Of Dogs and Monkeys

As of this oft-delayed writing, the Fire are nearly midway through a stretch of eight games in 21 days. In the dead of a particularly humid summer. Fortunately for the Men in Red, everybody in MLS is in mostly the same boat, but at the same time, surviving these dog days (subject reference number 1) will be crucial to making a run at the top spot in the Eastern Conference, and subsequently, the MLS Cup.

Already, we've seen signs of fatigue from the two guys who were keeping up a similar breakneck game pace with the US National Team, Carlos Bocanegra and DaMarcus Beasley. Bocanegra had a fairly lackluster effort in a midweek clash with the Columbus Crew, and gave himself a game off by earning his second yellow card very late in that match. Much like the earlier suspensions to forward Ante Razov, this might turn out to be a good way to force some rest. Beasley is not the type to rest, so fans will hope he can play his way through this funk.

Given the nature of MLS, all the Fire really need to be able to do is tread water through this busy schedule. When the game Wednesday looked like it might swing the way of the Crew, it would have only meant Chicago would be a single point back of the Eastern Conference-leading MetroStars, who tied earlier in the day, with a game in hand. By matching that result on a stellar strike late in the game by Rookie of the Year frontrunner Damani Ralph, the Fire were able to keep pace. The same could be said of the win that got away in the late going last weekend against those same MetroStars. No ground was lost, which is the second-best result after gaining.

While simply keeping pace will get the team into the playoffs in the long run, the hope is obviously for a potent Fire attack to start really sticking it to opponents, particularly those down on their luck like the struggling Crew. This weekend's tilt with DC United might not have been considered one of those "taking care of business" matches after their recent successes, but midweek injuries to Mike Petke, Earnie Stewart and Eliseo Quintanilla have opened a window of opportunity for the Fire to really take it to the surging United. Early projected lineups have Bulgarian defender Galin Ivanov manning the right side of the defense, which, given his inconsistency over the course of the season so far, could be the Achilles heel the Fire will need to exploit now that fellow defenders Brian Namoff, Brandon Prideaux and Ryan Nelsen seem to have gelled across the backline. Defensively, the Fire have to hope for CJ Brown to recover from the slight injury that left him out of the lineup on Wednesday, and that Kelly Gray looks better in Bocanegra's spot on the left than he did filling in for Brown on the right.

While United have had the Fire's number this season, the real monkey on the team's back (subject reference number 2) has been the LA Galaxy, who visit Naperville next Wednesday. They may not seem quite so tough given the Galaxy's current position in the Western Conference and their struggles to find the back of the net, but LA has given the Fire fits over the last several years. Throw new acquisition Diego Serna into the mix, and they can still be a handful. If the Fire can exorcise that particular demon during this crowded schedule of games, it could go a long way toward setting the tone for a successful stretch run.