Quote of the week: Jon Busch

Busch can always be counted on for a good quote, and he did not disappoint after last night's disappointing tie: "We gift wrapped the goals like it's [expletive] Christmas."  He's absolutely right, too.

Fire almosssssst pulls out a win over Toronto

A couple of huge defensive lapses at the start of each half put the Fire in the hole (pardon the pun) but they came back behind two excellent balls from Justin Mapp to Brian McBride.  It pains me to write that because Mapp is my favorite whipping boy, but he had two good plays tonight.  The Fire threw on fresh legs at the end to press for the win, and it almossssssst worked.  As stoppage time ran out, Patrick Nyarko snuck through the tiring Toronto defense and put a great ball across the box.  Unfortunately Calen Carr (I think it was Carr) skied the ball over the bar.  How many times does that happen?  I don't play forward, but it just amazes me how many times a player manages to strike a ball almost vertical in front of the goal.

And speaking of mucking up chances, since when does Chad Barrett actually make the flying full-speed finish?  Not when he wore red, that's when.

Bad day for the Soca Warriors

Some woeful defending tonight by the Junior Warriors, who got spanked by the Young Pharaohs 4-1 in the FIFA U-20 World Cup opener.  The T&T goal keeper Glenroy Samuel could have done much better on the first three Egypt goals (I didn't stick around to watch the last goal at 90').  The US plays Germany on Saturday.

Chicago Fire to recognize the 1984 Chicago Sting

At halftime of this Saturday's game the Chicago Fire will celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Chicago Sting's 1984 NASL championship.  Very cool.

Brian McBride answers reader's questions

From the New York Times Goal blog.

This week in Chicago soccer

Tuesday
UW-Platteville at Wheaton
Hinsdale Central at OPRF

Wednesday
Eureka College at Concordia
Edgewood College at Elmhurst

Thursday
Dominican at UW-Whitewater
Downers Grove South at OPRF

Friday
Wheaton at Aurora (derby of the week)
Drake at Northwestern
DePaul at Pittsburgh
Loyola at Cleveland State

Saturday
Exeter City at Charlton
Toronto FC at Chicago Fire
U Chicago at Illinois Wesleyan
St. Xavier at Cardinal Stritch U
Edgewood College at Concordia
Dominican at Lakeland College
Augustana at Elmhurst
Carthage at North Park

Sunday
DePaul at West Virginia
UIC at Cleveland State
Loyola at Valparaiso
SIU Edwardsville at Northwestern

Rankings

This week Northwestern dropped to #17 in the College Soccer News Division I rankings, but dropped out of the NSCAA/adidas Division I rankings.  Wheaton came back in at #23 in the NSCAA/adidas Division III rankings, while North Park and Dominican dropped out.

Questions for Brian McBride, via the New York Times

The New York Times' Goal blog is inviting questions for the Chicago Fire's Brian McBride for an interview scheduled this afternoon.  The deadline is 3:00 CT.

Off topic

This is totally off topic -- I can't make even a tenuous Chicago link here -- but I'm watching Real Madrid v. Xerez from last weekend.  (ESPN360.com is a Godsend for sleepless nights.)  They keep showing the Xerez right back.  The kid's game and working hard, but clearly is in for a long day as Madrid's game plan is run the attack down the left.  That means the kid faces Ronaldo on one attack, then the next time they've switched and he's got Kaka.  Think about that.  I wonder if the kid slept a wink the night before the match.  Real Madrid ended up hammering Xerez 5-0 at Estadio Bernabeu.

From Naperville to Cairo

The FIFA U-20 World Cup starts this week.  The US is in what looks to be a tough group with Cameroon, Germany, and South Korea.  SBI reports that ESPN will cover all 52 matches in some way, shape, or form.  Keep an eye out for Naperville native Michael Stephens.  The former Sockers and Illinois ODP midfielder is a senior at UCLA, and is a rising star for the US.

