesn't really need the money, which basically means he'd be playing for the love of the game. He was most recently released by the Blackburn Rovers.
He is the fourth-highest goalscorer in the history of the Premier League. After eight years with Liverpool, he left to play for Leeds United and Manchester City before coming back to Liverpool in January 2006. A little more than a year later, he signed with Cardiff City. A year and a half after that, he took a three-month "pay as you play" deal with the Rovers but left in December to become a free agent.
The Fire aren't the only ones interested in securing the striker's services. The New England Revolution are reportedly also in the bidding to bring him to the MLS.
Whether Fowler gets the opportunity to line up alongside Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Brian McBride remains to be seen. In the meantime, here's some video tribute to Fowler from a fan on whom he obviously made an impression.
A Chicago consulting firm looks at how avatars might help in winning at online poker.
In local soccer new, the Fire's Soccer Development Academy plays in three matches while the Storm slate their own holiday appearances in the coming days.
Soup's on...and it's paying dividends for the Blackhawks
A French newspaper seems to think that the election of Barack Obama means softball will be back in the Olympics. Huh?
Are Thursday NFL games a "recipe for disaster"? Depending on when you read this, you may already have the answer.
If you thought the Fire were done losing things this year, think again. On Wednesday, next season's expansion team, Seattle Sounders FC, will be able to pick one player from each existing MLS team, with each team allowed to protect 11 of its players. In the past the Fire have had to stomach loss of Nate Jaqua and Ivan Guerrero from expansion drafts. They're too deep not to lose somebody good this year.
Here's the list of guys the Fire chose to protect:
Goalkeeper: Jon Busch
Defenders: Wilman Conde, Bakary Soumare, Dasan Robinson, and Gonzalo Segares
Midfielders: Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Justin Mapp, Logan Pause, and John Thorrington
Forwards: Chris Rolfe, Brian McBride
No real surprises there. Swap out the younger Dasan Robinson for Brandon Prideaux and you have thestarting lineup in the playoffs. Striker Patrick Nyarko is automatically protected as part of the Generation Adidas program. However, Seattle can pick someone from this list:
Goalkeepers: Tyler Kettering, Nick Noble
Defenders: C.J. Brown, Lider Marmol, Brandon Prideaux, Austin Washington, Daniel Woolard
Midfielders: Mike Banner, Kai Kasiguran, Stephen King, Peter Lowry, Marco Pappa
Forwards: Calen Carr, Tomasz Frankowski, Andy Herron
Obviously, the name jumping out at everyone is Marco Pappa. Losing him would be a disaster. He's on loan from his Guatemalan team and his family ties to the Chicago area might make him less likely to sign a full-time deal with MLS to play anywhere but Chicago. Hopefully that will preclude Seattle from picking him. Other than Pappa, the most likely candidates to go would be Mike Banner, Calen Carr, C.J. Brown and Brandon Prideaux.
I had hoped that they wouldn't need to protect Blanco since he's a Designated Player and Seattle already has used there DP on Freddi Ljungberg. However, Blanco most likely has a "no trade" clause in his contract, so the Fire had to protect him. In other Blanco news, because he apparently got enough rest in the second half of the Eastern Conference Final, he's spending the offseason playing for Mexican Club Santos Laguna on loan. While everyone is still insisting he'll be back next year, it's up to Blanco and I wouldn't be shocked if he made the move to Mexico permanent. Not basing that on anymore than a gut feeling.
To end on a positive note, Bakary Soumare, Jon Busch and Blanco made the MLS Best XI. And Fire open tryouts start on Monday.
A while ago, the possibility was raised that new Fire President Dave Greeley might be a jerk. Since then we haven't heard a whole about him. Which is good since he was brought in to handle the business and marketing side of things and leave the soccer side to people that know the game.
But now that the season is over, we're going to get a glimpse of how the new President operates. On the plus side, Greeley did make Terrace level season tickets available for $99. On the minus side, there's an ugly rumor going around that the Fire are thinking about cheerleaders next year. But more alarming, the Supporter's Group Section 8 claim the Fire owe them $25,000 from the loss of the megabandera and commissions from a long-standing ticket selling agreement. According to the article, the Fire claim they won't pay the commissions due to damage to several benches in Section 8's area.
Seriously, what's more important? Stepping up and resolving an issue with the club's most loyal and passionate fans - fans who make going to Toyota Park a unique experience in Chicago sports? Or hiring cheerleaders so the place can feel to newcomers like a watered down version of more familiar sports.
A lot of interesting reading has been coming from the Tribune's Luis Arroyave's lately. First, little-used Polish striker Tomasz Frankowski ripped coach Denis Hamlet and Hamlet's response.
Arroyave also got Busch's side of the story on his post-game altercation with Columbus coach Sigi Schmid. I was too busy crying in my beer after the game to see it, but the two exchanged words with Sigi Schmid telling ESPN "I went over to congratulate him on a great season and he had another word for it." To give a hint, that word was once used by members of former Chicago Fire management after dealing with the man who would become our current President.
As Busch sees it, waiting until after you've ended a guy's season isn't the best time to try to bury the hatchet with someone you publicly shit-canned. It kind of comes off as gloating. I'm sure both guys are a little wrong on this one, but I'm also sure Bakary Soumare, Brandon Prideaux, Wilman Conde and Gonzalo Segares are wondering what the big deal is. Busch yells something worse at them every time he has to make a save.
Anyway, expect a full post-mortem on the season later in the week when I can finally stomach it.
I really thought this was the year. But the Columbus Crew beat the Chicago Fire 2-1 to knock them out of the playoffs. The Fire looked strong in the first half, taking a well-earned lead through Brian McBride, but a poor five minute spell at the beginning of the second half saw the Crew score two quick goals through (ahem) Chad Marshall on a set piece and Eddie Gaven pouncing on a loose ball. After that, the Fire couldn't really get going and the Crew deservedly go through to the MLS Cup Final. There will be plenty of time for a lengthy post-mortem, second guessing coach Denis Hamlet, and wild speculation about the future of certain players. But for now, let's just take a second to be sad. Really sad.
