After Chicago's 4-nil annihilation of the New England Revolution at the Fire's home opener in Bridgeview, none of the 15,553 present in the stadium had a bigger smile than rookie Head Coach Denis Hamlett once the game ended. In fact, the entire locker room was happy and smiling: it was hard not to feel like this year was going to be a little special.

During post game interviews every player was quick to credit almost every one of his teammates by name for their performance in the win. Watching some of the players change and joke around with each other, it was easy to see just how comfortable each player is on the team. And it seems to be showing itself on the field now.

Backdraft was there to soak in the winning atmosphere.

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4-0? Not bad. Despite the promises of the official game guide, the Fire were unchanged from last Saturday and every player who disappointed against Real Salt Lake made amends last night. A brilliant performance, and Backdraft will be updated later with further reaction, analysis and highlights.

Section 8 also showed up in force. According to one longtimer on the Section 8 forums, the turnout of well over 1,000 in Sections 117 and 118 marked the largest supporters' gathering ever at a Fire home game. The overall attendance of 15,552 was also solid for the earliest ever home opener, on a frigid cold and wet Thursday night.

Below are a few more photos of Section 8 before the game. We will add more from during the game later on; if you have any for us to use, please add them to the Section 8 Flickr group .

Update, April 9th: Many new official Section 8 photos added below.

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The Fire XI

Plenty of excuses have been made for the Fire's poor performance in the opener, which left the team elated to escape with a point from Salt Lake City after Blanco's late equalizer. It was the altitude, or the cold, or the artificial turf, or the offseason rust, or the missing players, or the referee, or -- you get the picture.

Some of those are valid points, but that doesn't excuse the Fire's failure to seriously trouble the opposing goalkeeper until 90 minutes had elapsed, nor the insipid performances by Justin Mapp and Chad Barrett.

Tomasz Frankowski's disappearing act can be excused on his MLS debut, but the temptation to move Chris Rolfe to his best position upfront must have grown given the lack of activity from the forward line.

In midfield, meanwhile, Logan Pause plugged many holes and worked gamely, but was often left with too much to do as the sole defensive-minded midfielder in a 4-4-2 formation.

At the back, Chicago looked impressively solid despite missing key players. Soumare did score an unfortunate own goal, and once or twice looked like he might play his way into trouble, but was also an imposing physical presence and stepped up to sniff out trouble on numerous occasions.

In goal, Busch's positioning was exemplary, though a slight injury scare in the first half could have left the Fire scrambling, given the lack of depth at that position.

The Fire's official game guide seems to suggest change is coming for the home opener (though it's 'probable lineup' guide is not always accurate). Thorrington is listed on the left in the place of Mapp, who though he was substituted early in the opener, doesn't appear on the injury report -- does that mean his poor performance has earned him a dropping?

Calen Carr is also listed in place of Barrett upfront. Carr came on and did well on Saturday; though many suggest he should be kept as a "super-sub", his effort level relative to other players might have earned him a start.

Let's consider the opposition and the injury report too as we wrap up this preview.

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MLS.net has an interesting report on a media Q & A with Fire owner Andrew Hauptman that took place "in a private room at a fancy Chicago restaurant." Backdraft was not invited to the event, but we can still glean some insight into the mind of the most important person for the future of the Fire from the article.

It is reassuring to read that he respects the club's past, explaining he sat down with Bob Bradley, Peter Nowak and Frank Klopas to learn about the Fire's traditions. "It all goes back to ensuring we give enough respect to that history," Hauptman said.

It's also encouraging that Hauptman realises the Fire's principal aim should be to make soccer fans in Chicago fans of the Fire, rather than coverting Joe Public into a soccer fan. "We have a huge amount of work to bring in those people who do know about soccer," Hauptman said.

Hopefully we will get to know our owner better over the coming season, but these are encouraging signs.

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Imagine you watch a kid playing in a Chicago Fire shirt for the youth Academy at the age of fifteen, who catches your eye and makes you think 'he's a bit special'. Then fast-forward five years, and he's scoring the winning goal in an MLS match for the Fire's senior team having signed directly with the club two years earlier.

For the first time ever, that scenario is possible in the future. Last July, the Chicago Fire became the first MLS team to make their Academy, which covers players from age of 13-17, free for all participants. The Academy consists of 44 players making up two teams, at U-16 and U-18 levels.

Throughout the season, Backdraft will be following the Academy closely, and today we explain the set-up and its importance for the future of the Fire.

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Since the Chicago Fire's inception in 1998, the Fireworks For Kids foundation has committed itself to devloping community programs to help the underprivileged children of Chicago. Last week at the Hilton Chicago, their annual benefit brought together players, fans, and coaches from past and present to refelect on the past decade of the Chicago Fire and look forward to the upcoming season.

Highlights and speeches from Denis Hamlett, John Guppy, Diego Gutierrez, CJ Brown can be found online courtesy of

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The Fire salvaged a point in the 92nd minute of the season opener thanks to a fine strike by Blanco, after Real Salt Lake had taken the lead twenty minutes earlier. We'll have a full wrap-up of the game later, but for now, you can watch the highlights at the MLS site and consider the varied reaction to the game below:

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Yet another off season middle finger has been shown to the Chicago Fire. Who is responsible for this one? MLS?  Ron Waxman/Dominic Cervi or the Fire front office?

All three parties certainly share culpability.

As an isolated case, it's understandable, but it's the fifth incident of its kind this past off season. Juan Carlos Osorio, John Spencer, Wilman Conde, Matt Pickens and now Cervi have all told Chicago that they aren't willing to make certain sacrifices or commitments to represent the Chicago Fire. This is cause for concern and indicates that Chicago's grass is no longer greener.

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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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When the Fire begin the 2008 season at RSL's Rice-Eccles Stadium this Saturday, they will face a Salt Lake team that has also seen its fair share of turnover this offseason.

Get to know the first opponents of the new year as we take a look at Jason Kreis' new roster and how it could fare this weekend.

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