Montreal Impact opener to be against Chicago? Olympic Stadium might be added to the list of stadiums Fire have opened
by Tweed Thornton on Dec 20, 2011 10:39 AM CST
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The Chicago Fire opened Red Bull Arena in 2010. In 2011, the Men in Red had the 'honor' of opening Jeld-Wen Field in April and Livestrong Sporting Park in June. In the three away games, Chicago was outscored 5-2 and had two losses and one draw. I'm not a big fan of the Fire opening stadiums because the opposition brings their top game for the special event. Everyone from the fans, ball boys, hot dog vendors, and mascots for the home team are beyond pumped due to the manufactured occasion. Whereas other MLS teams might have caught New York, Portland, and Kansas City flat in their matches these past two seasons, there was zero chance Chicago was going to get a weakened opponent when opening the new digs. You can dismiss it as something that a team should just get over but when the Fire missed the playoffs by a matter of 3 points last year and they only got 1 out of 6 possible points in the away matches at Portland and Kansas City, it doesn't seem so minor now does it?
If anything, why not spread out who opens stadiums in MLS just in case there is an effect here? Why not base these openers more on natural geographic rivalries? Why not give the openers to the MLS Cup winner? Why not punish the worst team in MLS the previous season but sending them to the wolves? I can somewhat understand the Fire opening Kansas City's stadium but New York? Portland? And now if you can believe 98.5 Sports journalist Jeremy Filosa, it looks like Montreal too. The interesting tweet and question of the day after the break
Vacationing in FLA, ran into someone close to Impact, sources say #IMFC will face (CHI) Fire in home opener. #IMFC #MLS
Read it and weep. Now the one small caveat here is the Fire would not be playing the first MLS game in Montreal's permanent home of Saputo Stadium. The Impact will be playing at Olympic Stadium until the expansion of Saputo Stadium is complete. If Filosa has his facts straight here, Chicago and Montreal will clash on Saturday, March 17th, 2012.
That might actually be worse because after all March 17th will be the Impact's first ever MLS home game, Olympic Stadium has a larger capacity than Saputo Stadium, the Olympic Stadium's dome will hold more noise, and no one in MLS knows how Olympic Stadium's field will play. Saputo Stadium has actually been around since 2008 and is simply being expanded to meet MLS standards. I think the home opener at Olympic Stadium will be more intense than the Saputo Stadium opener and I certainly hope it won't actually be Chicago lacing up their cleats in Montreal this spring.
I've had my say though. What is your take? Do think there is an advantage for home games where new stadiums are opening or where a new club is starting? Or am I grossly exaggerating the negative impact here?
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I'm starting to think...
The Fire FO likes to open other people’s stadiums because the game is usually televised nationally. Don’t forget we are still eligible for the Saupto stadium opener and Houston’s new stadium. We might be making two trips to Montreal or Houston this year.
I’m wondering that too. I also wonder if there isn’t more money involved in taking these kind of games.
If that’s the case, I would question why the front office would want to put us at a competitive disadvantage like that. Regardless of how it works, I question why the front office doesn’t complain more and just rolls with this.
Great point on opening up Saputo Stadium as well. I hadn’t thought about that but with the new schedule format, it’s not out of the question.
Hot Time In Old Town SB Nation's blog for Chicago Fire, Soccer, & Chicago History
by Tweed Thornton on Dec 20, 2011 10:58 AM CST up reply actions
Tweed you sound like a coward.
As a traveling supporter I absolutely love going to the new stadiums and opening it up. We go, we sing our asses off, break their new stadium in proper and it is a great time. I pray that we open up against Montreal and then later in the season open their new stadium. We best open up Houston’s stadium as well.
Honestly I don’t think it effects the game outcome at all. That’s all just a bunch of fan created bullshit.
If the FO wants the games because it gets us on national television who the fuck cares? We SHOULD want these games.
If it was one opener, sure, that would be cowardly. Perhaps even a second that would be bad too. After that when the full cycle through the league hasn’t even hit a third or fourth team in the least year, that’s when I think it becomes a problem.
You and I will have to agree to disagree on the home team getting an advantage. I think it’s there. If I were a basketball team I would be complaining if my team had far more back to back games than any other team. Every advantage against your opponent counts.
Hot Time In Old Town SB Nation's blog for Chicago Fire, Soccer, & Chicago History
by Tweed Thornton on Dec 20, 2011 11:36 PM CST up reply actions
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