The Fire found out their Eastern Conference Final opponent on Saturday night when the Columbus Crew beat Kansas City 2-0. It should be a great game with a number of intriguing matchups: Blanco vs. Schelotto, Defender of the Year runner-up Bakary Soumare vs. Defender of the Year Chad Marshall, Brian McBride vs. his former hometown, and Jon Busch vs. Sigi Schmid. The game will be Thursday night on ESPN2 at 6:30 with the winner going on to face either Real Salt Lake or, surprisingly, the New York Red Bulls in the MLS Cup Final. While it's not technically a home game for the Fire, try telling that to Section 8 who will be traveling to Columbus en masse.
The Fire knocked the New England Revolution 3-0 on goals from Chris Rolfe, Wilman Conde, and Gonzalo Segares. It was more than just winning a first round playoff game though. This was finally beating the Revs - depleted or not. I could tell it was huge when I saw the last guy to score a winning playoff goal against New England, Assistant Coach Chris Armas, jumping up and down hugging Technical Director Frank Klopas and looking absolutely giddy in the player tunnel after the game.
Timing
You couldn't have timed a more spirit crushing goal than Chris Rolfe's 45th minute opener. Getting the goal before halftime was huge, as New England certainly would have felt confident and upbeat in the locker room. Instead, their heads low, they gave up another goal early in the second half, effectively ending the game. It was also nice of the Fire to wait until everyone in the crowd finally arrived after the awful traffic from that wreck on I-55.
People are Starting to Notice The Fire
Yesterday, people at work actually asked me about the game. That's happened before, but usually only for gimmicky things like Freddy Adu playing while 14, or David Beckham playing while being handsome. This is different. This is about the word getting out about a genuine title contending team. There has been more space in the paper, judging by the TV trucks at the stadium some real local news coverage, Sports Illustrated is writing fawning articles, and they even lit the Sears Tower red last night. All of that might be a clue that this team is starting to catch on, but the real proof is the crowd of 17,000 that braved traffic and rain to get out to Bridgeview on a Thursday night and make a ton of noise. It's the kind of crowd that should make MLS think very seriously about having an MLS Cup Final at Toyota Park.
Tied at 0-0 from the first leg, the Fire's game against the New England Revolution tonight is massive, with the entire season in the balance. If you need some at work reading to get psyched for the game, the Tribune's Luis Arroyave will be updating his blog all day. The game's on ESPN2 at 7:30pm tonight, but really even if you're only mildly soccer-curious, you should get down to Toyota Park to check out the biggest game of the year. Don't tell me Bridgeview's too far. Blanco's family is coming from Mexico.
Soccer by Ives revealed that the Fire's Bakary Soumare has decided to play internationally for Mali, rather than wait two years for citizenship to play with the US. It's a big loss for the US National Team, as Soumare has had a breakout year in MLS and can only get better as he matures. It's also not the best news for the Fire, since it will mean a gruelling travel schedule for Soumare. Also, playing alongside the likes of Freddy Kanoute, Seydou Keita, and Mohamed Sissoko might raise Soumare's profile enough to hasten his departure to a European club. Still, anytime a player in MLS gets international call-ups it's not a bad thing and for Soumare congratulations are in order.
There might be more congratulations for Soumare after Thursday's results for MLS Defender of the Year are in. Speaking of which, John Busch earned Goalkeeper of the Year for his strong season with the Fire. As much as Busch always credits the excellent defense he has in front of him in interviews, the award is well deserved. It wouldn't be too surprising if he won Comeback of the Year as well, considering most people wrote him off after injuries ended his career in Columbus. Also, it really puts all the doom and gloom about not re-signing Matt Pickens last season in perspective.
If you want the textbook definition of "stalemate," look no further than last night's 0-0 playoff tie between the New England Revolution and the Chicago Fire. The Revolution, missing a host of starters due to injuries and suspensions, still came out full of hustle and made life extremely difficult for the Fire's attacking players. It was a typical MLS playoff game, full of intensity, late tackles and not a lot of pretty passing. It wasn't a game to win soccer-haters or Eurosnobs over, but for fans it was gripping and intense stuff. Of course, if the league could find a way to make every game mean as much as last night's, we'd get all that plus teams that have learned how to handle the ball under pressure.
But at this point, that's beating a dead horse. With the return leg scheduled for next week at Toyota Park next week and everything still to play for, let's take a look at what's worrying and what's not so worrying for the Fire going into next week.
The Chicago Fire kick off their playoff campaign tonight away to the New England Revolution on ESPN2 at 7pm. Their position as favorites in the two-game series has been cemented further by the news that Chicago nemesis Taylor Twellman is out indefinitely due to a concussion. On top of that, midfielder Steve Ralston is out with a broken leg and winger Khano Smith is suspended for going after the guy that broke Ralston's leg in the last game of the season. Still, New England have the best center midfielder in Shalrie Joseph. They also have a great coach in Steve Nicol, who will be facing his toughest challenge as a manager yet. Expect a battling performance from New England. There's no way they're going to make this easy.
If you missed it last Thursday (and I missed it because I was sick), the Fire ended the regular season in style, destroying the New York Red Bulls 5-2 in their best offensive display of the season. Chris Rolfe's hat trick against the Red Bulls earned him Player of the Week honors. It also pushed him up to 9 goals, which made him the Fire's top scorer. Other end of season awards went as follows: MVP, Jon Busch. Defender of the Year: Bakary Soumare. Humanitarian of the Year: Diego Gutierrez.
