The Fire come into this game on the back of their worst performance of the season against Colorado last weekend. With the playoffs just around the corner, this is not the time to be in a slump. The Fire could be looking at that situation with a loss to Dallas on Sunday, a team that is fighting for their playoff lives.

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The Fire come into Thursday nights’ match against Chivas on the back of two straight losses in the league. Chivas have also lost their last two in the league and both clubs will be trying desperately not to lose three on the trot.

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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.

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Earlier this month Backdraft headed out to Toyota Park to watch the Fire’s U-16 and U-18 academy teams face the U.S. U-17 national team. The Academy initiative, headed by Louis Mateus, has been running for around a year, and is one of the first fully free youth development academies in MLS.

New rules in MLS make such academies critical for the future success of teams, as each clubs can now directly sign (bypassing the draft) up to two players from their academies each year. Backdraft has been watching the games, and recently spoke to Mateus about the program.

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There's always more to the story with Section 8 On Tour. Road warrior, Irish Steve, brings his account of the Fire's 1-0 win at San Jose to Backdraft.

The trip began early on Saturday morning, five members of Section 8 boarding a plane bound for Oakland. The plane was due to land 2 hours before kickoff, so we were glad to take off on time without any mishaps. The Herr had already finished 1 beer before we got on the plane, and before we had hit 10,000 feet he had finished another one, much to our amusement (Tom Dunmore, Andy Braudy, Joliet Jerry and myself) as well as our air hostess who The Herr called “waitress” throughout the whole flight. Most of the talk on the plane surfaced around the Guppy situation, but after 4 or 5 beers, Tom, myself, and the Herr caught up on some sleep. To our delight, the plane landed 20 minutes early, and we caught a cab to the Oakland Coliseum.

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Last week, the US U23 team qualified for the Beijing Olympics by defeating Canada at the semi-final stage. The 3-0 victory over their northern neighbors was the only convincing performance in a tournament that saw the US tie Cuba 1-1, beat Honduras and Panama 1-0, and lose to Honduras the second time around in the final 1-0.

Did the Fire's Chad Barrett do enough in the qualifiers to earn a spot for the Beijing Olympic team?

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