Still number one

I wasn't able to stay after the Fire match to watch the final of the Pepsi Showdown, but #1 ranked Neuqua Valley beat #4 Lyons 2-1 in double overtime.  From the report I missed a terrific match.

Kissing your sister

This weekend the Chicago Fire and Charlton Athletic each gave back a 2-0 lead to end up tied at 2.  I was at the Fire match, and they played very well.  Unfortunately Columbus tied the game on a late penalty.  From where I was standing, and I had an excellent view, there was no foul in the area.  If there was a foul, then Conde was the victim, not the perpetrator.  C'est la vie.

From what I read Charlton played well yesterday, and going into the match probably would have been happy with a point against the Canaries at Carrow Road.  Despite back-to-back ties the Addicks still are unbeaten. If you had told me at the first of August that Charlton would be unbeaten through eight games, much less 6-2-0, then I would have told you to sober up.

So the weekend ends with both the Fire and the Addicks at the top end of the table and in good shape.  But still.

High school update

The OPRF Huskies boys soccer team made local history last night by playing the first lighted game at the high school stadium.  Unfortunately they lost 3-1 to St. Charles.  Neighbors had fought for years against the lights.  Tonight will be the first American football game under the lights, but unfortunately it will not be an ecumenical event.

This weekend ends the Pepsi Showdown boys tournament.  The finals will be Sunday at Toyota Park after the Chicago Fire game.  Neuqua Valley, Morton, Lyons, and Streamwood are the semifinalists.

Derby day

The Wheaton Thunder beat the Dominican Stars 1-0 in yesterday's west-central suburban derby.  Wheaton won on an 82d-minute goal from captain Matt Swartz.  The goal came off a free kick following the last of Dominican's 12 fouls.  Going into the match Dominican was ranked 15th nationally by the NSCAA.

Will he stay or will he go?

The latest rumor, courtesy of Sports Illustrated, is that Cuauhtemoc Blanco wants to stay in Chicago another year.  That's good news.  He's still a productive player and a fierce competitor.  There's a connection between his return to El Tri and their recent form (of course, sacking SGE helped, too).  He's also a lot of fun to watch, especially at Toyota Park, where you can see his movement and "antics" off the ball.  I will confess, however, that he annoyed the hell out me at the end of the Honduras-Mexico World Cup qualifier; I had to remind myself that I like the guy when he wears red.

This week in Chicago soccer

Wednesday
Concordia at Lake Forest
Dominican at Wheaton (derby of the week)
St. Xavier at Trinity International

Friday
Notre Dame at DePaul
South Carolina at Northwestern (Lakeside Classic)
Loyola at UMKC (UMKC Invitational)
UIC at UNLV
Loras at Wheaton
Chicago at Centre

Saturday
Marquette at DePaul
Marian at Dominican
St. Xavier at Aquinas College

Sunday
Columbus Crew at Chicago Fire
UIC at UC Riverside (Las Vegas)
Loyola at Oral Roberts (UMKC Invitational)
Lafayette at Northwestern (Lakeside Classic)
Aurora at Chicago

Fever pitch - the beginning

I got the soccer bug late in life. Then I got it bad.

It started innocently enough. Several years ago my wife coaxed our then-7-year-old son to play AYSO soccer. Mostly she was trying an early diversion away from (American) football - the big fall sport - and the injuries she was sure would follow down that path. I don't think any mother wants to see her son hit really hard by someone else's really large son moving at a high rate of speed while wearing a hard helmet with the specific intent to cause pain, if not injury. My wife plans ahead. So she acted.

Fair enough, I thought. Soccer looks like a good sport, even though I myself had never played a minute. He could play AYSO in the fall and baseball (a REAL sport, meaning one I played growing up) in the spring. Besides it would be a good way for my kid to meet more kids in our new neighborhood.

I don't even think we had a soccer ball in the house then.

Turned out my kid was really good at soccer. He really liked playing, too. I was now a soccer dad.

So began my slow slide into a magnificent soccer obsession.