Come To Pappa

I actually can't tell if Ives attended the Fire's preseason match on Sunday or not from his report. On the one hand, he notes that newcomer Stefan Dimitrov "scored two more for the Fire to continue an impressive training camp," which would be totally irresponsible speculation if all he was basing it on was a press release that described two goals in a scrimmage against a college team. That's not a "continuation" of anything. So he's either got boots on the ground, or he's at least talking to someone.

On the other hand, he points the absences of Conde, Blanco, Rolfe, Thorrington and Busch, but misses that Marco Pappa did not grace the box score, either. Then again, that could be plain old unfamiliarity with Chicago's roster, but that kind of oversight seems more likely to me if you're just reading off a screen. Guatemala didn't make the Hex, so I don't know if it's other national team duty or what.