A Safe Place For My Vitriol

The Chicago Fire announced yesterday that they have agreed to terms with mexican forward/midfielder Cuauhtémoc Blanco. From my point of view, there hasn't been a marriage of such evil entities in the history of MLS.

The Fire get the attacking player they desperately need in the short term and Blanco gets a multi-year deal which will pay him a very good salary, something he wouldn't get in mexico at his age. Chicago also gets a player who could tap into the latino market to help their attendance, which was slightly disappointing during Bridgeview's inaugural year. Other MLS teams get a possible attraction when the Fire come to town. The Revolution get a much maligned El Tri playing for a heated rival.

Blanco has been a fixture on the mexican national team for several world cups. When the US-Mexico rivalry was hitting it's zenith in 2002, Blanco was one of their best, and dirtiest, players. It'll be interesting to see what kind of reaction he gets from opposing crowds. We'll have to wait until June 30th when his contract with Club America runs out.

In the meantime, better get that battery-throwing arm in shape and checkout this T-Shirt:



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Blue Blooded Hooligans