The win should give the team a lot of momentum to build off as they go into the two-game playoff series against New England with their attack finally firing on all cylinders. Both games will be on ESPN2, with the away game on October 30th and the home game on Nov 6. The Fire have torn it up on ESPN2 this year, going 4-1 with a plus six goal differential. They've also torn up the New England Revolution this season, going 3-0 with a plus eight goal differential. Do any of those stats counter the one that says the Revs have ended the Fire's season for the past four years? I think this might be the year, but they'll probably have to play the games to find out for sure.
Mixed World Cup Qualifying Fortunes
On Wednesday night, several Fire players represented their countries in World Cup Qualifying with varying degrees of success. Marco Pappa scored his first goal for Guatemala, offering further proof that Frank Klopas and Denis Hamlet have a real find in the young midfielder. His team's shot at advancing out of their group took a real hit though, as they lost 2-1 to Cuba. Gonzalo Segares played 90 minutes for Costa Rica in a 2-0 victory over Haiti. And Chris Rolfe finally got a much deserved recall to the US National Team thanks to an injury to Columbus' Robbie Rogers, which ironically happened during the Columbus-Fire match last week. Sadly, Rolfe only had a cameo appearance, subbing in the 88th minute of a shocking loss to Trinidad and Tobago. The question is, with the Fire already in the playoffs, will Denis Hamlet risk playing any of these guys on Toronto's punishing field-turf after a midweek game and grueling travel schedule?
Bad News For the Fire's rivals
On Thursday night, the New England Revolution lost to DC United, putting the Fire in prime position to seal 2nd place, and home field advantage (for what that's worth). More importantly, it underlined how the Revs will struggle without their injured midfielder, Steve Ralston. Another conference rival, the New York Red Bulls, had an even worse week. MLS officials always want evidence that they're catching up with other professional sports in the country, but I don't think they had in mind Jeff Parke and Jon Conway's 10 game suspension after testing positive for a bannedsubstance. Is all this good news for the Fire? I wouldn't bet on it. Sometimes when a team's back is against the wall they're at their most dangerous.
Speaking of betting.
Chad Barrett, now with Toronto FC, plays against the Fire for the first time today at 7pm. Since I'm publishing this on a Saturday, chances are you're reading this at work on Monday and already know the result of the game. I'll just say this, Chad Barrett probably scored against the Fire. Things work out like that in soccer. Check out this excellent Luis Arroyave article about his time with the Fire and his departure. He was one of the most derided players to ever wear the Fire red and I certainly had my share of criticism for him. But he was starting to kind of win me over before he left. You have to give him credit for never giving up and never hiding, no matter how much he struggled. While trading him for McBride was a good move, it's good to see Barrett's doing well in Toronto. And just to hedge my bet a little, if he didn't score, I'll bet Barrett at least missed an open goal.
The Chicago Fire only needed a tie to secure a spot in the playoffs. Their opponent, the Columbus Crew, only needed a tie to seal up the best regular season record in the league. So it was predictable that the game would end in a draw. That was about the only predictable thing about Sunday afternoon's game, though.
What could have been a tense, defensive struggle turned out to be a thrilling, offensive, end to end affair. After going ahead through a Brian McBride goal, the Fire continued to create chances only to be let down by poor defending from a usually solid backline going from 1-0 up to 2-1 down within a minute. A poor clearance from the usually perfect Wilman Conde led to Columbus midfielder Eddie Gaven's 60th minute goal and then the Fire got caught napping off a counter-attack from a corner in the 61st. Notably, both goals came after near misses from the Fire. It was that kind of game. Even after the Fire leveled the score at 2-2 through McBride again, both teams pushed for the winner when a tie suited their purposes.
On the same weekend the Cubs crashed out of the playoffs and the White Sox kept their playoff run alive, the Chicago Fire visited a minor league baseball stadium and let a chance to clinch a playoff spot of their own slip through their fingers. The way results had panned out around MLS, a victory over the Kansas City Wizards would have guaranteed the Fire a playoff spot with three games remaining. Unfortunately, leading 1-0 at halftime, the Fire gave up an early second half goal and had to settle for a 1-1 tie.
A breakdown of what all this means, after the break.
Sure, they're involved in a heated playoff series. Doesn't mean that Derrek Lee and Mark DeRosa shouldn't think about their longterm future.
The Wrigley Field faithful aren't the only ones singing "Go, Cubs, Go". A "fan" in California wants them to win too, although for admittedly selfish reasons.
If the Twins had their way, it would have been double-or-nothing against the White Sox. (OK, not really, but...)
According to one writer, the Fire fans are some of the nicest around town.
Got an extra $90,000 or so lying around? You can sponsor your own triathlon.
Two more elite runners (PDF) announced for the Chicago Marathon field.
While most of the city has one eye on the playoff fortunes of its baseball teams, let's take a second to note that the Chicago Fire look set to qualify for their fourth consecutive post-season. In fact, looking at the league table and doing some complicated math, the Fire could clinch a spot this weekend if they beat Kansas City and both DC United and FC Dallas lose.
Looking at that table also reveals the most likely scenario will be a first round matchup with the New England Revolution. You'd think this would be an appetizing prospect since the Fire have gone 3-0 against them this season, outscoring them 9-1. But New England have ended the Fire's season every year since 2004. So should the Fire clinch a playoff spot, don't be too surprised to see a few people suggesting they tank the rest of the season just to avoid the Revs.
Last week, in front of a packed (but not completely full) house, the Chicago Fire rebounded from a miserable performance against FC Dallas to overwhelm the LA Galaxy 3-1. It was the Fire's best game in months and should have fans a bit more optimistic about their postseason chances. It also reminded fans just how good this team can be when it's firing on all cylinders. Just to change things up, here's a look at what went right.
