Quality depth helps put Fire in a great position this year
Just doing some thinking … which explains the headache.
Let me see if I got this right. The Fire traveled last weekend to New England, the defending Eastern Conference champion, without its top off-season signing, banged-up forward Tomasz Frankowski, and still won 3-0?
Opponents have scored just 2 goals in six games, and veteran defender C.J. Brown, who has yet to put on his uniform this season due to injury, is called "Coach" Brown by teasing teammates as he watches practice and shivers on a bench?
Dasan Robinson, a starter on a good defensive Fire team in 2007, has been relegated to caddy for newcomer Brandon Prideaux?
The Fire had the most turmoil-filled off-season in the league, and yet new coach Denis Hamlett has the team at 4-1-1 for 13 points, second best in the league heading into Thursday's nationally televised game at D.C.?
OK, take a deep breath. It's still May, way too early to celebrate anything but the possibility we could finally get some decent weather sometime soon.
But you have to like the way this Fire team is built for the long haul. Forward Chad Barrett missed much of preseason training for Olympic qualifying. If he's called to the Olympic team, he'll spend August in China.
Justin Mapp and Chris Rolfe could see duty with the senior U.S. national team this summer. Gonzalo Segares could be called to the Costa Rica national team.
There are bound to be more injuries. The U.S. Open Cup schedule certainly will tax the team's fitness later this season.
No problem. This team may lack stars other than Cuauhtemoc Blanco, but it's a professional lineup all around, and there is a ton of depth. Lider Marmol's signing last week makes the Fire back line deeper than an Ivy League book club.
This could be a fun season at Toyota Park.
One more year?ŒFire defender Diego Gutierrez isn't playing like a guy who needs to retire at the end of the season, as he announced in February he would. He's a fierce competitor who has anchored the back line this first 20 percent of the season.
Five-O: I know soccer fans can be picky about their broadcasters, but I'm enjoying Fred Huebner and Chris Doran's work on the Fire's local TV choice, Channel 50.
Doran shows a keen eye for the game's subtleties and makes a viewer think about the game. Huebner gives a solid play-by-play call, though he doesn't quite seem comfortable yet. And it wouldn't be bad if he showed a little more of the personality that he shows as sidekick to Mike North mornings on WSCR 670-AM radio.
The technical aspect of Channel 50's broadcasts have been the weak spot so far -- it can be difficult to hear Huebner and Doran sometimes for various reasons -- but hopefully that will change with practice.
Naming rights: Voting for the nickname of the new Chicago Women's Professional Soccer team is down to three: Red Stars leads in cumulative voting with 40.0 percent of the vote, followed by 1871 at 30.9 percent, and Wind at 29.1 percent. Get used to Red Stars, it's starting to break away like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton only wish they could. Fans can vote at www.chicagoprowomenssoccer.com.