Normally a star player asking to be traded would compete to be the biggest story of a team’s off-season–especially when that player makes his request public through an e-mail to the media. But with considerable drama surrounding the Fire since its Nov. 8 loss to New England in the MLS playoffs, the Wilman Conde standoff was simply one more tick down (among a few going up) in the soap opera that was the Fire’s four-month break.
With the start of MLS season a week away, here is a closer look at the Fire’s few highs and many lows:
Nov. 13: Longtime Fire captain Chris Armas announces his retirement after 10 seasons with the team. “I’m very proud that I was able to play the game the only way I ever knew how–hard and honest,” said Armas.
Nov. 16: No longer the player he once was because of knee problems, Costa Rican star Paulo Wanchope retires after an unproductive three-month stint with the Fire.
Nov. 18: New Jersey’s Herald News reports the Fire turned down a request from the Red Bulls to interview Fire coach Juan Carlos Osorio.
Nov. 21: Ivan Guerrero, the Fire’s MVP in 2005, is selected by the San Jose Earthquakes in the expansion draft. Osorio’s decision to leave Guerrero unprotected is criticized heavily. The Fire will enter the 2008 season without three of its four highest-paid players from 2007 (Armas, Wanchope, Guerrero).
Dec. 10: The Fire confirms Osorio is leaving the team to coach the Red Bulls. Fire fans call Osorio a traitor and club President John Guppy is forced to begin his second coaching search in six months.
Dec. 26: In an interview with the Tribune, goalkeeper Matt Pickens says he expects to re-sign with the Fire even though his contract has expired. Guppy echoes Pickens’ sentiments, saying, “Matt would like to be back, and the Fire would like Matt to be back.”
Jan. 10: The Houston Chronicle reports Houston Dynamo assistant John Spencer turned down an offer to become the Fire’s head coach. “It wasn’t much more money than I [was making] here,” Spencer said.
Jan. 10: After years of being passed over for the position, 10-year Fire assistant Denis Hamlett is offered the head coaching job. According to sources, Hamlett nearly walks away from the offer but accepts it after hours of discussions.
Jan. 15: The Fire announces Best Buy has signed a three-year, multimillion dollar deal to have its name on the front of Fire jerseys.
Jan. 18: Virginia Tech forward Patrick Nyarko, projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft, falls to the Fire at No. 7. The Fire also selects Tulsa goalkeeper Dominic Cervi with the No. 12 pick after Pickens rejected the team’s latest contract offer.
Jan. 18: The Fire announces Armas will remain with the team as an assistant coach. Also named to Hamlett’s staff is Mike Jeffries, who was an assistant with the Fire from 1998-2000. Ex-Fire forward Frank Klopas is named the team’s technical director.
Jan. 21: The Fire acquire the rights to forward Andy Herron from the Columbus Crew. Herron spent three seasons with the Fire from 2004-06 and was the team’s MVP in 2006.
Feb. 3: The Fire’s chances of winning the 2008 MLS Cup receive a major blow as Pickens signs with Queens Park Rangers of the English Championship League.
Feb. 15: Wilman Conde e-mails the media to announce he wants to be traded to the Red Bulls so he can be reunited with Osorio, who brought him to the Fire. “I wanted to do this without going to the media, but, unfortunately, I felt I needed to so something would get done,” Conde says.
Feb. 20: Conde continues to train with the Fire but is benched during the team’s preseason game against Toronto FC.
Feb. 21: The Fire signs Polish striker Tomasz Frankowski, 33, much to the delight of Chicago’s large Polish community.
March 4: Fire striker Cuauhtemoc Blanco boldly tells Fox Sports organized crime is ruining Mexican soccer and even names two of the men he believes are at fault. “I’ll say it to their face and in front of these cameras,” Blanco said while in Mexico for the Fire’s preseason. “It hurts me that nobody has the [guts] to say it in front of the cameras.”
March 5: The Fire expresses “interest” in Lider Marmol, who is training with the Red Bulls. Marmol is on the Fire’s discovery player list, which means it gets first dibs on the Paraguayan midfielder. The issue has yet to be resolved.
TRIBUNE GRAPHIC by Steve Layton
