As we prepare for MLS’s astro-turf ‘rivalry week’ and eagerly await the victor of storied competitions like Philadelphia v New England or Columbus v San Jose, many Chicago supporters are still licking their wounds having lost at home for the first time in ages to their truly hated foe New England. I shouldn’t be […]

Trades are fun. I love trades. I was essentially frozen out of fantasy baseball in college because I was too much of a wheeler and dealer—and not in a savvy way, in a sloppy QPR kind of way—annoying everyone via email. Point is, I like to see movement, to see teams actively improving themselves. In […]

Every MLS team this season has seen a significant change in personal on the pitch, on the bench, or in the front office. Such is the beauty of the off-season. Soccer, more than any other sport, is constant changing; its mutability and fluidity is one of the great attractions of the sport. The Chicago Fire […]

The Chicago Fire look to solidify their place near the top of the Eastern Conference with week by earning victories against two-thirds of the MLS’s Canadian teams. Part one of Chicago’s Canadian gauntlet is over. Wednesday night saw the Fire easily dismiss should-be relegated Toronto FC 2-1. The win isn’t a surprise. Unfortunately, playing Toronto […]

There’s something inherently infuriating about MLS’s Power Rankings. The entirely arbitrary ‘rankings,’ which seem to be designed to appeal to the inchoate and quixotic logic used by college football fanatics, come out weekly and only serve to provide a premise to berate the league. This last week’s rankings put San Jose, Kansas City, Houston, New […]

These past few weeks for the Chicago Fire have been unpleasant. Not necessarily a roller-coaster, more like a constant sea-sickness. Performance-wise, July has been nothing but a headache. A draw in Houston was a positive but then a decisive loss to Los Angeles in Chicago erased any success, they team then bounced back with a […]

Chicago is one of the most in-form team in MLS right now having won their last three matches. Each win has been a unique performance showing the mental toughness of the squad. Friday’s 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City demonstrated that Chicago could put on a bunkering, defensive display on the road. Given the fact […]

A Friday Night Lights football match-up is an event, at least when it’s real football. There is no rivalry between Kansas City and Chicago, but every time these two meet you are guaranteed an excellent match. Form-wise, the advantage is in Chicago’s favor. Sporting Kansas City have drawn and lost their last two league games, […]

Was it a tantrum or just the inevitable expression of frustration, a blowing off of steam that comes with being jerked around by front office suits over ones contract? It’s not quite clear. After the Fire’s biggest win of the season (3-1 thumping of New York which should have been a 4-1 thumping), playmaker Sebastian […]

Most summers, International breaks in MLS season are a dull and laborious affair. In a regular summer, we would be feeding off of scraps. You can try all you want, I’m never going to care about the USMNT. I know this puts me in the extreme minority of American soccer writers. But I really can’t […]

Saturday night’s match between Chicago and New England will be a maddening one. Both squads are coming off embarrassing US Open Cup defeats—the Fire in 120 minutes failing to rise up to the passion or quality of the Michigan Bucks and the Revolution switching off before the match was over, conceding three extra time goals, […]

Every contest between Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew is an event. Maybe not for the rest of MLS, but it certainly is a rager for Crew and Fire supporters. For this first match up of three in the 2012 season, Chicago will travel to Columbus. Arriving ahead of the Fire will be over 600 of […]

Unlike most Chicago Fire supporters, I don’t care about the Brimstone Cup. I can say that now because FC Dallas has lost the cup for the first time since 2001, and Chicago has picked up its first win over Dallas in Toyota Park. Given the new unbalanced schedule this year in MLS, this will be […]

After two bye weeks in the first 5 weeks of the season, the Chicago Fire are experiencing their first crowded run of games in the month of May, as they prepare this week to wrap up 3 games in 8 days. While their Friday night match in Los Angeles against Chivas USA resulted in a 2-1 […]

Chicago travels to the City of Angels this week to face Chivas USA in their only trip to LA during the regular season. The Fire are still stinging from last weekend’s loss to Seattle Sounders, and will be without sophmore central defender Jalil Anibaba and head coach Frank Klopas, both suspended as a result of […]