Tomorrow night, MLS's two biggest stars face off at Toyota Park when David Beckham's LA Galaxy team visits Cuahtemoc Blanco and the Chicago Fire. In stark contrast to when the two teams met last year, tickets are still available. It's kind of a bummer, especially since last year I ended up with an extra ticket and was able to scalp it for quite a few dollars.
So what's different this year? For one, the novelty has worn off a bit. It certainly doesn't help that Cuahtemoc Blanco is in the middle of his least-productive spell since joining the Fire. For LA's part, despite the presence of both Beckham and Landon Donovan it's impossible to disguise that the L.A. Galaxy aren't a very good soccer team. In addition to that, you have a weeknight game, which means people getting off of work and then facing the prospect of fighting through traffic to Bridgeview. There were disappointingly low turnouts for both the Everton friendly and the U.S. World Cup Qualifier against Trinidad on weeknights as well. It might also have something to do with most of Chicago having one eye on the Bears and another one split between the White Sox and the Cubs playoff hopes.
Or maybe the Fire and MLS labor under the delusion that all they need to do to is sign a couple of star players and they're already a big-time organization.Tribune reporter Luis Arroyave recently mentioned getting cold shouldered by the Fire several times this season - including a trip to spring training to get an interview with Blanco, who was never made available. It lead him to broaden his soccer coverage and put less focus on the Fire. This Wednesday, pregame interview opportunities with Beckham were limited to trying to catch him on the way out in a media/player "mix zone." Which meant reporters would have to spend the afternoon hoofing it out to Bridgeview without any guarantee of getting a quote from Becks.
From my own experience, over the course of three years three different people have been in charge of media relations - each with progressively fancier titles. The attitude towards media credentials requests from a website writer has gone from "Sure we really love your writing" to "Wait, exactly who are you again?" to not even bothering to respond. In their defense, in this case it meant the Fire sold one more season ticket package, but there have to be better ways of selling tickets.
It's hard to remember the Chicago Fire playing worse than they did during this Sunday's 4-1 pounding at the hands of FC Dallas. The Fire have certainly played some stinkers in the past, notably during the last two season's horrible winless streaks during the summer. But those games featured injury ravaged squad that had to rely on the likes of Calen Carr, Chad Barrett, and Jerson Monteiro. This week the Fire missed Bakary Soumare through suspension and Logan...Pause due to an injury, but the squad was otherwise intact. The other dispiriting thing about the performance is that it came in September. With the playoffs right around the corner, there's very little time to turn it around.
What went wrong? It's tough to even know where to start, but after the break is as good at place as any.
You can't say the Chicago Fire don't care when they have a bad day at the office. At halftime of the Chicago Fire's 2-0 loss to the Colorado Rapids, coach Denis Hamlet offered a brutally honest assessment of his team's play to sideline reporter Sarah Kustok, saying something along the lines of, "we're playing terribly."
Goalkeeper Jon Busch, who blundered on the first goal and could have been expected to save the second given the season he's had, said this about his performance:
"The loss came down to me. I was not good in the first half...I am disappointed with myself. I let myself down, I let the coaches down, I let my teammates down, and I let the fans down. But I will take this one on the chin. We have a really good team here, we just need to regroup and go from there."
But maybe the most brutal criticism of the team's performance came from MY50's commentator, Fred Huebner. Coming back from a commercial break early he could be overheard telling color commentator Chris Doran, "Then we'll come back and you can tell us why they sucked."
Check it out in its full glory from youtube after the break.
After this Wednesday's World Cup Qualifier against Canada, Cuahtemoc Blanco announced his retirement from the Mexican National Team. That means he won't be missing anymore Fire games for callups, which is good news for Fire fans. It also means the end of one of the most storied Mexican National Team careers ever. Check out this excellent article from Sports Illustrated to get a sense of it.
The US is playing its first World Cup Qualifier in the modern era in Chicago tomorrow and the Trib is reporting only 8,500 tickets have been sold. This is the US National Team. It's not a friendly game. It's a competitive World Cup Qualifier And by the way, Trinidad and Tobago is no pushover. Don't get me wrong. I love going to Fire games, but this should be a step up from a regular season MLS game in terms of the level of play and the importance of the game. It should draw at least as many fans. Come on America, do the right thing. Go to a soccer game.
It's not even a question really. Blanco will start every match he's available — and rightly so. He's not only drawing attention to the league and fans to the games, but he's also proven to be quite good at soccer. But after the Fire's clutch 1-0 victory against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, it's been pointed out numerous places that the Fire are 3-0 this season without Blanco in the lineup. Thanks to the hard working duo of Stephen King and Logan...Pause, the Fire controlled the game against New York in a way they didn't against Houston with Blanco on the field the week before.
That said, for all their dominance this week, the Fire didn't create that many chances. They had to rely on a terrible mistake by the Red Bulls defense to come up with their only goal. The key going forward into the post-season will be to find a way to combine the work rate shown in the midfield against the Red Bulls with the flair and creativity Blanco brings. Which might mean sacrificing a few other creative midfielders for workhorses. Which might explain why Justin Mapp was relegated to the bench against New York, despite signing a four year contract extension.
The Fire play conference rival New York Red Bulls this Saturday night. The last time the two teams met the Fire absolutely stomped the Red Bulls 5-1 in one of their best performances of the season. Things have changed since then. The Red Bulls have put together a decent run of results, bringing them withing 3 points (ie, one win) of the Fire in the standings. The Fire are coming off a 2-1 loss against Houston which underlined many of the team's failings if they want to be championship contenders. Despite being loaded with talent, they don't have the chemistry, organization, or work rate that the defending champs showed last week. On top of that, the Fire will again be missing Blanco, Gonzalo Segares, and Marco Pappa due to World Cup Qualifiers. So it should be pretty interesting with New York looking to gain ground and a backs-against-the-wall Fire team looking for a chance reassert itself. That's not what matters though.
