By the end of this March to the Cup road trip, the Fire first team will be a well-traveled bunch. In Thursday’s blog, we made sure to mention the team would be traveling approximately 7300 miles in just over a week, but we didn’t account for possible weather diversions…
Storms hit the Space City as the first team looked to touch
down on their flight from Salt Lake City to Houston Thursday night, making for
some landing complications… Twice the pilot attempted to land at George Bush
International airport and both times he pulled up in dramatic fashion, unable to
see the runway and thus unable to make a safe landing.
What did all of this mean?
The team would have to divert to Dallas and sit on the
runway for a bit while the weather in Houston cleared up… No worries though,
thanks to the DirecTV available on the flight, the guys saw the entire
Union-United match on ESPN2, watching as Philly took three important points off
a Fire playoff rival. Thanks for the help DOOPers!
Approximately three hours after the “failed landing” the
Fire returned to Houston and were able to make it to the team hotel. With their
slight diversion to DFW, the Fire will have traveled nearly 7800 miles by the
end of this trip…
Feeling a bit like
preseason
After Thursday night’s detour, the first team was joined in
Houston Friday afternoon by another group of players combing first teamers,
Academy and guest players as Frank Klopas looks to manage his lineup with both
a regular season and reserve match Saturday afternoon in Houston.
Once settled, the team gathered for a late afternoon
training session at Robertson Stadium. For those in Chicago, there are no
complaints about the weather here. Eighty-five degrees and sunny at the time of
training yesterday, the temps are beautiful and actually welcomed by the locals
who have experienced a record amount of days with 90 degree plus temperatures.
Forecast for kickoff Saturday? 85 degrees again…
A Familiar Face
One guest joining the Fire in Texas isn’t really a guest at
all. On loan to NASL-side FC Tampa Bay, Fire defender Kwame Watson-Siriboe
arrived in Houston Friday night, marking the second time in as many weeks that
the club’s 2010 second round draft pick has joined up with his teammates in
Texas. KWS is likely to feature in Saturday’s Reserve match.
Matchday Information
The Fire tackle leg two of their March to the Cup road trip
Saturday afternoon away to the Houston Dynamo. Catch the match LIVE at 3pm on Telefutura and head to the Section 8 Chicago Watch Party at Paddy Long’s
(1028 W. Diversey).
Check out our Photo Gallery from the trip over on the Fire Facebook page: www.facebook.com/chicagofire.
Jeff Crandall is the
Team Writer for the Chicago Fire. Follow him on Twitter @JefeCrandall.
