This is probably ill-timed, since the post season begins this evening, but none the less, what follows is a brief look at some of the stats from the Chicago Fire 2008 Regular Season. All of the statistics below include only Regular Season games, except for the season goal, foul, and card totals, which have been unabashedly stolen directly from www.chicago-fire.com.

Chicago Fire 2008 Regular Season Stats 

Top Scorer: Chris Rolfe – 9

It’s worth noting that Chad Barrett scored 5 regular season goals before being sent to Toronto, which is good enough to qualify him as Chicago’s 3rd best. Blanco was 2nd with 7. To put these numbers in perspective, Landon Donovan won the MLS Golden Boot with 20 goals. Both Rolfe and John Thorrington scored 3 game-winning-goals.

 Most Yellow Card Cautions Received: Bakare Soumare – 10

The starters with the least number of cautions are Rolfe, Justin Mapp, and Logan Pause, all with 1 apiece. I have not yet decided if a Defensive Midfielder with only one caution is a very good thing, or a very bad thing. Wilman Conde miraculously managed only 2 on the season.

There were only 2 red cards handed out to Fire players, one each to BrandonPrideaux and CJ Brown.

Most Fouls Suffered: Cuahtemoc Blanco - 76

As a yard stick, the team’s second-highest sufferer was Justin Mapp with a paltry 40.

Longest Unbeaten Streak
    5 games from July 12 through August 9
    v. Toronto: 2-1
    v. Real Salt Lake: 0-0
    @ Kansas City: 0-0
    v. Chivas USA: 1-0
    @ New England: 2-1

Longest Winless Streak
    4 games from June 15 through July 5
    @ Dallas 0-1
    @Chivas 0-2
    v. San Jose 0-0
    @ Nohio 2-2

Interestingly enough, the barren patch ended with the regular season game the launched the unbeaten run.  There a pair of Open Cup game flukes, but for the sake of simplicity, I have looked only at regular season streaks.

Record against Eastern Conference Opposition: 8 – 4 – 3
Record against Western Conference Opposition: 5 – 6 – 4

The Fire were pretty poor against Western Conference talent this season, especially considering the gap in strength between East and West. The Fire should have done much better against the lesser conference with teams like Colorado, Salt Lake, the dismal Galaxy, and San Jose.  It’s surprising that Chicago didn’t come away with a winning record here, but did so quite handily in the East.

Regular Season Record Against Potential Playoff Opponents
New England: 3 – 0 – 0     Nohio: 0 – 0 – 2         NYRB: 3 – 0 – 0
KC: 0 – 1 – 2                         Houston: 0 – 2 – 0    Chivas USA: 1 – 1 – 0
                                                 RSL: 0 – 0 – 2
 

The perfect records against both New England and New York help explain the strong Eastern Conference record but those two numbers are misleading here. Neither team is favored to advance in the playoffs. While the Fire are set to play their proscribed post-season match up against New England, it’s unlikely New York will make it past Western Conference champs Houston. The season

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Monterrey Security’s racially motivated inequitable treatment of Hispanic Fire fans is unacceptable. Now that I’ve said that, I can move on. What is needed on the part of supporters now, if they do truly want a resolution to the problem, is patience and reason.

Fire supporters are, rightfully, willing to take action, and the planned protest should go forth as scheduled. However, after that, everyone needs to take a slow deep breath.

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Everyone, naturally, has his or her own opinion on what’s wrong with the Fire. Some blame a mysterious “mid-summer slump,” citing a similar run of poor form in June and July of last year. Others say the dressing room has been lost, and the players aren’t motivated and focused. Maybe the attacking players are unable to concentrate, knowing their futures are on the line for the impending McBride transaction. The one person who doesn’t seem to have a constructive idea for improving the team is, unfortunately, head coach, Denis Hamlet. The confounding part is that he used to.

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Rather than wade through the misery of the Fire’s dismal showing at Chivas USA last night, I’ll leave the game recap to someone else and focus on some (kind of) constructive criticisms. The Fire’s recent skid has been called Denis Hamlett’s first test as head coach. How the Hammer addresses the problems made clear last night will be the real indicator of his perception and innovation and, ultimately, give verdict on his first term at the helm of the Chicago Fire.

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The group stage of Euro 2008 is over. The separating of wheat from chaff and the chaos of culling the weak has subsided. In the dust lie the bodies of 8 teams, their identities surprising. World Cup Runners-Up, FIFA’s 6th highest ranked team, and another two in the top ten. Limping away from the fray, barely escaping with their lives, are the World Cup Champions and the early competition favorites. Those who have excelled in the first stage of play are young teams with innovative coaches and creative, youthful styles of play. The old, it seems, have fallen with the weak and sick. 

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The rivalry Fire fans hold most dear continues this Saturday when Chicago heads to Gillette Stadium to face New England for more than just bragging rights. Both teams stand at 10 points, second and third behind League leaders Columbus (12pts), Chicago ahead on goal difference. This Saturday’s match has the potential to send the winning side to the top of the East, and the League.

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Six weeks to go and the silence is deafening. The MLS 2008 season opens the last week of March and while other clubs around the league are hustlin’ players in and out, the Chicago Fire have had a rather uninspiring off-season. While there have been major staff-level changes, a new Technical Director or Academy Coach just doesn’t quite get the fans hyped up and hopeful. For the record here’s a quick version of the story thus far.

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