After letting up only three goals in their first seven games, most fans would think the last thing to let them down would be the Fire's defense, but Saturday against the Houston Dynamo it was just that which led to a 2-1 final and the Fire's second loss of the season.  

"The second half I thought we just defended too much." Fire center back Bakary Soumare told Backdraft after the game. Bakary was upset after the Fire seemed to lose concentration in the final 10 minutes and let a quickly restarted free kick find Bobby Boswell's head and the back of the net as Houston won its second game in as many weeks, seeming to have finally found their rythmn. 

It's time to let the entire league know how much we support our Chicago Fire, but more importantly, the All-Star Game lets us tell the players just how great we think they are!  2008 has been a great season thus far for the Fire, and it's up to us to keep that momentum going all the way to BMO Field in Toronto. 

Click here for the official MLS ballot. 

Irish Steve and Flanagan analyze why the Fire have started out so hot, and explain the importance of Chad Barrett to that success.

You know it’s neither the beer nor the whiskey, nor the fact you decided to start standing in 117 instead of 118, so why are you finding it hard to recognize the Fire this season? Two words: Denis Hamlet.

After ten years of standing in the bench’s background, Hamlet is already proving he was the right choice to replace that short guy with the notepad who left for New Jersey, or wherever. However, this isn’t just an article about our manager. This is for all of us who have and haven’t been paying attention to exactly how Hamlet’s strategic and motivational tactics are solidifying us as a team to be feared.

The Fire will be playing in Peoria, Illinois against either Real Salt Lake or Columbus Crew on Tuesday June 10th at Bradley University's Shea Stadium.

It's a home game for the Fire that will decide who will advance to the last sixteen of the U.S. Open Cup, but it's being played 157 miles from the Fire's home ground, Toyota Park. Backdraft talked to the Fire about the selection of Peoria as host for the game.

The Backdraft contributors resumed their weekly attempt to get inside the heads of the Chicago Fire by putting together some questions for Gonzalo Segares. Most fans love Sega for his hard-nosed defensive play, but his usually stoic demeanor keeps many from knowing what's really on his mind. The defender certainly took our questions in stride, discussing his native Costa Rica, this year's defense, and of course, hot dogs.

Backdraft: Obviously a lot of fans come out to meet the team (Blanco) while on the road, have you had any experience with fellow Costa Ricans coming out to support you when playing away from Chicago?

Segares: Very random, usually the people that come to games that are Costa Ricans are friends that are visiting or that we are on the road and they come to the game. There's one guy in Salt Lake that comes with a Costa Rica flag, and I know he comes to see Andy and me. But other than that, the only time I saw Costa Rican flags was when Wanchope played here and some Costa Ricans came to see him and support him.