FIRE KICKOFF 2008 HOME SEASON
The Chicago Fire open the home portion of their 2008 season tonight against New England...the game is a re-match of the 2007 Eastern Conference Championship won by New England 1-0 on 11/8/07...the Fire comes into tonight's match 0-0-1 after a 1-1 draw at Real Salt Lake last Saturday to start the season...New England is 1-0-0 after a 3-0 win over Houston.
CHICAGO - NEW ENGLAND SERIES Tonight the club's are meeting for the 32nd time in the regular season...New England leads the all-time series 13-12-6...in games played in Chicago during the regular season, the Fire lead the all-time series 7-4-5...over the last 3 seasons, the Fire lead the series 3-2-1 in regular season games in Chicago...the teams have a long history of playing in the postseason as they have met six times in the playoffs...New England leads that series 6-5-0...in 2007 the teams met 3 times with the Fire winning both games in Chicago (1-0 on 4/7 and 2-1 on 10/6) while the Revolution won 3-1 on 5/6 in Foxborough...the Fire lead the all-time US Open Cup series 2-0-0.
TONIGHT'S TELECAST Tonight's game is being broadcast nationally on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes...Glenn Davis, Tommy Smyth and Pedro Gomez will call the action for the network's first Primetime Thursday broadcast. HOME OPENER Tonight's game is the 11th home opener in club history...tonight's game is the earliest regular season home opener in club history, eclipsing by one day the April 4 start in 1998 (the team did play a CONCACAF match at home on 3/24/04 vs. SJ Jabloteh)...the club has had great success in home openers going 5-2-3 in the previous 10...the Fire has opened at home the last 2 seasons against the Revolution - winning 1-0 in 2007 and a 3-3 tie in 2006...overall the team is 1-0-3 vs. NE in home openers with a 1-1 tie in 2003 and a 2-2 draw in 2002...the only losses the club has suffered in home openers were a 2-0 loss to Dallas in 2004 and a 0-0 (3-1 PK's) result in 2000. CHICAGO
FIRE HOME OPENERS Date Result Opponent 4/7/07 W, 1-0 New England 6/11/06 T, 3-3 New England 4/16/05 W, 2-1 San Jose 4/17/04 L, 0-2 Dallas 4/13/03 T, 1-1 OT New England 4/27/02 T, 2-2 OT New England 4/14/01 W, 2-0 D.C. United 4/15/00 W, 1-0 Miami 4/10/99 L, 0-0 (1-3 PKs) Dallas 4/4/98 W, 2-0 Tampa Bay
BLACK ARMBANDS TO HONOR VICTIMS OF NIU TRAGEDY All players and referees tonight will be wearing black armbands embroidered with "February 14, 2008" on them in memory of the NIU campus tragedy which occurred that day.
TONIGHT'S SPECIAL EVENTS AT TOYOTA PARK The Northern Illinois University Chorus will sing the national anthem. At halftime, a donation from the Fireworks for Kids Foundation will be presented to Joe Matty, Executive Director of the NIU Alumni Association, and Jack Tierney, President of the NIU Alumni Association. Also during halftime, the Chicago Fire will recognize members of the Illinois Men's Select team. The team recently defended their 2007 Donnelley Cup title by winning the 2008 edition of the USASA National Select Team Championship. Following the game there will be a post-game fireworks show.
