Cheers to everyone in the Chicago Fire front office, members of Section 8, Toyota Park staffers, all Chicago Fire fans, etc. etc. Everyone should take at least a little bit of comfort in 'The Gaffers' writeup of this past weekend's match. Best lines:
The last time I attended a Major League Soccer game was nine years ago when San Jose Earthquakes beat Miami Fusion 1–0 in South Florida to advance to the 2001 MLS Cup Final.
From the moment the car entered the parking lot of Toyota Park to the minute we left, I must say that I was stunned at how wonderful the Chicago Fire experience was and how everything was so well organized.
That's nothing to get complacent about but it has been a LOOOONG season both on and off the field. It's nice to see a total outsider have some positive words about the team and the Toyota Park atmosphere. Keep it up and keep working to make it better.
Follow me after the jump where Steve Davis gets both Cheers and Jeers.
Cheers to Steve Davis for discussing the journalist conference call he was on this past week with Brian McBride. There's some really good stuff at the link but the best part was:
He [McBride] said 90 percent of the finishing outside the United States happen inside the penalty area whereas "90 percent of the finishing drills here are outside the box
Is that why Brian McBride is the best American striker ever with no heir apparent? We aren't training them the right way? It's something to think about. Steve Davis' very own previous article was titled United States national team stirkers who don't strike. There might be something deep here...
Jeers to Steve Davis on other hand for describing 'Chicago's wacky world'. That's not because some of the Fire don't deserve it but when you finish your Chicago Fire 2010 Season Preview with the words:
and then fail to mention Klopas in your 2010 season end takedown of the organization, we the readers are left confused. Should Klopas be fired or not? Let's hear it especially if you are going to say in this week's article:
I personally believe that Frank Klopas made the right amount of gambles in order to compete with the New York Red Bulls, Seattle Sounderses, Los Angeles Galaxys, and Real Salt Lakes of the world. Klopas' number one mistake was hiring Carlos de los Cobos who over practiced the team all year long and quickly lost the confidence of his players. In the same way two wrongs do not make a right, hiring Carlos de lo Cobos does not make firing Denis Hamlett wrong. If Hamlett is such a great coach, should Portland fans be worried about their front office because they passed Denis over? Should an investigation be conducted into Illinois Institute of Technology's ability to hire Hamlett as the head coach of their soccer program? IIT plays not Division I, not Division II, not even Division III, but NAIA soccer... and isn't even ranked in the top 25 to boot.
Hamlett is a nice assistant coach but his head coaching abilities left much to be desired. His current 'job search' suggests the wisdom of crowds is in my favor. I will say that Steve Davis goes soo far to not mention Klopas, I think he has to have a piece on Klopas ready to go or coming out pretty soon. If he thinks Hamlett should be re-hired, I'd love to hear his rationale for firing Klopas.