UNDEFEATED FIRE AT HOME THIS WEEKEND AGAINST THE NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION AT 7:30 PM CT
The Fire are set to face long-time rival the New England Revolution (2-2-2, 8 pts.) this Saturday, May 2nd, at 7:30 p.m. CT as the team plays for their fourth home contest of the season. The match will be broadcast on My50 Chicago. The Chicago Fire (2-0-5, 11 pts.) tied the Seattle Sounders (4-2-1, 13 pts.) 1-1 last Saturday to bring their undefeated streak to a record seven games to begin the 2009 season. The Fire currently sit in second place in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Toronto FC and DC United. The Fire currently lead the League in goal scoring with 13 goals and 14 assists through seven contests, and forward Brian McBride sits atop the league's Golden Boot standings having contributed five goals. The Fire is the only team that remains undefeated in 2009 play. The Revolution are coming off a 2-0 loss to the Houston Dynamo from last week. The game will be broadcast on My50 at 7:30 PM CT.
THE CHICAGO FIRE GOES GREEN AT TOYOTA PARK THIS SATURDAY
The Chicago Fire announced Tuesday that the team and TOYOTA PARK will "Go Green" this Saturday, May 9th when they meet the New England Revolution. The Fire and sponsors, including Best Buy and Walgreens, will offer fans special environmental friendly giveaways and incentives to receive special ticket and parking discounts for Fire games. As part of the annual Chicago Fire Foundation's jersey auction, the team will wear special white jerseys with green letters and a Foundation patch for Saturday's game. Those jerseys will be auctioned off to fans at the game. The Chicago Fire, TOYOTA PARK and sponsors will offer the following to fans during this Saturday's game:
• The first 5,000 fans will receive Fire-branded reusable shopping bags, courtesy of Walgreens
• In partnership with Best Buy, Fire fans will receive a voucher to save $10 on tickets to Saturday's game (or an upcoming game) by bringing handheld electronics to recycle at TOYOTA PARK at a booth outside of Gate C (cell phones, mp3 players, PDA's, etc)
• The first 1,000 fans will receive packs of flower seeds courtesy of the America the Beautiful Fund
• Anyone who drives to the game in a hybrid car will receive $5 off the cost of parking at Saturday's game
• Gameday programs will be made with recycled paper and will have eco-friendly tips in them
The special jersey auction will take place at the Foundation tent located in the NE concourse and bidding will begin when gates open and continue through halftime. Each winner will have the opportunity to get their commemorative jersey personally autographed by the Fire player whose jersey they won after the game. All proceeds will benefit the Chicago Fire Foundation. For more information on the commemorative jersey auction, go to the FOUNDATION EVENTS section of the club's website, www.chicago-fire.com.
BRIAN MCBRIDE VOTED MLS PLAYER OF THE MONTH FOR APRIL
Chicago Fire forward Brian McBride was voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Month for April. McBride notched four goals in four League games during the month, and led the Fire to a 1-0-3 record in April games. The 36-year-old MLS All-Time Best XI forward has made an immediate impact in his first full season with the Chicago Fire. McBride leads the League with five goals and the Chicago Fire sit in second place in the Eastern Conference with 11 points. In the Fire's Week 4 match against the San Jose Earthquakes McBride captured MLS Goal of the Week honors for his 57th minute strike. The following week McBride tallied his third and fourth goals of the season, scoring twice in the opening 20 minutes of the 2-2 draw with the Kansas City Wizards. McBride's header goal in the match earned his second MLS Goal of the Week nomination. McBride capped off the month by leading a stirring comeback against the defending MLS Cup Champions Columbus Crew. Trailing 2-0 in Columbus, McBride ignited the Fire's comeback in the 86th minute finishing a Patrick Nyarko cross with a leaping, driven header into the back of the net. The goal garnered McBride his third consecutive MLS Goal of the Week nomination.
