Fire misses Thorrington's considerable flair for competition
Not that it's a bad start to come off two road games with a loss and a tie, but certainly it's not the start the Fire dreamed of. Maybe the team just needs time to acclimate to a new playing style and several new faces.
Or maybe the Fire just misses John Thorrington more than conventional wisdom might accept.
Thorrington is no Cuauhtemoc Blanco. He doesn't have that kind of skill or flair. Thorrington just makes things happen on the soccer field.
But Thorrington has missed the past two games with a left quadriceps strain and likely will be out a couple more weeks.
"You miss him a lot because he's your energy," defender C.J. Brown said. "I've always said that in years past that he brings a lot of energy to the games and a lot of experience. Not having him out there you lose a little bit of that. ...
"He's a feisty kid. He'll get out there and fight with you and he brings that energy up. So you miss that."
His replacement doesn't have that characteristic.
Peter Lowry has started in central midfield the past two games for Thorrington and been a fine substitute. Marco Pappa moved to the middle from the left in the second half last Saturday at Colorado and did well.
"I thought he did well," Brown said of Pappa. "He's a very mobile guy. He likes to run around with the ball and he likes to run all over the place, so I think putting him in the middle might be a good spot for him because it's hard to mark him when he does stuff like that. And he's very creative and you like to have creative people in the middle so they can find people and get opportunities on goal. It was effective. Very effective."
But coach Carlos de los Cobos indicated Wednesday that first-round draft pick Corben Bone might be ready to join the fray at center mid.
"He's good," de los Cobos said. "He's got good qualities. He's fast, very smart to play."
Making the drive to Toyota Park: If there's one thing Fire management wants you to know about Toyota Park, it's that the stadium is really pretty easy to drive to.
When Andrew Hauptman's ownership group took over the team 21/2 years ago, it knew southwest suburban Bridgeview was not the ideal location for its stadium, but that's where the stadium is. What Fire officials learned through a little research is that they need to teach people where Bridgeview is.
The Fire believes attendance will improve as more fans learn where to go.
So as we approach Saturday's home opener against San Jose (7:30 p.m. in Bridgeview), we'll do our part. The stadium is about a mile south of Interstate-55, just east of I-294.
"It's not in northwest Indiana. It's Bridgeview, not Bridgeport. When people get here they realize it's pretty easy to get to," said team president Dave Greeley.
From the Daily Herald's Lisle office it's a 30-minute trip mostly on interstates. Arlington Heights driveway to the 71st Street players parking lot, it's a 45-minute drive for Fire veteran Brian McBride, maybe five minutes more now because of construction on the I-290 extension.
"It's nice and easy, pretty straight-forward," McBride said.
"We think we fundamentally have a great story to tell. We think we need to tell that story better and to more people," added Greeley, who said his 41-mile commute from the North Shore is "consistently 45 minutes."
And unlike Wrigley Field or Soldier Field, parking is a breeze.
"It's not a hassle here. We've got ample parking," he said.
Slowly but surely, that message seems to be getting out.
"We expect to have a great crowd on Saturday night," Greeley said.
Good luck: Already 400 kids from 26 states and nine countries have filled the spots for Sueno MLS, the league's open tryouts, to be held Saturday at Montrose Park on Chicago's north side. During the weekend the list will be narrowed to 10 kids who will train with the Chicago Fire Academy, five of whom will go on to the final in Los Angeles to compete against kids from other MLS cities.
To get on the waiting list, go to suenomls.com or go to Montrose Park 8-9 a.m. Saturday.
oschwarz@dailyherald.com