Fire Advance

I doubt any of you watched MLS Prime Time Thursday just recently, but even for those of you who simply cannot bear to watch a soccer match on television, you could have watched this one. The Chicago Fire were playing D.C. United in the second leg of a best of two aggregate goal series, the first of which went to Chicago 1-0. Now, in the short history of the MLS, these two franchises are top notch. The Fire have won, I believe, one MLS Cup in the past, and D.C. have won four. Cup count doesn’t seem to matter much though, in the playoffs for these two teams. The Fire have beaten D.C. in the playoffs 4 times. That was sure to change in this series though, as D.C., the supporter’s shield winner, was #1 seed, and Chicago, the lowly #4. This was not so however. Ever since the acquirement of Cuauhtemoc Blanco midway through their season, the Fire have climbed from the cellar to make the playoffs, and now the Eastern Conference Finals. Blanco, and extremely famous player in Mexico, has injected the team, it seems, with new energy and chemistry, not to mention fantastic play from the talented and experienced man himself. Although he is seen by many players as dirty and distracting, there is no denying the impact he has had on the Fire.

So, the game started out normal enough, with each team fairly evenly matched. Then it just blew up. Chad Barret got a perfect threw ball from Calen Carr in the 31st minute to make the score 1-0, and just two minutes later, Chris Rolfe tacked on another, beating keeper Troy Perkins. At this point, the game had equaled the excitement level I expect for an average MLS game, but after all, this is the playoffs. D.C. United played the rest of the half with a pretty dejected attitude, but the second half was a 360 degree turn around. Right from the whistle, it was a non-stop bombardment on Chicago's net. After many close calls, Clyde Simms finally netted one for D.C. in the 69th minute. After more pressure on net, former league M.V.P. Christian Gomez broke through as well. This made the total series goals 3-2, advantage Fire. One more goal, and the game would go into a series ending overtime, and if that didn't settle it, then a penalty shoot-out would. It became increasingly exciting as the time grew on the clock. Errant shots, missed opportunities, close calls, they were all there. When stoppage time arrived, the urgency was thick enough to feel in the air. Then, is was tied, or so it seemed for a few seconds. Cristian Gomez barely controlled the ball to get a shot off, but buried it in the net anyway. The only problem was that he used his hand fleetingly before the touch and shot, so it was called back, and the game ended shortly after, dramatic to the end. Chicago had taken D.C. out of the playoffs again. I loved this game. It was by far the most engaging match I have ever watched, World Cup and UEFA included. Fire were clearly the underdog, with names like Gomez, Moreno, Fred, Boswell, and league leading scorer Luciano Emilio on the opposing team. They're the Yankees of the MLS you could say, and I really hate the Yankees. As it turns out, Chicago will be playing at The New England Revolution in the Eastern Finals, and it will be The Kansas City Wizards at the Houston Dynamo, who won a thriller in overtime over FC Dallas to make the Wester Finals. I originally picked Chivas USA to take the cup, but in light of their early departure, I'd have to take Houston over Chicago in the cup. I encourage anybody who enjoys sporting events to watch the Chicago v. New England game on ESPN 2 Thursday night at 7:30, It looks like a great match up.