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MLS Playoffs: Fire vs. Dynamo (Your Running Commentary)

The 2012 MLS Playoffs kick off tonight with the Chicago Fire playing host to the Houston Dynamo at Toyota Park (9pm, ESPN2).

The Dynamo are the road team, but enter the match with a wealth of experience. An MLS Cup finalist in 2011, the Dynamo struggled to find consistency late in the season. They still have the weapons to make another run, led by star midfielders Brad Davis and Oscar Boniek Garcia.

The Fire slipped into the knockout round after challenging for first place in the East just a month ago. Their late-season results weren’t the best, but they still boast several dangerous attacking players, such as Chris Rolfe and Patrick Nyarko, as well as rookie of the year favorite Austin Berry.

If you will be watching tonight’s action, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below. You can also follow along with SBI on Twitter, at @soccerbyives for match updates.

Enjoy the action.

Comments

  1. Landon Donovan is the best player in our country’s history. He’s carried the weight of a nation for too long. He’s endured waaaay too much disrespect. No player has done more for our country’s football than Landon. I feel for the guy. I will always rock a Landon jersey with pride. If we had 2 or 3 players with his ability and creativity we would be a force. For all of you Landon haters wake up, he’s more talented than anything we’ve ever had. Thank You Landon!

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    • Was just about to post this. Im in MD so I see much more of Hamid, but how anyone can compare the two is beyond me. The few games Ive seen him in have not been so hot. Maybe I just catch the one bad game he has every few months, but Hamid is constantly one of the best keepers in the league every week.

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  2. Empty seats are not great for TV & not a great advertisement for the growth of Soccer in America. (fuel for the skeptics)

    _Someday MLS will learn that mid-week games are pointless.

    __Someday MLS will learn that home & away playoff looses the excitement of “sudden death” 1 game match.

    _ Someday I will understand why people talks about RB lack of attendance & ignoring Chicago.

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    • I don’t think anyone is denying those things are problems, excepting the home and away. Letting a team host at least one playoff game is a good idea. Still, for the stadiums that are unfilled, we have SKC, Portland, Montreal, and some other decent draws. It is getting better. Not to mention, the empty seats are only a sign MLS still has popularity issues, but rather the mismanagement and poor years of decision making created difficult conditions for local fans.

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    • Fire attendance has been relatively good all season…14,000-17,000 at most games with a couple of sell outs (20,000). Three problems with this game…it was on a Wednesday, it was freezing cold, it was on Halloween. Battling rush hour traffic on a Wednesday and the cold almost kept me (season ticket holder) in the comfort of my living room.

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  3. Landon just made a very powerful point to his detractors-he’s the dude who has given his heart for the USMNT since he was 18 (and was succeeding with the youth teams before that), he’s the guy who has played almost 3 years consecutively without a break, he’s the guy who turned down a call-up to the USMNT and possibly hurt his position because he was committed to winning with the Galaxy.

    Is he perfect? No. But people need to get off the guy’s #%#$.

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    • Wah. He’s also been paid more money since he was 18 to give his heart and soul than most folks ho grunt through their 9-5. I get that he’s burnt out, but don’t make it my issue.

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