The Fire today announced a new television deal that will see them broadcast a record 18 games on My50 Chicago WPWR-TV. Good news for the team locally, but long-time announcer Kenn Tomasch will not be part of the commentary team this season. Fred Huebner will be the play-by-play man and he'll be joined by Chris Doran as color analyst. So what happened to Tomasch?

According to Kenn, "To put it in boyfriend-girlfriend terms, we grew apart, apparently. The decision was theirs, but it came as no surprise. And my life and priorities have changed quite a bit in the last 9 months, so it's far from a tragedy."

Tomasch moved out to Arizona last year for family reasons, and edits a business magazine there. The decision by the Fire ends his involvement which stretches back to 2002, including stints doing on-field announcing, radio, webcasts, and most memorably for Fire fans, play-by-play in recent years.

Despite his departure, Tomasch holds fond memories of his time with the Fire and has high hopes for the team's future.

"I'll always be grateful to Peter Wilt for the opportunity he gave me, and for continuing to be one of my biggest fans. Kenny Stern, Chris Doran, Tim Sutton, Dave Sarachan - all great guys. We had a great run. It was a lot of fun.

"I got to call some great games and see some great players play a sport for which I have great passion. I am glad Denis Hamlett finally has a real chance to lead the team, and I hope for nothing but the best for him and Frank Klopas and Mike Jeffries and Chris Armas on the staff. Players like Chris Rolfe and Chad Barrett and Diego Gutierrez and CJ Brown and Calen Carr - I want them to do well for club and country and I was privileged to get to be around them."

Former Fire President and GM Peter Wilt said that Tomasch will be hard to replace. "Kenn is one of the few MLS play by play guys who combines serious knowledge and interest in MLS with real soccer play by play talent. This is a huge loss for the Fire."

Tomasch's blog, Kenn.com, illustrates the knowledge of the game Wilt mentions. In a sport often broadcast by people either lacking in passion for in knowledge of the game, it seems a shame the Fire have decided to go in a different direction.

The Chairman of Section 8 Chicago, Ben Burton, said that supporters would miss his presence. "Personally I'm going to miss him, his commentary and his voice, but I feel kinda awkward giving a speech about him. I hope he makes it back to Chicago for a game though as he's been a part of the family for a long time."