What matters is that this is the first trip back to Chicago for New York Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio. Osorio came in to replace fired Fire coach Dave Sarachan last year, stayed for about five minutes and jumped ship as soon as he had a better offer in New York. Hopefully meetings between Section 8 and the Fire front office this week over the Sector Latino affair mean the banners, drums, noise and (yes, Cuahtemoc) drunkenness will be back in time to give Osorio the welcome that he deserves.
A few interesting posts about Dave Greeley, the new Fire president, from former key members of the team's front office, Peter Wilt and Steve Pastorino. Apparently Greeley was pretty anti-soccer when he was with the Bears.
According to Wilt, during negotiations over the use of the new Soldier Field by the Fire:
"While most of the city and Bears representatives were polite, though a bit patronizing, Dave seemed bent on putting the Fire in its place with condescending comments. At one point during the meeting, Greeley's relentless disparagement of soccer and the Fire forced AEG's Bill Peterson and me to swear at him (as I recall, it began with an "f" and ended with a "u"), get up from the table and head for the door.
"Burke stopped us in the hall way, apologized for Greeley and convinced us to return to the table."
In a move that isn't going to make any more friends amongst a fanbase that is getting more and more alienated from him all the time, Cuahtemoc Blanco told Hoy that he didn't know if he'd return for a third year with the Fire. He originally had a two year contract with an optional extension for a third. Most people assumed it would be extended a third year, or as Babelfish says, "the decision to make that option effective so that returns the player the next year is of the equipment and that without place to doubt will make it effective." The news that this option might not be so effective might have made a lot of fans kind of upset if they hadn't noticed that Blanco hasn't actually scored or set up a goal in ages and weren't too drunk to read the article to begin with.
Does anybody remember John Guppy? Me neither. But the Fire finally hired his replacement,Dave Greeley, who spent six years with the Chicago Bears as Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Director of Sales & Marketing. Greeley will be the top Fire executive leading the strategic planning and overall management of the franchise and stadium. Obviously, that management of the stadium part still needs work with the parking situation still a nightmare three years in and the Fire's relationship with it's most loyal fans at an all time low. While Guppy also had a role in the soccer side of things, it looks like that will be left to Technical Director Frank Klopas and coach Denis Hamlet.
The U.S. National team plays Guatemala tonight in World Cup Qualifier, the result of which will bear a big impact on next month's match vs. Trinidad and Tobago at Toyota Park. Despite spending the entire season towards the top of the table, no Chicago Fire players were called up to represent the U.S. There will be a Fire player in the mix, however, with new midfielder Marco Pappa getting his first call up for Guatemala.
Gonzalo Segares will also make a trip to Central America to play for Costa Rica against El Salvador, and Cuahtemoc Blanco received a surprise call up for Mexico against Honduras.
All this would be well and good if the Fire didn't have a game tomorrow night. Thankfully, their opponents, the LA Galaxy, will be missing some stars of their own with David Beckham heading to England for a friendly against the Czech Republic and Landon Donovan playing for the U.S. So, the two teams with the biggest stars in MLS will meet in the marquee ESPN2 spot without either Beckham or Blanco present. I think I've mentioned that MLS needs to pay attention to the international soccer calendar a few times already
Brian McBride's debut in a 1-0 loss to DC United was overshadowed by the growing controversy between Section 8 and Fire management over Monterrey Security's treatment of its hispanic faction, Sector Latino. Section 8 sat quietly for the entire first half, creating an eerie atmosphere of silence in a near sold out stadium. Not helping matters are quotes coming from the man who has brought most of the hispanic fans to the stadium in the first place, Cuahtemoc Blanco, calling a faction of the fans "garbage."Keep in mind, this is a translation. Also keep in mind there are definitely two sides to this story. Blanco's personal security guard, Mexican-American Juan Gaytan Jr., owns Monterrey Security -- the company accused of racial actions. Both sides really need to cool down on this one, but you can't help but feel that if the relationship between Section 8 and the Fire front office hadn't been steadily deteriorating for the past four years (including last year's attempt to search every Section 8-er at a separate entrance) this wouldn't have turned into such a big problem.
It may not make it to the side of a milk carton, but the Chicago Fire fan club Section 8 is missing their banner.
Some people might have an opinion about who they are, but a new book of photos entitled "We Are Cubs Fans" seeks to define the loyalists visually. The obligatory Ronnie Woo Woo photo is included.
Speaking of the Cubs, Sports Illustrated joins the rest of the country in being amazed that they AND the White Sox are both in first place and may make the playoffs in the same season for the first time since 1906.
And speaking of the Sox, Fox Sports calls the acquisition of Carlos Quinten the steal of the century. OK, they call it the steal of the season. It just LOOKS like the steal of the century.
Tickets for the National Pro Fastpitch softball championships go on sale this Saturday at Judson Sports Complex in Elgin, home of the Chicago Bandits. The Bandits are one of the four teams who will be participating.
Now that the Blackhawks are enjoying a resurgence in popularity, new fans might want to read about one of the team's legends featured in a story from the Sports Illustrated vaults.
It's not that rare that an American soccer commentator gets something wrong. It's even less rare to find some jackass on the internet complaining about American soccer commentators getting something wrong. I've been that jackass on a few occasions. What you don't see that often though, is an American soccer commentator coming to the biggest soccer forum in the country and apologizing for a mistake. Chicago Fire commentator Chris Doran did just that after erroneously questioning why New England Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph received a straight red card for petulantly knocking the ball out of Cuahtemoc Blanco's hands on a throw in, normally a yellow card offense. As noted in Doran's apology on Big Soccer, it was actually a yellow card offense - Joseph's second of the game, which meant a red card. As Peter Nowak would say, props to Chris Doran for owning up to the mistake.