McBride, a Chicago-area native, has scored 10 goals in 17 appearances since returning to Major League Soccer with the Chicago Fire during the late half of the 2008 season. In his previous stint in the League, seven seasons with the Columbus Crew, McBride established himself as one of the premier forwards in League history. In nine MLS seasons he has scored 72 goals, seven behind Preki who is 10th among the League's career scoring leaders. McBride left MLS for Fulham FC of the English Premier League in 2004. He led the Cottagers in scoring during the 2006-2007 season and was named the club's Player of the Year. He appeared in three FIFA World Cups with the United States men's national team, and captained the U.S. men's team at the 2008 Olympic Games.
The Major League Soccer Player of the Month is selected following the last regular season game of each month by a panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR). The group consists of members of print, television, radio and online media. More information and membership guidelines can be found at http://www.soccerreporters.com/.
MARCO PAPPA NOMINATED FOR GOAL OF THE WEEK
Marco Pappa has earned an MLS Goal of the Week nod after scoring his third goal of the season this past Saturday against the Seattle Sounders breaking goalkeeper Kasey Keller's 456 minute scoreless streak - the longest such streak to start a season in MLS history. After Cuauhtémoc Blanco distracted two Sounders defenders, he slid a pass over to Pappa near the top of the box and Pappa took advantage of the opportunity with a left-footed shot past Keller. Fans can vote for Pappa's goal by clicking on this link:
http://web.mlsnet.com/sights/goal_of_the_week/
. This GOTW nod is the fifth for the Chicago Fire this season.
PAUSE FEATURED IN COSMOGIRL.COM'S EYE CANDY SECTION
Midfielder Logan Pause has been selected as the Fire representative in CosmoGirl.com's "Eye Candy" section where readers can comment on who they believe is the best looking young player in the MLS. The photo gallery of MLS players can be seen by
CLICKING HERE
. Pause, 27, has appeared in 151 games since being selected by the Fire in the 2003 MLS SuperDraft. Pause has started and played 90 minutes in all five of the Fire's games so far this season. Readers can enter to win an autographed Logan Pause, girl-sized jersey and one lucky reader will win the grand prize: an official adidas MLS game ball signed by the Los Angeles Galaxy. A CosmoGirl blog post that links to the sweepstakes as well as the photo gallery can be found
here
. The photo gallery and giveaways are featured on CosmoGirl's homepage at
www.cosmogirl.com
.
PHISH SUMMER TOUR STOPS AT TOYOTA PARK
On their first summer tour in five years, Phish has announced a concert date at TOYOTA PARK on Tuesday, August 11th. Tickets are on sale now. Reserved and general admission tickets are priced at just $49.50 and are available at all Ticketmaster outlets including the TOYOTA PARK ticket offices, Ticketmaster.com and by calling (800) 745-3000.
BUFFETT RETURNS TO TOYOTA PARK
After the success of last summer's two TOYOTA PARK concerts, Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band will return to the stadium again this summer for two more unforgettable concert experiences as part of the "Summerzcool" Tour 2009. The concert dates are set for Saturday, Aug. 8 and Saturday, Aug. 15. The seating setup at the stadium will be similar to last year's concerts, as all seats will be reserved both on the field and in the stadium bowl. Tickets are on sale now through all Ticketmaster outlets including the TOYOTA PARK box office, Tickemaster.com, and by calling (800) 745-3000. For more information visit
www.toyotapark.com
.
BLANCO'S 'DIRECTO AL BLANCO' RADIO PROGRAM TUESDAY
"Directo al Blanco" a full-hour live radio program hosted by Fire midfielder Cuauhtémoc Blanco will air this and every Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m. CT. Listeners are encouraged to call and talk to Blanco about the latest soccer-related news regarding the Chicago Fire, Major League Soccer, and the Mexican Primera Division. The show airs nationally on RadioCadena stations in Chicago (WRTO-AM), Las Vegas (KLSQ-AM), Los Angeles (KTNQ-AM), San Francisco (KLOK-AM), El Paso (KAMA-AM), San Antonio(KCOR-AM), Dallas (KFLC-AM), McAllen (KGBT-AM), Houston (KLAT-AM), New York (WADO-AM), and Miami (WQBA-AM).
