BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. - The Chicago Fire has teamed up with one of Chicago's most influential sports stations, WMVP-AM ESPN Radio 1000, to broadcast the 2006 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game on Saturday, Aug. 5 from TOYOTA PARK. The star-studded action from the Fire's new, world-class home at 71st & Harlem will kick-off at 5:00 p.m. CT with a pre-game show featuring ESPN 1000's John Jurkovic (known as "Jurko") and Fire Head Coach Dave Sarachan.
Veteran soccer broadcasters Kenn Tomasch and Chris Doran - the Fire's TV broadcast team - will be handling play-by-play and color commentary duties, respectively, while ESPN 1000's Carmen DeFalco will serve as a sideline reporter.
"We're pleased to partner up with ESPN 1000 to broadcast this unprecedented event to sports fans throughout Chicagoland and the Midwest," said Chicago Fire President/CEO John Guppy. "This year's All-Star Game will not only showcase our new stadium to the world, but from a competition standpoint, fans will have the chance to see the League's finest take on one of the world's finest. We're looking forward to working with ESPN 1000 during this historic soccer weekend."
This year's edition of the midsummer classic will feature the brightest stars from MLS taking on arguably the world's top club, 2005 and 2006 English Premier League champion Chelsea FC. The unprecedented event will be televised live nationally on ESPN at 5:30 p.m. Chelsea features 15 players that participated in this summer's FIFA World Cup, including German National Team defender Michael Ballack, Ukraine's Andriy Shevchenko and England's Frank Lampard and Joe Cole.
The pre-game show will be hosted by John Jurkovic, better known as "Jurko" from the "Mac, Jurko & Harry" show on ESPN 1000, while Carmen DeFalco will serve as a sideline reporter during the game. DeFalco has been on the air at ESPN 1000 since December of 1998. After anchoring Sportscenter updates he began hosting the Bulls' post game show at the start of the 2000-2001 season. DeFalco took over all the pre and post game duties in 2002. In addition to covering Bulls Basketball he has also spent time reporting on the Bears, White Sox and Cubs. Both Jurko and DeFalco are avid soccer fans.
Currently in his second full season as the Chicago Fire's TV play-by-play announcer, Kenn Tomasch's broadcast resume includes calling games in Major League Soccer, United Soccer Leagues, Major Indoor Soccer League and the Continental Indoor Soccer League. For the last two years, Tomasch has also been the webcast and TV voice of the Chicago Storm indoor soccer team. In a career spanning more than twenty years, he has also called football, baseball, basketball, hockey and tennis.
Doran has served as the Fire's sideline reporter for regional television broadcasts since 2003 and as a play-by-play announcer for the team's webcasts on www.Chicago-Fire.com since 2002. He anchored Big 10 Championship broadcasts for College Sports TV last season and has been the radio voice of the seven-time NCAA Champion Indiana Hoosiers since 1995.
WMVP-AM ESPN Radio 1000 is owned and operated by ABC Radio and is part of the Walt Disney Company.
