Fire It Up: Hump Day Links Edition

The Chicago Fire are taking on D.C. United in a little over 48 hours. Here are some Fire related links from around the web.

Can the Fire take advantage of D.C. United? (www.Chicago-Fire.com)

I think the best form of revenge would be to embarrass DC United in their home just days after winning the USOC. It sounds like the team won't be taking the Open Cup Champs lightly.

"I think you have to just assume they’re going to be confident after winning the biggest game of the year," said Fire vice captain Jeff Larentowicz. "They have that taste for winning and feeling good again. Teams realize to feel that way you have to win games and they’ll probably want to do that again. That’s what our assumption has to be going into Friday."

Also, since when is Larentowicz vice-captain? Did I miss something?

Mike Magee says defenders are treating him differently. (www.Chicago-Fire.com)

I guess the word is out that Magee is good?

"I'm not the biggest guy in the world, so it's obvious that early on in my runs, I'm getting bumped, which is fair, it's nothing crazy, but I've noticed that, which is normal for little guys," Magee said. "It gradually got a little more bumping and a little harder guarding. I had a little adjustment period when I got a little tired of it. Mentally, I just had to come around and realize that that's how it's going to be from here on out."

Centerbacks got to slow you little guys down somehow, Mike.

Academy Spotlight: Alex Underwood. (www.Chicago-Fire.com)

It is always nice to hear stories on the youth. Too bad we most likely will never see him in the first time.

Also, on a side note, this kid needs to grow sideburns and a handlebar moustache.

Fire Reserves victory. (www.Chicago-Fire.com)

Maicon Santos is still on the team? I thought he was getting loaned out to some team in South America. It's good to hear that Quincy Amarikwa continues to dominate reserve team games. I think (and I'm most likely not alone) the Fire under utilize him on the first team.

OTF Round Table. (onthefire.com)

There is some interesting discussion at this week's OTF Round Table. Contributor Rob Thompson points out the following:

Finally, if the Fire’s remaining fixtures combined with its poor road form doesn’t convince you they won’t make the playoffs, check out this link: http://www.sportsclubstats.com/USA/MLS.html According to their projection model, Chicago now has a 15% chance of making it above the " Red Line".

The link Rob refers to lists the Fire's strength of schedule (if I'm reading it right) at .443. Rob mentions the Fire having the easiest strength of schedule out of the playoff contenders in the Eastern Conference. At .443, the Fire actually have one of the easiest schedules in the entire league.

Playoff spots are coming down to the wire. (http://www.chicagonow.com/fire-confidential)

Guillermo Rivera over at Fire Confidential sprinkles in some optimism from the blogosphere:

A final four record of WWWL would put the Fire on 49 points and a tie with Philadelphia for the five spot. The first tie-breaker is most wins, followed by goals for, and goal differential. Anything can happen and it may be a bit of a reach to expect three consecutive wins over the next three weeks but the Fire have done it once this season and against better competition to boot. Wins over Colorado, Columbus, and San Jose in June/July is proof of that.

That final "L" could be an interesting game. If the Red Bulls wrap up the Supporter's Shield by that point, it could be a "W". If the Supporter's Shield is still on the line, the Fire could play spoilers. Wouldn't that be fun.

Fuego di ma Vida podcast. (http://fuegodemivida.com/)

The latest Fuego di ma Vida podcast is out. I have not listened to it yet, but I'm sure it's high quality as always.