/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/60011205/usa_today_10884048.0.jpg)
Chicago Fire 1 Schweinsteiger 63’
New England Revolution 1 Bunbury 82’
There’s a famous quote attributed to the Roman orator and historian Tacitus:
Auferre, trucidare, rapere, falsis nominibus imperium; atque, ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
Translated into English:
“To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace.”
Chains will not stop Pride Honor And Tradition SL and all of us that support them want to be right there but until FO comes to their senses the atmospherer stays in Berwyn #cf97 #free101 #nelsonout @SectorLatino12 pic.twitter.com/TrC2p5WI6S
— Mike Kristin (@MikeUnited1) June 10, 2018
I wanted to write an actual game recap for tonight. I wanted to write about how awful the refs were all game. I wanted to write about Niko’s head injury. I wanted to write about how ineffective the Fire were through the first half and how they turned it around in the second— until the very end. I wanted to write about how different we look with Dax McCarty back in the team. I wanted to talk about Jorge Corrales coming good and making a good case for keeping his starting spot for a little while. I wanted to write about Bastian Schweinsteiger’s amazing knuckleball goal to give the Fire some hope that maybe tonight could be redeemed.
A BLAST FROM BASTI #CHIvNE #cf97 pic.twitter.com/rvodPezLjg
— Chicago Fire (@ChicagoFire) June 10, 2018
I wanted to write about the stupid, stupid mistake by Richard Sanchez that let Teal Bunbury inside and cost us the win. I wanted to write about how the Fire can’t seem to do the things they need to do and how it’s tanking their season. I wanted to write about what Pride Night means for queer Fire fans.
But I can’t talk about any of this. Because some of this team’s most passionate fans were told to stay away, and the rest boycotted in solidarity. The result was something resembling a White Sox game— too few butts in seats, too few voices in the air, too little to get excited about.
We did not have a Chicago Fire home game tonight. We had a desert.
The #CHIvNE crowd in the 12th minute #cf97 pic.twitter.com/0jlxl61Csh
— Orrin Schwarz (@Orrin_Schwarz) June 10, 2018
What’s galling is that there will be some who say that tonight wasn’t that bad. That some will say tonight’s atmosphere was improved without Section 8 and Sector Latino. I’m not sure how anyone could say that the lack of organized support in Toyota Park tonight was even a net win. But people can rationalize all sorts of things, I suppose.
It’s so strange and quiet without @SectorLatino12 & @Section8Chicago at the Fire game. You definitely appreciate more what they normally bring to the atmosphere. #cf97 pic.twitter.com/GTZ02KxMMY
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) June 10, 2018
But anyone who was there who didn’t otherwise have some inscrutable bootlicking agenda will tell you that tonight was bad. I imagine it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
This is a weird and fucked up time to be a fan of the Chicago Fire. I wish I had something better to say about all this.
Welcome to the desert.