Doran wasn't the only person that made a mistake on the night, and his was hardly the worst.
I remember the first time I saw them. There were maybe five or six shirtless kids, jumping up and down, waving their shirts above their heads and cheering next to a banner that said "Sector Latino". It was 2005 and they were in the empty end of the mostly empty Soldier Field. I remember looking at them and thinking, "Jeez, I hope each one of them brings about 10 friends to the next game." Instead, security came along and kicked them out of the empty section, to boos from the rest of the crowd.
Three years later though, Sector Latino has grown and turned into a substantial part of Section 8. But they haven't stopped getting hassled by security. I wasn't at the Chivas USA game, but apparently it featured the worst cases yet of abuse from Toyota Park's rightly maligned Monterrey Security. Details at the Section 8's website. Check it out, it's a must read. Kudos to Section 8 for sticking together on this, and to the Fire front office: fix this now.
I'll cop to it. I really screwed up. Faced with the chance to see three professional soccer games in Chicago this week, I only saw two. Worse than that, I missed the one that actually mattered: the Chicago Fire's 1-0 win over Chivas USA. Call me a blatant Eurosnob (or a guy who had way too many scheduling conflicts this Saturday), but I chose international friendlies over a competitive league match. The good news is that when faced with a glut of options, not everyone did.
The Fire's friendly against Everton FC, the fifth place team in the wildly popular English Premiere League, drew a paltry 9,000. Barcelona's friendly against Chivas Guadalajara drew 40,000 to Soldier Field. That's nothing to sneeze at, but a little disappointing considering we're talking about Barce-friggin-lona here. And really there were waaay more Chivas fans there than people that bought Barca jerseys out of the Eurosport catalog. Meanwhile, the Fire drew a sellout 20,492 crowd to Toyota Park for their regular MLS league game against Chivas USA. That number was helped by the fact that they sold combo ticket packages with the Barcelona game, but the fact that that much soccer happened this week and it didn't cannibalize the MLS attendance says something for the loyalty and interest the team is starting to generate.
And, OK, the games that I went to were approached like they were totally just friendlies, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a lot to enjoy about them. Observations after the break:
The Fire announced today they've acquired Guatemalan midfielder Marco Pablo Pappa Ponce from CSD Municipal. He will be available to play in the friendly tonight against Everton, which should give us a look at a few intriguing new faces - Pappa, Patrick Nyarko, and maybe even Lider Marmol, if he really does exist. Still no word on the Brian McBride signing though. What's up with that?
This Sunday the Fire ground out its second shutout in a row and it’s third in three games. The defense continues to look solid and Jon Busch has to be one of the best goalkeepers in the league this year, whatever the All-Star Vote says. Even while they’re not playing particularly well, the Fire can still keep on pace with the rest of the league thanks to their defending. That’s the good news. The bad news is this: those three shutouts have all been scoreless ties and it’s starting to get really boring.
Worryingly, unlike previous games, this week the Fire rarely came close to scoring. Those who had been calling for Polish striker Thomas Frankowski to start in place of Chad Barrett got their wish, with Barrett not making the trip to Kansas City because of his imminent trade to Toronto. Frankowski, may indeed be a better finisher than Barrett, but odds are we’ll never know because he’s too lethargic to get himself into positions to score.
With Brian McBride not due until after the Olympics, it leaves the question where will the goals come from until then. (And by the way, McBride still hasn't officially signed with MLS - what's up with that?) Chris Rolfe will be a big part of the Fire’s attack, but he's not the kind of player that should be playing as a lone striker. With Calen Carr out for the season, Andy Herron still woozy from that concussion, and Frankowski not doing much, it’s time to see more of rookie Patrick Nyarko. He looked good in his few minutes against Kansas City, setting up one of the Fire’s best chances of the night for Stephen King. Wednesday night's friendly in Everton will be a chance to see if he's ready against top level opposition, without throwing him in the deep end in a league game. Expect to see him play a lot in the game, and if he does well, don't be surprised if he starts against Chivas USA on Saturday.
Calling this the All-Star break is a bit of a misnomer. The Fire actually play against the Kansas City Wizards this Sunday and no MLS squad without Gonzalo Segares can really be called an All-Star team. Still it’s as good a time as easy to talk about the Fire’s performance over the first half of the season.
And you know what? It’s all gone surprisingly not badly. Keep in mind the Fire lost their coach, their starting goalkeeper, and their captain during the offseason. Still, the Fire started the season incredibly well, going 6-2-2 up until June. And even the traditional summer slump is more of a blip that’s sent them from first place to third rather than the black hole of suck it was last year. After all, the team is undefeated in its last four league games. They’ve only won one of those, but still…
One thing that's really struck me about the team this season though - this is not a team that's happy to settle for a draw at home.
MLS announced their full All-Star squad today. We already knew Cuahtemoc Blanco would make the team, as he was announced as part of last week's not-neccessarily starting "All-Star First XI." Surprisingly, no other Fire players were picked to fill out the squad. Goalkeeper Jon Busch, with the lowest goals-against average in the league, and Gonzalo Segares, whose stellar play has been such a huge part of the Fire giving up the fewest goals in the league, probably have the biggest gripes. But really, neither of them will be missing out on much. The All-Stars will be taking on London's West Ham United, a solid English Premiere League team, but nowhere near as glamorous a side as the Chelsea team that played in Toyota Park in 2006. Busch and Segares are better off having a bit of a rest. Besides, they'll be getting a game in against a quality English team when they take on Everton next week.
Within a week of an alleged fistfight with teammate Wilman Conde, Cuahtemoc Blanco was at it again. This time, at least, he remembered to hit someone on the opposing team as Blanco was red carded during the Chicago Fire’s US Open Cup overtime loss against DC United for hitting Clyde Simms in the chest. I saw the footage on YouTube and the red card was completely justified. Additionally, there are reports of Blanco head-butting a DC United official.
