Here we go again. Another weekend, and no one wants to throw in the towel. Of the three playoff spots up for grabs, all nine remaining teams are theoretically alive and well - although some in a better place than others. Whether it was a stunning shot from the likes of Brandon McDonald, or some [...] Click to continue reading...

Chad Barrett scored the most significant goal for the United States at any level in the last five years: Barrett's outstanding finish from a Benny Feilhaber free kick gave the US a 1-0 victory over Lionel Messi and eventual Champion Argentina at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship. Barrett's MLS career has been shaky, but [. Click to continue reading...

We're into the last few weeks of the season for MLS. And since MLS is The League That Does Not Recognize International Breaks, this makes it one of the few leagues still playing this weekend. This makes it a good time to look at what's happening. First, I'd like to point everybody toward our [...] Click to continue reading...

The Fire and Kansas City to a 1-1 draw Sunday to the disappointment of the 40 or so traveling fans from Chicago. The Fire had a goal ruled out for offside before Blanco converted a free kick on the stroke of half time. KC scored in the first minutes of the second half and to be honest, there wasn't much more action following that.

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Wednesday is the 11th anniversary of the news conference at Navy Pier where we announced the name, logo and colors of Chicago's Major League Soccer team. This month is also the tenth anniversary of the Fire's inaugural season double championship. The Fire had planned and promoted a special gala anniversary celebration at Toyota Park this Friday. Click to continue reading...

Who do you pick now to make the playoffs? With a handful of games remaining there are now three teams who have assured themselves of a playoff berth - New England, Houston, and Columbus, one team that hasn't been there in awhile, two that have been there time and time again. Who's next? That's a [... Click to continue reading...

KCW Reserves Defeat Chicago Fire Reserves 2-1 Sunday

Ryan Pore Scores 2 for Kansas City, Peter Lowry Tallies for Chicago in Second Game of MLS Doubleheader

MLS Reserve Division Match
Sunday, October 5, 2008 – 4:30 p.m. (CT)
CommunityAmerica Ballpark – Kansas City, Kansas
Weather: 75 and clear

Scoring Summary:
KC – Ryan Pore 8 (Michael Kraus 3, Roger Espinoza 1) 39
KC – Ryan Pore 9 (Michael Kraus 4, Roger Espinoza 2) 41
CHI – Peter Lowry 5 (Patrick Nyarko 4) 72

(October 5, 2008) – The KCW Reserves improved to 7-1-2 Sunday afternoon with a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Fire Reserves at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. Click to continue reading...

Hopefully he didn't mean to...
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So a win would have put us into the final playoff spot, but we'll take the point against a strong Chicago team. We're currently one point behind Colorado and Real Salt Lake for the final playoff spot and two points behind New York for 4th in the East. Playoffs are certainly within reach with some strong results over the final three games, but obviously nothing is assured or easy. Click to continue reading...

Two first half goals by Ryan Pore were enough to lead the KC Wizards reserves to a victory over the Chicago Fire this evening at Community America Ballpark, after the first team game against the Fire. Thanks to a season ticket holder perk, I was able to watch the game from the "expensive" seats field side, and sample the Wizards' Drop Kick Ale that they have. Click to continue reading...

The Wizards missed a chance to take advantage of the results on Saturday, only able to get a 1-1 draw with Chicago today out at Community America Ballpark. After last night's results had gone the Wizards way, the Wizards had a chance to push themselves into 4th place in the East. Unfortunately, a penalty kick in first half stoppage time put away by Cuauhtemoc Blanco put the Wizards in a hole they had trouble pulling out of. Click to continue reading...

The Wizards enter the home stretch of the season, and face what basically amounts to 3 must win games at home to make the playoffs. The race for the 7th and 8th playoff spots is on, and it's not going to be easy for the Wizards to get either of those spots. The good news for the Wizards, though, is the fact that the Wizards have 3 of the last 4 games at home, and are unbeaten in their last 7 home games, dating back to late June. Click to continue reading...

It's an exciting time of year. As the crisp autumn weather cools most places around the country, the playoff race is heating up. Teams are fighting for their postseason lives, anxious to be one of the eight to have a shot at the MLS Cup. It has been well documented here that Columbus is the [...] Click to continue reading...

What a difference a week makes! A brilliant win by the Fire last week and now on to Kansas City this weekend. Its 6:36 am in Chicago and as soon as I post this I will be jumping in a bus for a 9 hour trip to KC to watch the game. Section 8 is also playing some Kansas City fans in a supporters match on Sunday morning before we go to the stadium to tailgate.

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Disney will be on hand Sunday to pump up their latest animated feature, Bolt. Starring John Travolta and Miley Cyrus, this movie is sure to be a hit. They'll have a large hamster ball on hand for people to try their luck at. Check out this article in the KC Star about this weekend's event and this website for more info on the movie, including a trailer. Click to continue reading...

Luis Arroyave, author of "The Red Card" blog featuring the Chicago Fire, U.S. Soccer, the new Chicago WPS team and many other things from the soccer world invited our captain and center back Jimmy Conrad over to guest-blog about some of his favorite bands you all should know. Enjoy the latest musings from our #12. Click to continue reading...

