Time to revisit my projections for the last time. Who will be available for the Philadelphia Union to select? The rules were announced recently, and they're exactly the same as the past few drafts.
The following players should graduate from Generation Adidas status: Alston, Beltran, Frei, Gonzalez, Hall, Nyarko, Wallace, Zakuani, and Zayner. Click to continue reading...

Getting off the topic of the "Hauptman Letter Debate" for a minute, some important info came out today regarding next Wednesday's MLS expansion draft. Here's the info, per Steve Goff (and NaperSteve -- who provided the tip):

Philadelphia will select 10 players; current clubs must submit their 11-man protected list by Monday afternoon; no club will lose more than one player, which means five teams won't lose anyone; Generation Adidas and home-grown players [(for the Fire that means Baggio Husidic and Patrick Nyarko] need not be protected; developmental players claimed must be offered a senior contract; clubs must protect designated players that have no-trade clauses.

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The Major League Soccer 2009 Eastern Conference Final was on Saturday with Real Salt Lake traveling to face the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park. The winner would move onto the MLS Cup Final next Sunday against the Los Angeles Galaxy. Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

Real Salt Lake beats Chicago Fire 0-0 (5-4 on penalty kicks) Video Highlights

It was a close match on Saturday but Real Salt Lake found a way to advance and continue their improbable run to the MLS Cup Final.

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A common saying amongst those in the soccer world is that a penalty kick shootout is a cruel way to decide a match.

After Saturday night, the Chicago Fire knows that saying back to front.

120 minutes of action saw the Fire and Real Salt Lake knotted at 0-0 so it all came down to a penalty shootout.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

The Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake are probably not the teams most observers would have pegged to be playing for the Eastern Conference title and berth in MLS Cup, but these two teams earned their places in the Final Four by virtue of strong first-round performances that should lead into a memorable East Final on Saturday night (8pm, FSC).

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

The Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake are probably not the teams most observers would have pegged to be playing for the Eastern Conference title and berth in MLS Cup, but these two teams earned their places in the Final Four by virtue of strong first-round performances that should lead into a memorable East Final on Saturday night (8pm, FSC).

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Who to protect and who to expose is the guessing game for the Fire. (Getty Images)

This year unlike the last couple the expansion draft caught up with me here. I almost feel like I am a little late getting these lists out for the draft which is a couple days after MLS Cup. Starting today I will release a team-by-team list of who I think will be protected and who I think will be left exposed.

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Lost in the shuffle of the Fire's thrilling Eastern Conference Semifinals victory was the fact that the team announced the 2009 awards on Friday night.

Wilman Conde, Brian McBride and Logan Pause were the recipients of the honors, which included Team MVP, Team Golden Boot Winner, Team Defender of the Year and U.

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When their season on the line, the Fire needed a big-time performance from the back line in Saturday night's second leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the New England Revolution. And did the defense ever deliver, putting together a comprehensive performance to shut down (and shutout) the Revolution and pave the way for the Fire to get into the Eastern Conference Final.

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Patrick Nyarko was elusive and hard to pin down by the Revs

How did Pat Phelan not bury that pinpoint Kenny Mansally cross into the back of the net? It was the clearest look at the goal all night and Phelan heads the ball out. He could have been a hero forcing extra time. As it turned out, the Fire did not have to go through that route.

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What a night at Toyota Park.

After losing the first leg of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series with New England 2-1, the Fire stormed back in dramatic fashion tonight, getting a 2-0 victory to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals on a 3-2 aggregate score.

Cuauhtemoc Blanco and John Thorrington scored the goals for the Fire, who will take on fourth seeded Real Salt Lake in the Conference Final next Saturday at Toyota Park.

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Kansas City Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad received his second honor of the year for his off-the-field contributions to the Kansas City community. MLS W.O.R.K.S., Major League Soccer's community outreach initiative, and the U.S. Soccer Foundation, the Major Charitable Arm of Soccer in the United States, announced Friday that Conrad and Chicago Fire midfielder Logan Pause were selected to receive Click to continue reading...

Wizards captain, Jimmy Conrad has been named Co-MLS Humanitarian of the Year along with Chicago Fire midfielder Logan Pause. Conrad had won the award for his work being a spokesperson for Athletes Against Autism and the Child Protection Center. He's also helped with the UN's Nothing but Nets campaign. Click to continue reading...

Kansas City Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad and Chicago fire midfielder Logan Pause share the 2009 MLS Humanitarian of the Year award. Conrad is a spokesperson for Athletes Against Autism and the Child Protection Center along with participating in the UN Foundation's Nothing But Nets campaign. Pause participates in the Passback Program, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Garth Brooks Foundation and the Joshua Center in Chicago. Click to continue reading...

The highlight video shown at the final match of the regular season when Conrad was named Team Humanitarian of the Year.
For the second time this season, Jimmy Conrad has received a Humanitarian of the Year honor. This time, it's the League-wide U.S. Soccer Foundation/MLS W.O.R.K.S. Humanitarian of the Year. Click to continue reading...

The Fire came into last Sunday's Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the New England Revolution with high hopes that they could leave Boston with a result.

And though the Fire got off to the right start in the series opener - scoring an early goal to put the pressure on New England - the team was undone by a pair of defensive lapses and ultimately fell to the Revolution 2-1.

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STARTERS
Got this note yesterday from a great reader named Anthony who lives in Glasgow: Have you heard of any fans making the trip to Bratislava for the Nov 14 game? I haven't heard anything and US Soccer hasn't even released info about tickets, but I got a cheap flight from Edinburgh to Bratislava so I'm going for the weekend in hopes I can get a ticket there and looking to meet up w any other US fans before the game to march and sing to the stadium together. Click to continue reading...

