Sports Perspectives

By Susan Hotopp

It’s settled, then. The Fire will travel to Foxboro to face the New England Revolution–again–in the Eastern Conference finals. Irony is irresistible, so I’m going to suggest that 2007 is the year that the Fire will reverse the curse.*

Just a minute…what curse? Whispers in the soccersphere suggest that New England has Chicago’s number in the playoffs. Hmmm…have the Revs laid waste to the Fire’s playoff hopes every single time that the two teams have met in the post-season? Not exactly. That sounds more like the Fire-DC United situation. Chicago truly is United’s playoff nemesis, as DC has never snatched a playoff victory from the Fire. The streak stretches back to 1998 when Chicago beat United 2-0 to claim the MLS Cup in its inaugural season.

It is true that the Revolution knocked the Fire out of the playoffs in 2002, 2005 and 2006. But the Revolution went down to the Fire in 2000 and 2003. The three times that New England ended the Fire’s season were hardly upsets, either. In 2002, the Revs finished the season with 38 points to Chicago’s 37. The playoff format was different back then, with the conference semifinals determined by a best of three game series. New England took that series, two games to one. The teams were evenly matched, someone had to win, and the series wasn’t a blowout. That’s life.

In 2005 the two sides met in the conference finals. In that case New England had a significantly better season than Chicago–59 points to 49–yet the Revs won narrowly in Foxboro, 1-0. I would say that the Fire performed above expectations. Last year was indeed heartbreaking for the Fire and its fans. Chicago won the first game 1-0 at home. The match in Foxboro ended with New England ahead 2-1. The Fire then floundered in the decisive penalty shootout. Yet overall the conference semifinal was a close one, much as would be expected of two teams that once again finished the season separated by a single point.

What about 2007? The Revs ended the season ten points ahead of the Fire. They lost two of the teams’ three matches, though, including their last meeting on October 6. The Fire had to come from behind to win that one, on goals by Chris Rolfe and Chad Barret. That late season performance was a great leap forward, compared to what we saw during a dry spell in May, June and (pre-Blanco) July. Only eight goals were scored during one twelve-game stretch. We’ve heard a lot about how the Fire haven’t lost a game since early September, but actually the tide began to turn in late July. Since July 29th, they’ve lost only twice in league play–once to Kansas City and once to New York. Much of this turnaround has been attributed to Cuauhtemoc Blanco. He’s had a remarkable impact, but don’t forget new defender Wilman Conde, or Chris Rolfe’s return from a long injury layoff.

Conclusion: Chicago was only the seventh of eight teams to qualify for the MLS playoffs. (They were ahead of KC because of the season head-to-head record). So what? They picked up 24 of their 40 points in the second half of the season. Momentum does count for something and, as they say, the third time is the charm.

*My apologies for stealing the Red Sox’ 2004 mantra and using it against another New England team.