Early this morning I wrote a "recap" of last night's debacle in Michigan on the way back to Chicago. Due to technological failure on my end, I wasn't able to post it right away. So join me after the jump to relive the emotional horror that was last night.

What the hell happened? I just witnessed the biggest f*****g disgrace in my tenure as a Fire fan.

I recently read somewhere (I wish I could remember where so that I could link to it) that OPTA uses the amount of passes in a game to determine possession. This surprised me. Basing possession on passing has the potential to produce some skewed results. The most obvious argument against this is that a team that uses the short passing game is going to have a larger portion of possession regardless of the actual amount of time that they truly have possession.

Three weeks! It's only been three weeks!

The Dynamo are back at last with a trip to Chicago to face their Eastern Conference rivals the Fire.

BROADCAST INFORMATION: Galavision - 6 p.m. (Comcast: 50/HD 650; AT&T Uverse: 3003; DirecTV: 404; Dish: 273) SportsTalk 790 (ENG Radio) La Ranchera 850 (SPN Radio)
REFEREE: Geoff Gamble.

Here it is, the last leg of the positional preview. I finally manage to get around to talking about the forwards. There are several issues with trying to evaluate the forwards. The last road pre season game, the one I expected to have the closest thing to the starting eleven that we were going to get, never happened.

It has been over 40 days and 40 nights since we last did an overview of the Chicago Fire roster going into 2012. In that time Mike Banner has been let go. Yamith Cuesta, Diego Chaves, and Josip Mikulic have drifted away in circumstances that are still being sorted out. Rafael Robayo, Federico Puppo, Austin Berry, and Kheli Dube have been brought in with contracts to their name.

The Hot Time In Old Town crew has been experimenting with new some sidebar boxes in order to improve our coverage and information on the Chicago Fire. One of these sidebars is the Chicago Fire Rumor Mill. If there's so much as a minor hint of Fire related player news, you'll see at least a fanshot thrown up along with some thoughts on how realistic it sounds and how credible the source appears.

The Chicago Fire have signed 25 year-old Uruguayan forward Federico Puppo. HTIOT first put this rumor up over a week ago and it's interesting to see it finalized. It seems the Chicago Fire technical staff should be fully familiar with Puppo.

"Federico Puppo is a player we've kept an eye for the past few seasons," said Fire head coach Frank Klopas.

Today is the big press releases full of protected players day. Personally it feels like a healing balm to help with the festering burn wound that was yesterday's Cup final.

Here is your creamy filled list of protected goodness:

Sean Johnson - GK
Cory Gibbs - DEF
Jalil Anibaba - DEF
Gonzalo Segares - DEF
Pavel Pardo - MID
Logan Pause - MID
Marco Pappa - MID
Sebastian Grazzini - MID
Orr Barouch - FWD
Patrick Nyarko - FWD
Dominic Oduro - FWD

Join me for some frothy instant analysis after the break.

By DAVE GUBALA

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill.-- When the Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew squared off on Saturday night it was the Crew that had everything to play for and the Fire just playing out the string. You wouldn't have known it based on how both teams came out though, as the Fire completed a strong finish to the 2011 season with another victory while the Crew stumbled their way into the post-season.

Fire's Jalil Anibaba (left) and
Diego Chaves -- Getty ImagesBy Charlie Corr
ESPNChicago.com
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- The Chicago Fire wanted to end their season on a high note, and they did so by reaching the .500 mark for the first time since April 9.
Fire forward Diego Chaves scored his second game-winning goal in as many games and Fire defender Jalil Anibaba had two goals as Chicago topped the Columbus Crew, 3-2, on Saturday in front of a sellout crowd of 20,237 at Toyota Park.

Getty ImagesBy Charlie Corr
ESPNChicago.com
The elements were not in the Chicago Fire's favor.
They had three suspended starters. They were playing on the road. They were playing down a goal heading into stoppage time. And anything less than a win would have officially spelled the end to Chicago's small, but lingering, playoff hopes.

By THOMAS FLOYD

WASHINGTON - After 89 forgettable minutes Saturday in a match seemingly destined to end in a scoreless draw, D.C. United and the Chicago Fire more than made up for lost time with as dramatic a final act as one will see in MLS all season.

United went ahead via an 89th minute penalty kick from Dwayne De Rosario, only to watch Chicago notch goals from Sebastian Grazzini and Diego Chaves in stoppage time to steal a 2-1 win at RFK Stadium.

You remember the Chicago Fire, right? Lots of ties. No offense to speak of. Mired in another lost season. Well, put all of that out of your mind, because the team standing in the Seattle Sounders' way of a third-straight U.S. Open Cup title is a lot different from that one.

