To be fair Magee and Gaven are both teenagers and longer term projects while Jaqua and Ralph are both older college players able to contribute more immediately. You have to give kudos to Bradley for being able to begin the process of rebuilding the Metrostars through young talent, and still being a competitive side in the league. Absolutely no knock to Wilt or Sarachan for tremendous work, but I think Bradley has earned his rep pretty fairly. The Metros with their youth and Bradley are likely to be a force to be reckoned with for years to come. Fortunately, I have confidence in Mssrs. Wilt and Sarachan to match them step for step. Congrats to the Fire for their second trophy in a week (it's the 86th minute and the Gals look more likely to score a 4th than the Quakes look to score one).
Oh man the game was awsome, it felt like there was more people then last friday. And it was cool that Peter Wilt came by and let the people hold the cup. I loved it when Peter joined in on "YOU SUCK A$$HOLE" But they should have opened up more of the stadium because what was open sold out If you guys want to see at least highlights watch mls wrap at midnight.
Awesome game!!! Just got back from ther match, great game to see. Armas Rocked tonight!!!!! Section 8 could have been better, we definitely missed the drums (Coz) tonight. We were a little too unorganized in the first half, but Section 8 came alive in the second half. The 'Who's the Best' cheer was much better this game. Good attendance was also nice to see. One last goal to achieve . . . MLS Cup. One more Fire, one more!!!!!
Way to go Fire!! Don't know how many of you sit in the 200 level but did anyone else notice how the whole section shakes up and down when the fans celebrate a goal? Very cool - kind of like RFK. (Although, should a brand new stadium really have this broken in feel already?)
In section 8 when we do cheers and jump you can feel the section move, not as much as RFK but still good.
What a fantastic match! Had a GREAT time tonight! It's official: New Soldier Field has grown on me, what a venue! Waddya think: were security ALOT more friendly and professional tonight? Man, that makes a huge difference....if it had anything to do with front office efforts or supporter communication, big ups to that! Let's keep it that way! We were waylaid and f'ed up in traffic for a bit, but when we got there we were pleased as hell to find that our ticket window tix were for sec 123 row 4! And I was thinkin we were gonna have to pull the ninja entry on sec 8. Got stuck in the parking garage on the north end before and after the match( good thing the cooler was well stocked)...one thing kinda bothered us: why the hell does SF give the players such SHlTTY parking arrangements?! We were parked between Dipsy and Ante ( BTW Ante's got a sweet ride)...it was cool to be able to say hello, give props, and all that, but c'mon...would Urlacher be parkin his SUV in the garage with Bear fans? They don't have any better spots for these guys? It was jam packed and slow as hell gettin out of there. It was kind of funny before the game, we were chillin listening to MAno Negra all extra loud and downin some beers and these folx came up all dressed in suits etc askin " ...what the hell is goin on tonight, why are there are so many rowdies out?" That question and the look on their faces was too much! SO...All in all a great night! Open Cup and Supporters Shield in hand, MLS Cup well in sight and the best damn fans in the league....great night to be a Fire supporter!! A side note: in our late night festivities our Fire gear was noticed and commented on by tons of folks, quite a few of whom already knew that they had won and that they were actually a winning Chicago team!
No, absolutely not (as many exclamation marks as you put there and one more)! It is all about the enormous pride all Fire players take in being the members of the team. By saying this, you unnecessarily hurt so many others: Dipsy Selolwane, DaMarcus Beasley, Ante Razov, Nate Jaqua, Andy Williams, Damani Ralph, Carlos Bocanegra, Peter Wilt, Fire fans, and many others. Absolutely a night to remember for years to come. Missing it was like not hearing the verdict in OJ Simpson's case or that "I did not have sexual relationship with that woman" mess. The regrets of those who missed it shoud be greater than the sky.
I am amazed at the depth of our team. It seems so good that we lost Faria at one point. Just look at our attack formation: Razov, Ralph, Jaqua, Selolwane--I really don't know if these latter two are so much worse to only deserve to be benchwarmers all the time. Of course same applies to the midfield--Pause, Mapp and Williams as compared to Marsch or Beasley (mentioning Armas would be a little of a stretch here). Super move by the coach to field all these wonderful players.
The sight of the day was the devastated Colorado team after Armas scored the game winner. I think we have to give them credit for being a reputable part of tonight's spectacle. I am a little sorry for them because they tried even though most other teams would give up in such a hostile environment. However, this makes the Fire win even sweeter. Marcin
Wow, what a game. Solider Field rocked last night, and it feels good to be back there. Good for Armas for scoring his two goals. He certainly didn't start the game out well with his crappy passing. What a difference two goals makes. Did Beasley define the term running too fast last night? Great goal by the way. How do you get an assist on that goal? I think the scoring gods were a bit generous yesterday. Talk about a defensive break down yesterday. Considering how large that ZZ guy is, I wouldn't think the Fire would have any problems locating him. Was that the same ref that got suspended last year for poor officating? Just wondering. Great to see Mapp back. I have been becoming a big fan of his. He showed it last night... If Razov had any power on his right foot, he'd be a deadly goal scorer. The Fire still need to work on their corner kicks. If I see another short corner again, I'm going to scream, unless they are trying to waste time. I love the agressiveness of Boca, but he needs to tone down his fouling a bit. Unless of course, its Mexico or Carlos Ruiz... Well, the SS is nice, but time to complete the job. The SS means nothing to me right now. I want to see the Fire hoisting the MLS Cup.
You did miss one of the best Fire home games not only of this season but of all time. The only rivals for that distinction would be the 98 playoff game with La and the 98 open cup final. I still wonder why they can't get Bolanos some playing time. I noticed this game they never showed replays of the goals like they did at the first game. Was it because it wasn't being televised except in-house, the reason?
Big time step up by benchwarmers! Wow! What a game! I was very impressed by the the team passing and control given the substantial number of new starters. Couple of obeservations: Kelly Gray has really come on at that right back spot. His deep cross field passes were reminicent of Hristo! It really opened up the field. The first 25 minutes of the game, I thought Chris Armas was the weak link, bad passes and seeming to be late to every challenge. How wrong I was. Two goals makes a great difference eh? Anyone else see Damani polishing Chris's right foot after the game? Great sight! Dipsy showed us why he still belongs on this team. I must admit I hadn't been impressed with his previous outings, but I was very impressed last night. Now we need to see Bolanos get that kind of chance! Does anyone know if Mapp came out because of problems with the Quad strain? I hope it was just precautionary! I'm not sure a new stadium should bounce as much as the 200 level did last night! It felt pretty cool, but I have to admit, I'm not sure I want a seat on the 100 level underneath the 200 balcony! Given we have the SS in place, who do we expect to see getting the starting nod next week? Or does Dave start the best 11 to keep them focused for the home and home semifinals?
Defensive problems? I've thougth Kelly would do well in Whitfield's spot in the 3-5-2, because he's done well at full-back in the 4-4-2. Pause isn't a right-back, but he was in there because we don't have a left-back unless we play Perez, so the whole line shited over. I know it was a great, exciting game and all, but how the hell did we let Zizi Roberts score twice? 4-3 is not going to be a particularly good score in the playoffs, guys. The same 3 guys were at the back as shut down the Metros, so what went wrong. Were they tired? Is Jesse Marsch that big a factor? () Was there not enough battle in the mid-field, or were my worries unfounded and they just played really well to get Zizi those goals (I heard his first was from a tough angle). Of course, if they hadn't pushed us so hard, we wouldn't have had to show our strength. That kind of resilliancy is just what we need come playoff time.
True. After having more time to reflect on the match, I know there were many other great things about it. A night to remember indeed!