There's plenty to talk about after another busy weekend of MLS action. A few teams look dead and buried (DC, LA, and Toronto), while others storm to life at the right time - RSL and Colorado - to give themselves the inner track in the race to the playoffs. But if this season of the [...] Click to continue reading...

Storm clouds were (literally) gathering as the Galaxy practice ended Monday at Home Depot Center, the suffocating miasma of the sticky air seemingly reflecting the deepening gloom engulfing the team.

Veteran Pete Vagenas, usually one of the friendliest and most accommodating Galaxy players, walked off the field, his gaze locked at the ground straight ahead in a clear sign he was in no mood to talk.

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Colorado held New England to a 1-1 draw at home after taking the title from the Chicago Fire the week before. New England still has only one road victory as a challenger in the UMLSCC.

This week Colorado traveled to New York and history would say that NY should walk away with the title. The Rapids were 0-2-7 (WDL) when playing on the road as the champions. Click to continue reading...

We looked good for long stretches but couldn't get that final goal (though the foul call certainly didn't help) to pull back level with Chivas USA. After big wins for Real Salt Lake and Colorado Rapids, the East isn't assured of five playoff teams anymore. Read the last sentence from the press release to see how things stack up now. Click to continue reading...

Former Celtic youth member Charlie Mulgrew dazzled his former supporters with two professional goals as Aberdeen nearly upset Scottish power Celtic in league action.  The 22-year old left back/left winger scored his second goal in the 65th minute to put Aberdeen in front.  It did not take long for The Bhoys to answer. Click to continue reading...

Brandon Moore, M S&T (Rolla 2005) defends against Brian Fishback, Indy Greyhounds (Parkview 2005)

Missouri S&T Miners - 1
Indianapolis Greyhounds - 0
An important win for the Miner's Friday night at home as senior Corey Bailey (Olathe) pairs with Mario Calderon to 'make a play' in the words of Coach Joe Ahearn.

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In another match with huge playoff implications, the Chicago Fire battled the LA Galaxy on Thursday night, coming away with a well-deserved 3-1 victory. Click to continue reading...

I'm glad I resisted a trip to the movies to see Righteous Kill and instead stayed home and watched Chris Rolfe and the Chicago Fire take it to the L.A. Galaxy in prime time. No, not because the movie got... Click to continue reading...

Last year, Chicago destroyed LA's playoff hopes in the final game of the year. This year, they could pretty much kill the Galaxy off - a little earlier this time around.

LD talks about doing "internal work". Sounds like colonics or something. LD gives a nod to Hispanic Heritage month, saying those were his soccer teammates when he was growing up. Click to continue reading...

The Los Angeles Galaxy visit Toyota Park tonight to take on the Chicago Fire in what amounts to a must-win match if LA hopes to resurrect its faint playoff hopes. The Fire will be looking to avoid a three-match losing streak, and a three-match skid against Western Conference opponents at that.

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Tonight the Galaxy tries to keep its flickering post-season hopes alive in a must-win showdown in Bridgeview, IL against the Chicago Fire. Chicago has been struggling of late, losing the last two games by a combined score of 6-1, but the legendarily leaky Galaxy defense might be just what they need to get back on their game.

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Chicago v Los Angeles It's Thursday already, and you know what that means. Thursday night soccer? Not a very catchy nickname. Either way, Beckham-mania (what's that? People don't care about him as much?) hits the Windy City, with Los Angeles taking on the Fire. With the playoff picture taking shape, the Galaxy now sit just two [. Click to continue reading...

After watching the Fire get dismantled by Dallas last Sunday I decided that it would be better if I forgot about the game completely and not write about it. So with that being said lets move on to the next game which happens to be tonight against everyones favorite team to make fun of: The LA Galaxy.

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ESPN2 will be all Chi-town down tonight when the Galaxy comes to town to finally give us the Becks-Landon-Lewis vs. Blanco-McBride-Mapp match that we missed out on a few weeks back. Even though both teams haven't exactly been pissing excellence as of late (LA's result against D.C. aside) I'm more excited to watch this than any of the CONCACAF Champions League games/ass-whippings that were on this week. Click to continue reading...

It was early. It was morning. It was early morning.

With my mind still on autopilot, I made daily visit to the local Dunkin Donuts and was quickly awakened by the smell of roast coffee and - get this - a dude in front of me wearing a white Chicago Fire jersey.

Really.

He was two customers ahead of me. Click to continue reading...

USA Major Soccer League: Chicago Fire are meeting LA Galaxy Friday September 25th. Don`t forget to sign up 11×2.com - the next big football site Watch the Highlights and LIVESTREAM here  Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today Click to continue reading...

Who: Chicago Fire vs. Los Angeles Galaxy
When: 9:00 pm ET
Where: Toyota Park, Bridgeview, IL
TV: ESPN2

With a win, the Galaxy could jump into third place in the West -- playoffs! -- while Chicago are limping through the final few weeks of the season.

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Forbes.com recently released a report that looked at the economic side of MLS and also put a value on each of the Major League Soccer franchises. At a macro level, things are looking up for MLS. Seven of the league's 14 teams play in soccer-specific stadiums, five of which have been built since 2002. Click to continue reading...

With just about 5 weeks remaining in the regular season schedule the race to the playoffs is heating up. Here is a quick look at the current situation of each team

Columbus Crew 14-6-5 47pts

The Crew missed the playoffs last year and are on the top this year.

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