Unless you follow the blow-by-blow of the Major League Soccer season, you could be excused for not realizing just how good the Fire have been playing over the course of the last couple months.

The two MLS sides with the strongest historical connections to the US Open Cup meet Tuesday night. Both Chicago and Seattle played non-ideal XIs in their weekend matches to prepare for their opportunity to lift the Cup. For the Chicago Fire this is their chance to reawaken the team, to renew their history and claw back into the discussion as a solid team with a bright future.

Houston Dynamo (10-9-12, 42 pts.) vs. Chicago Fire (7-8-15, 36 pts.) Robertson Stadium - Houston, TX - 3:00pm
BROADCAST INFORMATION: KHOU 11.2 (ENG TV) TeleFutura (SPN TV) La Ranchera 850 (SPN Radio) SportsTalk 790 - (ENG Radio) (post-Texas A&M football game)

REFEREE: Edvin Jurisevic - MLS Career: 38 games; FC/gm: 21.

The biggest news of the day came in the form of a tweet from the Seattle Sounders:

An MRI has revealed a small tear of Mauro Rosales' right MCL with no additional damage. Mauro is expected to miss 2-4 weeks.

With that, Seattle Sounders' MVP and MLS MVP candidate Rosales will likely be out for the U.

By DAVE GUBALA

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill – After watching a two-goal lead in the second half disappear in the span of two minutes, the Chicago Fire looked destined for yet another late-game disappointment. Dominic Oduro had other plans however, as he and Patrick Nyarko combined to give Chicago a sorely-needed win and the Fire continued hope of an improbable run at the playoffs.

Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIphotos.com

The Vancouver Whitecaps' two 2011 first-round draft picks connected for an early goal, leading the club to a 1-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes in MLS Reserve League play on Tuesday.

Michael Nanchoff chipped over the defense toward Omar Salgado, who finished with a left-footed shot from the top of the box in the 11th minute for the only tally of the match.

Marvin Chaves celebrates his goal in Mexico. (Mexsport)

"It only takes one."

That was something my old soccer coach back in West Virginia used to tell me and my teammates before (and sometimes during) a game that we knew would be tough. We had this one team that we played a couple times a year that always seemed to get the best of us and would typically beat us.

Discussing the Chicago Fire or any other MLS team's salary budget is always very complicated. You might want to take a look at our 'Roster 101' and 'Roster Construction' pieces before proceeding. Even veterans of such discussions need to remind each other that we are talking about a salary budget and not a salary cap.

Rumors of Pavel Pardo are flying around Chicago Fire Country and I think this as close to a done deal as you can get for written and non-written reasons. The only problem? The current roster would not allow it to happen. One of the main intrigues? The team already has several players in the central midfield position.

Another chance for the Portland Timbers to redeem themselves tomorrow. More importantly is that it's also a chance to finally win a game on the road. As much as we would all love for the Timbers to be able to coast through the season with home wins (which are getting rarer each week) it's simply not possible to rely on them all the time.

Quick and Dirty:

First half: No one scored. Jalil Anibaba missed a free header off a corner. LA had a few opportunities but no shots were put on goal. The Fire defense was up to the task in the first half. The LA defense decided to be overly physical with anyone who was born in Ghana.

RE

Courtesy ISIphotos.com

By THOMAS FLOYD

Amid the hype surrounding D.C. United's blockbuster acquisition of Dwayne De Rosario on Monday, the club's trade with San Jose for center back Brandon McDonald a few hours earlier largely flew under the radar.

The bottom line is that Diego Chaves scored a goal in the 37th minute of play and the Chicago Fire defeated the Rochester Rhinos 1-0 in the 3rd Round of the U.S. Open Cup last night. You the fan deserve more of a recap than that but I'm not sure the game itself does. If you missed the game, it looks like USL Live might put it in their Archived Games at some point.

The Chicago Fire endured a slow start and defeated the USL Pro's Rochester Rhinos, 1-0, on Tuesday in a third-round Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match at Sahlen's Stadium in Rochester, N.Y.
Fire forward Diego Chaves netted the game's lone goal as Chicago advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament.

Frank Klopas is rolling the dice a little bit by having a starting XI of the following:

Sean Johnson; Bratislav Ristic, Josip Mikulic, Dasan Robinson, Pari Pantazopoulos; Gabriel Ferrari, Michael Videira, Daniel Paladini, Corben Bone; Diego Chaves, Cristian Nazarit

I am sympathetic to injuries and rest but this is a lot of new parts that aren't used to each other.

Diego Chaves -- Getty ImagesBy Charlie Corr
ESPNChicago.com
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- The Chicago Fire take a short detour from their MLS slate when they take on the USL Pro's Rochester Rhinos on Tuesday in third-round action of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Sahlen's Stadium in Rochester, N.

