The Chicago Fire may be winless, but they’re still drawing on average, about as many fans as the Chicago White Sox. It’s reflective of the lack of buzz for the Chicago baseball crosstown series that begins today. (I know you’re like what? That’s happening today? I didn’t hear anything about it) It won’t be long before the NFL Draft is over, and only the Blackhawks remain to keep Chicago sports fan distracted from the summer professional teams.
When we get into summer, the Fire better have racked up some wins. Otherwise the heat will be turned up on the Chicago Fire (so many bad puns I made there). The Fire (0-2-6, six points) fell 3-2 to Real Salt Lake (4-0-5, 17 points) Saturday evening at Toyota Park.
Reigning MLS MVP Mike Magee and Juan Luis Anangono scored two first half goals before the visitors mounted a furious comeback late in the second half, scoring three goals to give the Chicago Fire possibly the most disheartening defeat of the not-so-young-anymore season. It was so demoralizing that even Sparky couldn’t find a positive spin on the night in Bridgeview.
We’re about a quarter away from through the Major League Soccer campaign, and the Fire reside at the bottom of the Eastern Conference table. The Chicago Fire’s 6 points is tied with San Jose, Chivas USA, and Montreal for the worst in the MLS.
Right now things are so bleak that even Sparky is having trouble smiling about the Chicago Fire season. It’s going to take a a dramatic turnaround, starting immediately, to even draw near the playoff race.
Frank Yallop, Chicago Fire Head Coach and Director of Soccer on how frustrated he feels
“I feel terrible because I thought tactically we had it figured out. We did great in the first half, but the game is 90 minutes. You got to punish them with another goal, but I said at half time ‘they are going to come at you because they’re good.’ I don’t think we really wanted to win that game because we didn’t show it. If we wanted to, we would have put our head through the ball, and be good at that stuff. We had a total collapse in a game we should have won.”
If I can find a silver lining it’s that the Chicago Fire aren’t the worst team in MLS, despite having the lowest amount of total points. The two Western teams I mentioned with six points, San Jose and Chivas USA, have both played more games than the Fire.
Chicago Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson on the difficulty of staying positive during the winless streak:
“This is our job, professionally, game in and game out we have to have the same attitude and find a way to win games, plain and simple. We’ve been through everything tactically, physically and mentally I think now we have to find what it takes to win these games.”
They’ve been getting results…if you can qualify a draw as a result, so when are they going to finally break through and get a win.
Here’s a look at the Chicago Fire upcoming schedule. At the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, well, they’re tied for the first in the conference in points, so I wouldn’t bet on it. Sunday May 18th the Chicago Fire host the defending champions Sporting K.C. I don’t like their chances there. They visit the Columbus Crew on May 24th. If the Chicago Fire have a main rival, it’s Columbus, who reside near the top of the table. I’m not optimistic about a result there either. June 1st sees a home date with the mid-table L.A. Galaxy.
I’m feeling to optimistic about that one. No sure thing, but I think the Chicago Fire can pull off that minor upset over David Beckham ‘s former team. There’s only two more games, both against Western Conference powers in Colorado and Seattle before the month long World Cup break.
So it would be embarrassing enough if the Chicago Fire didn’t register their first win of the season until the month of June. Anything can happen, but I think that’s a realistic view, maybe the slight optimist view. A pessimist might project July as the month when the Chicago Fire earn their first W. That scenario would be just brutal.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also a regular analyst on national talk radio. Banks, a former contributor to NBC Chicago and the Washington Times, has also been featured on the History Channel. President Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)