It was an eventful weekend for The Chicago Fire. First, two of their top players got into a fist fight. As Ives Galarcep, points out, if you’re Wilman Conde and you want to leave the Chicago Fire, maybe the best way to go about it is taking a few swings at Blanco. But then again, if Conde really wanted out, maybe he wouldn't have played so well Saturday night. Blanco played too, by the way, and they seemed to have the air cleared enough that you sure couldn't tell they had to be pulled apart the day before.
Looking over their record the past couple of years, one thing is clear. The Chicago Fire hate playing in the summer. After a bright start, recent signs have pointed that this year may be no different. Some truly clueless looking displays during a three game losing streak have the alarm bells ringing.
If you ever need an indication of the mood in the Fire locker room, you need look no further than the body language of Chad Barrett. He’s made serious progress this year, but reports from last Thursday night’s loss to Chivas USA (which I missed out on due to Euro2008 fatigue and some broken ribs) had him missing his requisite two chances per game and wigging out about it.
Of course, just like Barrett fans have a tendency to overreact to the smallest blip in form. Is it really a full blown crisis? Not really. The Fire have lost to DC, Dallas and Chivas. Two of those teams, the Fire lose to with some frequency. If the Fire can’t stop the rot Saturday night against the expansion San Jose Earthquakes though, it might be time to start panicking. Oh, and please ignore the fact that it's apparently Disco Night at Toyota Park.
When the Chicago Fire didn’t want to let Wilman Conde follow Juan Judas Osorio to New York just because he wanted to, people called them jerks. When the Fire didn’t let the Red Bulls sign Lider Marmol because the Fire had already put a discovery claim on him, people called them much worse. But they were wrong. The Fire was doing everything in their rights to stay as competitive as they could and not help a rival Eastern Conference team. That’s what a sports team should do.
So it’s hard to defend this quote in the Tribune from Frank Klopas about his negotiations with Toronto FC coach Mo Johnston about acquiring the rights to Brian McBride:
There are plenty of good reasons for leaving your couch and watching any sport in a bar, but with soccer there are more than most. For one thing, being in a noisy, boisterous crowd does a better job of being at a live game than the mostly bored sounding American commentators. For another thing, there’s always a soccer game going on somewhere in the world, and usually more than one. And lastly, beer.
When they lost to Kansas City, I shrugged. When they lost to Houston, I raised an eyebrow. After their shocking injury time loss to DC United this weekend, I’m worried. The Chicago Fire, with an unbeaten 4-0-1 record on the road, now have a losing 2-3 record at home.
It’s tough to explain, especially now that the Fire are getting strong home support with an announced crowd of 19,000 this weekend. Maybe the Fire just aren’t used to playing in front of crowds? Even going back to the Soldier Field days, they always seemed to save their worst performances for large crowds showed up for an international doubleheader. It’s a good thing that their U.S. Open Cup home match will be played in Peoria on Tuesday night.
After an off week for the Fire, the soccer schedule's going to get very busy this weekend with the start of the European Championships, the U.S. playing Argentina at Giants Stadium and our very own Chicago Fire returning to Toyota Park to take on DC United.
In the meantime, you can whet your soccer appetite by voting for the MLS All-Star Team. The Fire haven't fielded too many players on the team in recent years, but that should change given this season's form. Of course Cuahtemoc Blanco is sure to make it. But for me, one player stands out and it would be a crime if he didn't make it. This season, Gonzalo Segares has gone from a good young defender, to quite simply the best left back in the league.
If you still want to exercise your democratic right to fill in online soccer polls, the Chicago Fire's website gives you a chance to vote for your the Chicago Fire All-Decade Team. Here's who I went with: Zach Thornton in goal; CJ Brown, Lubos Kubic, and Carlos Bocanegra in the back (with an honorable mention to Gonzo); DaMarcus Beasley, Chris Armas, Jesse Marsch, Peter Nowak, and Cuahtemoc Blanco in a pretty unstoppable midfield; and Frank Klopas and Hristo Stoichkov in attack (just couldn't vote for Razov). Feel free to tell me I'm an idiot in the comments section.
With the Fire off this weekend, it’s a good time to talk about the non-MLS soccer games in Chicago this summer. At the top of the list, Barcelona FC will play at Soldier Field August 3. Barcelona features a ridiculously star-studded lineup including Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o, and Thierry Henry (although some of those names might change during the summer transfer season). Friendlies between European superpowers in Soldier Field have a deservedly bad reputation ever since Manchester United and Bayern Munich reserve teams played one of the worst soccer games of all time there. For that reason I was pretty excited when Chivas Guadalajara was announced as Barcelona’s opponent. Chivas will attract passionate fans, be more willing to make a game out of it than another touring European team, and sad to say, are probably more capable of making a game out of it than an MLS team.
Yesterday Arlington Heights native Brian McBride decided to leave English Premiere League club Fulham. Any American soccer fan with a heart would love to see such a seasoned pro finish his career with his hometown team, and any Chicago Fire fan with a brain knows that even at 35 he could help this team a whole lot. However, with the MLS rules as they are, Toronto FC would have first dibs on him and he'd also probably take up a Designated Player slot that the Fire doesn't have. So the question becomes: How much would be too much to give up for a 35-year-old striker on a team that's pretty deep in strikers?
Well, at least one team treated it as more than your typical, early season MLS league game. The Fire creamed Juan Carlos Osorio’s New York Red Bulls 5-1 on the road. Osorio had to watch the demolition job from somewhere in the stands thanks to a red card last week, but he wouldn’t have been able to do anything from the bench either. This Fire team is really hitting its stride and had the extra motivation of playing against their old coach, so the Red Bulls didn't stand a chance.