Sun burnt and annoyed with another draw.

Quick and Dirty Recap:

New York strikes first in the 40th minute with Joel Lindpere scoring after Yamith Cuesta hit his clearance into Lindpere allowing the Estonian to get the ball and put it past Johnson. From my viewpoint it looked like Cuesta's clearance hit Lindpere's hand which allowed the goal to be scored.

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Anibaba, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Nyarko, Paladini, Husidic, Pappa

F Oduro, Chaves

Bench: Conway, Mikulic, Ristic, Bone, Videira, Chaves, Ferrari

Red Bulls

GK Condoul

D Solli, Keel, Mendes, Miller

M Richards, Tainio, Ballouchy, Lindpere

F Henry, DeRosario

Bench: Sutton, JOnes, Schneider, Da Luz, Kassel, Rooney, Hertzog

Quick and Dirty Recap:
No one scored. Sean Johnson had one excellent save on a Collin Warner shot. On this play Jamison Olave juked past Segares and put a square ball in towards the spot. Yamith Cuesta missed the ball as he dove for it giving Warner the clear look. Excellent save by Johnson who continues to be in top form.

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Anibaba, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Oduro, Paladini, Husidic, Nyarko

F Chaves, Barouch

Bench : Conway, Mikulic, Ristic, Bone, Pappa, Videira, Ferrari

RSL

GK Rimando

D Russell, Olave, Borchers, Beltran

M Grabavoy, Beckerman, Warner, Johnson

F Espindola, Aghasyan

Bench : Reynish, McKenzie, Schuler, Gil, Gonzalez, Williams, Toia

By IAN HOLLIDAY

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution played better than the visiting Chicago Fire for the first 70 minutes of their match Saturday night at Gillette Stadium, but the hosts couldn't capitalize on their many chances, and were lucky to finish the match's last 20 minutes with a 1-1 draw intact.

Starting Line Ups

Fire GK Johnson D Anibaba, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares M Nyarko, Pause, Husidic, Oduro F Chaves, Nazirit

Bench : Conway, Ristic, Robinson, Bone, Paladini, Barouch, Ferrari

Revolution GK Reis D Barnes, Coria, Soares, Alston M Tierney, Joseph, Phelan, Nyassi F Mansally, Lekic

Bench : Shuttleworth, Loewy, Guy, Kinne, Schilawski, Sousa, McCarthy

The Chicago Fire enter today's game on the heels of their first win since March 26th. New England lost four games in a row before stopping the bleeding on Wednesday with a tie against Toronto FC. Frank Klopas hopes the team can continue the current 286 minute opposition shutout streak dating back to May 28th when San Jose's Chris Wondolowoski scored a 74th minute header.

Today the Chicago Fire announced that Gaston Puerari has been sold to Atlas for an undisclosed fee.
This move signals a few things. First off the team has confidence in Orr Barouch to take over a bigger role in the offensive scheme. He immediately takes Puerari's place as one of the players who will start at striker depending on form, Chaves and Nazarit being the other two.

Photo by Tracy Allen/ISIphotos.com

With all of the Chicago Fire's recent forward acquisitions, there couldn't be room for everybody in Frank Klopas' stable of strikers, and Gaston Puerari is the odd man out.

The Fire sold Puerari, a Uruguayan forward acquired in the offseason, to Mexican club Atlas on Wednesday for an undisclosed transfer fee.

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Anibaba, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Oduro, Pause, Husidic, Nyarko

F Puerari, Chaves

Bench : Conway, Robinson, Ristic, Paladini, Bone, Barouch, Nazirit

Crew

GK Hesmer

D Miranda, Marshall, James, Gardner

M Balchan, Ekpo, Gaven, Meram

F Mendoza, Cunningham

Bench : Gruenebaum, Iro, Veeder, Burns, Gehrig, Rusmir, Horton

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Ristic, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Oduro, Pause, Paladini, Bone

F Puerari, Nazarit

Bench : Conway, Robinson, Husidic, Nyarko, Chaves, Videira, Barouch

SKC

GK Nielsen

D Harrington, Besler, Collin, Myers

M Sassano, Arnaud, Bravo

F Kamara, Bunbury, Smith

Bench : Kronberg, Diop, Stojcev, Zusi, Cesar, Sinovic, Sapong

It's been a long couple months on the road for Sporting KC, the 1-6-3 record is some proof of that. But tomorrow that changes as Sporting KC will be opening their home, Livestrong Sporting Park, when they take on the Chicago Fire. As I mentioned earlier today, this game is a MUST win for KC on so many different levels.