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Your editor is behind today, as I spent last night meeting with Chicago Fire owner and chairman Andrew Hauptman, discussing many of the issues I raised in my open letter to Fire ownership last month.

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Total articles found today: 87
Americans Abroad / USMNT
No Break For Beas - Rangers FC official site
Friday's Americans Abroad Roundup - Soccer365
Chicago Fire
Blanco Appears Ready For San Jose - MLSnet
Conde Could Miss San Jose Game - The Red Card
Patrick Nyarko Making Most Of Chance As Chicago Fire Starter - Chicago Tribune
Preview: Fire at San Jose Earthquakes - SlideTackles.

On Tuesday, the Fire distributed a letter that owner Andrew Hauptman wrote to fans of the club. The letter, which ran a relatively short 293 words, was sort of Hauptman's wrap on the season. It details how he felt after the Real Salt Lake game and reminds fans that the club is already working hard to bring a championship back to Chicago next season.

Welcome to the latest installment of Your Questions Answered, with the third of a four-part series on July questions.

This batch of questions has a good number of MLS questions, as well as some Americans Abroad queries, with Freddy Adu and Eddie Johnson among the players people want to know about.

The Fire's front office brass and Denis Hamlett are scheduled to have a sit-down in the next couple of days to discuss the Head Coach's future at the club.

"We're supposed to have a meeting in the next couple of days," Hamlett said on Tuesday afternoon. "We spoke yesterday and decided that we want to sit down and have a discussion.

What do you get when you take an overbearing and meddling owner and a stubborn head coach? You get a marriage that was never going to work.

Such is the case in Chicago, where the Fire is looking for its third coach in three years after parting ways with head coach Denis Hamlett, who never did see eye-to-eye with Fire owner Andrew Hauptman, who has taken a hands-on approach to running the Fire that led to a strained relationship with Hamlett.

Welcome to the latest installment of Your Questions Answered, with the third of a four-part series on July questions.

This batch of questions has a good number of MLS questions, as well as some Americans Abroad queries, with Freddy Adu and Eddie Johnson among the players people want to know about.

An open letter to Andrew Hauptman, Chairman and Owner of the Chicago Fire Soccer Club, by Tom Dunmore, Vice-Chairman of Section 8 Chicago and member of the WB05 supporters' group.

Dear Andrew,

Twelve years ago today, as you know, a soccer club was born in Chicago.

I'm sure most of you noticed that last week's edited version of Fire owner Andrew Hauptman's letter to fans stirred up quite a bit of controversy on this site. Well, it got people inside the Fire front office talking too and I'm happy to say that Hauptman got involved, writing back to me via VP of Communications Becky Carroll.

In a move that seemed inevitable for months, the Chicago Fire has parted ways with head coach Denis Hamlett and has chosen not to re-sign him as head coach. Hamlett's contract expires at the end of the calendar year.

Hamlett took over as Fire head coach before the 2008 season, replacing Juan Carlos Osorio.

What do you get when you take an overbearing and meddling owner and a stubborn head coach? You get a marriage that was never going to work.

Such is the case in Chicago, where the Fire is looking for its third coach in three years after parting ways with head coach Denis Hamlett, who never did see eye-to-eye with Fire owner Andrew Hauptman, who has taken a hands-on approach to running the Fire that led to a strained relationship with Hamlett.

My apologies for taking the easy way out this week with the cliche holiday column. Just be glad I didn't decide to write a "Holiday Letter!". Anyway, here's my holiday shopping list for prominent folks in American (and Canadian) soccer from A-Z.

Andrew Hauptman: Wisdom to hire a coach with knowledge of MLS players and respect for the Fire's history and tradition.