Chicago Fire original CJ Brown played in his last professional soccer game on October 23, 2010. Both Brown and teammate Brian McBride had announced their retirements days earlier. Chicago was already eliminated from the playoffs going into the game. Prior to kick-off the players knew it was going to be only the second time in the club's history that the Fire did not make the playoffs.

What lineup will Jurgen Klinsmann use tonight in his USMNT debut against Mexico?
We'll all have to wait and see of course, and another thing we'll have to wait and see about is what players Klinsmann will rely heavily on during his time as US coach.
Might those players be on the field tonight against Mexico?

What lineup will Jurgen Klinsmann use tonight in his USMNT debut against Mexico?
We'll all have to wait and see of course, and another thing we'll have to wait and see about is what players Klinsmann will rely heavily on during his time as US coach.
Might those players be on the field tonight against Mexico?

C.J. Brown -- Getty ImagesBy Charlie Corr
ESPNChicago.com
The path leading up to former Chicago Fire defender C.J. Brown's MLS coaching debut came together quickly.
Following his retirement announcement toward the end of the 2010 season, Brown made it clear that he wanted to move on to the coaching side.

After the MLS Player's Union released information on 2011 player salaries last weekend many amateur capologists (myself included) began crunching numbers, analyzing data, and speculating as to the "salary cap" standing of each team in the league. It's an exercise that's rooted in educated guesses and assumptions based on the raw numbers presented by the union.

The Chicago Fire have flown pretty far under the radar thus far this season. One reason is that they don't have a clearly compelling storyline to draw national interest. Hovering in a division with the glitzy high priced New York Red Bulls, the quickly dismantled Columbus Crew, the slowly dismantling Toronto FC, the road warrior Sporting Kansas City, the Charlie Davies-led DC United, and a handful of other interesting hooks for MLS fans and national media to hang their narratives on, Chicago is just trying to quietly improve.

New Section 8 Merchandise!

Visit the new Section 8 merchandise store and pick up a classy cf97 or Chicago flag scarf! McBride or CJ Brown T-shirt... you got it! Even a Fire bottle opener could be yours. Visit now before the supply runs out!

For those who would like to revisit Chicago's long and distinguished soccer history the Chicago Riot are conducting Chicago Soccer Heritage Night this coming Sunday at the Odeum in Villa Park. The list of local soccer luminaries is one of the most impressive I can recall, managing to gather members of the Fire, Sting, Power, Mustangs, Shoccers, Horizons, Red Stars, Cats, Vultures, Stingers, and Storm all under one roof.

After retiring at the end of the 2010 Major League Soccer season with the Chicago Fire, former US National Team defender CJ Brown has been named as an assistant coach with Real Salt Lake. Brown spent his entire MLS career in Chicago, winning the double in their first season in 1998. He had 15 caps with the National Team.

Real Salt Lake announced today that CJ Brown is joining their coaching staff as an assistant to head coach Jason Kries. Brown replaces Robin Fraser who left to take the top spot at Chivas USA. The Fire released this statement from Technical Director Frank Klopas:

"This is a great opportunity for CJ, and everyone at the Fire is very happy for him.

Real Salt Lake announced today that CJ Brown is joining their coaching staff as an assistant to head coach Jason Kries. Brown replaces Robin Fraser who left to take the top spot at Chivas USA. The Fire released this statement from Technical Director Frank Klopas:

"This is a great opportunity for CJ, and everyone at the Fire is very happy for him.

Frank Klopas and the Fire technical staff are currently in Florida for the MLS Combine ahead of the draft on January 13 but Klopas feels the Fire have a pretty good handle on which players they're interested in right now. "These players have been off for a few months so it's tough to judge guys on these games, we've seen most of them before now so we're looking for the best fit based on who's available when we pick" said Klopas.