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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Hello fellow Fire fans!
My name is Steve and ill be taking the reins as the new Fire blogger for The Offside. Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I'm a college student living in Chicago. I am originally from Ireland and moved to US 11 years ago. I've been going to Fire games since year 1 an have attended most home games since 2002.

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Good evening folks. I was able to work my way through the third of four parts of the most recent SBI Q&A session. There some very good and interesting questions in this batch, including asking for my takes on best American field players ever and best strikers in the world right now. There's a little something for everybody.

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Our friend Dan G brings us his point of view on the struggle between a group of Chicago Fire fans, and Toyota Park stadium security. These are his words:


I have been a Chicago Fire supporter and Section 8 partisan since day one. While the fans in the stadium have always represented the ethnic diversity(as has the team itself) of Chicago there have been off again on again problems with racism at Fire matches. Click to continue reading...

Section 8 faithful Tom Dumore shows his support for the Red Stars. The guys and gals in the Chicago Fire Supporter's organization, Section 8, have taken a HUGE initiative here in Chicago: Part in parcel with the enthusiasm from the woman's team performance and in recognition of the upcoming inaugural season of Woman's Professional Soccer (WPS) and [. Click to continue reading...

Chicago Fire 0 : 1 D.C. United
Six Word Novel Recap

Black and red likes some yellow.

Media, Traditional and OtherwiseThe Chicago Daily Herald, Orrin Schwarz: "Things changed at the start of the second half Saturday night at Toyota Park. Fans in brand-new No. 20 jerseys sat up straight. Click to continue reading...

The Section 8 Chicago organized protest last night intended to force the Chicago Fire front office to address alleged racial incidents by Toyota Park's security firm resulted in ridiculous red herring quotes in the Chicago Tribune from Fire star Cuauhtemoc Blanco.

Blanco's quotes stand up in absurdity to other infamous athlete quotes against the fans who pay their salaries:

Green Bay Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers: "I don't feel I need to sell myself to the fans.

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Blanco at Eye of the Storm As Firey Debate Rages On


One thing to keep an eye out for if you watch today's Chicago Fire game home to DC United at Toyota Park is a mass fan protest which was initially begun by Sector Latino a Latino/a and Hispanic fan section at the stadium. It now has grown in size to encompass all of Section 8 the umbrella organization for Chicago's many independent supporter's groups. Click to continue reading...

With the "all star break" over, the Wizards are back in action this Sunday against the Chicago Fire. Kansas City comes into the game unbeaten in their last 5 league matches, and have pulled themselves back into the playoff race, after looking like they'd struggle for the early part of the season. They're still the second lowest scoring team in the league, but their 3 goals against Columbus gives hope that they are getting out of that scoring funk. Click to continue reading...

The Chicago Fire still hasn't won an MLS match in a month, so you would think a road point against the Columbus Crew would be a moral victory of sorts.

Well, it wasn't. Not when Chicago held a two-goal lead early on and looked like it might find that long-awaited victory.

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Something cool the two supporter's groups of the Chicago Fire and the Columbus Crew did last night in their US Open Cup game in Peoria, IL (which the venue was a total hit by the way). The two groups got together to stand up against the racism issue in Major League Soccer. They painted banners and [. Click to continue reading...

First of all A massive thanks goes out to the following individuals who made du Nord possbile while I took a couple of weeks away from the action. They are very talented people, and I am humbled by them.

Thank You:
Luis Arroyave - The Red Card
Luis Bueno - Sideline Views
Ben Burton - Section 8 Chicago
Andrea Canales - Sideline Views
Zach Dundas - Eleven Devils
Graham Fox - Unaffiliated
Adam Spangler - The Offside Rules
Matt Olson - rolu | dsgn
Shawn Francis - This Is American Soccer
Dave Brett Wasser - Historic Soccer Videotapes

~and~

Tim Howard single handedly stymied Argentina on Sunday. Click to continue reading...

I was in Chicago this weekend for Emma Hayes' announcement and press conference. On Saturday night, we went to the Fire game at Toyota Park Stadium. Here are some photos I took. Click to continue reading...

According to Dick's Sporting Goods, "soccer's time has come." And if you didn't believe it the first time, they have made sure that every single commercial break during an MLS broadcast reminds you that today is the day Major League Soccer takes American sports by storm and sweeps us off our feet into an unrelenting soccer fever. Click to continue reading...

It's the climax of the Major League Soccer season next Saturday, so this week we'll be featuring MLS supporters all week on photo daily. We kick things off with my own Chicago Fire, and their giant megabandanera covering the Harlem End of Toyota Park. Photo credit: Goldstone97 on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion photo pool. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Photo Daily | November 12 | Chicago Fire Megabandanera", url: "http://pitchinvasion. Click to continue reading...

Thanks to the hardwork of the Section 8 ISA, and hopefully also due to the willingness of the new owners to help grow the club's most vibrant supporters section, prices have been cut to stand and cheer with Section 8.

It'll be just $208 for a full season ticket. To me, that's an amazing deal: last time I was in England, the cheapest ticket to go and see my League One side (who I can assure you do not feature the likes of Blanco, Wanchope or Rolfe) was over $50 for one game.

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Jamie Trecker, guest-blogging for Luis' on the Trib's Red Card blog, has an interesting post about the Fire's continual problems with Section 8, their loyal and loud supporters' group.

In fact, the only two groups that MLS hasn't tried to attract are the ones that actually have showed up to see the games from day one: the hardcore fan, so to speak and those of us out here who actually follow and enjoy sports.

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Calen Carr has taken a bit of heat on this blog from time to time, particularly in the comments. As I've mentioned, it's tough to blame a guy when he's clearly trying hard, but he can be frustrating to watch: sometimes, he's like a devilish whippet with the ball, yet at other times, a strong gust of wind seems to unbalance him. Overall, I'd like to see him stick around and develop (perhaps as a winger), if more in the reserves and off the bench for now (with Wanchope and Rolfe around to learn from).

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It'll be a Black Thursday on national television for the Fire's Section 8 supporters this week. The reason is a bit convoluted but suffice to say they are fed-up with their treatment by Toyota Park stadium management.

Ben Burton, Chairman of Section 8 Chicago, had this to say in a letter sent to Fire management, the MLS Commissioner and the Mayor of Bridgeview (the village that owns Toyota Park):

I would like to suggest everyone consider wearing black to games from now on.

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The Fire drew with Toronto last night, Chad Barrett's 70th minute penalty cancelled out by a goal from Maurice Edu minutes later. Both teams had chances to win it in the dying minutes, but a share of the points was probably a fair result. 13,080 people were at the game, with a large showing in Section 8 from the Fire fans and 200 Toronto fans making the trip down.

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