Chicagoist: Fire Earn Fourth U.S. Open Cup Championship

Scott Frazer

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 23:18:20 -0600

Indeed a great game. The downside to front row center tickets? When the camera guy is stationed right in front of you. But since it was a light crowd, I ended up with decent seats anyway just by hopping around a bit :-)

Todd

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:30:27 -0600

I agree they charge way to much for parking and the drive is a pain on weeknights but for weekend games I find it only takes 20-30 minutes to get there. If you live anywhere near North Center I suggest taking the Globe Pub bus to your next fire game. It is cheaper than parking and you can enjoy a beer or two on the way to the game.

Ronaldo

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 11:38:18 -0600

Why are we all complaining about the poor TV rights. We know soccer means nothing to the masses in the states. We should instead be kicking ourselves for not being at this game in person last night. Perhaps--I have been to two games this year. The main problem for me is the location. It's in the middle of nowhere and you can't get there (reasonably) on public transit. I can understand why they built it out there--Bridgeview subsidized the place heavily--but it is a pain in the ass to get there. Additionally, the "neighborhood" is non-existent. I know that the Village is counting on the stadium for economic development in the area--but at this point it is a pit. Also, $15 for parking is extremely lame, given the location. And the food sucks! Nevertheless, Go Fire!

CJ

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 11:19:44 -0600

I agree with BarcaFan, it was a shame more fans didn't come to the game. There were just over 8,000 ... for a championship game, that's just not a good crowd. For those that were there, we were treated to an amazing atmosphere and a great game.

decency

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 11:10:55 -0600

that's a pretty big trophy for joke soccer.

erik

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 09:26:43 -0600

I bet, though, that it's a similar issue to the Cubs and Sox. The Cubs' popularity comes (in large part) from being shown on broadcast tv all the time all across the US on WGN. The Sox... well they're the main reason I bough cable to begin with a few years ago. The Sox fought their way into better coverage and are now more popular. If the Fire got picked up by the kind of network they deserve--especially for important games like this--they'd probably be more popular due to the exposure alone.

BarcaFan

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 08:35:17 -0600

Your not kidding about a bad day for Barcelona. Why are we all complaining about the poor TV rights. We know soccer means nothing to the masses in the states. We should instead be kicking ourselves for not being at this game in person last night.

Matt

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 08:28:38 -0600

You have to pay for a special "sports tier" to get Fox Soccer Channel from Comcast for $5 a month. Not a bad deal, but you're right, some local channel like CLTV or WCIU could have picked up the game.

Ronaldo

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 07:41:27 -0600

Oh, one other thing--they actually reported on the US Open Cup Final on the BBC last night--that was how I learned that the Fire won. The Beeb had a coorespondent at Toyota Park!

Ronaldo

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 07:40:17 -0600

Go Fire! It was a shame that this game wasn't on a reasonable cable channel--I know it was on Fox Soccer Channel, but who the hell gets that? SOunds like they had a better day yesterday than FC Barcelona!