Here are a few links to get your day started...
The 'Players Only' section of the Chicago Tribune did a fun little piece with Fire midfielders John Thorrington and Logan Pause the other day. Thorrington interviewed Pause for the entry, asking Logan all sorts of things in rapid-fire format. Click to continue reading...

Galaxy 1 Chicago Fire 0

The Galaxy wall (AP Photo)

Game story

Bonus quotes

Here's Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena on David Beckham's contribution, in what was one of his best games in a Galaxy shirt:

"David played a bunch of balls in tonight and our guys needed to be a little bit sharper and read where the ball was going in front off the goal.

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Donovan pushes L.A. into first in the West
Chicago Fire players were colliding with each other - Jon Busch and Wilman Conde (right), Mike Banner and Calen Carr. There were some open gaps within the Fire's defense, including leaving Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Landon Donovan wide open a couple of times above the box. Click to continue reading...

Galaxy 1 Fire 0

The Galaxy took a deserved lead in the 42nd minute, a long Chris Klein pass up the right wing from his own half finding a sprinting Landon Donovan who left a sprawling Logan Pause in the dust before impudently chipping first-time over a helpless Jon Busch in the Fire net from 18 yards.

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The Los Angeles Galaxy takes on the Chicago Fire in a battle of second place teams on Friday, October 2 at 8PM. The game will be on ESPN2.

On paper this should be a tough, hard fought match between two teams that need to be peaking right now if they have hopes of going deep in the post-season.

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Time to revisit my projections of who will be protected and who will be left available. What's changed in the past month? For last month's review, click here.
A few days ago I posted about when players graduate from Generation Adidas status, which is highly relevant to this topic. Check out that post for further info. Click to continue reading...

MLS rosters are finally frozen. Here's a look at how much each team has changed since March.
Also worth checking is something that can shake up a roster without a personnel decision: the injury list.
CHICAGO
Hasn't changed much since the beginning of the season except for the departure of unhappy defender Bakary Soumare to Europe. Click to continue reading...

Another week in Major League Soccer, and yet more drama. The play-off picture is continuing to take shape, with one or two sides making a late run into the all-important wildcard spots. To top it off, the Red Bulls got a win!
Week 23 got going at Toyota Park last Wednesday, where LA Galaxy shrugged off the previous week's home defeat against Seattle to beat Chicago Fire. Click to continue reading...

Who will Peter Nowak and the Philadelphia Union take? Who will each team protect? I don't know, but I'll give it my best guess three months before everyone really starts focusing on it. You remember the rules, don't you? I'm assuming they'll stay the same as the past three years: 11 players can be protected, must protect three foreigners, GA players are exempt. Click to continue reading...

Chicago earns league-leading 6th road victory
A second-string defense and a couple of missing midfielders, and Major League Soccer's best road team still prevailed as the Chicago Fire defeated the Kansas City Wizards, 2-0, on Sunday at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
Chris Rolfe (pictured) and Mike Banner scored in the 13th and 89th minutes, respectively, as Chicago improved to 6-2-4 on the road and 9-4-8 overall. Click to continue reading...

A pair of Western Conference clashes highlight Major League Soccer's schedule in week 21 as the Seattle Sounders look to halt their road woes, while the Colorado Rapids look to keep Chivas USA's struggles going.

The best match of the weekend takes place on Sunday, with the Chicago Fire facing the Houston Dynamo.

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A pair of Western Conference clashes highlight Major League Soccer's schedule in week 21 as the Seattle Sounders look to halt their road woes, while the Colorado Rapids look to keep Chivas USA's struggles going.

The best match of the weekend takes place on Sunday, with the Chicago Fire facing the Houston Dynamo.

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Full defense is back as Chicago tries to climb back into 1st
Now that the CONCACAF Gold Cup is finished, the MLS contingent playing in the tournament is now back to the main day job.
Chicago Fire midfielder Logan Pause (pictured) is back from the U.S. Men's National Team and he and the Fire hope to win their second straight home game when they host Real Salt Lake at 7:30 p. Click to continue reading...

Hey everyone, hope your Thursday is going well. I caught up with the recently returned Gonzalo Segares and Logan Pause (both players had been with their national teams since the end of June for the Gold Cup) at yesterday's practice and did a little group interview with them. Check it out below...

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For those of you that haven't heard, Mexico absolutely demolished the U.S. today in the Gold Cup Final 5-0. Click on the link for ESPN's match recap (if you even want to read about the drubbing that took place at Giants Stadium that is...).Mexico, who scored all of their goals in the second half, was able to stop a long losing streak to the Americans in the States and end the 'Nats streak of two consecutive Gold Cups with the win.

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CLICK HERE for my Week 19 Examiner.com MLS Preview, which leads with the Chicago Fire-Seattle Sounders FC showdown. The match takes place at 2 p.m. (CST) Saturday at Qwest Field in Seattle. The game is televised on ESPN.
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Fire adjust offensively to fill McBride's scoring void
The Chicago Fire are 1-for-1 so far without veteran forward Brian McBride, who is out several months with a right shoulder injury. Click to continue reading...

STARTERS
Well, that's not the way it was supposed to go: Oguchi Onyewu made his AC Milan debut last night coming on as a second half sub, then promptly slipped on a banana peel and got badly burned for a goal. Oof. It's all good from here on out though.
TEAM USA GOLD CUP
Tonight - Semifinal Match:
-Thu Jul 23
USA v Honduras
Venue: Soldier Field - Chicago IL
dN
Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America previews. Click to continue reading...

The Chicago Fire maintained third place in Examiner.com's MLS Power Rankings through Week 18. CLICK HERE to read more.
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I will likely be providing in-game tweets (CorrSports) from the U.S. Men's National Team's CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal match against Honduras on Thursday night at Soldier Field (6 p. Click to continue reading...