Fire search for diamond in rough

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- From the movie website IMDB, here is the description of the movie "The Natural", starring Robert Redford: "An average baseball player comes out of seemingly nowhere to become a legendary player ..."

When the Major League Soccer coaches and general managers gather in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for the MLS Player Combine beginning this weekend, there will be no surprise players, a la Roy Hobbs.

"You have a good idea about the players because you have seen them," Fire coach Denis Hamlett said as he prepared to make the trip from very cold Chicago to very warm south Florida. "But you can't wait to see them against better players to see how they match up."

The combine is very important for the Fire, who do not have a first-round pick as a result of the deal they struck with Toronto FC that brought Brian McBride to Toyota Park. The Fire won't make a pick until the 28th pick, which is very late in the second round.

Hamlett and the other coaches are waiting for the announcement of the new list of Generation adidas players. Generation adidas is a joint program between MLS and adidas that is aimed at developing exceptional domestic talent, and the players selected are signed to MLS contracts and placed in the SuperDraft. Most of them are expected to participate in the combine as well.

The advantage of having Generation adidas players on a team's roster (such as Fire defender Bakary Soumare) is that they don't count against a team's salary cap.

"Having them (in Fort Lauderdale) makes for a good combine," Hamlett said.

What the combine does, said Hamlett, is allow teams to trim and tighten their player evaluations that have come from watching players in college atmospheres.

"You see these guys individually at different times during the team, and some are rated higher than others," Hamlett said. "You get excited when you see these players during the year, but you have to be cautious. You have to gauge them against better talent."

The combine could end up being very frustrating for Hamlett and Fire technical director Frank Klopas, simply because their first pick will come so late. If they fall in love during the combine, perhaps they will find a way to get the player they want.

"We are going to take a back seat and wait and see," Hamlett said. "We will see if there is someone that makes it worth it to us to move up by making a trade."