Longtime rivals meet in postseason for first time

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- The Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew meet again Thursday, for the first time.

The Crew have been in Major League Soccer for 13 years, the Fire for 11. The Fire have been in the playoffs 10 of their 11 seasons, but have never faced the Crew in the postseason.

Until Thursday night, when the Crew play host to the Fire for the Eastern Conference Championship and a berth in MLS Cup 2008.

This is the fourth meeting between the teams this season, two regular season matches and one U.S. Open Cup tilt. The two regular season games ended in 2-2 draws, and the Fire won the Open Cup qualifier 3-2 on a wild night at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill.

"I actually thought in both (league) games we played them that we had good starts," Fire coach Denis Hamlett said. "We were up 2-0 on them at their place, which gives us the confidence that we can score on this team if we play our game.

"At our place, we go up by one, then they got two real quick ones and we were the team that got back in the end," he said. "We came away from both games knowing they don't quit and keep plugging away. It makes for real good games. Both teams respect each other and are similar teams in the way they like to play."

There are two sidebars to the game, and one of them is Brian McBride, the former Crew member who left in 2003 to go play for Fulham in the English Premier League. He returned to MLS this summer and requested to play for his hometown Chicago Fire.

In the Fire-Crew game Oct. 12, McBride scored both Fire goals. But it was McBride himself who called the "hero returns home as a villain" storyline a "sidebar."

"The Columbus thing is sort of a sidebar," McBride said. "I have a lot of history with them. But the most important thing is playing well as a team. I will play this team as you would any other conference final."

The other storyline for the Fire is Chris Rolfe, who has been very hot of late. He had a goal and an assist in the Fire's 3-0 win against New England Thursday that propelled them into the Eastern Conference final, and he had three goals and two assists in the Fire's 5-2 win over New York in the regular season finale at home.

Rolfe in from Kettering, Ohio, played at the University of Dayton, about 90 miles from Columbus, and expects to have his own personal cheering section at the game Thursday.

The forecast for Thursday's game is about 55 degrees and rain. The temperature is not an issue for the Fire players, who will have dealt with much colder temperatures all week in training. The rain, which was also a factor for the Fire all week, is the key ingredient to the weather conditions.

"The worst, most difficult weather you can play in when it is 38 degrees and raining," said McBride, who grew up playing in cold conditions in Chicago. "But the weather is not going to be a big factor. Both teams are training in the same weather, and have played in cold weather before. Both teams want a good field, a fast field and one where the surface is smooth. Everybody knows it is probably going to be cold."

The Fire remain amazingly healthy. With no injuries reported to any front-line players, Hamlett is expected to go with the same lineup he has used for the last two playoff games, which has former Crew goalkeeper Jon Busch between the posts, defenders Segares, Wilman Conde, Bakary Soumare and Brandon Prideaux in front of him, midfielders Justin Mapp, John Thorrington, Rolfe and Logan Pause patrolling the middle, Cuauhtemoc Blanco in his usual free attacking role and McBride listed at forward.

This game appropriately pits the teams that finished first and second in the Eastern Conference, and the fact they tied each other twice indicates the possibility for a terrific conference final.

"Now it is the team that is going to make the least mistakes and who is going to punish the team when they make those mistakes," Hamlett said.