What a 10 years it's been for the Fire
As the Chicago Fire prepares to celebrate 10 years of professional soccer at Sunday afternoon's game against Columbus, we can't help but note how far the franchise has come.
Since that electric April night in 1998 when a crowd of more than 36,000 saw the Fire off on its journey into the American sports landscape, the team has gone 14.3 miles, according to Mapquest.
That's the distance from Soldier Field, where the Fire played that first game (the old Soldier Field, that is) and many more after that, to Toyota Park in Bridgeview, the stadium it now truly calls home.
That distance doesn't include the team's brief stop at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in Naperville while Soldier Field was rebuilt.
The team lost about 45,000 seats in the move, but it gained a beautiful, intimate facility that has yet to be tainted by American football lines on its grass.
Now fans feel a part of some special, rather than just being apart from each other, as they usually were in vast Soldier Field.
Want another number? How about 47.3 miles?
That's the distance from Halas Hall, the former Bears facility where the Fire practiced in those days, to Toyota Park. The team has a practice field just outside its stadium. Some players live close enough to bike to practice.
Things seemed so promising on the field and so scary on the books back then.
As an expansion team, the Fire surprised everyone (and raised fans' expectations) by winning the double, an MLS Cup and a U.S. Open Cup.
But everyone knew the new league was losing money, and everyone wondered whether it would follow the North American Soccer League into oblivion.
The biggest disappointment in those 10 years, of course, for fans and players alike, is that the Fire hasn't won another MLS Cup since 1998 (though it made finals appearances in 2000 and 2003).
It's not a Cubs-like drought, but somewhat surprising nonetheless.
Maybe Brian McBride is just the man to lead his hometown club back to champion status.
Meanwhile, the league has grown, and fans have grown confident in its continued existence. Bricks and mortar have a lot to do with that - Toyota Park, Pizza Hut Park, Crew Stadium, Home Depot Center, etc., and more soccer-specific stadiums in Utah and New Jersey are on the way, along with the revenue streams they produce.
A recent article in Forbes magazine, dismissed by league commissioner Don Garber, says there are now three MLS teams making money (the Fire isn't one of them) and the league as a whole is growing. It can charge more from new ownership groups to bring expansion teams into the league.
ESPN is paying the league to broadcast its games, not the other way around anymore. The level of play has improved also.
The Fire has a new owner now, Andrew Hauptman-led Andell Holdings, an owner it doesn't have to share with other teams in the league.
Even as so much has changed, a few prominent faces remain: midfielder Diego Gutierrez and defender C.J. Brown are the last of the Fire originals in uniform.
Gutierrez, who left briefly for Kansas City before returning to the Fire, has announced his retirement, effective at season's end.
Brown, who barely has played this season, seems likely to follow his longtime teammate, a move that would announce the end of an era.
Denis Hamlett, the junior assistant coach on Bob Bradley's 1998 club, stuck around and saw his patience rewarded last winter with the top coaching job.
Frank Klopas, a player back then, is technical director now. Chris Armas, a player then also, is an assistant coach now.
Much has changed, most of it for the better, and hopefully more changes for the better will be made. Time will tell.
Congratulations on 10 fun years, Chicago Fire. Here's to the next 10.