Some random thoughts about the Fire and Wizards on Wednesday night, in chronological order:
- I don't care about the missed penalty. Blanco's pass to Justin Mapp that led to the foul was sublime. I'm hard pressed to think of anyone else on this team who could even see that pass, let along nail it like that. Not since Stoitchkov, anyway.
- Other than getting called offside trying to pick up Justin Mapp's rebound, I don't think I've heard Chad Barrett's name called once through 21 minutes.
- The Logan Pause theory is holding up. If you've forgotten, Pause plugs holes. If there are a lot of holes to plug, he's inevitably going to look bad. If there aren't, he can contribute in a lot of ways fans aren't used to seeing. He's a very smart player.
- Except for Soumare and, I think, Robinson giving Sasha Victorine too much space to cross the ball into Eddie Johnson on the play that the TV guys completely missed (thank god for replays) I don't think anyone on the Fire is playing badly. I don't fault Segares for missing the header on that cross by about an inch.
- A Chad Barrett sighting in the 24th minute, but I still don't think he's actually touched the ball. Then a nice shot right at the 25 minute mark.
- 27th minute and now it's getting interesting. Blanco takes on 5 defenders and almost conjures a goal from nowhere for Chad Barrett.
- Fire catch a break after a fantastic save from Busch drops in front of the net after a 30-yarrd free kick. Scott Sealy was totally frozen by the backspin, but then Segares looked like he got his foot caught in the turf as he tried to clear after Sealy missed the rebound.
- Chris Rolfe has been pretty quiet since the first five minutes or so as well.
- Bakary Soumare likes playing that big switch out of the back, but his accuracy leaves something to be desired. Namely, better accuracy.
- 43rd minute, and you can totally hear Fire fans singing "Don't Stop Living In The Red."
- I take back all the negative things I was saying about Barrett. In this game, anyway. But again, what a pass from Blanco. Holy crap.
- Can MLS be taken seriously when broadcasters don't even know the names of the guys they're interviewing? Denis Haslett? That's minor league.
- Chicago's forwards may need to change their cleats here. Footing has been a bit suspect to open the second stanza.
- For what it's worth, the Fire have a lot of games to work on not committing stupid fouls less than 30 yards from goal before they have to face Beckham.
- Ouch. Everyone in the back falls asleep, and Sasha Victorine makes the Fire pay.
- I would suggest taking a drink every time Sean Wheelock uses some Anglicism, but that way lies madness.
- The Fire have looked damn near asleep for the second half so far. This could get bad fast.
- If they're simulcasting this on a real radio station in Kansas City, shouldn't Wheelock stop making reference to the top of the TV screen?
- Gonzo gets a second yellow, Probably deserved it. If Conde is available for Saturday, Segares may have a tough time getting back into the lineup. Assuming Robinson can play on the left.
- PLAY THE FUCKING WHISTLE. Unbelievable. Calen Carr should never play another game this season for that. Granted, the ball was out of bounds, but that's not the point. Now we're down a goal and down a man, and the playoffs just got that much harder.
- Justin Mapp is back in game form. Which is to say, he's completely disappearing from matches just like he does when he's fully fit. Osorio has had enough of that by the 75th minute with what would have been a brilliant move had Guerrero not just missed an open net.
- Guh. So much for that new coach, new designated player bounce. No good replay to see if Logan Pause kept Burciaga on side, and I'm sure as hell not taking the KC broadcasters' word for it. Blanco tries to make things better with a quick restart leading to a Dasan Robinson goal, but all that will do is give us hope to be dashed in the last five minutes.
- If this match has taught us anything, it's that our defense is still capable of absolutely catastrophic mistakes. Conde has his work cut out for him. Also, we shouldn't drink in the locker room at halftime. I don't know how else to explain the abject lack of, well, anything after the teams came back out on the field.
I freeze-framed the third KC goal, and it was Robinson defending the deflection that kept Burciaga on side. Which means it was everyone else's fault, particularly Bakary Soumare, who was marking Burciaga and gave up way too early and too easily.