Coach Denis Hamlet has been making decisions based as much on team chemistry as tactics and individual talent. His decision to start controversial Columbian defender Wilman Conde showed both a great understanding of player management and a sound tactical mind.
It used to be hard to figure out which rival MLS team to hate the most. We’ve tried with our nearest rivals, Columbus, but it’s hard to take them seriously. There was the “Brimstone Cup” with the Dallas Burn, but they changed their name, left our conference and that whole thing seemed to mostly take place over internet messageboards anyway. And then there was New England, which stopped being fun the fifth time they knocked us out of the playoffs.
But we’ve been going about it all wrong. Sometimes when you're really looking to hate a soccer team, you wake up after a rotten offseason and find it’s been staring you in the face the whole time. Of course I'm talking about this Sunday's opponents, the New York Red Bulls. In addition to the fact that they’re a New York (er, make that New Jersey) sports team, there's plenty not to like about the New York Red Bulls. Let's count the ways.
I had read a few glowingstories in the middle of the week, and had an uneasy feeling. Then, when I got to Toyota Park and saw it on the big screen, I knew we were in trouble. The opening video touted how at 5-1-1, the Fire were off to their best “seven game start” of the season in club history. Surely the jinx was on.
Tomorrow night Chicago Fire playmaker and Mexican national hero Cuahtemoc Blanco will throw out the first pitch at the Cubs game. Since he probably doesn’t know the words, he won’t be singing during the seventh inning stretch though. That duty will fall to the striking partnership of Chad Barrett and Chris Rolfe. Just a guess, but I’ll bet it’s going to sound pretty terrible. Also betting Blanco can throw a pretty mean fast ball.
Bruno Menezes, we hardly knew you. After a year of being on the fringes of the squad, the Chicago Fire released the Brazilian in favor of Paraguayan defender/midfielder, Lider Marmol. I could have sworn he was waived Menezes sometime last year, but apparently it didn't happen until yesterday. He came in at a strange time for the team. Dave Sarachan was on his last legs as a coach, the team had a serious injury crisis, and it was playing incredibly badly. Not a great situation to be introduced to a team. In limited time last year (2 starts, 3 games total) I thought he had potential to help out on the right side. The fact that he played under four coaches in a year (Sarachan, Hamlet on an interim basis, Osorio, and Hamlet again) and he takes up one of the precious foreign player slots meant the timing and the situation just never turned out right for him. Also, I think he should have gone with the Brazilian style single name and been known simply as Bruno. That might have helped.
New players getting lost in the shuffle at a changing club is hardly an MLS phenomenon though. World soccer is full of situations like this. Just ask Matt Pickens,
The Chicago Fire lost their first game of the season, despite playing some of their most impressive soccer of the season. More than any other sport, soccer’s funny like that – a team can dominate most of the game and still lose. And before anyone starts talking about it being unfair, they should take a trip in a time machine to last week and have a chat with a San Jose fan.
When popular GM Peter Wilt was fired by AEG, then-owners of the Chicago Fire, fans protested by wearing black to the 2005 home opener. Now new owner, Andrew Hauptman, has fired his replacement, General Manager and President John Guppy. I'll have a whole lot more to say on the John Guppy era, its end and what it says about new owner. But for now, wow.
With the Fire off over the past weekend, most of the discussion has been about the recent release of player salaries by the MLS Player's union. Unsurprisingly, Blanco -- as part of the same salary cap exemption that allows the league to pay for David Beckham -- accounts for about half of the team's payroll. Among the other players there some eyebrow raisers like Bakare Soumare and Patrick Nyarko making more than proven guys like Chris Rolfe, Gonzalo Segares and Dasan Robinson. There are reasons for the wonkiness, but rather than go into all the vagaries of the super-complicated MLS roster rules, I'll just say a look at those numbers gives you an idea why so many solid mid-tier American MLS players like former Fire striker Nate Jaqua are departing for not so glamorous European teams like SC Rheindor Altach of the Austrian Second Division.
And then you have the guys on the "Developmental Roster" trying to live in Chicago on $12,900 and $17,700 a year. At least they didn't end up in New York or LA on that wage. There have been success stories from the developmental ranks like Rolfe and Robinson. But "developmental" is a misnomer since these guys suit up and play for the first team. Asking people to pay to see "professional athletes" playing for sub-poverty line wages has to be an embarrassment to an entity that describes itself as Major League. Which is why the player's union publishes all these numbers in the first place.
The Chicago Fire made a mockery of their defensive reputation, putting 4 goals past the New England Revolution in the first half of last night's home opener at Toyota Park.There were mitigating circumstances with two of the Revolution's best players out injured and a 7th minute red card depleting the visitors even further. But there were a lot of things to be encouraged about. The team showed the killer instinct in front of goal that they lacked so much of last season. New guy Tomasz Frankowski scored twice, which will surely help him feel more comfortable in his new surroundings. But the real star of the night was oft-maligned striker Chad Barret, who scored the first goal, set up both of Frankowski's, and in general exhibited a lot better decision making than we saw from him last year. As for the "Toyota Park experience," 3 seasons in and the parking lot still isn't completely paved. Also it took a little bit of looking around, but I can confirm that you can still buy an Okocim at the stadium.
The Chicago Fire's home opener against the New England Revolution kicks off at Toyota Park tomorrow night at 7pm.
It’s been a traumatic offseason for the Fire. Coach Juan Osorio quit after just half a season to take a job with the New York Red Bulls. The Fire attempted to hire John Spencer, assistant coach of the champion Houston Dynamo, but he very publicly turned the job down. This led to Assistant Coach Denis Hamlet finally getting the job he’d been passed over for twice.
Clothing designer Novem has created the ultimate Chicago sports fan t-shirt.
