Wondering how the recent moves of Chris Rolfe and Bakary Soumare to Europe will impact Brian McBride's offseason decision? Well, I asked the 37-year-old McBride - who is in the last year of his contract with the Fire - just that question after the Fire's practice last Thursday. Here is what the Arlington Heights native had to say.

The Fire and Real Salt Lake are set to clash tomorrow night for their second meeting of the season. The Fire was victorious in the first matchup between the two teams, getting a goal from Patrick Nyarko to defeat RSL 1-0 on August 1st at Toyota Park. What's the main difference between tomorrow's match and the teams' first meeting?

I was at the Fire's practice session today and picked up a few tidbits of info from the training session. Here they are......

With only five regular season games left in their season, every remaining match is critical for the Chicago Fire. Some matches, however, are more important than others and this Sunday's battle at Toyota Park against the defending champion Columbus Crew (2 p.m. on My50/Telefutura) certainly fits that description.

The Fire had it all to fight for on Sunday afternoon against the Columbus Crew. First place in the East, a shot at the Supporter's Shield, home field advantage in the playoffs, you name it and the Fire had it in their grasp this afternoon at Toyota Park but in the end it all slipped away as the two sides played to a very controversial 2-2 draw.

Here are a few notes from today's high-intensity Fire training session... McBride Back in Action - Injured forward Brian McBride (torn labrum) was back on the training field today, participating in his first "full go" practice since having surgery in mid-July. McBride, who isn't listed on the Fire's injury report this week, looked good in practice and didn't seem to be inhibited by the injury whatsoever.

According to a Goal.com report, Fire forward Chris Rolfe is set to leave Chicago in January to join Danish Club Aalborg (or Aab, as they are more commonly known) on a free transfer. "I'm very excited, as I think Aalborg is as well," Rolfe told Goal.com. "It's a new opportunity and something I've always wanted to do.

With the September 15th roster freeze deadline rapidly approaching, many of us had been wondering what the Fire was planning to do with the roster spot left vacant by the departure of Bakary Soumare. Would the Fire fill it? Would they stand pat? Well, we got our question answered late last night, when the Fire announced that they had signed 21-year-old defender David Myrie.

Just a few quick updates on the injury situations of Gonzalo Segares and John Thorrington to keep your day moving along... Gonzalo Segares - Segares, who has been out with a sprained left MCL since August 9th, told me last week that he was targeting this Saturday's game against Toronto FC for his return and it appears that he will be available right on schedule.

Here are a few notes from today's Fire practice out at Toyota Park... McBride update - Forward Brian McBride once again took part in full training with the squad today and he looked good, showing no signs of pain in his surgically repaired right shoulder and saying that he feels like he can play in Saturday's game at Real Salt Lake.

At first glance, one would guess that Chris Rolfe's impending move from the Fire to Danish club Aalborg was motivated by a couple of things: 1) the motivation to play in a league with more exposure/higher quality of play and 2) the desire to earn a little more money in a career in which players have a short earning lifespan.

The Fire entered this weekend one point behind the Columbus Crew for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Now, the weekend is over and the Fire has lost ground in the race for the top spot in the East, as they currently sit three points behind the league leading Crew - who pulled off an improbable 2-1 victory over the Houston Dynamo yesterday.

Today's another busy day in the world of soccer as there are several very high quality matches going on, even as I type this entry.Some of the more marquee matchups include Manchester United v. Manchester City (7:30 a.m. on Setanta Sports), Chelsea v. Tottenham (10 a.m. on FSC) and of course Fire v.

It was announced yesterday that former Fire midfielder Chris Armas -- who played with the club from its inception in 1998 through 2007 -- will be inducted into the "Ring of Fire" Hall of Fame prior to Fire's October 22nd game against Chivas USA. "As someone who once shared the pitch with Chris, I can say that he exemplifies the Fire's motto of Honor, Tradition and Passion," said Fire technical director and 2004 Ring of Fire inductee, Frank Klopas.

(Apologies for the lack of a picture...the website I use for photos appears to be down -- at least for my computer) When Peter Lowry netted twice for the Fire in Sunday's 2-2 draw with Columbus, you couldn't blame the midfielder for wanting to soak it all in. After all, it's not too often that the 24-year-old Lowry gets a start, let alone scores two goals.

We're only an hour away from kickoff here at Toyota Park so it's a little past time I get the Matchday post up. As always, I'll be checking in from the press box with the lineups/other observations as soon as they become available. Otherwise, feel free to share your thoughts on the match in the comments section below.

Playing without injured attackers Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Chris Rolfe, the Fire played to what they called a "disappointing" 2-2 draw with Toronto FC at Toyota Park tonight. The second place Fire, who has now tied three matches in a row, fall five points behind the league leading Columbus with the result - effectively eliminating them from the race for the Supporter's Shield.

With just 3 regular season games remaining before he leaves MLS to join Danish club Aalborg, Fire midfielder/forward Chris Rolfe is taking in every moment of his last few weeks with Chicago. "Knowing that my games at Toyota Park are numbered for now makes it something that I definitely want to take full advantage of," said the 26-year-old Rolfe prior to Saturday's game against Toronto FC.

Hey everybody, kind of a slow news day for the Fire (so far anyway...) so I'm taking a little break from writing and simply sharing some links today. I'll be back to the grind tomorrow with a Fire Practice Report though, so keep an eye out for that.Steve Davis of ESPN Soccernet writes about the somewhat surprising fact that tickets are still available for Saturday's World Cup Qualifier between the U.

Just a reminder that I'm heading out to the Toyota Park Training Field to catch the Fire's practice today. I should have a full report up around 1:30 or 2....

After getting a well-deserved week off to rest their legs, the Fire came into tonight's match against Real Salt Lake ready to start the final two months of the season with yet another road win. And while at times it looked like the Fire would be able to pick up all three points at Rio Tinto Stadium, in the end it wasn't to be, and the two teams played to a 1-1 tie.

Here are a few quick notes that are making news in the world of the Fire/MLS today. Better late than never right? Injury Updates: A few Fire players have been struggling with injuries for the past couple weeks and while some of them could return this Saturday against Toronto, the news isn't very good for others.

As if facing a desperate Toronto FC team that just happens to be loaded with attacking options isn't enough, the Fire will be playing Saturday night's game at Toyota Park without two of their best - as both Cuauhtemoc Blanco and John Thorrington have been ruled out of this weekend's match. But despite the absence of the playmaking Blanco and the stalwart Thorrington, the Fire (who beat TFC 2-0 on May 16th) is confident that they will be able to walk away from the match with all three points - keeping pace with first place Columbus in the process.

Filling in for injured playmaker Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Fire midfielder Justin Mapp had some big shoes to fill when the Fire hosted Toronto FC on Saturday night. And while the Fire disappointed with a 2-2 tie that effectively knocked them out of the race for the Supporter's Shield, Mapp was a bright spot, looking dangerous and providing an assist in the draw.

I'll be interviewing Denis Hamlett tomorrow and thought I'd open up the floor for you guys to pose some questions. Just so you know, I'll be asking Denis about all the standard stuff (i.e. Galaxy preview questions, injury updates etc.) so feel free to throw out any off-the-wall questions you may have.